Saturday 26 January 2013

Revival

I really need to reactivate this blog - and not just because there are local elections (Town & County) coming up in May!

No - there's a lot going on in Morpeth that need discussing eg the Neighbourhood Plan, the Morrisons/Dransfield development, the Northern Bypass, the flood defence scheme, the market - and a whole lot more. So I'll get cracking... watch this space.

Meanwhile - an amusing incident (well I thought so) at the Town Council last Weds: the coalition government has brought in a new 'code of conduct' which puts a lot of stress on financial interests but not much else. Well we were setting the Town Council's bit of the Council Tax (more about that in another post) - and evidently. because all the councillors pay council tax (and have friends who pay council tax), we all had to declare a 'prejudicial interest' which should exclude us all from taking part in the decision. So instead we had the spectacle of the whole council granting itself a 'dispensation' from the code of conduct so the council tax could be set. Unfortunately there were no members of the public or even press to report the comedy - however I understand the County Council (along with every council in the country) will have to go through with the charade.