Councillor Robinson - October 2018

[Malcolm Robinson]

First meeting was supposed to be a site visit but that had been postponed on instruction from the applicant.  So the first meeting became a strategic planning meeting.  The huge volume of notes for this meeting had been halved because two applications had been pulled.  Still left several and most were revised reports listing changes to things like S106 agreements.  This is the community payback funding which should go directly into our areas for things like education, health and leisure.  With that I mind I had examined the notes in detail and had quite a few questions for each as they came up.

Two simple applications first then it was into the meat of the meeting.

Several hundred new houses proposed for the east end of Ashington, near the hospital and spine road, with several millions of pounds paid into things like education and health.  I had a few questions about that and then in was onto the thorny one.

We had a developer which had challenged the contributions our planners had asked for and after two or three critical examinations which produced mixed answers the planners had finally agreed a reduced figure with the developer.  Lots of questions with this one!  We get to ask the planners questions first then after a proposer and seconder has been found we get to debate what we have heard.  I was first to speak at debate.  I said I think it’s obvious for once our planners had tried to strike a hard bargain with the developer and I applaud that.  Also I would have loved to give our planners full backing for their original proposal but with the present listing I couldn’t.  I could see some rye smiles appearing.  I went on to say it now looks like we have been presented with a Hobson ’s choice and we could actually be folding a full house, pardon the pun.  I said I would be voting in favour if for no other reason than I believe our planners that the current agreement is the best they can get at this time.  I might have been tempted to a showdown with the developer over this because the funding which is the casualty is the educational allocation.  I said I was really disappointed for the children of Blyth because in my view it was them paying for these abnormal ground conditions which the developer has stated makes a full suite of contributions unviable.

The application was passed unanimously.

New Fence for pedestrian safety at Green Letch.

I had a LGPS meeting and this one looked a mammoth undertaking, the paperwork and notes were very extensive.  I’ll not go into detail but it took most of the day and we had two or three managers who addressed us regarding aspects of our fund and it’s performance.  We are taking steps to protect our 100% coverage at last in case we do see a market downturn.  We I’ll know in the next 6-9 months if that was prudent!

Looks like I was justified in pushing for some sort of protection looking at recent market gyrations over the last week or so!

 

I had a site visit at Plessey Woods with the park management and the contractor picked to put in the new play equipment.  I did know the rep because it was the same guy I used for the two play parks we put in at WBTC.  I spoke to him before the others got there and asked about other adult play/sports equipment.  He gave me a catalogue including the prices which was exactly what I wanted for another project.

When the others got here we convened the meeting inside the café.  Going through the plans there were two bits of equipment we wanted to ask questions about.  One bit I wanted to changed entirely!  I did manage to convince everyone that what was intended wasn’t that inspiring and another bit of equipment suited the  project much better.  It was more expensive but I negotiated the price down with the rep who agreed to swap this bit with the other piece.  Because of this I did give way on my initial request to have a zip wire included in the offering but then argued that if I did agree to the bit of equipment instead of the zip wire it had to be of a size and exciting enough to justify not having a free play bit of kit.  I said I wanted 20% more but the same cost and Mark remarked that we already had a discount applied.  I said I have just put that down to us including the cost figure in the tender so consider it only as an accounting excersise!  What a barmy way to put out a tender, including the exact figure we have to spend.  About a dozen applications came back all surprisingly to the penny of that quoted figure.  I realise we had to find some way to give an idea of overall cost but surely we could have done it without quoting the exact figure? Other bits of change were negotiated with the rep mainly to do with the finish and edging.

All in all I think this will be a pretty exciting new addition to the park when it finally gets installed.  Initially we are looking at spring for the installation so it will be ready and open for Easter.  Lots of small stuff still to be agreed but mainly edges and materials.

I did manage to speak to our head of parks later and mentioned concerns some of my residents have regarding other areas within my ward but also to ask him to look at other ways we can stimulate increased footfall.  Last time I had this conversation my ideas were dismissed out of hand, this time he agreed to think about them and have a conversation about them later.  Progress!  I asked if he would allow me to propose things like events and other upgrades to the top end of the park right at the entrance to increase footfall and hopefully takings in the café because that’s the only way we will get the justification for future development, not only for capital items but revenue costs as well.

