Blooming beauty on a budget

'IT'S MIND-BLOWING THAT WE'VE BEEN ABLE TO ACHIEVE THIS FOR JUST £75'

- By GARETH LIGHTFOOT

A TRIO of councillors say they have spent just £75 planting wildflowers - after being quoted more than £2,000 by the council.

Spending of taxpayers’ money and accusations of waste have been at the root of numerous arguments between the Labour group which runs Stockton Council and their Conservative opposition.

The latest disagreement sprouts from a quote for wildflower planting.

Three Conservative councillors Lynn Hall, Niall Innes and Jason French say they took matters into their own hands after being quoted over £2,300 for planting on land at the junction of Birkdale Road and Darlington Road in their Hartburn ward.

They say that Stockton West Conservative MP Matt Vickers bought wildflower seeds and a seed spreader for a total of £75, then prepared the ground and sowed the seeds themselves.

They say wildflowers are growing after they opted to trial the planting this year, and “delivered a colourful and environmentally friendly project themselves - without the sky-high costs proposed by Stockton’s Labour-led council”.

The council's environment lead Cllr Nigel Cooke answered the councillors’ criticisms, saying it would cost more for the council's teams to complete the job “properly” and create a display with more impact.