Portland Bookmakers' right to reply

Last night, someone from Portland Bookmakers posted some comments on the site. At first anonymously and then as simply Portland.

You can read their comments towards the bottom of this thread. Their stated reason for coming on the site was because Brockley Central "is very informative and I wished to contribute." They then complained that people on the site were not sufficiently well informed about the facts of the case.

Well, just for the record, here is the exact wording of an email we sent to Portland in January 2008:

I write for a news website for Brockley, called Brockley Central. The site has been following the progress of your application to operate a betting shop on the site of the former Homeview video store, Brockley Road. I was wondering, given the Council's decision not to grant permission, whether you have decided what your next step will be? Given that Brockley seems to be going through a period of urban renewal, are you considering selling the site or making an appeal. Please let me know if you have any comment.

Although there has been a lot of controversy about your proposals, I can promise that the quote you provided would be treated fairly and reproduced accurately. I am just looking to establish the facts.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes

Portland chose not to take advantage of that offer, although it is still open.

And in the interests of establishing the facts, it is true that Portland did set up a website for the Brockley community, which did contain a lot of information about their proposals. Our reaction to what the site had to say can be found here.