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Lib Dems see red over town green
THE first split in the Lib Dem and Conservative coalition running the Town Hall – over granting protected status to a Kentish Town park – has been downplayed by the leaders of both groups.
For the first time in a “partnership” administration which has previously boasted of its unity, four Tory members of the council’s ruling executive committee were outvoted by their six Lib Dem colleagues over the decision to grant Talacre Gardens, in Prince of Wales Road, the status of “town green” last Wednesday.
Newly-elected Labour opposition leader Councillor Nash Ali said of the vote: “We have been hearing it’s not all happy families. Here we have a coalition that tells us they agree on everything and are working closely together, yet in an executive meeting they have different views.”
Under the terms of the Town Hall’s constitution, which requires executive decisions to be unanimous, the split is legal grounds to dissolve the coalition.
Conservative leader Councillor Andrew Marshall said his party had voted on principle but that the split was not permanent. “This was a unique matter and there is not a question of hard feelings,” he said.
“We were disappointed that the Lib Dems did not accept the officers’ advice in this case, but we move on.”
As a town green, the park will pass from the Town Hall’s stewardship and become protected from any development unless a Secretary of State steps in.
But the move defied the advice of lawyers and represented a sharp turn around by the executive, which initially threw out the proposal last June.
Lib Dem leader Councillor Keith Moffitt said: “We thought at first that a trust might be the way to protect (Talacre), but we listened to what people locally said and they supported the town green. As for the officers’ advice, I did really wrestle with this one – they are professional people who know what they are talking about. But if you never rejected their recommendations, why would you have elected councillors?” |
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