Political Viewpoint

BY Coun Carole Mulroney Deputy Leader of the Southend City Council Liberal Democrat Group.

 YOU could be forgiven in thinking the world has gone mad.

Would it be far from the truth – every day is a new revelation of something wrong in the Tory Party or some huge gaff by Labour or one more fag and pint photoshoot from Farage and his 21^st Century Reformation.  One more jolly jape from the Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey – well at least he got us watching and not bored.

After 100 days the dust should have settled – but it’s still swirling around.

Closer to home once again we have a joint administration in Southend, a very much weakened Tory group and a handful of defectors yet to find a home or licking their wounds desperately searching for a thread to hang on to.

Leigh is a wonderful place to live, and Leigh people come together when the chips are down. One such fallen chip is the recent foray into the Green Belt proposed by the Salvation Army at Hadleigh – what business is it of ours – well its very much our business.

The Liberal Democrat’s have made it clear that protecting our precious natural environment lies at the heart of our approach. Everyone should be able to enjoy open green spaces, clean blue rivers and the beauty of Britain’s Coast.

So what about the Green Belt, the Holy Grail of planning policy. Is it as sacrosanct as we all assume it is?

Well our neighbour Castle Point’s councillors have said they want to protect the Green Belt – thank goodness – but they can’t stop a landowner putting sites forward or putting in planning applications. And they can’t stop a landowner appealing a refusal.  The worry is what the Government Inspector will do. The housing crisis is ever pressing, enough to throw policy out the window.

Whether the former Leader of Southend Tories likes it or not, his then Government set targets for housebuilding which meant Southend, a small linear City, had to look at how it could meet them.

It was duty bound to do so, just as Castle Point is, and even more so now as the Labour Government is proceeding along the same lines, but now creating a ‘grey’ belt.  Green Belt land which is not of the right quality or purpose for the higher status. This is not new, there have always been areas within the Green Belt that really don’t merit that designation, but through their position it would be ridiculous to leave out.  Well, now there is a clear wind of change and these areas are vulnerable.

The land at Hadleigh has a purpose, and such major development as could be the case, could have a huge effect not just on Hadleigh, but on Leigh.

Both Leigh and Hadleigh are, and remain, essentially villages, albeit large ones.  They have their own identity, history and cultures. It is true to say that the Salvation Army has played a huge part in the life of Hadleigh over the last century and that Leigh has grown to a bustling town.  But at both their hearts is the rural and coastal communities which they have been for centuries. Are we to lose that?

I was pleased to construct the arguments against the loss of Hadleigh Green Belt on behalf of Leigh Town Council and to seek a meeting with Castle Point councillors, so we could personally address our concerns and I am pleased that the City Council has likewise made its opposition felt.

Many hours at Southend was I grilled in Council as portfolio for planning when Southend had to go through exactly the same exercise as Castle Point has just gone through, defending why Government policy was forcing us to look at areas we would rather not.

Never did I say we should build on Southend’s Green Belt, but we could not ignore the paucity of land in Southend for the development that successive Governments are pushing us towards.

I couldn’t stop what Government decrees any more than Castle Point can, but I am sure that working together as a united south Essex alliance against the loss of our Green Belt – we stand a better chance of substantiating our case for keeping the Green Belt between us and not devaluing its purpose in maintaining these two historic towns’ individuality.

So that is why I am angry that Reform chose to make it a political football in Leigh, just as the Tories under the same Councillor did in Southend.  Ever the opportunist when an election is in the offing.

We have gone through a trauma in Leigh these last 18 months – we don’t need any more and we certainly don’t need failed Tory leaders from the other side of the City directing our lives.

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