BRAMSHOTT and Liphook’s Neighbourhood Development Plan steering group has been dealt a blow with the loss of one of its key members.

Alasdair Cameron, who has been on board from the beginning, when the group was originally formed in June 2016, handed in his resignation at last Thursday’s meeting.

Afterwards Alasdair told The Herald: “It is with much regret that I have decided to stand down as a member of the steering group.

“I believed, strongly, I could contribute towards making a positive impact on our parish’s future through a well-developed, pragmatic and supported Neighbourhood Development Plan.

“Sadly since then I have become increasingly frustrated by the lack of support and indeed interest displayed by a number of parish councillors as well as certain decisions made by the parish council on NDP issues that in my opinion, have been obtuse and, indeed, crass.

“I may add that I do not include the chair of the parish council (Jane Ives) or parish councillors on the steering group (Emma Winfield and Jeanette Kirby) among this number.

“They have been hugely supportive of, and highly professional towards the NDP’s continuing development.

“In my opinion these few individuals have seemingly made it their purpose to slow and frustrate the working of the steering group by imposing unnecessary checks and delays on a group which has the capability and experience to get on with the role that they have been specifically selected to execute.

“To my mind the need for the steering group to be so closely aligned to the parish council, many of whom are unelected, is inefficient and hugely unhelpful.

“I am particularly concerned about the future of the plan and the continuing negative impact that certain parish councillors may have on its development and progress.

“As a volunteer who is still in full employment and with a number of additional interests, I am not prepared to sacrifice my effort and time while this situation exists.

“I offer my fullest support to the vice-chair (Chantal Foo) and the steering group for the NDP’s future and trust that together they can overcome the issues and frustrations that the plan faces presently.”

At a parish council meeting in January, Emma Winfield stated that members of the steering group, who, she said, are skilled and hard-working volunteers, had been deeply alarmed by the actions of councillor Don Jerrard, who had been ‘disruptive’ at the previous NDP meeting and effectively prevented an exempt session from going ahead, as he insisted on attending.

She said, the session had been essential to formulate ongoing plans for the steering group and legal advice, made it clear councillors who were not on a committee could not attend an exempt session unless invited.

That was supported by parish chairman Jane Ives, who told The Herald this week: “Personally, I am deeply disappointed at Alasdair’s resignation.

“He has been one of the key players from the start of the project and has earned my utmost respect for his hard work and dedication.

“I am fully committed to continue to support the steering group as I believe they are doing a fantastic job of representing the community, which is what a Neighbourhood Development Plan is all about.”

At a recent extraordinary parish council meeting held on April 3, where Mrs Ives proposed three recommendations affecting the NDP, councillors refused to discuss the items, claiming they did not have enough information or time to inspect the draft interim report from Feria Urbanism, which were then approved at another extraordinary meeting on April 18, when councillors Barbara Easton, Don Jerrard and Eddie Trotter did not attend.

The proposals included:–

•Increasing the NDP steering group from 10 to 12 members

•Appointing members of the public to the group and its working parties

•Endorsing the completed interim report, which can now be seen on the NDP website.

The latter sets out the need for seven individual working parties to cover topics such as access and movement, community policies, sports and recreation, housing, heritage and design, public services and employment.

The liaison working party has recommended a number of applicants to be appointed, including Paul Arnold, Adrian Bird, Christine Hill, Tony Richards, Richard Curry, Andrew Pope and Andrew Salmon, while Claire Paye, David Brocklebank and Tony Rudgard have already been assigned to working parties.

Another steering group member, Dominic Taplin, was forced to resign due to work commitments at the beginning of April and has since been replaced by Raine Ryland, who joins Roger Miller, Darren Ellis, Andrew Kevill, Emma Winfield, Jeanette Kirby, Rebecca Standish, Anna Leslie and acting vice-chairman Chantal Foo, as well as newly-appointed admin officer Tessa Wright.

The steering group is now looking for two more members, after the council agreed they should be recruited from within the parish – as well as a number of volunteers with different skill sets for the seven working parties, who can sign up for a short or long term involvement.

•See www.bramshottand liphookndp.co.uk