Councillor votes not to fund sports club for under-privileged children

A MALTBY councillor was prepared to stop funding a children’s sports club because of comments that were made on Facebook, a meeting heard.

Maltby Town Council discussed allocating funding £1,000 to sports and activity charity Active Regen for a four-day programme for underprivileged children during the Easter holidays.

The charity said if the funding was withdrawn by the town council, the clubs for children would no longer be able to run.

Cllr Alex Laird, pictured, said he was disappointed by comments made by an Active Regen spokesperson on Facebook, without disclosing any details of the comments, and demanded an apology before any funding could be considered.

No offensive comments could be seen on the group’s Facebook page this week.

But Cllr Laird told last Thursday’s council meeting: “I don’t agree with what they said and this council shouldn’t be bullied into making payments.”

Cllr Pauline Heaps disagreed with Cllr Laird, saying she believed the council should put children first.

“We need to think about the kids of Maltby,” she said.

“This council is becoming a battleground for disputes, which is totally wrong.

“The kids need to come first and Active Regen has been helping this community for years.”

Cllr John Kirk added: “We’ve always funded this activity for the kids of Maltby which is about them and not Maltby town councillors.

“MTC has funded at least £40,000 for programmes like this over the years and there’s no reason in my opinion why we should stop supporting our youth.”

However, Cllr John Lines said MTC should be cautious about spending the £1,000 for a four-day project.

“This is public money we are spending,” he said.

“What are we getting for our money?

“We can’t just grant money, we need to know specifically what programmes they will be putting on.”

Council chairman Cllr Chris McMahon said the council should provide £1,000 of funding for the April project but defer future payment until they knew more about the activities and programmes on offer.

The vote was passed, with Cllr Laird objecting to spending the money.

Cllr Ann Dickinson said his decision to vote against the funding was a “disgrace”, while a watching member of the public said: “How could Cllr Laird vote against children having a free safe space during the half-term holiday?

“It’s ridiculous.

“He’s allowed his quarrel to come between funding for underprivileged children.”