New Shropshire Council leader Peter Nutting handed 'poisoned chalice', says Labour group leader

Members of the Shropshire Council's Conservative group met to elect the new leader on Monday night.

Councillor Nutting will take over from Malcolm Pate, who was keen to retain the role which he had held since the departure of Keith Barrow in December 2015.

Councillor Nutting, who was re-elected to his Copthorne ward in the recent local elections, was a former leader of Shrewsbury & Atcham Council.

Alan Mosley, the Labour group leader on Shropshire Council said: "While I have sympathy for Malcolm Pate on losing the position I also want to congratulate Peter Nutting on becoming leader.

"It is something of a poisoned chalice however with Shropshire's finances in a truly perilous state with many services under threat. I hope that Peter will ensure a proper scrutiny process where all can review policy decisions on behalf of residents and hold the administration to account.

"Shrewsbury Town Council has long expressed its desire to protect and promote our services and we will be pressing for more timely decision making to make that possible.

"Inevitably we will be looking for a reversal of Shropshire's current policy to close the Quarry baths. We are fighting to keep the baths in its rightful place in a vibrant town centre and reasonably accessible to all."

Councillor Nutting said he believed the authority's financial problems could be dealt with.

He said: "I am not panicked about money in the same way the council has been. Shropshire isn't a poor county, it has got money in its reserves. What it has got is a deficit on its revenue account and we do have to address that. But I think it has been overplayed in the past, i think it can be dealt with.

"I hope now Shropshire Council is going to be a much more open council, that looks outwards to the people of Shropshire. I want to get around the county, talk to business leaders, talk to town and parish council leaders and try to move the economy of the county forward.

"It is such a great county and we have got so much to offer and I really want after four years to say we have improved the economy of the county, and improve the quality of jobs in the county.

"We probably need to invest in business parks around the market town. On the whole, Shrewsbury does look after itself quite well because the size of its business drives it forward. The other market towns sometimes need more help and I think we need to go around there.

"We also need to look at things like what the impact of HS2 will be on north Shropshire and we have got the Tern Hill Barracks site we need to consider what happens there. There are lots of opportunities but we do need to talk to business leaders."

Less than 12 months ago, Councillor Nutting was removed from his role as a portfolio holder by council leader Malcolm Pate.

He was removed from his post as portfolio holder for income generation, tasked with coming up with ideas for the council to make more money.

His suggestions had included investing in solar farms and using land earmarked for student halls in Shrewsbury as a car park while the project awaited the green light.

He had also announced he wanted to review pricing at Shrewsbury's Quarry pool but he was sacked by council leader Malcolm Pate.

It was understood that the disagreement centred around an aborted challenge from a group of councillors to Councillor Pate's leadership.

However Councillor Nutting, would not be drawn on the reasons behind his dismissal, and simply claimed there was a "disagreement" while Councillor Pate said he decided to "reorganise the administration".

Current deputy leader Steve Charmley, who was returned as councillor for Whittington, was re-elected as deputy leader.