Green Councillor Tim Hamilton-Cox has called on the Conservative candidate in the Scotforth East byelection to retract the entirely false claim that the Greens voted to support the extensive housing development associated with the ‘Bailrigg garden village’.
It is a matter of public record that the Greens unanimously voted against the proposal to enter in to the ‘Collaboration Agreement’ with Lancashire County Council in August 2021.
Two years later in June 2023 the Conservative-led Lancashire County Council itself withdrew from the £140m funding agreement with government which would have enabled the ‘South Lancaster Growth Catalyst.’
Tim said: “It is deeply concerning that residents in Scotforth East who are unfamiliar with the detail may take the Conservatives’ claim at face value. I appreciate that Tim Wood, the by-election candidate, has now discussed the content of the leaflet with me, and I asked him to publicly retract the assertion given it is a lie. It is important that the public know that when it came to the key vote the Labour group did support the Collaboration Agreement; and the Greens did not.
“The Greens were consistently vocal in their opposition to Bailrigg garden village – for both environmental and financial reasons. What ultimately killed the road infrastructure and housing scheme, which was collectively known as ‘South Lancaster Growth Catalyst’, was its sheer lack of viability. I made this point before and during the debate that preceded the crucial council vote in August 2021. It took two more years before the Conservatives at County also realised this and ultimately withdrew support.”
Green candidate in Scotforth East, Andrew Otway, added: “This is not the way to conduct politics. If there is no regard for truth in what candidates say in their leaflets, it chips away at faith in the whole political process. I hope that the Conservative candidate will publicly retract that falsehood.”
Photo of the Conservative election material shown below.
