Mr. Terry Shannon:

The development plan is the local authority members' plan. That seems to get lost in the debate. It is not the executive plan or, indeed, the public's plan, although we should reflect the public's aspirations. At the end of the day, it is the members' plan and it is their responsibility to implement it, whether it is a LAP or the city or county development plan. That gets lost in the debate. Some members, and we have to put our hands up on this, get more involved in it than others. We accept that. At the end of the day, however, in order to be open and transparent members must have a say and must be involved at all levels. When we look at the number of material contraventions that come to us fairly quickly following a development plan, that proves plans have to be organic. The very idea that somebody elected to a local authority has no say except through a review, and even at that is not able to make amendments, is undemocratic.

There seems to be a rolling centralisation, not just in this instance but right across much of local government. I often wonder why we have high-paid executive members and people at regional assembly level, in addition to departmental people. If the Department wants to centralise everything, we will all walk off and go home. We have other things to be doing. However, that is not what the public wants and it is not what democracy is about.