Princes Parade Business Plan was to be discussed behind closed at the Folkestone & Hythe District Council Cabinet, to be held on the 12th Dec. This will not happen now.
Our public face made representations to the Council setting out that to hold the meeting behind closed doors was against the public interest. He wrote:
I ask you to consider my reasoning not to hold the planned Princes Parade Business Plan item for the agenda at the Cabinet meeting on the 12 Dec behind closed doors.
The disclosure of the PP Business Plan would both be unlikely to cause such a degree of commercial prejudice so as to justify discussing it behind closed doors at the Cabinet meeting on the 12 Dec. Doing so is not in the public interest. There is an overriding public interest in the disclosure of the information to ensure public participation. This is heightened by considerations of Value For Money where legitimate questions are raised in respect of significant costs spent by a public authority that clearly has limited means and who may well have to borrow monies to enable the site to go ahead. The interest is additionally weighty given the nature and history of the site in question, which has been contaminated and long neglected by the council.
In a response from the Council they have stated:
Please note that the Princes Parade item will not be ready for consideration at the December meeting of the Cabinet and has therefore been deferred. We have not yet confirmed a date for the item to be heard, but I will keep you informed.
It is then more likely than not, the issue will come before Cabinet sometime in the new year. We will keep you informed.
