TWO Labour leaders clashed publicly in the council chamber during discussions over the controversial St Botolph’s Quarter in Colchester.

Colchester Council’s Cabinet members met to talk through their portfolio responsibilities.

But the focus was firmly on the plans for the town’s Cultural Quarter.

During the Have Your Say session, Labour’s Colchester branch chairman Alan Short raised concerns about the plans, having already spoken to residents during a campaign against what has been dubbed “cultural slaughter”.

His main gripe was regarding a covenant, or binding agreement, on the land which says it can only be used for statutory purposes of the council, such as housing or a bus station.

He said: “Student accommodation is not housing. With student accommodation there are no tenancy agreements.”

He had also said previously there was a possibility the council had been involved in “collusion” with the developer Alumno, after hearing through a Freedom of Information request the council had “more than 20 meetings with them” about the plans.

Collusion is defined as a secret or illegal co-operation or conspiracy in order to deceive others.

On hearing the accusations, Labour group leader Tim Young hit back: “There has been no collusion between this council and any developer.

“This is an outrageous claim.”

He also said rumours the council was planning to sell the land to Singapore were not true.

Mr Short had been quoted in a Gazette My View feature saying he had heard the speculation.

Mr Young was persistent in saying the rumours were not true, and firmly asked Mr Short to withdraw his comments which Mr Short did during the meeting.

Mr Young, the long-standing leader of the Labour group on Colchester Council, has already hit out after being accused of lacking in the party’s core values by his own members.

He had attempted to calm tensions within the constituency Labour Party over the planned Cultural Quarter, but a cross-party group, including prominent Labour campaigners, has been vocal against the plans, labelling them “out of step with Labour values of for the many, not the few”.

Colchester High Steward and former Lib Dem MP Sir Bob Russell said he supported Mr Short’s views, feeling the council had been in too many meetings with Alumno.

He said: “When Alan Short and I are singing from the same song sheet, it’s a very big choir.

“I have a Freedom of Information request which says there has been 80 meetings between the council and developers.

“Who requested to change plans to student flats? When developers put in their bids for the site student accommodation was not part of the plan.”

He said the council is “supposed to be acting independently”.

Council leader Mark Cory (Lib Dem) said the 80 meetings referred to by Sir Bob were including other developments, not just the Cultural Quarter plans.

He said the council would look at all the viable options.

The council’s planning committee will determine the plans.

Mr Young added: “This will now go through the planning system, that is the reality of the situation.

“ I don’t know if it will be recommended for approval or not.”