Conservatives in Northumberland have today (28th October) launched a campaign against the proposed move of County Hall, from Morpeth to Ashington. Anne-Marie Trevelayan, the Conservative Parliamentary Candidate gathered with other Conservatives outside County Hall bearing an banner, featuring a white elephant; "Say No to Labour's £40m Ashington HQ". The launch was ahead of a Scrutiny Committee Meeting which decided, with the Labour Chair making the casting vote after a 5:5 tied vote, against appointing an all-party working group to look into the case to move from the current headquarters in Morpeth to Ashington. Anne-Marie Trevelyan said; "this is far too big a decision for the Labour administration to take without a full examination of the facts, as an accountant, I am far from convinced that their report has even begun to justify this huge expenditure and use of taxpayers money", she also urged the authority to "have a re-think, conduct the necessary due diligence and ask yourselves honestly whether this move offers value for public money". Anne-Marie Trevelyan also expressed concern that the administration was showing "a decided tendency towards the south east of the County in places like Ashington" and that the authority's headquarters "should be accessible and centrally placed so those in rural areas do not feel remote and cut off." Peter Jackson, the leader of the Conservative Group on the Council said "it is clear, despite giving the pretense of going through consultation, that the Labour leadership are determined to build their white elephant County Hall in Ashington", he was also highly critical of the authority's failure to conduct a proper structural survey of the existing building and accused the leadership of being "financially illiterate" and of presiding over "the biggest waste of money in the history of Northumberland County Council". Morpeth North County Councillor, David Bawn said; "I find it mystifying that the Administration can admit today that they have yet to complete any of the work neccessary to see whether moving County Hall to Ashington is viable, yet have already resolved that this is their "preferred option". If one was being cynical one may think that this preferred option will happen no matter what the final figures say. "If the Leadership was genuinely interested in keeping an open mind then they would wait until the viability was established before declaring that Ashington is the best solution, rather than staying in Morpeth, or even exploring other locations. They would also have supported the opposition motion to set up a cross party working group to specifically look at the location of County Hall, which they have voted down."