Town council meeting  tonight and even though I hadn’t prepared anything I did give as much of an update as I could because a lot of my work this month had been for constituents and that remains private.  Concern was expressed at the lack of action regarding the town centre redevelopment site but I said we had just met there today and if anyone looked now the site had been cleared this morning.  That I believe augers well.  An update has just gone out saying the main contractor will now begin with the site preparation work which needs to be done before any building work can be started.

Happy to buy one of the new bus shelters, along with Councillor Wallace, which now sit outside Lidl.

I had also been invited to the opening of the new apartments on the site of the old school opposite St Cuthberts.  I was quite surprised at the finish and the fact that each apartment had its own parking bay at the rear.  I also asked about materials and build quality and again pleased to hear higher spec insulation had been used throughout, more efficient boilers and broadband connections into each unit were installed.  Also seeing as the clientele  were all to be over 55yrs old good to see a lift installed for this 3 story development.  Another bonus was that the reacts were all classed as affordable and whilst I might have a problem with that actual term it did means top end private rents were not being charged.   We were told all the units expected to be let forthwith and some clients were actually moving in that same day!  Might not have been my preferred option for this site but I can’t argue with the fact that it must satisfy a local demand.

Just been informed my meeting with highways and parks management has been postponed but only for a week or so.   This is about concerns raised by residents about parking issue along the roads outside Plessey Woods. .

Next meeting was for new grit bins for my ward and the others wards in West Bedlington.  We met at the WBTC office and Russ and Bill came for their wards too.  Our highways manager gave us the rationale behind these grit bin positions and they have to score against a set criteria.  Finally got to see the criteria so I now have to present each of my suggestions within that context.  I also asked about a strategic map the Mayor said she and highways technical have put together looking at existing bins and possible ones because I don’t want to duplicate efforts.  Another meeting has been planned for next week let’s hope all the information will be available then.

Just been to another site visit this morning and I am even more perplexed than I was before.  There are several bits to the advice given by planners which seems strange to me so I asked about them only to be told they were all down to personal interpretation.  As far as I can see that means I can just use my common sense which is something of a rarity for planning matters!  I’ll see what other members think next Wednesday at the planning meeting before I throw my tuppence in!

I have been asking everyone for their views about this 100% reduction to the council tax working age benefit claimants get because it’s out for consultation.  I have been shocked at the replies which came back.  I won’t mention anymore here but I will have to dig deeper before I come to a balanced conclusion.

Just firmed up another  debate with young people as part of the NCC local democracy week.  Looking forward to that but they do give me a hard time.  Nothing like young minds to see straight through any obfuscation of the facts!

Young people we can all be proud of.

First meeting of the week and it was a site visit for an application in my ward.  4 of us turned up at 9.30am and the planning officers gave us a guided tour explaining what was what and where things might go.  We were taken around outside the site and suggested we should look at the views of the open countryside.  We left after an hour and the officers had given us replies to our questions.

I had to go and see a local blacksmith I knew from previous jobs he had done for me through the Town Council and the development trust.  I gave him an outline of the job I needed pricing up and he said he would go and measure up that day and forward me his estimate.

Tonight is our LAC meeting which this one is shared with the local town and parish councils.  Immediately prior we had a planning meeting for an hour.  This to consider the application we had the site visit for on Monday morning.  As it had already been in front of us last month, where members have requested a site visit, we knew most of the details.  We heard off the officer then the applicant and then it was our turn to ask the officers questions.  I did have several questions about this one because on the face of it there should be a refusal, given that was the officer recommendation.  However the site visit had been requested because it was really down to a judgment call and there were several bits of the reasoning put to us by the officer which I disputed.  As we worked through the questioning it was clear other members were unsatisfied too.  An interruption was made so our head of planning could interject because clearly she could see this was not going as intended.

