THE ruling Conservative party on Barnet Council have been accused of not wanting to listen by a Labour rival, after cancelling a consultation event tonight.

A budget consultation meeting planned for this evening was scrapped on Tuesday with councillors citing a “lack of interest” from the public in the event.

They said just four people had signed up to it despite two weeks f advertising in local newspapers, despite the council having to cut their budgets by around 25 per cent over the next four years.

However, Councillor Alison Moore said she is “not at all surprised” at the cancellation, adding: “It’s becoming quite clear that the Barnet Tories just don’t want to listen.

“They run consultation exercises and then ignore the results, as happened with the sheltered housing wardens and welfare rights unit, and will, unfortunately, probably happen with the Libraries consultation.

“They should run budget consultation as part of the residents’ forums as they did last year – then they wouldn’t have to spend any additional money on advertising.”

Councillor Daniel Thomas promised to phone the four people who signed up for the consultation to discuss their opinions and ideas.

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