A controversial move to allow the 5,000 home Mereham new town to rise from the ashes has been attacked by East Cambridgeshire Liberal Democrats.

They claim a new bid for Mereham should never have been accepted by the East of England Regional Assembly.And they have accused the assembly’s chairman, Tory county councillor John Reynolds of naivety following his claims that “it might be a completely different project to the one that was rejected before.”Liberal Democrat leader, Haddenham Cllr Gareth Wilson said: “This is completely naïve. Even Hazel Blears said ‘No to Mereham’. What is it about the word ‘No’ that Cllr Reynolds does not understand?”

East Cambridgeshire taxpayers are still counting the cost of the Mereham fight which left the district with a £250,000 bill which it cannot claim back from the developer.”We have proved to the Government that Mereham is totally unacceptable and now, just two months after the appeal victory, we appear to be back to square one.”The Regional Assembly should never have accepted the submission of Mereham as a ‘new’ proposal as the definition clearly excludes proposals that ‘have previously been deemed by the Secretary of State to be inappropriate locations.'”

Cllr Wilson fears more drivers could be killed this winter on the stretch of road at Grunty Fen which claimed the life of 59-year-old Margaret Thorne last February.

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