Lib Dems win Council Backing over Opposition to £1.2 Million Private Subsidy

Commenting after Monday's Full Council Meeting at which the Lib Dems forced the Mayor and his Cabinet to look again at their plans to pay £1.2 million pounds for a Ground Source Heat Pump at the private Riverside Square Development, Cllr David Sawyer said:

"We are happy that the cabinet will now have to look again at this proposal after receiving this emphatic message. Having approved an inherently unsustainable design for Riverside Square, the Mayor must not now force local taxpayers to pay for an expensive piece of eco-tokenism. Rather than subsidising a private development, this Council should make sure that developers have green solutions built in from the start. It is time for an effective approach to sustainability.

However, the Mayor remains adamant that he will force this extravagant folly through and make local residents foot the breathtaking £1.2 million bill.

He and his Cabinet pledged previously that Riverside Square would be entirely developer-funded, and we are demanding that they take this second chance to keep their promise to the people of this Borough."