DEAR EDITOR - In response to Cllr Seabourne's press release on the supposed reasons why Wychavon District Council's executive board has decided not to make an exception and hold a special planning meeting in Droitwich Spa.

It is so untrue as to call into question the Labour Group's motivation in pressing so hard on this issue. The reason the executive board decided against this proposal had absolutely nothing to do with car parking for committee members.

The decision is simply that the council chamber is so well equipped with individual speaker amplification, display facilities and the opportunity to accommodate the public.

To hold a meeting in a hall where members and the public sit in rows requiring a roving microphone facility would lead to frustration and bad temper.

We have also been nobbled by commercial competitors to change the time of the meeting and allow the public to speak.

An application, however important, deserves the same consideration to be heard objectively by those who have had to make that decision and in public, heard and witnessed by those who have a serious interest in the issue.

Wychavon's executive board, which consists of six members only, will hold its public meeting in Droitwich Spa in September when the council's position in respect of the Waitrose proposal will be considered.

That the council's planning meeting has taken place in Pershore for many years has not deterred residents from all over Wychavon attending and showing their concern, in particular on planning applications.

I look forward to seeing many from Droitwich at the planning meeting tomorrow (Thursday).

Cllr MC Meikle,

Leader,

Wychavon District Council.