Liam Billington: Last News

A council leader said “I will be on that bulldozer” to build a controversial garden village – and “will ram it down your throat”.

Controversial housing plans for green belt land in Tameside which prompted a huge outcry from residents have been withdrawn.

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direct to your inboxA Tameside Tory has accused senior Greater Manchester Police leaders of turning officers into ‘woke warriors’.But the borough’s divisional commander says he wants his staff ‘cleaning the streets up’, ‘kicking doors in’ and holding crooks to account.He insisted efforts are being made to take the fight to criminals.“It may seem old fashioned, but that’s exactly what I want, I want bellies up against the counter,” he added.Stalybridge South Councillor Liam Billington told a scrutiny panel meeting that there had been a ‘wrong prioritisation’ at the top of the force of the kind of crimes to tackle in the region.Get the latest updates from across Greater Manchester direct to your inbox with the free MEN newsletterYou can sign

direct to your inboxCouncillors have become embroiled in a row over Tameside’s leisure trust after a Tory member claimed it was a ‘ticking time bomb’.At a meeting of the full council on Tuesday night, Conservative Stalybridge South councillor Liam Billington was critical of the money that had been loaned to Active Tameside by the town hall.In November the council agreed a £1.8m loan to keep the leisure trust afloat for the remainder of the financial year.But councillors involved with Active Tameside told the meeting it was ‘more than a gym’ and had already paid back most of the loan money used following an insurance payout.Coun Billington said: “I have raised the issue of Active Tameside being a ticking time bomb.“At the last budget I