We’d rather have barbed wire and trenches than be part of Hull

RESIDENTS on the outskirts of Hull would rather have “barbed wire and trenches” between them and the city than become a part of it, a councillor has warned.

By The Newsroom Tuesday, 18th March 2014, 7:00 am

Anlaby village centre

The comments were made by East Riding councillor Geraldine Mathieson following calls for a commission of inquiry to explore expanding the city’s boundary.

Labour’s former Hull Council leader Colin Inglis said an inquiry is needed to resolve “long-standing issues resulting from the city’s restricted administrative boundaries”.

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For years, councillors in Hull have argued that extending the boundary to cover Willerby, Anlaby, Hessle, Kirk Ella and Cottingham makes economic sense, putting the city on a level footing with others like Leeds.

Some also claim it would unlock greater funding and argue that it would help fund the swimming pools and museums, which are used by many living in the East Riding.

Others say the city must extend its boundary to include the more affluent suburbs if it wants to improve the negative image stemming from its poor performance in national league tables for education, crime and health.

However, Coun Matheson said some residents in Cottingham “would rather have barbed wire and trenches between them and Hull, because they don’t want to be joined to Hull.,”

Despite this, she said she supported the setting up of a commission. She added: “I think having a commission is quite a good idea, because questions need to be asked and settled rather than people holding forth and having half-educated opinions.”

But Hessle branch Labour Party members say there is no point in continuing the “age old discussion” because locals have always been dead against the move.

“Whatever economic sense it might make for Hull, you wouldn’t get one per cent in favour,” said Labour councillor Paul Hogan. “People in Hessle like the fact they are independent. There isn’t a scintilla of interest in the community that I represent to get involved in Hull.”

Coun Inglis’s motion, which will be debated by the council on Thursday, asks for a commission to determine the impact of the city’s restricted boundaries and consider potential solutions “including boundary extension”.

It would have a year to report back.

Labour councillor on Hull Council Tom McVie said: “There is very little in this for my party because we would be likely to get a lot of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. But we think this is the right thing to do.

“We provide services for a massive number of people who don’t live in the city and we pay for them. People choose to live in villages outside the city – I have no problem with that at all – but they have no democratic right to comment on the services we provide. If you live on Hessle High Road on one side you have every right to comment, on the other side peoples’ decisions are made effectively from Flamborough or Goole.”

Conservative group leader John Fareham said: “We haven’t had a proper discussion. It’s time we settled down and had a mature discussion.”