Political rivals join forces to clear footpath

City councillors from opposing parties have come together to clear weeds and rubbish from a footpath in Peterborough.

Fletton and Woodston's Reform councillor, Andrew O'Neil, joined Greens Ed Murphy and Katherine Sharp to work on a section of Woodston footpath, connecting Wareley Road to Pleasure Fair Meadow Road.

The three said they were happy to work with others from across the political spectrum to put residents first and resolve local problems.

O'Neil said: "As I've got to know [Murphy and Sharp], they've got to see that I'm a normal, respectable human being and someone that can work alongside them on issues such as maintaining things in the ward."

O'Neil said he was "more than happy to work with any other ward councillors", including the Greens.

"We don't agree on national policy but, like a Venn diagram, there is overlap on things we do care about and have in common, such as supporting our residents locally," he said.

Sharp agreed, saying "if we all agree something is a good idea for the community, then we'll come together and do it" despite the "vast differences" in politics between the parties.

Murphy said he wanted to see greater collaboration across the council, which has an administration made up of Labour, Liberal Democrat and Peterborough First councillors.

Green Party activists and members of the public also took part in the clean-up.

But O'Neil claimed the Labour-led administration "do not want to see Reform or even the Green councillors succeeding" in Fletton and Woodston, after losing their seats there following the deaths of Alan Dowson and Nick Thulbourn and the resignation of Daisy Blakemore-Creedon.

Shabina Qayyum, the council's Labour leader, said her administration "refute the allegation that we want to see councillors of other parties fail".

"No ward in Peterborough is either advantaged or disadvantaged, or given special treatment over others," she said.

At a meeting last week, O'Neil asked the council's administration to develop a policy to "improve the safety of residents posed by this footpath", which would involve scheduling regular maintenance after determining which sections were not council-owned.

His request was referred to a sub-committee.

Qayyum said it was "not the place of full council to address individual casework".

"The Green and Reform councillors have been made aware of this before and would do well to use the officer resource to tackle issues in their ward," she said.

A council spokesperson said the clear-up had been "commendable".

"We do recognise residents concerned about overgrowth and litter, but unfortunately very little of the land in this area is public land," they said.

"However, following concerns raised previously by other volunteers in the area we have committed to trying to get a meeting together with all the landowners and ward councillors to discuss what can be done to maintain the area."

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