Independent councillor Steve Ricketts says Labour is petitioning against itself over a pedestrian crossing on Mutley Plain.
The petition, launched by the Labour party and backed by MP Luke Pollard, calls for a ‘safer crossing’ at Mutley Plain, but Cllr Ricketts says the campaign is nothing more than 'political theatre'.
Speaking to Plymouth Plus, the councillor for Drake ward said:
“It’s been there for eight years and they’re still waiting for an accident to happen. I wouldn’t say it was dangerous. The traffic flows. I have no idea why they want to block up Mutley Plain”.
Cllr Ricketts added that the petition makes ‘no sense’ given Labour’s majority on the council:
“They’re walking around with clipboards with a petition when they actually run the council. They have a cabinet member who can make this happen at any time.”
The petition is hosted on the official website of Luke Pollard, the Plymouth MP for Sutton and Devonport. It is a non-statutory petition, meaning no formal process or legal obligation follows, regardless of how many people sign it.
The petition gathers personal information from anyone who signs it, including names, email addresses and postcodes. Only to then prompt people to consent to their data being used for political mailing lists and newsletters.
The form encourages people to sign up for Luke Pollard’s weekly updates, effectively turning a local road safety petition into a data harvesting exercise for the Labour party campaign network.
Cllr Ricketts said the petition has angered residents who see it as a distraction from real issues affecting Plymouth.
“There's better things to do. And it really makes the public angry when they're doing it, because it seems to me they're just trying to get everybody's data, look busy and actually achieve absolutely nothing."
Luke Pollard MP says he is backing the petition because he believes the crossing at Mutley Plain is an 'accident waiting to happen'. He said:
“It’s an accident waiting to happen, and that’s why I’m supporting this campaign to make it safer for pedestrians while keeping traffic flowing through this vital part of our city".
Labour activist Charlotte Holloway, the other Drake ward councillor, claims residents 'regularly' raise concerns about safety at the crossing. She said:
"Residents are telling us that they are taking their lives in their hands each time they try to cross Mutley Plain. That’s parents with pushchairs, children trying to get to the local schools, or people going to the shops. We need to make improvements here so that pedestrians feel safer, and so that drivers have the assurance they need that they are driving safely."
Labour wants people to believe the campaign is all about improving safety for pedestrians, while Cllr Ricketts says it exposes just how out of touch the council has become with the city’s real problems.
The dispute has drawn sharp lines between Labour and independent councillors over what Plymouth City Council should truly be focusing on.
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