Once the questioning was over there is a call for a proposer and seconder and I duly proposed accepting the application but under the terms, minded to accept subject to the outlined conditions being met and qualified.  That caused a bit of an uproar and again the head of planning interjected explaining what my proposal meant.  I was happy for her to clarify for other members but essentially I had proposed accepting the outline application only if the terms and conditions which had not been discharged yet duly were.  It then has to come back to us for ratification or not as the case might be.  It was seconded and after a debate which included officers for some reason I was able to give a closing statement.  I said I would normally vote for refusal given the designation of the site however in this case I couldn’t agree with the reasons put before us.  I had looked north from the site as requested and two large black agricultural barns were blocking any views.  Along the road a little and looking north again we saw the Hepscot building site in full view.  Turning back looking at the site and there were no views of the proposed site at all!  Looking west from the site we see another large building site just up Station Road again not obscured at all and again at least 2 story houses.  This application was outline permission only for 2 bungalows with restricted heights and as far as I could ascertain only the corner of one of the roofs would be seen from a single viewing point on Station Road.  Also included was that this development would urbanise the area, clearly 2 low level impact bungalows couldn’t do that especially compared with the building sites we have allowed along Station Road and the house types being built there.  I said I thought we were in danger of inconsistency if we didn’t allow these and that was my main reason for going against officer advice.  The vote was taken after a lot of clarification by planning officers, their acting head and the NCC solicitor and it was 6 to 2 for my proposal.  This doesn’t mean the applicant can now go off and start building; they have to discharge several conditions and get professional reports before our minded to, becomes approval.  I feel we have acted in good faith and not discriminated against an applicant who doesn’t have a large building firm behind her to put forward their own partisan arguments.

New road resurfacing done on the Choppington Road entrance into Bedlington.

It was then on with the LAC and this one was for Town and Parish councils to interact with NCC departments and officers they wouldn’t normally get to have any discourse with.  The chair suggested a round table approach and taking a very relaxed oversight of the meeting.

We were given an update on the roll out of Universal Credit and both Councillor Pidcock and myself registered our dismay with this scheme and they way it is to be rolled out.  We acknowledge it wasn’t our officers who should be in the firing line and they had to implement this as directed.  Supposedly rolling out on 12 December in our area and with payments potentially 6 weeks in arrears meant some people would have no money for anything at Xmas never mind presents!  In fact they might not get their full entitlement until February next year.  Also the facts that it has to be all done online and applicants have to have bank accounts are other concerns.

Who thought this was a good idea, obviously someone who has never been on benefits and doesn’t understand how they work!

Several more items were discussed with most members using it to further the concerns they had in their own wards.  I certainly did although I did ask about where we are with the devolution project.

Just had another meeting about new grit bins but I still haven’t seen a map yet.  This is supposed to come out to us next Monday.  As we had the manager of local services there and the highways manager I did get the chance to raise some past and present concerns residents have mentioned to me.   In fact one was mentioned by the young people I met with yesterday about their safety at school drop off and pick up times.  Good to see them all written down let’s hope I get the answers back we all need.

I went up to Leading Link and once again took part in a question and answer session with some of our young people.  All of these youngsters are interested in becoming part of their school council so I knew there would be some hard questions!  I gave a brief summary of local government then tried to answer questions off the youngsters.  Once again the variety of topics these young people are interested in is astonishing and nothing like young minds to see everything in black and white.  After grilling me for over an hour I hope they got some of their questions answered in a manner which they understood.

Monday and back to county hall for another scrutiny meeting.  This one only had about three or four agenda items, with the main one about the arrangements for dissolving Arch.  I had read through the papers and had a few questions about how the council was financially safeguarded.  I was particularly interested in the arrangements about the purchase of the Arch share capital and it’s reimbursement through a special dividend back to Council.  Arch and ‘special dividends’ are something to be absolutely certain about!!    I also asked specifically about the companies owned by Arch, both trading and non trading.

I was quite satisfied with the answers I got back and a bit mystified when only one other member asked questions.  Another member asked about the new governance document and we were told we would receive a copy each but that was something already asked about previously.

Once again I had not boiled a kettle for a cuppa when I got home before I was made aware of a report on social media which seemed to misrepresent the facts as had been discussed just this morning.  As the only member of the committee to actually ask questions about the financial arrangements and their repercussions I have to say the oblique silence from opposition members during committee sessions only to see accusations and finger pointing on social media almost immediately after these meetings only leads me to assume very partisan reports go back to whoever writes this stuff and their own conclusions are added into the mix which is then regurgitated onto social media.  I do not think this is in the best interests of anyone in the county much less taking responsibilities for the best practice of NCC as a body.  Holding the administration to account and suggesting ways it might improve for the benefit of us all is surly the job of every councillor irrespective of whatever party they belong to?  Maybe I’m still just naïve, I am certainly coming to my own conclusions!

