Whilst not taking legal action against the Home Office using Crowborough Training Camp as asylum accommodation, Green and Liberal Democrat Councillors have found extra cash to celebrate Winnie the Pooh’s 100th birthday.
Last September, the Green & Liberal Democrat Coalition in charge of Wealden District Council announced it would be spending £450,000 on marking Winnie the Pooh’s Birthday, prompting many raised eyebrows from local taxpayers who would be footing the bill. Yet despite refusing to take legal action against the Home Office and not supporting Crowborough Shield CIC’s work, Wealden’s Green and Liberal Democrat Councillors have found more cash for Winnie the Pooh.
In response to a Freedom of Information request, Wealden District Council has confirmed that the budget allocated for the “Big One Hundred project” to mark the Centenary of Winnie the Pooh has now risen to £500,000.
Commenting on the revelation, Sussex Weald’s Conservative MP and a vocal critic of the Home Office’s use of Crowborough Training Camp, Nusrat Ghani said: “It is the month of April, so you would think this is an April Fools’ joke. After a bit of digging for information, I am shocked to discover that the Liberal Democrat and Green Party Coalition leading Wealden District Council decided to spend vast sums of taxpayers’ money on a project with no transparency as to what value it will bring or how they are going to leverage private funding. I am all for celebrating the centenary of Sussex Weald’s most famous resident, but whilst refusing to take legal action against the Home Office’s use of Crowborough Training Camp, Wealden District Council are yet again not prepared to showcase how these funds will actually be spent and I dread to think what resources are being taken away from our local public services.”
