Councillor Flynn is wrong

Posted By: Ibrar Khan
Date Posted: 08/04/2009

As Lib Dem Councillors continue to fight among themselves, I would like to place on record my concerns over Councillor Pat Flynn’s mean spirited objection to a festival designed to foster civic pride and celebrate the good things about Rochdale.

For Councillor Flynn to argue that people would believe it “obscene” to fund a project like this during a recession is deeply hypocritical when you look at the huge amount of public money that the Lib Dems have wasted recently.

Does she consider it obscene to waste hundreds of thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money on plush new Lib Dem offices, a failed town centre developer selection process and the appointment of expensive advisors to help councillors do their job?

Obviously not judging by her silence on these issues.

What Councillor Flynn fails to recognise is how festivals of this kind can play a vital role in building confidence across communities and generating pride in our town. The Government’s spending watchdog, the Audit Commission, has already warned that the recession could cause a wave of social problems and the onus is on councils to rise to this challenge and work hard to bring communities together and celebrate shared values. Above all, shouldn’t the council be providing more opportunities for people to have fun?

We need social thinking to pull us out of recession, not the kind of short-sighted, curmudgeonly attitude demonstrated by Councillor Flynn.