Meeting documents
Community Governance Review
Wednesday, 23rd June, 2010
BATH AND NORTH EAST SOMERSET
COMMUNITY GOVERNANCE REVIEW WORKING GROUP
Wednesday 23rd June 2010
PRESENT -: Councillors John Bull, Paul Crossley, Doug Deacon and Francine Haeberling
1 WELCOME AND INTRODUCTION BY THE LEADER OF THE COUNCIL
Councillor Francine Haeberling introduced everybody to the meeting.
2 EMERGENCY EVACUATION PROCEDURE
The Chair drew attention to the emergency evacuation procedure as set out on the Agenda.
3 QUESTIONS AND STATEMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC
At this point, the Chair opened up the meeting for contributions from the floor.
Paul Thomas from Writhlington made a statement setting out his reasons for wanting Norton Radstock Town Council to remain unchanged - a copy of which is available on the Minute book.
Dawn Milsom from Clandown, Radstock, made a statement requesting that all costs from any possible future split in the Town Council be covered by the new Midsomer Norton Town Council as they had driven this campaign forward. She also commented that the statistics had been presented in a misleading way.
Chris Dando from Norton Radstock Town Council made a series of points against splitting up the Town Council including the lack of public support, the cost in the light of current budget pressures, the elections next May and his view that fragmenting the Town Council would not lead to a more effective organisation.
Chris Watt, B&NES Councillor for Midsomer Norton Redfield, spoke as the original petitioner from Midsomer Norton. He believed the campaign was not about negativity with regard to the current arrangement but was a positive affirmation for Midsomer Norton's own distinct community identity. Norton Radstock is an abstract concept and it was clear that the people of Midsomer Norton wanted their own council. He hoped that this would carry the support of B&NES Council and that, if any change was to happen, it could take place promptly - perhaps late summer/early Autumn.
Sue Hamilton, a life-long resident of Westfield, described the very positive support for an independent Westfield parish council she had encountered when circulating the petition last year, and felt it was long overdue. She was critical of the arrangements for the parish poll.
John Paulton commented that everybody should have had polling cards, not just selected areas in Midsomer Norton. He also felt that the publication of the poll had been poor and he said it called into question the legality of the process.
Monica Evans, a local resident, explained that the parish poll had been hastily conceived and not asked for by those who had instigated the Community Governance review. The wider issue was that the Town Council was set up in the 1930s to represent the size of population at that time, but 14 Councillors now represented a vast area. The separate communities needed their own focus on local issues and this move might encourage more people to stand for election.
Clive Rowlett from the Chamber of Commerce spoke from the business perspective regarding the economic regeneration of the area and how it would be better served by elections in the autumn for a separate Midsomer Norton Town Council.
Michael Rich from the Midsomer Norton Society made a plea for an independent Town Council for Midsomer Norton which would match the local identity. In his role as the Chair for the local PACT meeting, he visits other parishes and has noted the determination, focus and enthusiasm that springs from having a parish council that represents them. There was now a need to move forward to creating a council that gave Midsomer Norton its own identity and he hoped for elections in the autumn.
Chris Cray, B&NES Councillor for Midsomer Norton Westfield, commented that the Town Council had had an opportunity to call a poll but hadn't done so. The Working group had decided it was necessary to include Radstock despite them not reaching the required amount of signatures. They didn't want to see Westfield on its own and definitely not paired with Radstock.
Eleanor Jackson, B&NES Councillor for Radstock, made a statement setting out her reasons for wanting to leave the Town council unchanged, including unclear boundaries, extra cost of three councils and it reflecting the will of the majority (a copy of the statement is available on the Minute book). She also offered apologies from the Radco shareholders who had been unable to attend this meeting due to a clash with their AGM.
Terry Ince, a local resident, stated that he had noted comments in recent publications about `decisive' votes and the `enthusiam of Midsomer Norton people' which he thought were over the top and did not reflect the little interest that had been shown from Radstock and Westfield.
Julian Shepherd, a resident and local trader on the High Street, said he picked up the views of local residents in his shop, one of which was that Midsomer Norton always came second as far as Norton Radstock Town Council resources were concerned. There was a huge demand to move Midsomer Norton forward and to develop community facilities for the area and the only way to do this was to involve those in Midsomer Norton in Midsomer Norton issues. He felt that the opportunity to be masters of their own destiny should not be missed - they were ready to take on the responsibility.
Leslie Mansell, Norton Radstock Town Councillor, commented on the low percentage of people who had responded or commented via various means. She wondered whether a cost benefit analysis had shown that splitting up the Town Council would cost more or less, but suspected that it would be more and asked what guarantees could be given that it wouldn't. She added that the staff had been ignored in the debate thus far and it wasn't just a case of dividing them up, as valuable skills and experience would be lost. She also commented that dividing up the area would do nothing to improve the feeling of community cohesion.
