Politicians battle as £2m row pits town against countryside

The scheme has been drawn up by the ruling Liberal Democrat cabinet on Sheffield Council, which claims the city's 65,000 rural residents do not get a fair deal compared to those in urban areas.

But the scheme has been consistently branded "unaffordable" by the authority's Labour opposition group, which first attempted to overturn the idea when the council's budget was published in February.

That attempt failed when the Liberal Democrat budget was passed, but the new opposition leader, Councillor Julie Dore, who took over in the summer, has now launched a second bid to stop the strategy's implementation.

After the budget approval, Liberal Democrat leaders instructed council officers to work up the detailed rural strategy, and the 84-page document was rubber-stamped at a meeting on December 8.

But Labour members have since used their powers to "call in" the cabinet decision to press ahead, which means the strategy must be re-examined and could eventually see it put back before the full council for a vote.

The problem the Liberal Democrats now face is that they no longer hold an overall majority on the council after elections earlier this year, meaning they could struggle for support in a full council vote.

Green Party members on Sheffield Council have also disagreed with the policy in the past, meaning Labour could band together with them to sink the policy for good.

Coun Dore said: "Labour want to look again at this 1.8m countryside strategy, and that's why we've called the item in for further scrutiny.

"We have always promised to leave no stone unturned in our pursuit to make sensible alternative budget savings and we want to check that every penny has been spent wisely.

"We believe that this strategy may be unaffordable in this current climate and the Liberal Democrats are yet again making promises they cannot keep."

But Coun Dore and the four colleagues who supported her call-in bid have been accused of favouring urban areas, with senior Liberal Democrats branding their actions an "attack on rural communities".

Coun David Baker, the deputy council leader and councillor for Stannington, which is on the rural north-west fringes of Sheffield, said Labour had historically ignored the needs of the countryside.

He added: "Liberal Democrats have already fended off an attempt by Labour to attack rural communities like Chapeltown, Stocksbridge and Bradfield once. But now it seems they are launching a final attempt to stop us helping vulnerable residents in these communities in order to grab money for their favoured areas.

"There are pockets of deprivation and instances of real isolation in rural areas, in part due to public transport being decimated over the last few years. All we want is a fair deal for everyone, including rural communities who have been ignored by the Labour Party in Sheffield for decades despite the fact 65,000 Sheffielders live there.

"I am urging Coun Dore to admit Labour were wrong to try and halt this work in the first place. Labour must draw back from voting to block it just because rural areas are not included in Labour's favoured areas."

According to the Liberal Democrats, the rural strategy is the city's first ever for countryside communities.

Leading members claimed its inception has been welcomed by people living in the villages and towns which make up rural Sheffield, and has also been praised by the Peak District National Park Authority, which oversees some of the park which lies within the city boundary.