Falmer: an announcement perspective

[On the Left Wing]

Exactly

All government press officers are taught to bury bad news (that which could cause mas negative feedback) either on a day before a bank holiday or on a Friday. So the announcement goes out on a Friday - afternoon better than morning!

Must admit it used to gall me as a reporter, but once I became a PO I realised the value of Friday afternoon releases.

PS
One of the best examples I can remember was about eight years ago when the Government released their annual Radioactive Monitoring report at 1pm on 24 December!
Needless to say it was full of bad news on leaks from UKEA establishments.
It really is just par for the course.
This thread was not supposed to be alarmist, just casting a personal perspective ....

 

[Lord Bracknell]

Good news for the Albion is, of course, bad news for the objectors. And vice versa.

We might think that the Sussex Downs Conservation Board and the Society of Sussex Downsmen and Lewes District Council are just a pain in the arse. In reality, they have a lot more regular dealings with the government than the Albion do.

If OTLW's analysis is correct, it might just as easily be the case that the ODPM might think that a YES decision would be bad news for their regular "customers" and it's best delivered on a Friday.

My theory is very straightforward. The announcement will be delivered to the Albion when it's ready. Not before. And not later.

Remember ... the ODPM deliver about 18,000 planning decisions a year. That's about 350 a week. This is just one of them. It's a big one, but it's not officially categorised as a "major" planning decision.

 

[Cadiz Seagull]

That makes sense Lord B. Falmer is HUGE news for us, it will change lots of peoples lives who read this board, but in the grand scheme of things it's a relatively small and unimportant decision. I bet JP wonders what all the fuss is about!
So it's OK John, it's just a small decision, just say yes and then you can get on with the major task of running the country