COUNCIL CLANGER ON CONSULTATION OVER BRIDGE FATE

Article by Shaun Greaney - 08 July 2005

Swansea Council leader Chris Holley has admitted the authority dropped a clanger over the Slip Bridge consultation. The £35,000 exercise was hoped to point the way forward for the council on the thorny question of what to do with the bridge, which had fallen into disrepair.

But now, Councillor Holley has admitted the process was prone to being influenced by a pressure group or individuals.

The admission comes after a long-standing Liberal Democrat local activist resigned from the party, attacking his party's actions while in power as "stupid".

Gary Perkins was part of the Cwmbwrla and Manselton Focus Team but became disillusioned after the Lib-Dems took power at County Hall in a coalition pact with Independents and Conservatives.

The party's handling of the Slip Bridge was the last straw for the former election agent to Councillor Holley.Mr Perkins said £35,000 of council tax payers' money was wasted in the consultation exercise over the bridge.

He said there was a 5.3 per cent majority in favour of keeping the bridge and returning it to its original location.

But Mr Perkins said the decision to site the Slip Bridge on the seafront promenade was taken behind closed doors and never put before the public.

"I'm absolutely appalled by the way the party has been operating," said the Lib-Dem member for the past 16 years.

He attacked the U-turns made by the council over the leisure centre, saying the authority said one thing one night and another the next.

"They clearly can't make their minds up what's going on. Either that or there's a hidden agenda," he said.

But Councillor Holley denied the accusations.He said a mistake had been made in the handling of the Slip Bridge questionnaire, whereby the outcome could have been skewed by a pressure group sending in a host of forms after picking up hundreds from Swansea Library.

"We couldn't guarantee that hadn't been done by one individual or one pressure group," said Councillor Holley.

"That was the mistake we made but to verify the result would have cost an absolute fortune."He added: "The decision was made by the administration and not just the Liberal Democrats."