Forum’s shock as council chiefs drain its bank account
JON MACPHERSON
OSWALDTWISTLE Area Forum say they were shocked to discover council bosses had ‘drained’ their bank account to pay for new projects.
Chairman Peter Britcliffe said they were ‘bitterly disappointed’ to discover that more than £24,000 had been removed from their account leaving them with a balance of £16.
The monies had been earmarked to support the town’s organisations and charities with an allocation of £5,000 every year until 2023.
Hyndburn council leader Miles Parkinson defended their actions saying the funding pot was ‘not being used for anything at all’ and will instead be invested in projects which will ‘benefit the people of Oswaldtwistle’.
These include £10,000 for a replacement path on Harvey Street, £4,000 improvements to West End gardens, and £8,000 for replacement wireless CCTV cameras.
However County Coun Britcliffe said the council should have used their own general funds to pay for the schemes.
He said: “I don’t yet know where we go from here.
“Now there are only pennies left.
“The council’s general budget is underspent and monies could have been used from there.”
Coun Marlene Haworth said she was ‘extremely disappointed’ by the council’s ‘lack of transparency’ while Coun Judith Addison said the decision to ‘commandeer’ the area funding without informing councillors was a ‘breach’ of the code of conduct. The Observer reported in 2016 how the council also used £8,250 of area funding to pay for gates at the Heys allotment site.
Coun Parkinson said: “This money was not used because there was an overspend on the parks budget but because it was not being used for anything at all, so instead we put it into a number of new projects which would benefit the people of Oswaldtwistle.
“The money was used to buy wood for planters, replacing the path at Harvey Street, replacing gates in West End Play area, West End garden improvements and to improve the ground at Immanuel Cricket Club.
“The safety of residents is also a priority, therefore, along with all other areas in the borough, some of the money was used to buy replacement wireless CCTV cameras.”