Debate – and stomachs – rumble on (From This is Hampshire)

Debate – and stomachs – rumble on

10:32am Saturday 24th May 2008 in

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NEVER let it be said that council chiefs make a meal out of their planning duties.

When members of New Forest District Council's planning committee settled in for a row this week, it seemed that some had more of an appetite for the argument than others.

After four hours of hearty debate at the Appletree headquarters in Lyndhurst, chairman Pat Wyeth sensed tummies were beginning to rumble and announced a lunch break.

But rather than the expected nods of approval, council leader Mel Kendal, pictured, found the idea indigestible.

After being told canteen staff would be thrown out of sync by the delay, the seasoned councillor snapped.

"The canteen staff have nothing to do with the planning committee," he is reported to have said.

"I don't care if we have to sit here until midnight to get this sorted out."

The bust-up happened in the middle of a heated debate over contentious development plans at Sea Road, Milford-on-Sea.

Cllr Kendal wanted the matter to be dealt with before lunch with the lengthy meeting already beginning to overrun.

But when the chairman reminded him that she was in charge of the meeting, he is said to have griped: "I am the leader of this council. I run the council and I run the canteen!"