The Express’s fight to find out how £1m of taxpayers money was wasted at Lyme Green has been praised by community figures in Macclesfield.

Last week we pledged to continue to battle on in pursuit of the truth despite a judge throwing out our bid to get a key report published in full.

Our campaign on behalf of the people of Macclesfield aims to find out how the council broke its own rules in starting work to build a waste transfer station without planning permission.

We believe publishing the Designated Independent Person report – which was commissioned by the council at a cost of £225,000 – is now the only way to draw a line under the matter.

Yet after repeated requests to see it, including appeals under the Freedom of Information act, to the Information Commissioner and to an Information Tribunal, we are still no closer to learning the truth.

Christine Eyre, a Lyme Green resident for 44 years, Sutton Parish councillor and leading member of the Lyme Green Residents’ Group, said: “I applaud everything that the Macclesfield Express is doing to get to the bottom of this.

“The fiasco was a waste of £1m of our money.

“The council should be the servants of the people and instead there’s a lack of trust after what happened.

“Local newspapers are there to represent their residents and the paper’s campaign is certainly doing that.

“For the good of the people and the relationship they have with the council I only hope that we can find out the truth.”

Political figures have also waded into the debate.

Laura Jeuda, Labour councillor for Macclesfield Central ward, said: “The report should be made public with all the redactions taken out.

“Personally I’m very disappointed that the judge has ruled in this way.

“Michael Jones keeps blaming the Labour group for everything but he needs to wake up and smell the coffee.

“I think the Macclesfield Express has done a fantastic job in persisting to try and discover the truth of what went on.

“The council thinks that this is just going to go away but the paper has continued to fight for the good of the people of Macclesfield.

“We need to know what happened and what Cheshire East are spending our council tax on. “

But Coun Michael Jones, leader of Cheshire East council, said that he was ‘disappointed’ with the Express’s coverage.

He said: “We are disappointed that the Macclesfield Express wants to continue with these tactics.

“We have a duty to protect the public purse and so we shouldn’t publish the Lyme Green report in full.

“We have advice from lawyers saying we would be liable as a council if we published it.

“In fact, Judge Fiona Henderson said that releasing the report in full would be ‘unlawful and unfair’. She ruled that public interest considerations were not sufficient to justify publication.

“We have also been told we have done more than we needed to by releasing the extensive report by Kim Ryley, our former chief executive, even in redacted form.

“We have learned our lesson and the council is now more open and transparent than ever before.

“I want people to know that I personally would love to publish the report in full because we have nothing to hide.

“But I cannot and will not expose us to the risk of legal action, the cost of which would fall on council taxpayers.

“A lot of high-level changes were made within this authority after Lyme Green.

“I am yet to hear of any other local authority where such action has been taken.”