GREEN belt campaigners have criticised the appointment of Seve Gomez-Aspron as planning committee chairman.

The Newton-le-Willows councillor was named as chairman of the committee following a cabinet reshuffle last week.

The appointment sparked an immediate backlash from members of the Rainford Action Group, which opposes green belt development – something Cllr Gomez-Aspron has been vocal about in the past.

A tweet from his personal twitter account from February 2017 that said green belt development “will happen”, is currently being shared by campaigners.

James Wright, chairman of Rainford Action Group, said: “St Helens is a borough with a declining population, thousands of empty homes and plenty of brown field land in need of development.

“The desire of the council to build on protected land is a purely political position, which this councillor has publicly supported many times.

“There are thousands of St Helens residents who strongly disagree.

“How can these people now have faith in decisions made by the planning committee?

“It certainly leaves any decision taken by the planning committee open to challenge.”



 

Cllr Gomez-Aspron has now deactivated his Twitter account.

He told the Local Democracy Reporter Service that the tweet being shared by campaigners has been taken out of context.

“It seems the protest group have taken a single comment made in February 2017, removed every other part of the conversation including the context and are now trying to misrepresent that to suit their cause,” he said.

“My comment referred to the expansion of Haydock Industrial Estate, which was granted planning permission on January 18, 2017, by a committee I had no involvement with.

“Therefore, my comment that it ‘will/would’ happen made weeks later was merely a statement of fact.

“They are aware of this because the conversation was with them in a public forum.

“It is disappointing that this is the tactic they are trying to employ but one the public need to be well aware of.”

Cllr Gomez-Aspron has defended his appointment, saying he was selected democratically following a vote at the Annual Council meeting last week.

“Protest groups are entitled to their opinions, but that does not top trump the democratic process,” he said.

“I don’t like the fact that we have a Conservative Prime Minister, but it doesn’t mean that I should decry the democratic process by personally attacking her.”

The Newton councillor added that his role as chairman of the planning committee will not affect the draft Local Plan.

He said: “It is the job of the planning committee to consider applications made to the council from anybody who makes them.

“It is the job of the cabinet member to have responsibility for policy like the draft Local Plan.

“The draft Local Plan is not a planning application and I am not the cabinet member.

“The Local Government Association publish all necessary guidance on how planning applications should be dealt with.

“Queries about the draft Local Plan should be directed to the portfolio holder or your own ward councillors as the elected members represent the circa 180,000 people in the borough.”

It is not the first time the Labour councillor has faced a backlash from protesters.

In May 2017, Cllr Gomez-Aspron was installed as portfolio member for growth, which included responsibility for the draft Local Plan, after half the cabinet was sacked followed a failed coup on the then leader, Barrie Grunewald.

Cllr Gomez-Aspron subsequently resigned from the role after just one week, insisting that he wanted to focus on his role as a Newton-le-Willows ward councillor.

Last December he was hauled before the council’s standards committee following a string of complaints from the public over his conduct, mostly in relation to his use of social media.

Complaints included “alleged inappropriate and disrespectful comments, use of swear words, emojis and emoticons” and related to content on Cllr Gomez-Aspron’s personal and council Twitter profiles as well as his Facebook account.

Out of 13 separate complaints made against Cllr Gomez-Aspron, nine were upheld in full and three in part. One was not upheld.

The standards committee subsequently recommended numerous sanctions against the Newton councillor.

Mr Wright, Rainford Action Group chairman, said: “This councillor has a truly appalling disciplinary record.

“In any organisation that values respect and trust, he would surely be barred from a role with responsibility.”