We may be getting a change in local government in the next couple of years with the abolition of both District and County Councils and their replacement by either one or two ‘unitary authorities’. There's a consultation of 'key stakeholders' going on at the moment - that doesn't include the general public or any community organisations - deadline 22nd June - with the Government announcing what we're going to get in July.Of course - its outrageous- its outrageous that the government is imposing this change without any sort of referendum, but then we did give them the 'wrong answer' on regional government, so we can't be trusted- its outrageous that the County Council pre-empted any discussion by declaring they'd be bidding for a single unitary authority within hours of the Government announcement, and brought their Cabinet up to speed a few weeks later - and then fudged the full council decision- its outrageous that the District Councils 'played the game' by counter-bidding with a two unitary model, again without any real consultation (though as a loyal member of CMBC Executive Board, I'm of course fully behind the two unitary bid)- its outrageous that Government 'bottled it' and did not choose a single option for consultation, thereby blighting any chance of co-operative working between County and Districts for another six monthsBut outrage won't get us far... Some parties are suggesting a private referendum - but this would take £120,000 of tax payers money with no guarantee that the Government will pay it heed.So - we must try to get the best out of what is on offer...As we see it, this change is all about - more cost-effective centralised services
- meeting the different needs of urban and rural Northumberland
- and local accountability.
As a party, we feel that local accountability is most important and we’ll be looking to maximise this in all options under consideration. And, whatever the outcome, the Town Council will become far more significant under unitary government so the results of this election are really important.
As the Greens have been saying for the last twenty years – climate change is not only real, but the biggest threat we have to face and we’ve got to do something about it. That includes both reducing greenhouse gas emissions and preparing for the floods, storms, droughts and heatwaves we can expect.
Yesterday evening (April 26th) the (Conservative) Leader, (Labour) Deputy Leader, Chief Executive and councillors from all parties signed up to the Nottingham Declaration on Climate Change, which is an agenda for local action in response to the global issue. It is a bit waffly – but does commit the Council to working on climate change through all its activities – preparing an Action Plan within the next twelve months.
If re-elected, I’ll work to make sure this carried into real action even if climate change stops being ‘flavour of the month’ with the mainstream parties.
The next few years are going to see massive changes in Morpeth. The Town and Borough Councils are going to need to work together to keep Morpeth going during the various redevelopments. Both Nic and Ron are committed to keeping the ‘special character’ of Morpeth, supporting locally owned shops and the markets, improving bus and rail services and taking a sensible approach to car parking. We'll try to keep you updated on reports on progress (or even start) of the Back Riggs development - and all the other works planned for this year. It'd be helpful if others could share what information they have through this 'blog'.We understand that delays in the Back Riggs development have been largely caused by the late arrival of a separate Morrisons negotiator joining discussions.
Nic was first elected to the Borough Council in the aftermath of the catastrophic failure of the last Castle Morpeth Local Plan. This time round, he is at the heart of the Council’s preparation of its new Local Development Framework (LDF). The LDF is a 20 year plan setting out where housing and industrial developments are going to be, mapping out the new Green Belt around Morpeth and defining policies to protect the landscape and wildlife. It’s probably the most influential policy the Borough Council is responsible for. So, we’ll certainly need one or two Greens on the Council to make sure it comes out right this time.
Both Ron and Nic are strong supporters of the SE Northumberland Rail User Group (in fact Nic was involved in setting it up) and we’re very impressed by what it has achieved. Again, if elected we’ll work to make sure that both Town and Borough Councils actively support SENRUG in its campaigns and projects.
For the past two years, the Borough Council has operated under an all-party coalition and as a result it has been more effective, wasting less time on trivial inter-party squabbling. Nic was closely involved in creating the coalition, and has been on the Council’s Executive Board since it was established. As a lone Green councillor - he has no political claim to the Executive - but the whole Council voted him on in recognition of the contribution he makes. The Green Party generally works through consensus-building and co-operation. If re-elected, Nic will continue to encourage cross-party working.
I'm going to post text from our leaflet to give blog readers a chance to comment on what we've said - one section at a time - starting with Markets:Nic has championed Morpeth Farmers’ Market from its launch in 1999 and we think it is one of the best things the council runs. And of course, it’s ‘green’ both to buy local (low foodmiles) produce and to support local businesses.As Chairman of the Castle Morpeth Markets Partnership, Nic has overseen the major investment in the Wednesday Market and its transfer onto the Market Place. We’d like to see lots more done to develop both markets so by re-electing Nic, you can help make sure he’s there to carry on the job.
