A Lichfield councillor has accused his rival of using the failed Friarsgate development to try to score political points.
Lib Dem representative Cllr Paul Ray called for social housing to take centre stage in any future plans for the city centre site.
A long-awaited retail redevelopment on the Friarsgate site finally bit the dust earlier this year after more than a decade of planning, leaving taxpayers with a £7million bill.
But Conservative councillor Jon O’Hagan accused his Lib Dem rival of missing most of the meeting held by a working group on the issue.
“Cllr Ray arrived late to that meeting of the Birmingham Road site working group,” he said. “He then left early, after being there for about half an hour.
“The rest of the group were there for the full meeting, which lasted two and a half hours.
“If Cllr Ray had attended he might have a better understanding of what was discussed.
“It might even have made him think twice before rushing off to LichfieldLive in an attempt to try and point score or to offer up his political sound bites.”
Cllr Ray said his party’s plan for the site had included a focus on housing for those not usually catered for in major city centre housing projects.
“The Lib Dem vision includes working with housing associations to provide family-centric housing as a key part of the development, thereby infusing new life and energy into the centre of the city,” he said.
“We must not just allow the housing on this site to be more housing mainly for the retired and high-end earners.
“I look forward to providing ongoing input into this working group and then seeing action from the Conservatives on taking this project forward.”
