Mansfield MP says council "putting politics before residents and services" in parking row

Mr Bradley launched his petition for free parking in the town centre in February.

At the time, Mr Bradley said: “I’ve launched this petition after contacting more than 200 shops and businesses on how we can improve our town centre. “From many of the responses I received from the business owners and managers, parking is a huge issue in our town centre.”

And more than 87 per cent of readers backed Mr Bradley in a poll on your Chad's website.

Mr Bradley, in a statement on his Facebook page, said: "Unfortunately I'm once again in a position where I feel I have to call out Mansfield council for putting politics before local residents and services. I've just listened back to some of last night's full council meeting and there are some issues I feel I need to make residents aware of:

"The council discussed my petition for free parking - though they did not tell me they would be doing so. They have decided the subject is not even worthy of any further discussion on the basis some of the entries only had postcodes instead of full addresses listed.

"I'm sorry but that is a total cop-out.

"I've made it clear the petition was simply about ensuring we can have a proper conversation about how the parking situation might be improved. Who cares what format it came in?

It seems the council will look for any bureaucratic excuse to not have that conversation, and I'm incredibly disappointed with that.

"A Warsop councillor asked a question related to my annual report, in which I said I pushed both the county and district councils to act to save Meden Sports Centre and deliver new facilities.

"The mayor responded to say she has 'received no letters and no emails' from me about this.

"Even if she has had no letters, then that is because I have largely raised it with her, and with council officers, numerous times face to face, not least over the course of about four months participating in her Warsop Commission in the autumn where I said Meden Sports Centre and/or a new facility should be her number one priority.

"That commission now appears to have been a waste of everyone's time. I'm sorry but it is totally disingenuous to try to suggest I have not raised it and I felt I had to correct it. I will be writing to them about this to get an explanation.

"I apologise for negativity but I felt I needed to challenge these two points, which I just found really disappointing."

Mansfield District Council has been contacted for comment.

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