Council Leader gives his report on the first year of a Conservative North Norfolk District Council

Newly elected Council Leader, Keith Johnson, has spoken about how proud he is of what the Conservatives have achieved in just one year of running North Norfolk District Council, which they won control of from the Lib Dems at the local elections in May last year.

Speaking to supporters after the Council’s Annual Meeting last night, Cllr Johnson said that in their first year in office the Conservatives had taken decisive action to plug a £1m black-hole in the Council’s budget for this year so that they had been able to scrap the 2.5% council tax increase planned by the Lib Dems.  But he added that he was most proud that they had done this by reforming the Council, including dramatically reducing the number of senior managers, rather than by cutting vital services.

“We have taken tough decisions to make sure we could freeze council tax this year as we promised to do in our election manifesto and this is a great achievement at a time of reduced funding from central government and rising costs.  But we also have managed to do this without cutting vital services because we have been willing to take the tough choices that our Lib Dem predecessors consistently ducked.

“This has enabled us to be able to ring-fence the New Homes Bonus this year so that it is available to invest in communities who accommodate new housing development and it has meant that we have been able to set-up our Big Society Fund, which will this year invest almost £500,000 in local community projects.

“We have also published our plan for the next few years, with a very clear focus on creating new jobs and building new homes for hard-pressed local families who currently have no option but to move away from the District to find work and somewhere affordable to live.  Early steps to achieve this include the action we are taking to tackle the scandal of the number of long-term empty homes in the District and our efforts to promote North Norfolkas a centre-of-excellence for renewable energy, but we know that we must not be complacent and that there is much more to do.”

New Leader takes over at North Norfolk District Council

The Leader of the Council has this week stepped down from the role in order to spend more time with her family.  Helen Eales will remain as the popular District Councillor for the Runtons and Aylmerton Ward but this week told her Conservative colleagues that the time had come to allow someone else to take over the leadership.

Councillor Eales became Leader of the Council when the Conservatives inflicted a shock defeat on the Lib Dems in May last year, taking control of North Norfolk District Council for the first time in the authority’s history.  In the year since she has overseen some significant changes, including the reduction of the Council’s management team and tackling the £1m deficit left by the Lib Dems in order to be able to freeze council tax this year.

Following the surprise announcement, Cromer Councillor Keith Johnson was last night elected as Leader of North Norfolk District Council at the Council’s Annual Meeting.

Speaking after a private meeting of Conservative Councillors, Cllr Eales said, “It has been an enormous privilege to lead the Council and particularly to be the first ever Conservative to hold the post.  While I have enjoyed my time in the role it is a demanding one and I feel that it is time to step back and let others take the lead.  I am also looking forward to having more time to spend looking after residents of my ward.”

Cllr Johnson added, “I am humbled by the confidence expressed in me by my colleagues and I look forward to building on Helen’s achievements in the coming months.  Helen’s shoes will be difficult to fill and I want to publicly thank her, on behalf of the whole of North Norfolk, for her extraordinary efforts over the last twelve months.”

Lib Dems resort to dishonesty in crucial by-election

The Conservatives have criticised their Lib Dem opponents of resorting to dirty tricks in the by-election for the North Norfolk District Council ward of Waterside.

In a leaflet put out by the Lib Dem candidate he claimed that the Conservative administration had spent over £2,000 of taxpayer money on training for senior councillors.  In fact, the cost of the training for members was just £923.

Cllr Helen Eales, Conservative Leader of North Norfolk District Council, was named in the Lib Dem leaflet and has hit back saying, “This story is simply dishonest and also misses the crucial point that in our first year of being in control of the District Council we have spent considerably less on councillor training than the Lib Dems spent in any of the eight years that they were in control.”

Cllr Eales wrote to the Lib Dem candidate and his agent before Easter asking for a public retraction of the story and a donation to charity as an apology for the remarks.  As no reply has been received she has consulted a solicitor and written again to make it clear she will take legal action for defamation if she does not receive a full apology.

“This smacks of desperation from the Lib Dems, who are struggling to hang on to this seat after their defeat at the elections last year but that does not justify this sort of dishonest negative campaigning.  We have tried to keep this campaign focused on the issues that matter to local people but the Lib Dems have sadly resorted to a series of personal attacks.

