A quartet of community groups in Shotts have criticised North Lanarkshire Council over the accuracy of a report into the future plans for the town.
The consultation, which was made available last year, asked the opinions of locals about proposals for the Shotts vision, and how future funding from the council will be spent in the town.
The organisations, Benhar and Kirk Road Group, Planning Applications in Shotts, Shotts Health & Wellbeing Group and Torbothie Shotts Housing (TSHousing), have a dispute about a particular section of the report.
Pages 49 and 50 focused on three ‘yes’ or ‘no’ questions. These were: "Do you agree with the need for a plan or change"; "Have we got the level of ambition right"; and "Do you agree with the key opportunities identified".
The responses were analysed and categorised into three themes: unconditional approval, conditional approval and unconditional objection.
The findings in the report showed that 258 people in Shotts had filled completed the consultation, with 27 per cent being in unconditional approval, 45 per cent being in conditional approval and 28 per cent being in unconditional objection
But Mary McIntosh, TS Housing leader, insists the findings from the consultation have not been reported accurately.
She told Lanarkshire Live: "Based on the analysis from the council, the findings give the impression of a public preference more inclined to favour the vision than not.
"As far as we could see the report did not list the actual questions asked with the corresponding results.
"Any survey outcome should show full results, especially when subject to approval for future programmes of work.
"The Shotts groups had concerns about the consultation outcomes, and the groups made a Freedom of Information request.
"The information provided does not appear to correspond with the section in the report."
This provided information showed the number of people who votes 'yes' and 'no' to each question.
In total, 72 per cent of people voted 'yes' to "Do you agree with the need for a plan or change", 62 per cent voted 'no' to "Have we got the level of ambition right" and 64 per cent voted 'no' to "Do you agree with the key opportunities identified."
Mary continued: "Comparing the two sets of data, the results for question one shows a consistency that more than double of those participating in the survey agreed with the need for a plan or change.
"However, contrary to the report, which shows significant public support in favour of the council town centre vision, the FOI shows that for questions two and three, 62 and 64 per cent of the participants did not agree with the council’s vision.
"Final outcomes should reflect raw data findings with analysis consistent across all the questions. The information appears to suggest the council failed to publish a full analysis of the town centre vision consultation in their report and presentation to the policy and strategy committee.
"If this is the case it is not good practice and can lead to flawed results. It is unacceptable that public consultation is carried out and the survey results are not fully reported on."
The groups received a response from North Lanarkshire Council, which read: " Having reviewed the correspondence I note your criticism of the approach taken to the analysis of the survey results which were part of the engagement process on the town visions.
"We are always happy to reflect on any feedback received to inform any future consultation process, although I am satisfied that the approach taken was reasonable as, contrary to your assertion, there is no prescribed standard that the council is required to follow when undertaking and reporting on consultations.
"In terms of the outcome you are seeking, I would advise that the council will not be re-running the consultation process on the town visions, which have now been approved by the policy and strategy committee.
"However, as you have been advised, the Visions are not set in tablets of stone and are very much the start of a process to help guide the future development of our town centres to be vibrant and attractive places which in turn support sustainable communities.
"I would therefore encourage you to work with us to help develop the action plans for the town centres as they develop over the coming years for the greater good of the Shotts community."
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