TAMESIDE Council’s leader has hit back at complaints over the make-up of the board managing Ashton-under-Lyne’s future.
Cllr Kaleel Khan has hit out after not being included on the Ashton Neighbourhood Board, despite being an elected member for St Peter’s ward.
The Independent believes he should be included on the panel, which includes Labour councillors Stephen Homer and Andrew McLaren, plus the town’s Labour MP, Angela Rayner.
Atta ul-Rasool, who is standing for the party in the 2026 local elections, is also included as a ‘community activist – St Peter’s ward.’
Cllr Khan demanded a review into his membership into what is billed as a ‘non-political’ body be held.
He also claimed: “I believe Labour are doing everything they can to sabotage that.
“A Labour community activist sits on the board while I, your elected councillor was blocked by Phill Brown, the so-called Independent Chair.
“Labour misled the public. They blocked your elected voice and gave board access to their future candidate.
“You elected me to speak for St Peter’s Ward, prioritising a party activist over your democratic choice is not “community-led” – it’s political engineering.”
But Cllr Eleanor Wills insisted inclusions, particularly the councillors, are there for a reason.
She told the meeting of Tameside Council’s executive cabinet on Wednesday, November 26: “The paper says that it’s community at the heart of decisions and that’s what the board is reflective of.
“We’ve got cabinet members as part of the board who can be our decision makers but everybody else that is within that board either has the appropriate skill set or is a significant prominent member of the community who will impart community ideas etc. into that space and that’s really important.
“This is a platform that isn’t all about politicians, this is about the community telling what they think would benefit their community.
“That was the purpose of the board being set up and that’s stipulated within the allocation of the funds – the community at the heart of the decisions around how this money is allocated and we’ll continue to do that.”