“I am disappointed to have to resort to legal action to obtain the apology I am due from the Lib Dems when all I wanted was a public retraction and a small donation to charity.  I will not allow this sort of negative campaigning to go unchallenged however as it gives all politicians a bad name and turns ordinary people off of politics.”

UKIP is misrepresenting the cable route appeal decision

There has been a lot of publicity for North Norfolk District Council’s decision not to spend about £100,000 defending the appeal against the Planning Committee’s decision to refuse permission for an underground cable route linking an offshore windfarm to the national grid.

NNDC’s single UKIP councillor is leading the criticism of the refusal to spend council taxpayer money fighting the appeal on the basis that it is undemocratic but he is missing the point.  Firstly, the councillors made the decision so it was democratic.  Secondly, despite what recent press reports say, the decision was not about whether the Council could afford to fund the defence or not, the decision was actually about whether the decision was a sensible one to spend such a large amount of money defending.

Ultimately the members of the Council’s Planning Committee need to decide individual planning applications, but I for one was not willing to vote to waste council taxpayer money defending an appeal against an underground cable route that the UKIP councillor and others had decided to refuse planning permission for on the basis that the cable (which I repeat will be underground) will have an unacceptable impact on the landscape of the area.

As I said at the Council meeting when I spoke in support of the decision not to fund the appeal, I support the Council’s right to defend any planning appeal regardless of the cost just as long as the decision we are defending is the right one.  Despite UKIP’s claim that this is some assault on democracy it is not – I, along with a large majority of Conservative and Lib Dem councillors, simply was not willing to waste money on an appeal that we did not think should ever have been necessary in the first place.

What is undemocratic about that?

Trevor Ivory welcomes capped benefits for families who don’t work

David Cameron and Trevor Ivory - delivering for North Norfolk

The Government’s victory in passing the Welfare Reform Bill, ensuring that no family can get more in benefits than the average working family earns, has been welcomed by Trevor Ivory, Conservative Spokesman for North Norfolk.

Under the reforms, the benefit payments that a household on out of work benefits will be capped at £26,000 per year so that work always pays. Under Labour, households were able to receive up to £104,000 per year in Housing Benefit alone.

Labour have opposed this fair cap on benefits, voting to maintain a something for nothing culture where some families who do not work get thousands of pounds more in welfare handouts than the average working family earns.

Commenting, Prime Minister David Cameron said:

‘Today marks an historic step in the biggest welfare revolution in over 60 years. This government has taken bold action to make work pay, while protecting the vulnerable.  Past governments have talked about reform, while watching the benefits bill sky rocket and generations languish on the dole and dependency. This government is delivering it. Our new law will mark the end of the culture that said a life on benefits was an acceptable alternative to work.’

Trevor Ivory commented:

‘In North Norfolk, the average person would have to pay tax for thirty-four years to pay for one household to receive £104,000 in benefits a year, which could happen if Labour had their way.

‘This benefit cap shows that the Conservatives are the party of fairness, standing up for hard working taxpayers. By voting against it, Labour have once again shown they are the party of something for nothing.’

At last, a Bishop who understands the need for welfare reform

Lord Carey, the former Archbishop of Canterbury, has written one of the most compelling explanations of the need to reform the welfare system in today’s Daily Mail.

There is little that I can add to his Lordship’s words, which quite clearly explain why it is socially and morally irresponsible to allow the continued creep of welfare dependency.  It is, of course, right that people on benefits should not have a higher income than those who are working hard to support their family, but even more importantly it is in the best interests of those in receipt of benefits to make sure that, where they can work, they do so.

As the Centre for Social Justice has demonstrated very clearly, long-term unemployment leads to increased mental health problems, higher rates of addiction, family breakdown and crime.  It is a fundamental plank of building a stronger society that everyone in that society must feel that have a valuable contribution to make to it – and a big part of that is being economically active.

The economic and fairness arguments in favour of the Government’s reforms are obvious but the social and moral imperatives for them are more subtle and I applaud Lord Carey for setting out the case so plainly.

