There are signs today that the campaign against the building of football pitches and their associated facilities on the nature reserve at Aylestone Meadows in Leicester his heading for victory.The front page of today's Leicester Mercury reports that both Sir Peter Soulsby, the Labour Mayoral candidate, and Gary Hunt, his Lib Dem counterpart, have both said they will not go ahead with the plan if they are elected on 5 May. The Conservative candidate, Ross Grant, is quoted as making a confused-sounding call for a review.
Just as significant may be the words attributed to Robert Wann, Labour's cabinet member for culture and leisure, who has been the chief enthusiast for the scheme:
"I will continue to support the application but I would like it to be noted that this is an issue I inherited.This is, of course, nonsense. I am reliably informed that until he breathed life into it the application to develop Aylestone Meadows was going nowhere.
"I can't wait for it all to be over – it has been a tough year."
And less than a month ago Wann was boasting to the Mercury:
"If we get the decision at 5pm, I'll have the 'dozers on by 7pm."Still, if even Wann can see that the game is up then it looks as though the Aylestone Meadows campaign has been won.
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A yes vote will see contracts signed with the developer almost immediately, said Richard Watson, the Council's recently-retired director of culture and regeneration. If the new Mayor rips up those contracts, the cash-strapped local authority could be sued.
The Conservative candidate, Ross Grant, is quoted as making a confused-sounding call for a review. No surprise there then. The city council's Tory leader was probably too busy defend himself against the torrent of criticism coming his way. The politicians have had their fingers in the taxpayers' till, treating themselves to nice shiny new gadgets at a time when hundreds of council workers face losing their jobs and services are going to be slashed.
http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/news/savage-cuts-loom-jobs-year-s/article-2487492-detail/article.html
No surprise that the Conservative candidate is confused. The city council's Tory leader was probably too busy defending himself against the torrent of criticism about allegations of bullying and new iPads. The politicians have had their fingers in the taxpayers' till, treating themselves to nice shiny new gadgets at a time when hundreds of council workers face losing their jobs and services are going to be slashed.
http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/news/savage-cuts-loom-jobs-year-s/article-2487492-detail/article.html
http://davidmaclean.eu/tag/nigel-porter/
Ross Grant should immediately join the chorus of voices against the Meadows development - oh wait, I forgot: he's from the newly-re-logo'd 'Green Tree' Tory Party that just tried to sell off Britain's national forests. Not a hope.
Well done Sir Peter and Gary Hunt, shame on you Ross Grant.
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