Councillor Glen Sanderson Ignores plight of Cowpen Road residents may find himself exposed following legal challenge against his Government!

 Following the removal from office by fellow Councillors of the Leader of Northumberland County Council Peter Jackson a Farmer from Ponteland, the new interim Leader of Northumberland County Council Glen Sanderson JP seems to have gone into hiding.

For the last three years he has held the portfolio for Highways and Local Services and just like many of the portfolio holders from the Tory cabinet at County Hall in Morpeth he has spun out stories about what he will deliver for the people of the County.

One of the prime targets he rambled on about in his early days in office during 2017 was his support for the development of a Cowpen Road bypass to spread Blyth’s traffic across a wider network of roads and ease pollution for the thousands who live in the Cowpen/Kitty Brewster areas of Blyth, Northumberland’s largest town.

The County Council has borrowed £880M since he released his promise and spent it mainly on schools and highways in rural areas of the County. His latest spend of course is the promise given to the three Bedlington Councillors to build a swimming pool and leisure centre in their town in exchange for their votes to save his predecessor in the post of Leader, Councillor Peter Jacksons job. This type of unbudgeted spend of course puts back promised projects and the Cowpen Road bypass is the prime one to suffer.

The latest news from the Financial Times today is that the Government faces a legal challenge over clean air plans
The UK Government is facing a legal action to force an early review of air quality targets, as evidence suggests severe coronavirus cases are linked to air pollution. The challenge is being brought by the Good Law Project alongside campaign groups Mums for Lungs, the UK Climate Coalition, and Students for Global Health. A growing number of studies, including analysis by Harvard University, suggest high levels of air pollution can raise the risk of dying from COVID-19. But there is still significant debate over the strength of the link between the two issues. Lawyers making the challenge argue ministers have a legal obligation to act, even if the scientific evidence is not yet conclusive. They are seeking a judicial review, which would examine whether Defra followed the rules in reaching the decision to refuse an early review of the strategy.

Through Councillor Sanderson ignoring the plight of the people in the Cowpen area he is just a guilty as his Government for the illnesses people have suffered since May 2017 when he first made his promise and local people have told us they are keeping a weather eye on the progress of this case and may also seek judicial review to force Councillor Sanderson to keep his promises.

https://www.ft.com/content/7c93b653-50fa-4329-9ba2-cc3342dbe36f