No Lib Dem on Urban Development Corporation Board

9.00.00am GMT Fri 11th Mar 2005

Local Liberal Democrats today accused the Labour's Minister of State, Lord Jeff Rooker, of reneging on promises and acting with party political bias over the appointment of the board of the West Northamptonshire Urban Development Corporation.

Northampton Borough Council's representatives on the Board, which must include one administration (Tory) and one opposition member, will be announced on Monday (14 March). There will be no Liberal Democrat even though the Lib Dems are by far the largest opposition party on the Borough Council representing over 30% of the electors in the area covered by the UDC. Instead, Lord Rooker has appointed a Councillor from his own Labour Party - who represent only one in five of Northampton's electors. The total make up of Local Authority representatives is expected to be 4 Conservatives and 2 Labour (including County Council, Northampton Borough, Daventry District and South Northants District Council representatives).

Richard Church, Leader of the Liberal Democrat group on Northampton Borough Council, said: "This is outrageous. The UDC is now a totally discredited body before it has even started. Lord Rooker promised, early on, that representatives of all political opinion would be included - he has clearly reneged on that promise. A House of Lords enquiry recognised that Northampton, which has 87% of the population within the UDC area, was very badly under-represented in the government's original proposals.

"We were promised a fair and open selection of Board members. But no one who has been the least critical of the creation of the UDC or the development targets has been appointed. Now Rooker has blatantly ignored the political balance that he, himself, promised by appointing a Councillor from his own Labour Party - even though they are very much the smallest party on Northampton Borough Council with only 10 members.

"The whole process is now completely discredited. As we predicted, the Urban Development Corporation - which has massive powers to build over our green fields and to change the face of our town - has been packed with compliant yes-men and women who will do the ministers bidding regardless of the opinions or needs of local people.

"Any pretence at democracy or local control has been swept away. This is New Labour control freakery at its most blatant. We will be demanding an enquiry into the whole biased and discredited process."

Ends

Cllr Tony Woods and Cllr John Yates were the Liberal Democrat nominees for the UDC place reserved for the opposition on Northampton Borough Council. Both have strong experience in planning and development matters. Cllr Woods is currently the Deputy Chair of NBC's Planning, Regeneration and Transport Overview & Scrutiny Committee, while Cllr Yates has sat on the Planning Committee for six years and is the Party's Planning Spokesman.