Councillor Innes says he is deeply concerned that many members of the community, including me, have alleged that some councillors and council officers have misled the public over the plans for the Cockenzie Energy Park.

These allegations are based solidly on publically available documents, which show a group of three councillors offering the land for infrastructure development, and a council paper, reviewed by another three councillors, doing exactly the same thing. The unanswered question is the extent to which they understood the significance of what they were doing at the time and, if not, why not?

Ten months later, Scottish Enterprise revealed their plans and our council and councillors claimed they had no prior knowledge of them.

Four months later still, the council finally agreed to meet members of Coastal Regeneration Alliance. Such is the council’s interpretation of taking account of community views.

Councillors are elected and paid by their residents to represent their interests; why does Councillor Innes object so strongly to us making our views known?

David Chapman Prestonpans