'City council will raid Gedling like Putin' says Labour leader

'THEY'LL TAKE THE BEST BITS AND LEAVE THE REST' IN SHAKE-UP SAYS JOHN CLARKE

- By OLIVER PRIDMORE

A VETERAN Labour council leader has compared Nottingham City Council to Vladimir Putin and fears the authority will “raid” his area “like Ukraine”.

Councillor John Clarke has led Gedling Borough Council since 2011 and fears the quality of life for his residents will deteriorate if his council is scrapped to end up as part of a bigger city authority.

“They'll come in here and they'll raid it like Putin raided Ukraine,” Councillor Clarke said.

“They'll take the best bits and leave the rest.”

But the city council’s Labour leader, Councillor Neghat Khan, says Councillor Clarke’s comments are scaremongering, adding: “I'm not sure what John wants to gain out of this if I’m really honest.”

The borough of Gedling would be split into two under new city council plans.

Arnold, Carlton, Burton Joyce and Stoke Bardolph would join the city and the northern half - containing Calverton, Woodborough and Newstead - would form part of a new county council.

Councillor Clarke said: “Robin Hood Energy - Neghat Khan used to chair that. What happened to that? We've got the castle, there’s another one. Will Gedling suddenly get the workplace parking levy? There's all these issues.

“We fought this off many years ago and we'll fight it again. It’s going to be a big battle.”

Councillor Khan pointed out that she helped to close down Robin Hood Energy and that Nottingham Castle now welcomes 200,000 visitors a year.

The city leader, who said she was “proud” of the workplace parking levy for helping to fund the tram, added: “Let's put the politics aside, let's put the individuals aside.”

The new Labour Government announced soon after getting into office that it wanted to simplify the structure of local councils, partly to save money.