The Public meeting for the most part was very well behaved and the vast majority of us listened to all that was said from both sides. I was in the third row from the front and didn't hear any baying lynch mob or any one being roundly shouted down, unlike a certain Lifeboat meeting I went to a few years ago.
However the next meeting would be better served by having a totally independent Chairperson, as that cannot be said of our Police Superintendent Simon Humphreys, who was most certainly in the pocket of Council Leader Geraint Edwards, hence the number of Councillors who were selected "totally at random" from the assembly to speak. In fact it became so apparent, he ended up asking them to stop and sit down.
Also if you watch the Youtube clip when Janet Finch-Saunders is addressing the meeting, you can clearly see Geraint Edwards telling Simon Humphreys to end the meeting to prevent her speaking. I was there and heard it said for myself and it was only when the floor demanded that she be allowed to speak (edited out of the clip) that she was able to continue.
We were told by Simon Humphreys that the latest topping off of the stones to replenish the sea defences ( 50,000 tons) was to restore the beach profile to its original specification after 70% of those stones had been lost over the last decade. Well Mr Humphreys, Figures speak louder than words. The original sea defences plan including consultancy fees costs £1,048,410.05 to complete. If the Beach Profile has been restored to that original Profile and with Locally sourced stone, why did it cost £1,500,000 this time around? Something doesn't add up.
The £1,500,000 came from the W.A.G. by way of emergency funding, to repair damage caused by last winters storms. 2 days of rough seas on the North Shore that put a pile of stones into the Paddling Pool at Graig-y-Don does not add up to emergence storm damage. During those Storm that so crippled the West of the Country the North Shore was flatter than a pancake. How much has been allocated to repair Deganwy Promenade and shouldn't that work have been given Priority as it was actually damaged by those storms.
Sorry for going on a such length but just let me say to finish, The stones are not the answer to Llandudno's sea defence requirements. So far they have cost £1,048,410.05 to install plus £405,233 to maintain and £1,500,000 to replenish (All figures provided by CCBC FOI 6972-14)