Cllr Mellen will step down in May this year as leader of Nottingham City Council.
Cllr Mellen said:
‘There have been many changes, many challenges that we’ve talked about over that time, and I think now is the time to allow somebody else to take on the political leadership of the council.
How much of the timing of this decision is down to the presence of commissioners here now and the fact you don’t have as much control as you once did? Not really at all. It,
‘I had hoped that this would have been the end of the time, that the improvement board would have been here and that we would have finished intervention. Obviously, the commissioners are here for a couple of years.
Many people may look at your decision, though, and conclude it’s all a bit of a mess and you’ve simply had enough?
‘There were various stages in the last five years when I could have thought that it’s not been an easy ride, and I think everybody would acknowledge that. I’ve given it everything that I can. Whether I’ve got everything right or wrong, others will judge.’
‘But I’ve been committed to the city that I’ve lived in for 40 years.
You’ve been in charge for five years, as you say. Can you honestly say you think that you’re leaving Nottingham in a better place than when you started?
‘No, I don’t think I can. That would have always been the aim, and there are many things I can point to, including the building we’re sitting in, which have been achievements equally, our movement towards carbon neutrality, the reopening of the castle and the public realm around here, as well as quite a lot of new council houses in the north of the city.
‘But the council is under lots of strain, like lots other councils, frankly. And no, we haven’t mended everything and our funding limitations and restrictions means that that’s difficult to do.’
• Read next: BREAKING: Nottingham City Council leader David Mellen to step down
