9th April 2014

County councillors on West Sussex’s planning committee meet on April 29th to decide whether Cuadrilla should have permission to flow test its exploratory oil well at Balcombe.

The committee has 13 full members from across the county. Who are they? Which areas do they represent? What are their politics? What are their interests? How often do they attend meetings? InvestigatingBalcombeAndCuadrilla.com has been looking into their backgrounds. The links above take you to the detail or there’s a summary below.

SUMMMARY

Politics
8 Conservative
2 UKIP
1 Independent
1 Labour
1 Liberal Democrat

Home districts
3 Mid Sussex
3 Adur
2 Chichester
2 Worthing
2 Crawley
1 Horsham

Distance from Balcombe

None of the committee members live in Balcombe. Eight of the 13 live more than 10 miles away. Eleven out of the 13 live more than five miles away. The committee members who represent areas closest to Balcombe are county councillors for Haywards Heath and Crawley.

Attendance at planning committee meetings (May-Dec 2013)
5 attended all 3 meetings
4 attended 2 of 3 meetings
2 attended 1 of 3 meetings
No information IS recorded for 2 members

Membership of other West Sussex County Council committees
4 on Environmental and Community Services Select Committee
2 on Children and Young People’s Services
2 on Standards
1 on Rights of Way
1 on Policy and finance

Gender
9 men
4 women (including the chair and vice chair)

Membership of other local authorities
8 are also members of district or borough councils
5 are also members of parish or town councils

Interests
1 board member of the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
3 National Trust members
1 Sussex Wildlife Trust members
4 mentioned on the WSCC website an interest in countryside, greenspace or heritage conservation
1 mentioned on the WSCC website an interest in global warming
1 mentioned on the WSCC website a background in the oil industry
2 mentioned on the WSCC website a background in finance
2 mentioned on the WSCC website a background in public relations