The leader of Lichfield District Council has insisted a group looking at a new plan for the Friarsgate land will be cross-party.
The reassurances come after claims from the Labour opposition group leader, Cllr Sue Woodward, that the Conservatives had put together a secret scrutiny group.
But Cllr Mike Wilcox, leader of Lichfield District Council, said Labour had been included in the working party on the Birmingham Road site.
“The New Cabinet and senior Officers attended a joint meeting to evaluate the exciting opportunities that now lie ahead for the Birmingham Road Sites and how, in the short term, we could improve the appearance and offer some features to the sites, which include the garage, bus station, kiosks and the Police Station building,” he said. “At the same time we have also commissioned a structural report on all of the buildings.
“I then proposed that a cross party working group be set up to work with all partners, including those groups within the city, as well as engaging with the public and then ultimately reporting back to the economic growth and development overview and scrutiny committee who would then report back to Cabinet and then to Council.
“In order to put this into place I spoke to the Chair of committee to suggest this working group be established at which he consulted with his two Vice-Chairs – one labour and one Conservative councillor – they had no issue with this approach and confirmed that this was in order.
“I would have assumed that the Labour councillor would have made the Labour leader aware of this proposal, but when it subsequently got mentioned at the overview and scrutiny co-ordinating group, Cllr Woodward was visibly annoyed that she did not know anything of this suggestion of a working group.
“I assumed that her colleague would have informed her, since then I had already been e-mailing my members asking for volunteers to join this group.”
Cllr Wilcox has also hit back at his Labour counterpart’s criticism of the £7million bill facing taxpayers for the failed Firarsgate scheme.
“In relation to the misinterpretation regarding monies spent, Cllr Woodward knows full well where monies have been utilised to purchase land and property that will give the council a financial return and therefore is not money wasted,” he said.
“As always she looks for ways to attack the controlling party without supplying everyone with all of the facts.”
