THE leader of St Helens Council has accused the Tories of leading a four-year “scaremongering” campaign against the Local Plan.

Following a series of delays, on Wednesday cabinet agreed to submit the Local Plan to the Secretary of State in October.

The plan, which is a requirement from the Government, sets out the borough’s existing needs for housing, employment, infrastructure, and services, together with its future development plans.

In March this year, council officers reviewed the plan to consider the land use planning implications of the council’s partnership with English Cities Fund (ECF), which paves the way for the regeneration of large parts of the borough.

Officers resolved that the partnership will help the council to accelerate delivery on the sites that have been identified in the Local Plan.

The ECF’s contribution was judged to be within the tolerances already identified in the plan, so officers concluded there is no need for further delay.

As a result, the Labour cabinet have now agreed to submit the Local Plan to the Secretary of State, who will appoint an independent planning inspector to examine the plan and documentation.

The planning inspector will decide when the public examination will be conducted, before publishing their report.

St Helens Borough Council will only be able to adopt the Local Plan if it is found to be legally compliant and sound by the planning inspector.

Before rubber stamping the decision, council leader David Baines took aim at opposition parties, who have remained vehemently opposed to the Local Plan in its current form.

Cllr Baines said: “We all have a responsibility to do all we can to make St Helens borough the most prosperous, healthy, thriving place that it can be.

“And when I say we, I mean all councillors. We’ve got a duty to support the economy, to encourage the provision of new, affordable homes for a generation who can’t get on the property ladder, to attract and generate new jobs and to bring brownfield land back into use, improving existing urban areas while also protecting the overwhelming amount of existing green belt, not to mention our outstanding parks and other open spaces.

“This draft plan takes all these priorities into account. I absolutely understand the concerns of some residents about development and the need for infrastructure to support it, and that’s why this plan makes the need for infrastructure absolutely clear.

“Anyone concerned about the Local Plan who has alternative suggestions, evidence or information will have the opportunity to present that to the independent government inspector who will judge whether the plan is sound or not.

“So while I understand the concerns of some residents have, what I don’t understand, and what I cannot forgive, is the behaviour of the Tory-led opposition who locally spent four years scaring people, spreading rumour and misinformation, giving the impression the borough is going to lose all our green space. We’ve seen the rise of so-called Independent group, who’ve built a career on the back of this scaremongering.

“Opposition councillors have a public duty to tell residents the truth – that at least 59 per cent of our great borough will remain in the green belt, plus our outstanding parks and green spaces, and this plan is focused on jobs, it’s focused on homes and it’s focused on growth.

“You either need to get behind it or come up with a deliverable, evidence-based plan of their own, which they could have spent the last four years developing.”

Last week, all opposition leaders wrote to Cllr Baines calling for a delay to allow time to “reflect, assess and respond” to the impact of the pandemic.

Opposition leaders also questioned the findings of a council-led review into the implications of its strategic partnership with the ECF on the Local Plan.

They said they are “bitterly disappointed” with officers’ recommendation to submit the plan, and warned it is a decision the authority would later regret.

Following Wednesday’s meeting, St Helens Conservative leader Allan Jones hit back at his Labour rival, and denied the Tories are leading any coalition.

Cllr Jones said: “The opposition is not Tory-led. We have three councillors and we are part of an opposition. We do not lead that opposition.

“If David Baines is concerned about the Conservative Party then that has got to be a good thing because it shows we are doing our job.

“We have signed a letter to David Baines, jointly with other opposition parties.

“There is no question of us leading anybody or anything, we are our own people, three councillors doing what we can for the people of St Helens, listening to their views – which is more than the Labour Party is doing now.”

While Cllr Jones denied claims of a Tory-led coalition, he warned that opposition parties were willing to join forces and form a rainbow coalition to oust Labour from power, with an all-out election planned for 2022.

“We haven’t a plan because we don’t need a plan, because we are not controlling the council,” Cllr Jones said.

“What we can do is gain control of the council as a rainbow coalition over the next couple of years, and then the people will see just what can be done.”