A Lichfield councillor has called for assurances that there are no skeletons are being kept in the closet until after the local elections.
Cllr Dave Robertson’s comments came in a question to a meeting of Lichfield District Council this week.
The Labour representative for Curborough ward said residents needed reassurances that a repeat of the Friary Grange Leisure Centre situation around the time of the last local election in 2019 did not emerge.
He asked Cllr Doug Pullen, leader of Lichfield District Council:
“In 2019 as people went to the polls to elect their representatives for the coming four years, the leadership of the council was well aware of the ongoing discussions about the academisation of Friary School and the potential knock-on effect to Friary Grange Leisure Centre.
“Despite knowledge of this, no publicity was made about the threat to Lichfield’s public leisure centre before people went to the polls, and the decision about the future of the facility kicked down the road until after the elections which then led the cabinet to make a disastrous decision to close the centre, before being forced into a U-turn in light of a backlash in the community.
“Can you give an assurance to voters that no such skeletons are being kept in the closet ahead of these elections?”
Cllr Pullen, who will be seeking standing in the Boley Park ward on 4th May, said that Labour members had been aware of the talks on the future of Friary Grange Leisure Centre which had been discussed at a meeting of the overview and scrutiny committee before the 2019 election.
He told Cllr Robertson that his framing of the point was “crass and potentially misleading”.
“Since I became leader in May 2019, I have given a firm commitment to transparency at Lichfield District Council.
“While I wasn’t part of the leadership team in the run up to the 2019 elections and therefore cannot speak on their behalf, I do note that Labour group members were alerted to discussions around the future viability of Friary Grange Leisure Centre at the leisure, parks and waste overview and scrutiny committee held in March 2019.
“Given that members of the Labour group were party to this information, discussed in a public forum with minutes then published, I find your characterisation of this as a ‘skeleton’ rather crass and potentially misleading.”
Cllr Doug Pullen, Lichfield District Council
Cllr Pullen added:
“I’m very proud that the Conservative group backed investing £695,000 pounds into refurbishing Friary Grange Leisure Centre, which was completed ahead of time and under-budget, during Covid-19 restrictions.
“I’m even prouder that we have allocated £10million for a brand new leisure centre in Cllr Robertson’s current ward, and that we have brought our leisure provision back in-house to provide our residents with two top class leisure centres.
“He has my guarantee that we will continue our good work if we are successful in the upcoming elections.”
Cllr Doug Pullen, Lichfield District Council
The at a glance list of candidates standing in the Boley Park ward at Lichfield District Council:
Andrew Fox
Labour
Scott Hollingsworth
Liberal Democrat
Rajesh Kulkarni
Labour
Doug Pullen
Conservatives
Mark Warfield
Conservatives
The at a glance list of candidates standing in the Curborough ward at Lichfield District Council:
Colin John Ball
Labour
Daniel Floyd
Conservatives
Dave Robertson
Labour
