Cllr Stokes shows appalling lack of knowledge on boundary commission
Published: 8 December, 2008
am appalled at Cllr Stokes' lack of knowledge in relation to the complex and detailed proposals being presented by the boundary commissioner in relation to the Newry area.
The current boundary commission proposals, if left unchallenged and unchanged will skew the outcome of any proposed Newry electoral district which will be created by a 'new' boundary commission which will report at the end of 2009.
I have already made written and verbal submissions to the boundary commission as part of their statutory process and in the interests of the citizens of Newry I have personally attended the boundary commissioner's offices in Belfast on a number of occasions to raise my concerns and the concerns of Newry people on this issue.
Cllr Stokes compounding his lack of knowledge of the detail of the process and the nature of the proposals goes on to accuse me of wasting people's time and needing to be on the ball earlier. For his information
· On Wednesday 19th September 2 members of Newry Identity Campaign team attended the public launch of the boundary commissioner's report in the Ramada Hotel, Belfast. It was their alarming report to me then which initiated our campaign.
· In an effort to achieve consensus I personally briefed senior members of the SDLP and other elected representatives on what our concerns were. At that briefing I handed over a number of copies of our detailed work to the senior SDLP person and requested that a copy of that work should be give to Cllr Stokes.
· As part of the campaign, I along with other members of the campaign team canvassed the homes of over 1,000 Newry citizens in October and encouraged them to write to the commission with their concerns, which they did.
· We also went public through the local media in early November on this issues as well.
The purpose of the public meeting on Wednesday night is to raise the awareness of Newry citizens in relation to the complex and detailed nature of what is in front of them and to give them information.
Cllr Stokes has been invited to attend, he should do so he might learn something.ENDS
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