Thanks given for good judgement (From Dorset Echo)

Thanks given for good judgement

9:00am Friday 3rd February 2012 in Your letters

Residents of Weymouth can be grateful for the judgement of John Wilde, the chairman of the fire station development inquiry, who dismissed the appeal by McCarthy and Stone to overrule the planning permission refusal.

The proposed development was huge and if it had gone ahead a precedent would have been set for a mammoth development on the municipal offices site at sometime in the future.

Perhaps now is the time to give sensitive consideration to the use of all land along North Quay.

Both the fire station site and the municipal offices site are in public ownership and so the borough and county councils have considerable control over their future use.

It is now clear that the proceeds of any sale of the fire station site did not belong to the fire service and should not be used for their ‘empire building’.

Furthermore, using the proceeds to reduce council tax (about £320 per resident) would not be using the money wisely either, if an unsuitable development goes ahead.

It would be better either to keep the site in public ownership or to sell the site with major restrictions on its use.

The fire station is unique in the county due to its design and location and could be used as a public amenity such as a museum/art gallery.

However, if the fire station is to be demolished, the area could be returned to its early 1930s layout, which consisted of two or three-story terraced houses with mansard roofs, which were so characteristic of the early Weymouth harbourside.

This would enhance both the character and appearance of the town conservation area, as I’m sure John Wilde felt was necessary within this important location.

C Dawe, Boulton Close, Weymouth