Reform UK attacks Labour and Tories over new Doncaster Waterfront development

Reform UK has said there are “a lot of questions” for both Labour and the Conservatives over Doncaster’s newly opened Waterfront development.

Mayor Ros Jones announced yesterday that the green area close to city centre - and originally earmarked for the city’s news hospital - was open to the public while development was awaited.

It had been planned as the site of a new hopsital to replace crumbling Doncaster Royal Infirmary but the scheme was shelved under the previous Conservative government.

Now Reform UK Doncaster leader Howard Rimmer has attacked both parties over the scheme.

Under a social media post headed “£13 million, a field and a lot of questions,” a party spokesperson said: “This is what happens when Labour and the Conservatives share the same flawed approach to regeneration.

“The Conservatives handed over the Levelling Up funding.

“Labour chose how to spend it.

“Together they decided that £13m should be spent cleaning up and landscaping a site with no imminent development, no identified developer and no clear timetable for delivery.

“Nobody disputes that contaminated land may need cleaning up one day.

“But why now?

“Why spend millions of pounds preparing a site for a future development that may be years away when Doncaster city centre still has major regeneration challenges that could have benefited residents and businesses immediately?

“Waterdale remains underdeveloped.

“Parts of the city centre continue to struggle.

“Businesses need footfall.

“Residents want to see visible improvements where they live, work and shop.

“Instead, Labour’s answer was to create a landscaped site and hope someone comes along later.

Councillor Rimmer said:“Labour made the decision, but the Conservatives provided the money and cheered it on.

“This is exactly why so many people have lost faith in the old parties.

“Neither Labour nor the Conservatives seem to understand that regeneration should be about delivering benefits for residents, not ticking boxes on funding applications.

“£13m has been spent on a site with no immediate prospect of development while key city centre locations continue to wait for investment.

“Reform would have started with a simple question: where can this money make the biggest difference to the greatest number of people?

“The answer is not a fenced-off site on the edge of the city centre. It’s investing where residents and businesses can see the benefit today.

“Labour spent it.The Conservatives funded it.Doncaster taxpayers are entitled to ask whether either party got their priorities right.”

Mayor Jones said: “The site, known as the Waterfront East Park, has been transformed from an underused, contaminated piece of land into a temporary green, open space built specifically to attract development projects and further investment for the city centre.

“Following the completion of remediation works, the Council is seeking a development partner to help create a distinctive new neighbourhood that reflects the site’s waterside setting and industrial heritage.

“The Waterfront area was one of the largest brownfield sites in the North, with significant potential for development, it is now a prime site for development with incredible potential and within walking distance of the city centre and local, regional and national transport links.

“Waterfront East represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to shape our city centre and create a dynamic new neighbourhood that people are proud to live, work and invest in.”