Labour run York Council’s legal battle over traffic restrictions on Lendal Bridge and Coppergate has cost taxpayers £700 a week, according to figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats.
At the end of March a Government Traffic Adjudicator ruled that the council had “no power” to issue fines on Lendal Bridge or Coppergate. Since then, York Council has been contesting the Adjudicator’s ruling on both the schemes.
However, last week the council said it was dropping the Lendal Bridge appeal and only continuing with the Coppergate challenge.
The Lib Dems can now reveal that so far the council has spent £11,330 on the legal battle, with the figure set to continue to rise as the Coppergate row rolls on.
The revelation comes at a time when Labour are refusing to say when their proposal to repay the fines unlawfully imposed on drivers using Lendal Bridge will be refunded.
Despite claims made on TV and in Council media releases that the Council had decided to repay the fines, it emerged at the last Council meeting that no such decision had been made.
A meeting to discuss the proposal – and a move to withdraw the Councils appeal against the traffic adjudicators decision – was promised “shortly” but has still not yet been scheduled.
Cllr Keith Aspden, Liberal Democrat Group Leader on City of York Council,commented:
“It is deeply concerning that Labour is spending taxpayers’ money in this way. The legal challenge has been costing taxpayers’ £700 a week since the process began at the start of April. We already know that a lot of this has been completely wasted as Labour has dropped its appeal over the botched Lendal Bridge trial and agreed to repay the motorists fined.
“In April the Labour Council said they were confident of winning the Lendal Bridge appeal. Last week they abruptly dropped the challenge after a behind-closed-doors meeting. I have asked for an explanation as to what changed and what legal advice was given between April and July. The public has a right to know.
“I also think the Council Leader has serious questions to answer. He has spent public money in a failed attempt to defend his Cabinet’s flawed decision to close Lendal Bridge. He needs to justify why he did this. Last week, when I called for him to resign over his handling of the Lendal Bridge trial he chose not to defend his actions during the debate at Full Council. I hope this week he will at least try a little harder to explain his actions to residents.”
A Liberal Democrat motion at last week’s Full Council was defeated by 25 votes to 18 with 2 abstentions. The motion called on Labour leader James Alexander and Cllr Dave Merrett, the Cabinet Member in charge of the Lendal Bridge trial, to quit and formally apologise,as well as automatically refund all the motorists fined.