In a letter to the press Need not Greed Oxon coalition members, Peter Jay of ROAR and Alan Lodwick of Kidlington Development Watch said the OxLEP SEP ‘Refresh’ Workshops did not constitute a ‘meaningful consultation’ and were part of a ‘crude PR exercise’.
Peter Jay and Alan Lodwick said: “these events were not a meaningful consultation, least of all about the big issues of the democratic illegitimacy of the LEP or the arbitrary and subjective numbers generated by the SEP. They were part of a crude PR exercise in generating an illusion of consent to a deeply damaging and dishonest promotion of vested business and property interests.”
OxLEP – the Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Parternship, tasked with driving forward forced economic growth in the county, held a series of workshops over the past fortnight with the purpose of engaging the public in the SEP ‘Refresh’. But as Peter Jay and Alan Lodwick quite rightly point out in their letter to the press, “The plan is clear: to impose this economic plan on Oxfordshire come hell or high water; and no burbling about democracy, localism or the public interest is going to be allowed to get in the way.”
Read the letter in full below.
5th March 2016
Dear Sir
The Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (OxLEP) recently held three public workshops about the ‘refresh’ of its Strategic Economic Plan (SEP). OxLEP is an unaccountable, undemocratic body driven by commercial interests which exists to promote the highest levels of economic growth in the County.
The SEP imposes on local councils targets for housing and business developments far in excess of past growth with minimal concern for environmental consequences and the capacity of the County’s already overstretched transport and other infrastructure. The existing plan was drawn up without public consultation so the recent workshops might be thought to represent progress.
However, these events were not a meaningful consultation, least of all about the big issues of the democratic illegitimacy of the LEP or the arbitrary and subjective numbers generated by the SEP. They were part of a crude PR exercise in generating an illusion of consent to a deeply damaging and dishonest promotion of vested business and property interests.
Attempts to question the process and to have real debate were fobbed off with impatient exhortations to ‘move on’ and follow the pre-scripted charade conducted by ‘trusty’ facilitators. We asked to choose our own discussion group leaders, but were refused.
The plan is clear: to impose this economic plan on Oxfordshire come hell or high water; and no burbling about democracy, localism or the public interest is going to be allowed to get in the way.
The Need Not Greed Oxon campaign challenges this process. We demand that genuine participation occurs and that the LEP’s damaging growth targets are scaled back to levels which the County can absorb and which reflect its real needs.
Yours Sincerely
Peter Jay and Alan Lodwick
Need Not Greed Oxon