Cramlington Town Council spent an hour and a half debating a motion put forward by Labour group leader Coun Allan Hepple

Cramlington Town Council in debate over which political party does more for the south east

Nov 12, 2014

By Adam Luke
Evening Chronicle

Cramlington Town Council spent an hour and a half debating a motion put forward by Labour group leader Coun Allan Hepple

 Labour councillors in the south east of Northumberland have accused their local opponents of failing to stand up for their own wards.

Cramlington Town Council spent an hour and a half debating a motion put forward by Labour group leader Coun Allan Hepple, which criticising Conservatives, Lib Dems and Ukip across the county for ‘talking down’ the south east.

Responding to allegations from Tories, including Berwick’s Anne Marie Trevelyan and Hexham MP Guy Opperman, that Labour favours the south east at the expense of rural Northumberland, Coun Hepple challenged Cramlington’s Conservative councillors Barry Flux and Wayne Daley “to speak up for the south east against unwarranted attacks”.

Coun Hepple said: “It seems Couns Daley and Flux are quick to attack Labour for not doing enough in the south east, yet their Tory party colleagues seem to think Labour’s doing too much.

“They’ve been silent when Tories have lined up to talk the south east down and they’ve been silent when it comes to supporting projects like the Labour/NHS partnerships in Cramlington, hundreds of new council houses and affordable homes, tackling the scandalous 35,000 pot hole backlog and a series of projects which will see hundreds of jobs created.

“This is their chance to back the south east against their colleagues in the rural areas who seem to delight in setting community against community.

“Labour will continue to speak up for Northumberland and the south east in particular. It’s a shame that the Tories can’t seem to do the same.”

The motion, which was carried, stated that the south east accounts for more than half the total population of Northumberland, and that the area has been “severely disadvantaged” over decades as a result of de-industrialisation.

It added: “This council urges opposition councillors and activists to acknowledge the long standing difficulties faced by communities across the south east and to back Labour’s plans to invest in the south east and across Northumberland.”

Coun Daley argued that the debate should never have come before the town council. He added: “Many of the achievements Labour claimed responsibility for were actually carried out by central government, regional government or the previous County Council, and so they cannot take credit.

“I am 100% behind the south east of this county and there is no need for this political rhetoric.

“This was not an appropriate debate for a town council which should be focusing on cutting the grass and tidying up litter, not discussing decisions we cannot make.

“I feel the people of Cramlington will look at this and see that we wasted an hour and a half talking.”

Coun Daley put forward a counter motion supporting investment in the area but it was rejected.

After the meeting, Coun Jeff Reid, county member for Plessey and leader of the county’s Lib Dem group, said the administration he led before the last election had started many of the projects Labour claimed.

Plans are ongoing to move Northumberland County Council’s County Hall from Morpeth to Ashington by 2018, despite widespread opposition from Labour’s opponents who have questioned the financial and practical benefits of the move.