John Pugh calls for wider consultation on Town Hall Gardens plans

A plea has been made for a proper civic and civil conversation to defuse a polarised debate about the future plans for the Town Hall Gardens by Liberal Democrat, Cllr.John Pugh. 

This follows the collection of 4000 plus signatures against the Council’s planned scheme collected by Southport Civic Society and attempts to list parts of the existing gardens as Assets of Community Value under the Localism Act (2011)- a move that could cause delay. 

“Much discord could have been avoided.” says Cllr Pugh ,” if the council had followed our suggestion to extend the consultation period beyond the ridiculously short window of 2 weeks. Two weeks was never appropriate for such a major scheme and although the consultation period was well-structured and elicited a positive response, we now have a whole slew of people saying they missed it. "

The scheme was developed by a special committee, chaired by Marina Daglish, and therefore even councillors were left relatively unaware of the rationale behind the design choices prior to the brief consultation.

“ No design will satisfy everyone,” say Cllr.Pugh , “ and this project is important and sensitive for many reasons and to many people. It’s something everyone believes should be co-designed with the community. That way any division and dispute should disappear or at least reduce, but that means a bigger conversation than a two week consultation window allowed for. 

Sefton doesn’t have a great record on consultations, generally only hearkening to them and publicising them when they favour the Council’s plans. That may be understandable, but can feel patronising and alienate people unnecessarily. 

What we need and no-one should be afraid of is a civic and civil conversation.”  

Cllr. Pugh has released a video setting the context for the scheme as a contribution to that debate . https://vimeo.com/1244148340?fl=ip&fe=ec