FULL COUNCIL – 28th FEBRUARY 2008
The Council meeting was dominated by an unprecedented situation where the Full Council was asked to determine a Planning Application twice refused by the Development Services Committee. The Planning Services Manager has the power to refer refused applications to Full Council where he feels the Council’s interests are prejudiced. In layman’s terms that means if the refusal is not reversed the Council will lose at appeal & find itself liable for significant costs. He rarely uses the power – on average once a year, but what normally happens is that Council refers the matter back to Development Services, who normally then accept the advice & approve the application. But on this occasion referral back resulted in the Committee confirming their refusal, despite officer advice. So for the first time in anybody’s memory the matter came back to Council for a second time. There was a passionate debate, not just about the merits of the case – Cresswell Golden Sands Caravan Park – but also about democracy. Should Full Council overturn the democratic decision of a Committee?
In the end Council approved the application, but not without significant opposition & abstention. I abstained on the first motion, but once that was carried I voted in favour of increased monitoring safeguards and conditions. That seemed a sensible way to go, but I fully understand my colleagues who voted against the whole application. If you want to read more about this there are detailed reports on the Committee Agendas & Minutes site on Castle Morpeth Borough Council website.
Council Tax: It seems strange that I should say that the Council meeting for setting the Budget & Annual Council Tax figure was dominated by something else, but this was an unusual year. With the Unitary taking over in April 2009 the whole financial situation has changed, with all 6 District Councils using balances to produce virtually nil Council Tax rises in preparation for the new Unitary. Castle Morpeth Borough Council has set a nil Council Tax rise – sounds good, but I shook lots of councillors by saying I thought it was a budget of missed opportunities. The Council could have put money back into the budget to remove levies made on parish councils when the financial position was bad. However I welcomed the increase in funding for the Community Fund, particularly Core Funding – a matter I first raised in Council back in June 2007. At least I have been listened to on that!
Questions to the Administration: I also asked two questions of the Administration – one on the progress they were making in promoting a “Save Our Red Squirrels” programme, and the other on the loss of funding for two Healthy Lifestyles programmes running at Riverside Leisure Centre. Health Start & Health Quest are very successful events but funding changes at Northumberland Care Trust mean the programme’s future are doubtful. As a recipient of the programmes I am keen to see them survive. I was given a promise that the Council was doing all it could to see if the funding problem could be resolved. In any case I have been talking to key people myself, including a GP to see what could be done.
ENVIRONMENT & ECONOMY SCRUTINY COMMITTEE – 25TH FEBRUARY 2008
I was in the Chair for what turned out to be a long, rather lively and at times controversial meeting. The item which caused most of the controversy was the CELL Masterplan. CELL (Creswell, Ellington, Linton & Lynemouth) is an area with lots of regeneration needs. The Masterplan has been put together under the auspices of the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) working through ENRGi (East Northumberland Regeneration Initiative – a Development Trust). Some aspects of the Masterplan do not meet with approval of certain parish councillors, who allege that the plan has insufficient consultation, and therefore reaches some wrong conclusions. At the end of the debate the Committee offered to facilitate further consultation, subject to agreement with the LSP. If you want to read more about this there are detailed reports on the Committee Agendas & Minutes site on Castle Morpeth Borough Council website.
The Committee started with a presentation from David Lodge, Chief Executive of Greater Morpeth Development Trust (GMDT) about the ambitious programme the Trust has for Morpeth, with the flagship project being the revamping of Morpeth Town Hall. The Ice Rink in Carlisle Park which has just finished was deemed a success, whilst the firework display on the Sunday was definitely a spectacle if a little noisy. There are now 250 Members of GMDT (including me!!) The Committee questioned David Lodge about a number of the programmes the Trust is pursuing, including the use of the remaining Castles, Woods and Waters money. He referred to plans to improve access along the River Wansbeck to Bothal. He is also keen to work with others to improve youth facilities in Morpeth.
The Committee also approved the Council’s Affordable Housing Policy for submission to the Executive, following extensive consultation on the details. An update on the Council’s plan for Climate Change was received, as was the programme for Comprehensive Performance Assessment, which takes place week commencing 3rd March. One of the CPA Inspectors was present for part of the meeting. I will be seeing the Inspector on 6th March.
The full agenda & associated reports are always to be found on the Castle Morpeth Borough Council website.
