The real issues with all of this is that the decisions seem to be made by people who know nothing about the underlining issues, or have any ay expertise, either at the political and/or administrative level. NCC's Stuart McNaughton is a classic example. A council officer who is inadvertently linked to the issues with the new Seaton Delaval Station, who ignored multiple councillor, stakeholder (and commercial entity) warnings about the land they chose being a sinkhole and over old mine shafts years ago. Sadly it is a case of who you know, not what you know that seems to ensure a position of power.