Town councillors make plea for fair deal

TOWN councillors have written to Broxtowe Borough Council to ask for a fairer deal for Kimberley.

Members of Kimberley Town Council are angry about what they believe has been a lack of consultation on serious issues affecting their community.

In the letter they highlight:

The decision to introduce car parking charges in the town, despite a petition of 2,500 names against the fees.

The lack of liaison between the borough council and the town council over the sale of the Kimberley Brewery site.

The borough council's decision to remove �11,160 in grant aid from the town council and to raise council tax in the area by 17.1 per cent in 2010.

Town council chairman Shane Eason said the town was not getting its fair share.

He told the Post: "There are three other big towns in the borough and what is spent on them far outweighs what is spent on Kimberley."

Mr Eason said people were particularly unhappy about the sale of the old Kimberley Brewery site.

Borough council leader David Watts held talks with Barteak Developments Ltd regarding the sale of the brewery before talks broke down late last year. The site was later bought at auction by Leicester-based Alif Group.

The letter to the borough claims Mr Watts did not pay sufficient regard to the residents of Kimberley when discussing the potential sale of the brewery site.

The town council was also disappointed Mr Watts took only fellow Liberal Democrat councillors to the meetings rather than elected representatives for Kimberley on the town or borough councils.

The letter follows a unanimous vote of no confidence in the leading group of Broxtowe Borough Council during a town meeting in December.

But Mr Watts questioned why it had taken so long for the council to express their concerns.

"We have spent a lot of money in Kimberley, such as recent improvements to the leisure centre," he said.

"Residents in the local campaign group Save Our Brewery Site understood the reason why the meetings were kept confidential. It was because we didn't want the sale to fall through.

"We involved Liberal Democrat councillors because we are in a Liberal Democrat council."

A spokesman for Broxtowe Borough Council said it had received the letter but it had not yet formally replied.

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