Today it’s the Fire Brigade pensions and as usual the agenda runs to almost four pages!  Unlike the Local Government Pension Scheme my part in this one is as a representative for the employer and it looks only at the administration and legalities because it’s a revenue pension scheme unlike the LGPS which has investments to manage.  It takes all morning and into the afternoon to get through it all and we now have a manageress from Yorkshire who come up to advise.  This is because the admin for this like the LGPS is in Yorkshire.   We got through all the details and I even now have a basic level of understanding although it’s still pretty complex.

After the pension committee  meeting I went home and had just enough time for a cuppa before it was back up to county hall for the community chest committee meeting.  We had quite a few applications to wade through, sadly this time only one from Bedlington!  With only myself and two members of the administration we agreed all the applications in one form or another.  Some of the details were not eligible and I wish people would take their time and read through the associated guidance then we could award even more.  We ended up still underspent and not wanting to see that funding for local community groups and charities disappear we decided we wanted another extra round in January!

Road resurfaced at the Hartford Hall entrance into Bedlington.

Just returned for a supposed meeting about residents concerns about parking adjacent to the Plessey Woods Country Park.  Seems that meeting had already taken place even though my invitation clearly said today.  Being there and with the manager of the site and one of the workers I used the time to go through what had been said at the meeting.  Seems nothing much even after they walked around speaking to residents.  Unless residents  wanted to see double yellow lines outside their houses there isn’t much that can be done.  I suggested a much better signage for the park which included the wording…..”parking for Plessey Woods this way”.  We also had to chance to  kick some ideas around for the park and I think we might be on the same page by and large.  I want to see more people using the park and using the café, that way we get to retain the income and spend it on more park upgrades and personnel.  I also want to see more event type things going on and pulling more and different park users down with a varied offer.  I was assured the lads now wanted to help with putting together a proper Friends of group and they will be talking to users to see when we can get a meeting pulled together to discuss it with all interested parties.

There are a lot of things going on with regard to constituents and their concerns at the moment, even more than usual.  I try and forward each concern as soon as I receive it and when answers are not forthcoming give the departments a nudge.

I had a reply off highways about the traffic survey which was asked for by residents and which I in turn asked for.  This was done on Choppington Road near the Chester’s entrance road.  Again like the Netherton Village one this has come back saying the data doesn’t warrant any further action.  We must have the safest drivers in the whole country because that’s two traffic and speed surveys which have come back quoting insufficient evidence for further action.  If I didn’t know better I might have agreed!

Path extended and resurfaced.

Just come back from another LDF or Local Plan meeting.  This had been called by officers working on the new plan for guidance on a list of items.  Again I was the only member from the south east so it fell to me to provide answers for this whole area!  Good job I sit on strategic planning so even though Blyth, Ashington and Cramlington were discussed as well as Bedlington, I did have knowledge of what was being discussed.  In fact I think it was a pretty ‘robust’ meeting with some very straight answers given to straight questions.  Lots of housing issues as well as town boundaries and community gain funding discussed.  I was pleased to hear employment land would not only be protected but enhanced as we seek to bring real economic growth to the county.

One thing which came up as I mentioned concerns I have with some of the developments we have seen is that the 500 house application north of the Chesters was actually first considered by the last administration.  When it came to us last year at strategic planning it was actually the second time it had come through as a minded to approve scheme.  No wonder I couldn’t get it refused.

As I have been asking for updates on the Devolution Deal we are entering into with Newcastle and North Tyneside I have been invited to attend the committee meeting later this week as an observer.  As I have already pitched a scheme for Bedlington using not only the Devolution Deal but also the Borderlands Deal I need to go and make sure I’m aware of the trajectory they are taking.

I did go to the Devolution and Borderlands presentations and found them very interesting.  So much so I had several burning questions I wanted to ask but being only a spectator at this committee I couldn’t during the meeting but I did directly to the officers after the meeting closed.

Talking about questions I was astounded none of note came during the official question time during the meeting.  Instead members only seemed interested in promoting their own candidates into the oversight committee positions which would be created all in the name of political balance.  At some point we will have to put people into these sorts of positions because of their acumen and quality instead of just belonging to a political party!    This infuriated me and I couldn’t help but tell them what I thought on my way out.  2 schemes worth about a billion quid and no one had asked how we made sure we get the maximum benefit for our residents.  I might be being unfair and it’s all worked out but the answers I got back, I very much doubt it.

Residents roadway finished at last!