Ribbons, More Radio and Recognition of the Petition by the Planning Inspectorate

21st October 2019

• The Planning Inspectorate have agreed to accept the change.org petition as part of the examination of Esso’s plans. It must be submitted by 14th November so please sign it if you haven’t already done so.

• There are now 2,497 signatures on the petition - so close to 2,500!

• Queen Elizabeth Park was the top news story on Eagle Radio during the morning on Wednesday 16th October. I described the impact of Esso’s plans on the park and raised the question of why alternative methods of installing the pipeline have not been considered.

• The Planning Inspectorate’s Examination Authority have issued their Written Questions - an important stage in the examination process. This includes a section on Queen Elizabeth Park (pages 69-71). All the interest shown by the local community in recent weeks has surely been a major influence in prompting the Examination Authority to pay close attention to the park. Topics of the questions include the play area, exactly how many trees will be removed from the park and why trenchless techniques cannot be used.

• We have submitted requests to the Planning Inspectorate for an Issue Specific Hearing on the park, an Open Floor Hearing where the park will be discussed and an Accompanied Site Inspection to observe various points which were not noted during the Unaccompanied Site Inspection a few weeks ago.

• On Sunday 20th October there was a ribbon tying event in the park to mark some of the trees which are at risk. This was very well attended and allowed some of the participants who had previously only spoken online to meet in person for the first time. It has also helped to raise awareness of the threat to the park amongst its more occasional users. The ribbons really do show what a large area of the park is at risk. Thank you to everyone who attended and to Peta for organising it.