Wirral’s new Conservative leader thinks the council should avoid “bonkers stuff” and listen to people more.
Cllr Jeff Green was recently re-elected as the leader of the second largest group on the council earlier this month taking over from Cllr Tom Anderson. Previously a council leader from 2010 to 2011 and for three months in 2012, he has now led the Conservatives three times.
Going forward, Cllr Green thinks the local authority needs to change its approach.
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An example of this, he said, is the ongoing controversy over Hoylake Beach. In 2019, a decision was made to stop spraying weed killer on the beach and the issue has remained divisive ever since.
He said: “It all goes back to that. It was taken without consultation with the public, without engaging local residents and local representatives and that is where that probably arises from. So rather than doing bonkers stuff on a whim, we need to be open and transparent when doing public policy.”
In contrast, he believes the £16m sea wall in West Kirby is an example of public consultation done right despite criticism of the project from his own councillors.
He said: “It was a huge change but nonetheless my sense when I was speaking to people is that people are starting to see a wall designed well with seating, a completely improved promenade and public realm," adding: “There was a massive consultation before that was put forward. People were spoken to and the design reflected the public views.”
Cllr Green argues this is the reason why schemes like cycle lanes are often controversial pointing to the one on Fender Lane. He said: “It is connected to nothing and it’s caused all sorts of congestion. It’s dangerous because of the congestion and as far as I can tell no one uses it. It’s just bad public policy."
He thinks the council "needs to go with and take public opinion with it. It needs to be properly listening, not just turning up and hearing but actually listening. This kind of fundamentalist approach to issues is not how you do public policy."
He added: “I want to see less a finger wagging council and more an enabling council, more a helping hand rather than an iron fist.”
Despite the bruising election results which saw the Conservatives lose seven seats, Cllr Green doesn’t think the losses were a vote against his local party pointing to predictions every Conservative could lose their seat on the Wirral in October. National polls showed Labour averaging 29% ahead at the time.
He said: “My takeaway from the results is that the Labour Party did well but not stunningly well. If you think given the Conservative Government has been in place for 13 years but they couldn't take a majority on the council.
“There were reports there would be no Conservative councillors on the Wirral but I think we have done very well compared to the situation before Christmas.
“We lost some very good councillors so that is a shame through no one’s fault when the national polls are what they are.
“Rishi (Sunak) has moved the party in the right direction and already the big picture is that the public are starting to respond, not enough but they are starting to respond.”
During the elections, green belt issues were a major focus in the campaign as the council looks to fight off an appeal by Leverhulme Estates and is under scrutiny for its Local Plan which puts brownfield development first.
Labour on the Wirral currently opposes greenbelt development after it lost its majority in 2019 over the issue. Cllr Green however said he was "shocked" to hear comments from Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer that he would allow some green belt development to build houses.
Sir Keir said his party would "make tough choices" as he called for planning rules to be relaxed but said "this is not about disrespecting the green belt."
Cllr Green said: "We have seen all the leaflets from the Labour about how they had learned their lesson though of course they didn't," adding he believes "the Labour Party nationally and locally are threatening the green belt and it is worrying."
He said "We will have to test that, that will need to be tested about whether the Labour Party agrees with Keir Starmer on this. We will have to wait and see." Wirral Labour has confirmed they still support a brownfield first policy.
Going forward as well as a change in approach, Cllr Green thinks the council needs to think longer term, focus on the whole of Wirral, and avoid having “every year the same sort of budget crisis.”
While analysis shows Wirral Council’s government funding has been cut by nearly 25%, Cllr Green points to his time as leader during the period of austerity under Prime Minister David Cameron when the council and the public sector faced “severe cuts.”
He said: “I remember the situation the entire country was in, I remember there was no money left so it was clear emergency measures needed to be made.”
Cllr Green argues the situation has changed since Theresa May with more money for local government, adding: “Of course everyone can say they want more money. Everybody wants more money and would like to do more but again it is what it is. I have always tried to approach issues by focusing on the things I have control over. Otherwise you are just wasting yours and everybody else’s time.”
On regeneration, he said: “We have also received over £100m of money in terms of Levelling Up and Future High Streets funding so we need to get that moving and find out what sort of changes are people wanting to see."
When asked whether he thought Wirral Council was focusing too much on Birkenhead, Cllr Green doesn’t think “this is an either or situation” but the council should be working to improve communities across the Wirral.
He added: “There are communities that are being left behind so an important focus for me is placing the needs of Wirral residents as a whole rather than in a small handful of areas.
“We’ve received all this money from the government and spent it on regeneration, but if you go down to Victoria Road in New Brighton and look at what they are doing, they have had barely a penny there."
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