Footpath maintenance budget blown on trip to Cannes?

Whilst  residents of Kirklees battle with harsh winter weather,cuts in services,blocked public footpaths and a 6% rise in council tax the council’s comedy deputy leader has been spotted at a developers jamboree in Cannes. The stunning French resort  certainly looks a better bet than Huddersfield in March so maybe Cllr Pandor is not as daft as he makes out?

Cllr Panodor and his delegation are attending the world’s leading  property and investment event according to the local paper in an attempt to attract more developers to Kirklees and build 10,000 homes in the next 10 years. Why the council felt the need to send him to France (unless they wanted a break from him for a bit) is a mystery as there are developers in almost every greenfield  in the district at the moment.

It does rather highlight the councils desperation to jump into bed with sharp suited developers whose priorities are perhaps not altogether altruistic. As can be seen from the current planning chaos in Kirklees private developers want greenfield sites to build expensive houses and maximise profits whereas what is actually needed in Kirklees is affordable new builds (average asking price in HD9 is over £350k) and social housing. Not really going to find that in Cannes are we?

I suspect the council prefer the £350k type residents and the council tax they can milk them for but that doesn’t look so good in public for a labour run council.

All this high flying and gadding about is quite a contrast to the daily grind of excuses,evasion and platitudes which emanate from kirklees when residents ask for a footpath to be maintained or an obstruction to be cleared. Suddenly the cupboard is bare.