Action group set up after protesters say they were gagged

AN action committee has been formed after furious people stormed out of a public meeting when their discussion about a proposed rail hub was banned.

Twelve people, including one prominent councillor, stood up and left during South Derbyshire District Council's open forum meeting after the chairman refused to allow discussion of the rail freight interchange at Egginton Heath.

Severn Trent wants to develop the rail hub on a 619-acre site next to the A38 and A50, between Etwall and Egginton.

But people living in the area say meadows and farmland will be lost because of the scheme and they fear it could lead to flooding problems.

People had expected to be able to talk about the development at the Etwall forum meeting but Councillor Lisa Brown said she was prevented from speaking.

She and the other members of the action committee are now demanding that another forum be held so people can share their views about the issue.

The group will also lodge a complaint with the council's standards committee about how they were treated at the meeting.

Etwall ward councillor Mrs Brown said refusal of the discussion had been shockingly undemocratic.

She said: "I was astonished, amazed and finally outraged by the conduct and management of the meeting and when I was shouted down I felt I had no choice but to leave."

Tim Wherly, 63, of Main Street, Egginton, was another of those who walked out.

He said: "If the railhead goes ahead, all that farmland will be concreted and not only will this affect farming and local produce, but it could mean much more flooding.

"These were the issues we wanted to raise at the meeting and we were all shouted down and told we could not discuss it."

Forum chairman John Lemmon said preventing talk about the developments at Egginton Heath was justified.

He said: "There has been no formal planning application put in for any possible building on that site.

"Severn Trent have put forward a scoping document outlining the possibility of some development but it is only if and when we receive a planning application that we would discuss the issue.

"As with all other major applications, we would do so in a series of dedicated meetings, not at a forum."

Miles Nesbit, 60, of Duck Street, Egginton, said he was horrified by what had happened and is demanding a fresh meeting.

He said: "The very nature of a public forum is that it is a place where any local residents can come and raise issues that are concerning them."

A spokeswoman for Severn Trent said that plans for the rail hub were still in the preliminary stages.