MORPETH GOLF CLUB
At Thursday night’s Castle Morpeth Borough Council Executive Board (24th January) the Administration proposed that the Executive should support a proposal to explore in principle the idea of selling the land “owned” by the Council which forms part of Morpeth Golf Course to the Golf Club. This land is part of the Morpeth Common, protected by the 1974 Morpeth Common Act of Parliament. The Administration argued that this was in line with Government policy to pass ownership of community facilities to the community; would offer additional protection of the facility against a “disinterested” future Unitary Authority, but at the same time produce a capital receipt for the Council. No prior consultation had taken place with any of the local councillors (the Common falls into both Morpeth South & Kirkhill Wards), none of whom of course are in the Administration. Councillors David Parker & Joan Tebbutt led the opposition, pointing out that the Morpeth Common Act might well prevent the Council selling the land; that the Government policy quoted (the Quirk Report) said leasing to community groups was often the preferred option (the Golf Club already leases the land) and this was a potentially very controversial proposal which should go out to public consultation. Indeed Councillor Parker questioned whether the Council really is the owner or merely holds the land in trust for the community.
The only concession the Administration made to the criticisms of their proposal was to accept a final decision should come back to the Executive as a whole rather than be delegated to officers and Executive Portfolio Holders to agree. No public consultation; no Full Council debate.
There are conditions of course. There would be clear covenants to ensure the Golf Club could only use the land as at present; the sale would be on a commercial valuation not a reduced charge; and that the necessary checks against the provisions of the 1974 Morpeth Common Act will be fully explored. The Administration proposal, with the one amendment on process, was carried by 8 votes to 3. No decision has been made as to whether Scrutiny will use its “Call In” powers to further debate this.
I am proposing to ask Morpeth Town Council to debate this idea formally during February. In the meantime I am seeking views via this website, so please contact me or any of the other Morpeth South & Kirkhill councillors and give your views.
GRANGE HOUSE FIELD & MORPETH RUGBY CLUB
At Thursday night’s Castle Morpeth Borough Council Executive Board (24th January) the Administration proposed that the Executive should support a proposal to explore in principle the idea of selling the land owned by the Council known as Grange House Field. This is the land where Morpeth Rugby Club currently has a 70 year lease and has its clubhouse and changing facilities; together with a licence to use the car park & access their buildings. This land also includes the turning circle and drop-off points used by the two adjacent Middle Schools. Officers have suggested this part could be formally adopted by Northumberland County Council to ensure full access rights for all concerned. The Executive Board unanimously supported the principle, subject to satisfactory arrangements on commercial valuation, agreement by Northumberland County Council and satisfactory agreement with Morpeth Harriers over continuing rights of access.
I think this proposal makes a lot of sense, but just as with Morpeth Golf Club I would welcome any views. Again, there has been no public consultation, so I will be asking Morpeth Town Council to look at this proposal as well.
CURRENT TOPICS
In the paragraphs below you will find information about the following:
COMPLAINTS
Nobody likes getting complaints, and they are often the most difficult thing to sort out. At Thursday night’s Executive Board (1/11/07) Members received a report on the Council’s performance on dealing with Complaints. From a very poor base Members were told that the Council’s performance had improved in terms of satisfaction rate. Members were told that the % of people who were satisfied that their complaint had been dealt with properly has risen from 29% to 44% which puts us in the top quartile for all councils.
Now it can be presumed that many complaints will be about matters the Council cannot change, or over policy issues which the Council feels it has found the best balance between competing demands. So the level of satisfaction is likely to be relatively low simply because things cannot change, so a top quartile performance is a credit to the officers for making sure complaints are properly handled. The Council always sees a complaint as an opportunity to refresh procedures, examine policies and review communication. Often the origin of a complaint is lack of transparency in a process or poor communication. The Improvement & Communities Scrutiny Committee looked at the Council’s Complaints process and we are satisfied that the Council is committed to learning from its mistakes. We are also aware that a council with such a small staff base often struggles to do everything as quickly and as efficiently as we would want. The top quartile performance rating is encouraging without being complacent.
Andrew Tebbutt
5th Nov 2007
REVISED WASTE COLLECTION ARRANGEMENTS
Those of you who know my “history” with Castle Morpeth Borough Council will know I am a keen supporter of recycling and waste minimisation. For two years as Green & Clean Spokesperson I worked hard with Andy Rutherford, Unit Manager to promote new ways of recycling. Many of the initiatives now being spread across the Borough originated from our discussions, and the current levels of recycling are not only a tribute to Andy & his team, but equally to all the residents for willingly co-operating with the changes as they are introduced.
I get complaints of course; mainly about those numerous items which cannot be recycled. Sadly it remains true that, despite Government rhetoric about waste minimisation, the “driver” for recycling is commercial viability, so at the moment polystyrene, food containers and cling film are amongst a range of items which cannot be recycled as there is no market for them.
Green & Clean are issuing new guidelines to tell people what they can & cannot recycle and why. I have an electronic copy but it is a large file, so I am not posting it yet on my website. It will be accessible via the Castle Morpeth Borough Council website shortly. I believe the Council will be publicising the new list quickly.
4th Nov 07
