T&W Council has so far spent £112,000 of public money to give itself planning permission for the huge greenfield residential and supermarket development on the outskirts of Newport.
At the same time public funds of £33,000 have so far been used to fight off rival developments at Mere Park and Audley Avenue in the town that had threatened to devalue the reputed £21m receipt the council stands to gain.
This latter figure will increase dramatically as the local authority has also allocated a further £10,000 for High Court action to overturn planning approval for the Mere Park development granted by an Independent Planning Inspector earlier this year.
Local Councillor Andrew Eade said “Expenditure of public money on this scale makes it very clear how desperate this council’s Labour administration is to build on the greenfields surrounding Newport, even riding roughshod over their own planning policies.”
“They then rub salt into the wound by continuing to spend our money as if it were water by taking High Court action in an attempt to fight off rival developments that threaten their £21m payoff.”
“I have no doubt that if the £150,000 belonged to the councillor’s themselves they would not be frittering it away in this manner, and at a time when they are telling us of a shortage of cash for frontline services.”