Michael Evans, Norton Radstock Town Councillor, noted that an area did not need a town or parish council but the reason for having one was to give cohesion. The people of Midsomer Norton have petitioned for this and so the question is whether Midsomer Norton has the identity and cohesion to warrant this - his experience was that it did not. He had joined the Council hoping for vision but was told that they were just focussing on Quality Parish status. He was originally motivated due to the poor behaviour of the town clerks which annoyed him, as a tax payer. On balance, his conclusion was that change should happen and Midsomer Norton needed its own Council.
Bruce Shearn, ex-B&NES Councillor for Radstock, said he thought Norton Radstock was a viable Council although it had lost its way somewhat over the last 5 or 6 years. This issue wasn't about Midsomer Norton having more than Radstock. A strong Council was needed, not one representing a smaller area with little clout. He considered himself a resident of Norton Radstock and that's where he wanted to be.
Rob Appleyard, B&NES and Town Councillor for Westfield, said that he had started this process not minding the end result as long as everybody had had the right information to enable them to make an informed decision. He wasn't sure this had happened. People needed to come forward so that the community could be better served.
Robin Moss, Chair of Norton Radstock Town Council, commented that what was missing from the debate was the cost of splitting up the Council in terms of duplication of systems, assets etc. Local government could not afford this split. The parish poll had not been called for by the Town Council and they had in fact asked for it to be postponed. Comments that had been made regarding Norton Radstock being an abstract area with difficult Councillors could just have easily been directed at B&NES Council!
Barry Macrae, B&NES Councillor for Midsomer Norton North, said that he had been listening to the opposing views but did not align himself with any particular viewpoint. He noted that from 20,000 electors there were only around 100 at this meeting, a large proportion of whom were Town Councillors. He acknowledged a certain level of negativity at this meeting about the review, and wondered if there was the necessary cohesion, identity and willingness to go forward.
Keith Pate, leading for the review in Radstock, said that people of all 3 areas wanted to move forward and change was needed.
Terry Taylor from the Midsomer Norton Community Association commented that, looking at neighbouring parishes, you could see that they governed themselves, worked together and saved money. There was a need to work together to go forward.
John Whittock, B&NES Councillor for Redfield, said that he had been looking into this and could see both points of view.
Andrew Green, Midsomer Norton resident, said he thought that Midsomer Norton had a strong positive ethos and that people identified with living either in Midsomer Norton, Radstock or Westfield. There had been lots of local improvements with support from volunteers from the Midsomer Norton society. He acknowledged there would be a cost but felt that it would mean that Midsomer Norton would get more value for money. Their residents were not being best served by Norton Radstock Town Council.
David Bird had moved recently to this area and had noticed a good community spirit and distinct identity and needs for Midsomer Norton. It needed its own Town Council to focus on Midsomer Norton's own needs and better allocate limited funding. Working with volunteers, an independent Town Council would take this forward.
Paul Myers explained that this had just started as a grass roots petition for support across the community. They had worked hard for 3 years on this campaign and the solution of a Midsomer Norton Town Council was the way to move forward. He called on the Councillors to support this and establish the Town Council before the end of the year.
Carole Sims who works for Norton Radstock Town Council spoke on behalf of the staff and wanted to know what would happen to their jobs if any change was pursued.
Mike Boulton, Midsomer Norton Town Councillor, referred to an earlier contributor's comments and said that he had not been present at meetings to hear all of the arguments. He said that the core consideration was whether there was significant and robust evidence for any particular course of action.
Following the conclusion of the public contributions and clarification on a couple of issues regarding electoral terms of office and dates, the Working group adjourned for ten minutes.
Once the meeting had re-convened, Councillor John Bull moved that the Group should recommend the approval of Model 3 for no change. In moving this option, he gave the following reasons for doing so. He explained that he had attended tonight expecting a packed hall demonstrating a wide strength of interest in this issue but this had not been the case. He accepted the sincere feelings of those who had attended but he did not perceive an overwhelming demand from enough residents of Midsomer Norton, and even less from those of Westfield, to support separate parish Councils. Councillor Bull made reference to the view that had been put across of the unfair allocation of funding to the Midsomer Norton area from Norton Radstock Town Council but found this anecdotal, with no clear evidence to support it. With reference to the perception of identity across different communities, he referred to B&NES Council which managed to represent diverse identities while functioning as an effective Authority. With regard to the Westfield area, the turnout was even smaller and so, again, he saw no overwhelming will for change. This motion was not seconded.
