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Sunday 30 December 2018

Labour vote 'en masse' (again) to eradicate more Sefton countryside





















More precious green space is set to be destroyed, thanks to customary environmental apathy off the Bootle committee, as residential concerns are dismissed by councillors.

A 68 homes Formby housing development was approved in November on top of the 304 for the Liverpool Road development. Objections have flowed in yet been ultimately dismissed.

Tory Cllr Denise Dutton, Deputy Leader of Conservative Group, attended the meeting and was one of a  minority that voted against the eco-destructive proposal. Cllr Dutton was highly critical of the majority of Labour councillors who voted for this anti-countryside development.

Sefton Labour Councillors previously voted unanimously in favour of building 304 houses on greenbelt land on Liverpool Road, Formby. Cllr Dutton named and shamed several councillors in this Bootle meeting, including Cllrs Catie Page and Carla Thomas.

This is similar to an earlier development proposal in which labour also voted in strength to flatten a wildlife haven in Ainsdale (Kitty's Wood, George Drive), regardless of strong public protests. 


Above: Wildlife haven Kitty's Wood in Ainsdale - destroyed after mass vote by Labour councillors.  

However, during that period Cllr Dutton was apparently happy to vote for that old woodland to be axed, along with the Labour Party councillors that she is now attacking.

Genuine Tory eco-concern, or the eternal quest for more votes? 

So, why was Cllr Dutton content to vote in favour of countryside destruction in Southport, yet strongly opposed to it within her own Formby area?  Why exactly was this so?

Are we perhaps witnessing politically-motivated double standards at play here, based on the desire for local votes rather than any 'genuine' ecological concern? 

Some Formby residents are now saying that this is Tory hypocrisy in action and that they have also been badly let down by their Labour councillors, the latter who are habitually impelled to vote as directed by the Bootle task Masters.





 Above: Downholland Brook

Apparently, this Formby development depends on the small Altcar (not the big Alt Mouth) pumping station, which is due to be eventually closed down by the Environment Agency and also requires water to go under Downholland Brook. Blockages can occur and result in silting up issues that are costly to maintain. Despite this, it is claimed that no money was provided by the developer for its upkeep. Suspicions that these additional expenses will appear on Council Tax Bills in the impending few years have been mentioned by concerned parties.

An increasing number of residents speaking about the growing loss of countryside in Formby and Southport are asking if Bootle is the epicentre for the on-going destruction of our countryside.
What about issues with flooding, schools, increased gridlock, effects on wildlife etc, don’t they think about this?




















Above: the River Alt at Formby

Parish councillors also criticised the destructive Labour vote saying that the ecology report was as much as three years out of date. It was also stated that the developers flooding model was so far removed from the government flood alert predictions that they lacked credibility. It was reiterated that the Labour group on the Planning committee “voted en masse” to support this controversial application.

Labour MP, Bill Esterson, failed to send comments in objecting to the development expansion, it was claimed.

It would seem that the fragile UK countryside has become a political football between belligerent politicians. They appear to care more about town hall political point-scoring, against the other side, than realising that the precious landscape is being destroyed at an alarming rate due to their ‘us-against-them’ type of intransigence and party squabbles.

Residents valuing our lovely countryside are urged to remember why our green spaces are vanishing so fast and vote accordingly at the next election.

The next time any green initiative pushing politician (from any party) tells you that they sincerely care for our UK countryside, endangered wildlife and valid residential concerns just ask them to PROVE IT!

Pat Regan ©








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