13th May 2008

The Labour group on North Lincolnshire Council has today moved to deny Conservative claims two local civic amenity sites are to close.  The lies are made in a Tory leaflet which has been distributed by Ridge ward members John England and Trevor Foster.

The pair claim in the leaflet the Labour council is to shut Kirton Lindsey’s civic amenity site, along with another unnamed site, under the heading ‘Two Tips To Close!!’  Labour has condemned the leaflet as irresponsible and totally untrue.  There are NO plans to close any civic amenity sites at any location in North Lincolnshire.

Cllr Len Foster, Deputy leader of the Labour-led council, said: “Their claims are highly irresponsible and complete and utter nonsense. It would seem our local Tories have no success stories of their own to shout about so they are forced to lie to the electorate to make it look like the Labour group is failing. They should be ashamed.

“Under this Labour council more waste is being recycled than ever before. Almost 46 per cent of our waste is now recycled saving the taxpayer thousands of pounds in landfill taxes.  It was right and proper for the council to review all of our waste recycling services. We need to ensure taxpayers are getting best value for their money and a full review was carried out. We have looked at each and every site and all of them are playing a vital role in helping us reach our recycling targets. I am delighted to confirm following our review not one civic amenity site will close.

“Sadly the Tories took it upon themselves to tell residents that sites in Belton and Kirton Lindsey were closing. Kirton is one of the best performing sites in the region – why on Earth would we ever consider closing it? I hope the two Ridge ward Tories will go back to their electorate and tell them the truth – and say just how good a job this Labour council is doing with recycling.”

Cllr Foster said the leaflet distributed in Ridge was of particularly poor quality. He added: “The leaflet itself is poorly designed and littered with spelling mistakes and grammatical errors - a great surprise as I always thought Cllr John England was a school teacher. It also lacks any common theme and seems a little fractured – just like the local Tory party!”