AN irate councillor says he feels he has been gagged after being advised by council bosses not to speak at a planning inquiry.

Gerard Oxford asked Planning Inspector Melvyn Middleton for permission to speak at the planning appeal exploring Alumno’s plans for Colchester’s so-called Cultural Quarter.

However, he was advised by Colchester Council’s monitoring officer speaking at the hearing could put him in a difficult position as he is now a member of the council’s Cabinet.

Mr Oxford joined the Cabinet after the planning committee meeting in February where he proposed rejecting the plans.

“I am extremely angry and I will be having further words with people in the council because I do not see why I cannot speak. I feel like I have been gagged,” he said. “I was not on the Cabinet when any decisions on the Alumno development were made.”

Mr Oxford, who is wheelchair dependent, planned to give evidence on disabled access - one of the planning considerations Colchester Council is defending at the appeal.

He said: “The ramp they proposed does not meet regulations which I brought up on the night of the planning committee meeting.

“The lift they have proposed is also not undercover and left to the elements. If it is rainy or icy and there is snow it will go into the lift and could break it.

“Disabled people tend to get ignored in many ways and I have points I want to make.”

Julie Young, who is now deputy leader of Colchester Council but was not a member of the Cabinet at the time of the decision, was also advised not to speak at the appeal.

She said: “We have a choice whether or not we accept the advice of the monitoring officer and I have chosen to take the advice and not speak at the hearing.”

A spokesman for Colchester Council said the councillors were not told they could not speak.

He added: “The monitoring officer gave the councillors advice as is in line with his role, however, the decision whether to speak was left up to them.”