Gordon Hook

I put down a question for answer by the new Portfolio Holder for the Environment, Cllr Lake, at Teignbridge Council this week. I wanted to know if he was for or against the new charges that his Tory friends at County Hall have introduced for the depositing of certain materials at Recycling Centres around Devon, such as Exton and Brunel Road.
The answer was given not by the PH but by the Leader and was a classic “avoidance of answer answer”. He didn’t say “yes” and he didn’t say,”no”. So when pressed with a supplementary question to simply say “For or Against”, I was told that I would get a written answer…….It just isn’t a difficult question….or answer. Either he is for charges or not? Either he accepts the consequences of charging, which will clearly include increased fly tipping (which blights the environment and costs Teignbridge to clear up) or he isn’t and will therefore oppose the charges and defend the local environment. Surely that is the primary function of someone entrusted with his position? C’llr Lake  needs to think through his role and how he intends to play it….so far, not so impressive.