The leader of Shrewsbury and Atcham Borough Council has been reported to the authority’s standards committee in a bitter row over a £5 million regeneration scheme.
Three shopkeepers in Moston Road, Harlescott, who are set to have their stores bulldozed to make way for houses, say they are outraged over comments made by Councillor Peter Nutting about the Severnside Housing project.
All three, together with residents, have now reported Mr Nutting to the standards committee claiming he has made a “serious” prejudicial statement in relation to a planning application for the development.
They also say he has breached his role as a substitute member of the council’s development control committee. All the allegations are refuted by Mr Nutting.
A letter sent to the council management points to comments made by Mr Nutting in the Shropshire Star, in which he claimed bulldozing the shops would help reduce anti-social problems.
It says: “In our opinion his publicly expressed position in respect of the application will have an unfair and prejudicial effect on the members of his own political group who sit on the development control committee and it is quite unacceptable for the leader of the council to publicly attempt to introduce political influence and subjective opinion into this planning application.
“It is outrageous that he is pointedly blaming the Moston Road shops for the poor reputation of the area.”
But Mr Nutting said: “I will not be involved in the planning committee meeting. I’ve not tried to influence anyone.”
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