Damning verdicts on David Mellen's time as Nottingham City Council Leader

Nottingham City Council leader David Mellen will not be seeking re-election when his current tenure comes to an end, and has been reflecting on his 5 years at the top - leading to NottinghamshireLive's readers doing much of the same in our comments section.

One of his first acts was shutting down the ultimately disastrous Robin Hood Energy project, but he will leave having overseen the current period of devastating cuts and tax rises. Successes for Councillor Mellen have included the reopening of Nottingham Castle, the opening of the new Central Library, the building of new council houses in Bestwood and the redevelopment of Collin Street.

Commenter Venish says: "This council are a disgrace they have robbed the working people of Nottingham for years, and now we have got to pay for THEIR mistakes."

But not everyone thinks it was all bad. Ian0563 said: "I'm sure that he tried to do his best. But not good enough."

Dave D said: "Mellen oversaw the closing of John Carrol swimming centre. so he does well to say he likes swimming as he has deprived a lot of Nottingham people and particularly Radford people of that opportunity."

Elwins wrote: "Nobody seems to be taking responsibility for the mess the councils in, they all seem to be blaming each other. They say we do not receive enough from central government, but everybody else has to manage on what they get coming in."

Chatteris said: "Nottingham has been on the verge for over a decade now with wastage. Don't blame the government for the failings of our council."

Eaglenotchicken looks back more fondly: "Thank you for the effort, it hasn't all been bad in these challenging times. Covid indeed was a huge blow, not to mention the crippling cuts from this incompetent tory government. I wish you all the best, enjoy life with less responsibilities and stress. You will live longer and your family will benefit from it so no other decision is better than that."

Sailboat said: "I didn't know he shut down Robin Hood energy, he should be given credit for that, people on here bang on about it endlessly and to be fair it was a disaster but from the comments on here you would think it was solely Mellen's fault. I keep saying that Jon Collins' many years in power and the way he treated Nottingham as his personal fiefdom sowed the seeds for some of the awful mess we are in today. "

ClareH says: "I can't say I blame him. If the right-wing central government who laid the groundwork for Nottingham's current multi-faceted disaster insist on appointing its Improvement & Assurance Board to override every decision Mellen and his colleagues take then why not throw in the towel and leave them to it? Mellen seems like a reasonable bloke and I wish him well.

Superhans said: "Took the helm of a sinking ship 5 years ago and successfully guided it to the very bottom. He's off in his lifeboat now to enjoy his very well-paid retirement away from the area he's helped destroy - Thanks, Captain."

Imtheskatman also said: "Mellen came in and was honest about the challenges facing the council. Took everything back to square one and steered the council through its most difficult moments and took the most difficult of decisions. Won’t get the credit as he was at the wheel when it crashed, but it was already too late when he took over and he knew it. I notice this article isn’t critical of any of the decisions he made when he was in office. It’s important the electorate understand the reality."

While Dcfcok said: "Ah yes. Robin Hood energy. No wonder Notts were all in favour of the amalgamation of councils. Now Derbyshire taxpayers can bail Notts out always assuming there's any money left after the new mayor and his band of merry men have had first dibs of the money pit."

What should be in the "in-tray" for the next Council leader? Let us know in the comments HERE.