Councillor Paul Crossley then moved Model 1, the `full change' model, and gave the following reasons for doing so. He acknowledged that this was a difficult subject to consider and the reason for their adjournment was so that they could look fully at the draft set of motions for each model. Over the previous weeks, he had spoken to people with opposing views from all the wards involved and there were clearly parts of the community who were not at ease with how they were currently represented at Town Council level. Having considered all the representations put forward, he was clear that there existed in all parts of the community, a wish for representation at the community level. With reference to the date of the new Parish Councils, he was uneasy with the suggestions that these take place in the autumn and felt it would make them out of sync with other local Councils so, for that reason, was sticking with the proposal that they take place in May 2011.
This motion was seconded by Councillor Doug Deacon.
It was therefore
RESOLVED (3 for, 1 against) to recommend to Council
(1) To approve the recommendation contained in the community petition calling for a separate parish council for Midsomer Norton on the grounds that:
(a) There is sufficient and robust evidence that the Midsomer Norton community has its own identity and sense of civic place and civic pride and can itself sustain a capacity to fulfil its own potential and work to resolve local issues;
(b) A Midsomer Norton Parish Council (styled as a Town Council) as one of the largest in the area, would be equipped to offer strong local community leadership and would have the capacity to develop wider initiatives such as Quality Parish status which would give it greater powers, including partnership working with Bath & North East Somerset;
(c) Such a Council would be well placed to develop co-operative working with adjoining councils to ensure that it develops services that can support the needs of its resident population and those in its more rural hinterland;
(d) The creation of such a Town Council is not seen as having a detrimental impact on the local governance of adjoining communities within the review area - in fact it will enhance it for the reasons set out in (c) above and in view of the recommendations below.
(2) to agree that the Midsomer Norton Town Council's governance area be the existing wards of Midsomer Norton North and Midsomer Norton Redfield [and that these wards remain as constituent wards of the new Council];
(3) to agree that the number of councillors on the new Midsomer Norton Town Council be 13 - comprising 7 elected for Midsomer Norton North and 6 elected for Midsomer Norton Redfield;
(4) to agree that the first election for the new Town Council take place in May 2011 with the first term of office being for 4 years with elections taking place every 4 years thereafter;
(5) to approve the recommendation contained in the community petition calling for a separate parish council for Westfield on the grounds that:
(a) there is sufficient evidence of an established community identity, a sense of place and of local distinctiveness;
(b) local people gave evidence of a sense of pride in their area;
(c) such a parish council would be of sufficient size to sustain strong leadership of the local community, in supporting local needs and securing resources;
(d) the creation of such a parish council would complement and not compromise the effective local governance of the whole review area giving the Westfield community a strong voice in the development of co-operative working between local councils in the review area and beyond.
(6) to agree that the Westfield Parish Council's governance area be the existing ward of Westfield [there were no separate warding arrangements proposed];
(7) to agree that the number of councillors on the new Westfield Parish Council be 11;
(8) to agree that the first election for the new Parish Council take place in May, 2011 with the first term of office being for 4 years with elections taking place every 4 years thereafter;
(9) As a consequence of the decisions at (1) and (5) above, and in the light of evidence, including a supportive 235 x person petition, to approve the creation of a separate parish council for Radstock (styled as a Town Council) on the grounds that:
(a) there is an established community identity and a proven sense of place and local and historic distinctiveness;
(b) such a parish council would be of sufficient size to sustain strong leadership of the local community, in supporting local needs and securing resources;
(c) the creation of such a parish council would complement and not compromise the effective local governance of the whole review area giving the Radstock community a strong voice in the development of co-operative working between local councils in the review area and beyond.
(10) To agree that the Radstock Town Council's governance area be the existing ward of Radstock [there were no separate warding arrangements proposed];
(11) To agree that the number of councillors on the new Radstock Town Council be 11;
(12) To agree that the first election for the new Town Council take place in May, 2011 with the first term of office being for 4 years with elections taking place every 4 years thereafter;
(13) to abolish the parish of Norton Radstock and consequently to dissolve the Norton Radstock Town Council;
(14) to authorise the Electoral Registration Officer to make the Reorganisation Order under statutory powers to give effect to the above decisions and incidental matters (including the transfer of assets, resources and liabilities and the setting of the initial precept), the Order to come into force on 1st April, 2011.
[Following his first motion falling, Councillor John Bull proposed an amendment to Councillor Crossley's motion, to support Model 2 for `partial change' - this was not accepted by the mover so fell.]
On a point of order, Councilllor Bull explained that if Westfield residents wanted to remain with Radstock, they could make these views known before the final decision at Council on July 22nd.
Councillor Haeberling acknowledged the strong community identities and believed that they would be able to function well as separate parish Councils. She then drew the meeting to a close and thanked everyone for attending.
The meeting ended at 8.20pm
Chair(person)
Date Confirmed and Signed
Prepared by Democratic Services