How do they get away with it?

Cornish Guardian Letters page 20th January, 2005

I read with interest your article about Ampersand submitting plans for new sea defences they are building at Carlyon Bay. It amazes me how people like Ampersand can get away with flouting the planning laws by either building or part building something and then putting in for planning permission after the event.

And then they tell us all how they are going to put in disabled access, wheel chair ramps, weather warning systems and other add-ons that will benefit the community.

Have they ever tried pushing a wheel chair on a sandy beach? I have - and it doesn't work!

Talk about buttering up the planning department at Restormel. If Mr or Mrs Average did something similar they would be told that:

They could not have permission because it was not aesthetically sympathetic to the local area and:

If they started to build they would be instructed to knock it down as they have not got the required permission.

But Ampersand seem to be able to get away with anything with this council - a council that has spent many thousands of pounds of our council tax half-heartedly suggesting that they are going to make St Austell the best town in Cornwall but which is the same dilapidated place it has been for years.

I would also ask, before Ampersand scurry off back to London after making their millions out of the sale of these apartments, will they contribute some of their profits to improve the infrastructure that will have to service this development?

Neill P Reardon, Boscoppa