Hull Labour Group have clarified that the decision to alter Freetown Way in Hull was taken following public consultation conducted under the Labour Administration in December 2021.
Following consultation on all the road improvements conducted by the then Labour run Council in December 2021 the decision was taken by Labour to make changes to the layout of Freetown Way in response to the views expressed by Hull road users. These plans are now available, and the Hull Lib Dems have claimed responsibility for them.
Councillor Daren Hale said:
“To try to claim that the Lib Dems have had anything to do with the new plans for Freetown Way is typical Liberal Democrat spin and dishonesty.
This decision, after public consultation, was fully reported in a local newspaper on 7th December 2021, an inconvenient fact for the Lib Dems that can easily be checked.
Labour’s commitment to ‘active travel’ and ‘modal shift’, which are also national Lib Dem policy, were initially supported by the Lib Dems but when the works began, they flip-flopped as usual and blamed Labour for the Government rules on implementation of the works. The irony is that they are now welcoming the prospect of further road works disrupting traffic across the city.
The reality is that they will dodge doing anything by conducting endless consultations and eventually the Government will get fed up with them and walk away.
Any changes to the scheme funded by the Government would have to be agreed with Government as would the £4M cost. If Government were minded to do this the Lib Dems need to be honest with the public that this would result in further road works not just on Freetown Way but on Beverley Road and Spring Bank as well.
However, if they are serious about this they need to act quickly, tell people the truth and seek views while at the same time begin negotiating with the Government in ernest to secure the funding, otherwise this is just s’smoke and mirrors from the Lib Dems again”