On the 11th June, before the Overview and Scrutiny Meeting started, Vanessa Gregory, Chair of LOOK! St Albans, replied to Robert Donald within 30 minutes of his email arriving……
Dear Robert
Thank you for your kind email and offer of a meeting with LOOK! colleagues from the Reps Group (who deal with the day to day running of the community led group) and also representatives from those who took part in the original masterplanning charrette 2016.
As you know Look! St Albans is merely the conduit to enable the community to express their views in a structured externally facilitated manner, taking into account economic viability as well as a raft of other issues including design, sustainability, adaptability and local and national planning policy, to reach a consensus which is expressed in the charrette output/report. Some of these processes we discussed in our January meeting. None of Team Look! can or does speak on behalf of anyone else.
166 different people at least took part in the original charrette and gave well in excess of 1,000 hours of their time, freely. Of course there may well be more members of the community that would want to take part today.
Should it be your will that the community are involved in helping the architects chosen to shape their concept into a design for the purpose of a planning application that the community had a hand in, supported or felt that process had been achieved transparently through the process we use, then of course we are open to discussions.
Do recall that MoSTA only received 2 objections at the planning application stage. Look! still receives compliments (though somewhat undeserved) from local people that the development ‘feels St Albans’. I say underserved as they, the community helped to shape it.
As you and I both know we have a varied wealth of expertise, local knowledge and committed residents of all generations in St Albans district who have demonstrated there is willingness, at the masterplan stage, to commit considerable time to achieve a good outcome for this and future generations. I see no reason why that cannot be achieved again if there is a willingness on all sides.
Best wishes
Vanessa
PS As there is an Overview Meeting this evening which will discuss CCOS south I am forwarding this email to the Chair.