Council spends nearly £20,000 on consultation then ignores result

Cash strapped Newcastle City Council, which this week unveiled another round of cuts to their budget, has been accused of an "appalling waste of money" and of "flouting the wishes of the people" by some of its own councillors.

Figures obtained by Gosforth Liberal Democrat councillors show that the Labour-run authority spent £18,386.49 on the recent Gosforth Transport Scheme consultation.

The result of this dialogue was that 51% of residents opposed the council's controversial plans.

However the Labour-run council chose to ignore the consultation and press ahead with their unpopular flagship scheme to remove parking and create the region's first "Red Route" along Gosforth High Street.

Councillor Jackie Slesenger, who represents West Gosforth, said: "This is an appalling waste of council taxpayers' money.

"I understand that democracy costs money but you can't just ignore the result because it is not the one you want.

"We as local councillors get about the same amount of money in our ward budgets. Imagine what we could have done with that instead of wasting it on a bogus consultation."

Councillor Henry Gallagher, from East Gosforth Ward, said: "The council's administration are flouting the wishes of the people.

"Most councillors on the city council were elected with far less votes than 51%, yet they claim that the result is within the statistical margin of error. In that case so is the Scottish referendum vote too."

There are fears that by reducing parking and having a red route designed to push the traffic through Gosforth without stopping, that this could have a detrimental effect on the area's traders.

The news also came out this week that the popular Post Office in the Gosforth Shopping Centre is be closed and relocated elsewhere away from the High Street.

Councillor David Down, from Parklands Ward, added: "The news about the Post Office is a hammer blow on top of the decision to change the roads and parking.

"However I bet the Gosforth traders who are struggling to stay open in the current trading environment would have loved a share of the consultation money that the council's administration has now simply poured down the drain."

ends