At a recent meeting of the planning committee a unanimous decision was taken to refuse the application to convert Brydan Court into 41 assisted living units for people with a history of drug and alcohol problems.  

At the start of the meeting the chair of the committee Cllr John McCabe (Labour) asked for declarations of interest. Cllr Geraldine White (Independent Alliance) declared a prejudicial interest in the Brydan Court application but reserved her right to speak.    

Mick Davies spoke on behalf Four Season (owners of Brydan Court) and tried to dispel the fears and concerns of local residents. Cllr Olive Punchion (Labour) spoke against the application by reading from a pre-prepared script. A resident from Biddick Hall was also allowed to speak against the application and asked that the committee consider what the people want.  

Cllr Tom Piggott (Labour) was also allowed to speak and bizarrely asked how people fund their drug and alcohol habits. He then went on to claim that had attended all meetings on Biddick Hall including Neighbourhood Watch, PACT and ‘recognised’ resident associations. This was immediately disputed by Karen Nicholson, Chair of the Biddick Hall Residents Association, who said “Cllr Piggott has not once attended a meeting of the Biddick Hall Residents Association and told me it was because he was not allowed to”   

During the debate Cllr Geraldine White had indicated she wanted to speak several times, yet Cllr McCabe tried to close the debate. Cllr White reminded the chair that she had indicated four times that she wished to speak; Cllr McCabe responded by saying “I am not allowing you to score political points here.”    

Cllr White challenged the chair’s decision and asked what he was doing and Cllr McCabe basically ignored her question and asked for a ‘tester vote’ to see how people would cast their votes. Cllr White reminded Cllr McCabe that there was no such thing as a ‘tester vote’. Despite this the chair attempted to take a ‘tester vote’ so Cllr White tried to raise a point of order.  

Cllr McCabe responded by saying, “It’s not a point of order” to which Cllr White replied “How do you know if you haven’t heard it?” Cllr McCabe then stood up, removed his jacket and said “I am on my feet now Cllr White” before wrapping his knuckles on the table.    

In a hitherto unheard of move, the committee proceeded to the ‘test vote’. Cllr Jane Branley, Leader of the Independent Alliance challenged Cllr McCabe’s refusal to allow Cllr White to speak and said that she “personally would like to hear her views”.  

Cllr McCabe’s actions were then criticised by other members of the committee which led him to declare that “this is now the third time that I have said Cllr White will be allowed to give her opinion.” With her right to speak finally recognised, Cllr White spoke against the application and reminded the committee about a possible increase in anti social behaviour if the application was allowed to proceed. 

Cllr McCabe’s actions were interpreted by many as a deliberate attempt to gag Cllr White and we can only guess, especially when he allowed his Labour colleague Cllr Eileen Leask to speak whenever she wished – even to the point of claiming it was she who moved a motion to reject the application when it was clearly Cllr Branely.   

A reporter from the Shields Gazette witnessed this whole debacle and we can’t help wondering whether Cllr Leask and Cllr Punchion’s actions were geared towards the local elections in May rather than the interest of the people of Biddick Hall. 

Of course it’s purely a coincidence that both are seeking re-election in May!

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