A shortlist of possible new locations for Colchester's travellers' site will be revealed from an award ceremony-style sealed envelope.
Colchester councillors last night agreed they will put responsibility for drawing up the latest shortlist into the hands of consultants CDN Planning.
The Cardiff-based firm will first present an anonymous list of sites in the town which have passed two rounds of suitability tests.
If these sites are accepted at a Colchester Council meeting in the New Year, the names of the anonymous sites will be handed to the chairman in a sealed envelope.
The envelope will be opened and the 'winners' will then be read out to the public at the meeting.
These named sites will then be debated on their individual merits during a period of consultation, with one emerging as the new home of travellers in Britain's oldest town.
Last night, about 40 members of the public watched the council cabinet agree the unique scheme, which it is hoped will remove any councillor bias in the shortlisting process.
After the meeting, Terry Sutton, the Liberal Democrat councillor for Berechurch and the council portfolio holder for street scene and licensing, hailed the new "secret shortlist" idea as "trailblazing".
Published Wednesday December 17, 2003
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