Blofield councillor defects to the UK Independence Party from the Conservatives

A Ukip candidate's rosette Nick Ansell/PA Wire

The Conservatives have lost another Norfolk councillor to the UK Independence Party with a Broadland representative pledging to stand for the anti-European Union party in May’s local elections.

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Paul Green, who has been councillor for the Blofield with South Walsham ward for three years, said he was joining UKIP because “it is the only party in my opinion that can now make a change for the better not only in our parish, but in the country as a whole”.

The former Hemblington school student, who was born and raised in Blofield, has been vice chairman of the Broadland District council planning committee.

“After much deliberation and being unsettled by many of the Conservative policies in respect of our EU policies, immigration and planning I have decided to stand for election for UKIP - the only party in my opinion that can now make a change for the better not only in our parish but in the country as a whole.

“It is time we got back our national pride and identity without Europe calling all the shots its our country,” he said.

“It is also time to stop this unsustainable immigration through our borders and introduce a points based system like Australia to curb the pressure on our NHS by medical “tourism” and our benefits system being abused. Only UKIP I believe have the will to carry this out.”

In a letter to people in his ward, he accused the Conservative Party of “opening the floodgates” for housing developers of green field sites, claiming Blofield had been “hit very hard”.

“With an allocation by Broadland District Council of 50 houses as a key service centre, the government appeals department have overruled planning committee decisions to refuse development and we now have planning approvals in the Blofield area exceeding 400 properties with more applications expected… this is unacceptable and unsustainable for the road system, schools and surgery and our village will not cope.”

“I am standing for UKIP to try and make a change for the better, not only for our villages within the Parish but for our country as a whole.”

Andrew Proctor, Conservative leader of Broadland District Council, said he was disappointed that Mr Green had not picked up the phone to tell him about his plans to join UKIP, and had just sent a two-line email.

He said that Mr Green had a “square to circle” having been on the planning committee which had voted for develops.

But Mr Green said it was about national policies and the applications that Blofield had not wanted which had been overturned at appeals.

Last year a leading member of North Norfolk District Council’s ruling Conservative administration, Russell Wright, defected to UKIP.