LETTER TO THE WEEKLY NEWS

In response to your article “Call for Inquiry After Secret Council Papers are Leaked” and, in particular, the comments made by Councillor Chris Hughes about an un-named Town Councillor who asked him questions.
I freely admit to being the Town Councillor he is referring to; and yes I did publish his non-cooperative response in respect of a very important issue. I had proposed that the old indoor market be demolished and re-built as a new indoor market with a drop-in style cafe/ Council information centre above, there would also have been a child’s, supervised, adventure play area. Before the vote could be taken Councillor Hughes branded the proposal as short sighted and stated that the County Council had ear-marked the site for an “exciting new development” he also added that the idea of the Regeneration Grant was to promote local employment.
When I asked him about this “exciting new development” he replied, (“He” not “We”) “I am not at liberty to disclose sensitive information”. What he did not tell the Town Council was that the County Council were planning to build a block of Council Offices on the site, had he done so, given the choice of a market or Council Offices the Town Council may have voted differently. The new Council Offices will not bring-in local employment, all the satellite offices would be closed and centralised in Colwyn Bay, just what the Town does not want, especially when, 200 metres down the road, we have an half empty Assembly building. Bringing the offices from Eirias Park would also free-up space for the planned “Super Surgery”, how nice.
Councillor Hughes wears three hats; Town Councillor hat, County Councillor hat and his Labour Party hat, he has to decide which side of the fence he is on, is he for the people that voted him in or is he for the Council’s code of secrecy? Our County Councillors work for us, we voted them in there, they should be answerable to the people not shrouding themselves in secrets and mystery. We are already aware of where the Labour Party’s policy on secrecy has led us to, what we need now, more than ever, is openness and transparency from our County Councillors, earn back the trust we put in you and stop acting like geriatric James Bonds.
I make no apology for questioning the County Council or its Councillors on issues that detrimentally affect Colwyn Bay and its Communities and I will continue to do so; Councillor Hughes can quote the Code of Conduct until the cows come home but I will not be put off; if he doesn’t like the heat... get out of the kitchen.

Councillor John Oddy.