Published: Wednesday, 6th May, 2009 9:00am

Letter: Station Hill should be above politics

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Station Hill artist's impression

Think what you like about the new proposals for the Station Hill Development, the decision on planning will be taken by the council who should obviously have the future of the area at the forefront of their decision.

If it were to turn out that the Lib Dems, who are very concerned about the public transport connections, were to oppose the scheme and the Labour Party were to back it, the Tories would effectively have the deciding votes.

Sir John Madejski is a major backer of the Conservative Party. Therefore will the Conservative view on the scheme be influenced by a conflict on interests?

This is a consequence of our political parties being bankrolled by rich businessmen and makes a good case for limiting donations by individuals to perhaps £5,000 to £10,000 annually.

The Conservatives are certain to say publicly that their decision will be on the merits of the proposals and nothing else, but in the back of their minds must certainly be the fear of biting the hand that feeds their party.

Howard Thomas

The Common Sense Party