Lee Anderson column: Ashfield Council is politically leaderless and residents are suffering
Residents of Ashfield are suffering and nothing is being done about it.
One of the most important parts of my job as Ashfield's MP is to assist constituents with any issues they may need help with.
This can range from disputes with third parties such as businesses, councils, police, or other organisations, or queries with Government policy or Reform UK policy, and so on.
To that end, I receive hundreds of emails every day from Ashfield constituents.
But by far the biggest issue that residents contact me about is problems they have with Ashfield Council, or a service that they are supposed to provide.
In the last six months, helping Ashfield constituents with council-related issues has made up over a quarter of my office's casework.
That is a staggering statistic.
Things are clearly going wrong at that council.
We've had significant delays to the ADMC site opposite Sutton Parkway train station.
Sutton town centre has become lawless under their watch, with a recent stabbing on Outram Street, and yobs causing misery to the lives of shoppers and businesses.
Fly-tipping is being left uncleared for many weeks, attracting rodents and creating odour disturbances.
We've had a summer of discontent with bins routinely being left unemptied since the council introduced a four-day working week for refuse workers.
Rumbles Café on Sutton Lawn has permanently closed its doors recently.
This was a community café that employed people with special needs, that was forced to close.
Off Mansfield Road in Sutton on the footpath next to the Tesco Express, we have a whole camp of homeless people in tents, yet the council has completely failed to take action despite residents and I having raised this on numerous occasions.
A number of residents have also told me that their local councillors have seemingly vanished and that they are struggling to get in touch with them.
Ashfield Council is a local authority giving the impression of being politically leaderless and Ashfield residents are suffering as a result.
What is worse, because of the next elections to the council being cancelled thanks to the Labour Government and their local reorganisation programme, these councillors will retain their positions until May 2028.
So, I implore local Ashfield Independent councillors – do the job you were elected to do.