In a near failure of local democracy four Conservative councillors voted against local residents, and the recommendations of the planning officers to allow 12 flats, a retail unit, and 17 car park spaces to be shoehorned on to the site of the Queen pub.

In an unprecedented step, the Council arranged for a different planning panel to decide afresh following concerns raised about how  the application was handled.

The WWRA wrote, and Chairman, Widsom Da Costa, spoke at the new meeting. The application was rejected unanimously, in stark contrast to the previous 4:3 acceptance.

We are grateful to Council officers for averting a potential failure of local democracy by referring the decision to a new planning panel.

We welcome the unanimous decision of the new planning panel to reject the monstrous overdevelopment proposed, but the original decision, and the lead up to it, has raised a number of questions about the conduct of certain councillors which need to be answered to reassure local residents.

We will follow the aftermath of these unprecedented events, and report back.