Plans for anaerobic digester in Scottow

Scottow Row, where residents are concerned about possible traffic impacts.

A number of residents of Scottow Row have contacted me with concerns about the planning application for an anaerobic digester on Scottow Road.  You can see the planning application here.

An anaerobic digester is basically a hi-tech compost heap which traps gas from the rotting material (probably maize) and then uses the gas to generate electricity and/or heat.  The only bi-product is a fertiliser.  It is a sustainable form of renewable energy that has the added advantage of providing a new market for local farmers.

Following my meeting with Scottow Row residents I have been working with the planning department to get some answers to the questions that local people have.  I also understand that residents of Swanton Abbott share Scottow Row residents’ concerns about traffic impacts.

The good news is that the landowner has confirmed to me that he is willing to enter into a legal agreement to prevent traffic from using Scottow Row and to make sure that it avoids The Fairstead, using the Scottow Road junction with the B1150 by the rugby club instead.  I have asked the planning officers to get this agreement in place.

I await an answer on the other points of concern but, in the meantime, have exercised my right as the local Councillor to have the planning application decided by the planning committee instead of by the planning officers.  This will make sure that local people are able to express their views before the decision.

I’d welcome the views of other local people on this application – please drop me a line and let me know what you think or leave a comment below.

Zero tolerance approach to fly tipping and littering

North Norfolk is an attractive place to live and visit and it is a shame that not everyone respects it.  Fly tipping and littering can really blight an area making it unpleasant for local people and discouraging the visitors who are so important to our economy and jobs from coming back again.

That is why at the District Council we take a zero tolerance approach towards those who do not respect our community.  Two successful prosecutions, one for littering and one for fly tipping, have recently served as a clear warning to anyone tempted to commit these crimes that we will prosecute.

If you witnesses anyone fly tipping or littering please report it to the Council’s Environmental Protection Team on  01263 516085, making sure that you give them as much information as possible (vehicle registration numbers are always really helpful) to help the Council’s officers to find the perpetrators.

 

What about England’s future?

When Labour devolved power to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland they did not even consider, yet alone solve, the problem of what that meant for England, the so-called ‘West Lothian question’.

The problem is that while Westminster lost decision-making powers on certain issues in respect of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland those matters remain the responsibility of the Westminster parliament in relation to England.  This means that MPs representing the other three countries of the UK can vote on those matters as far as they affect England, but MPs representing England cannot influence those matters in the rest of the UK.

This unfair situation has caused increasing resentment within England since devolution and is a big part of the reason for the opinion poll result in the Sunday Telegraph today that shows that support for Scottish independence is higher in England than in Scotland.

I am a supporter of devolution and would even probably support further devolution for Scotland (what Alex Salmond calls ‘devo-max’) if that is what the Scottish people want.  I believe in local democracy and in empowering communities, which always requires decisions to be taken as close to the communities affected as possible.  But the time has come for resolution of the unfairness of Labour’s one-sided devolution.

I do not personally favour an English parliament, with more politicians, bureaucrats and no doubt an expensive new trophy building.  Instead I support the policy that was in the Conservative manifesto at the last General Election:  simply preventing MPs representing constituencies outside England voting on matters that only relate to England.

The Coalition Agreement was not as categorical, presumably because of Lib Dem reluctance, but it did include a commitment to set-up a commission to look at the issue.  At the end of last year the Government announced that the commission will be up and running by February and should report early next year.

The need for action is greater than ever as we all prepare for a year in which the question of Scottish independence is looking likely to run and run.  Until the West Lothian question is answered Alex Salmond is wrong to say that his ‘devo-max’ option is a question for Scotland alone.  I for one would oppose devolving further powers to Scotland without first addressing the unfairness in the current structure of devolution.

 

 

 

Delivering value for North Norfolk’s council taxpayers

A special session of the District Council last night gave unanimous support to the first stage of our plans to cut the size of the Council’s management.

Until now the Council has had a Chief Executive, Deputy Chief Executive and three Directors but as a result of our reforms that will shrink to just a Chief Executive and two Directors, which will save council taxpayers at least £150,000 a year.  Not a bad day’s work and proof that we are serious about reducing the size and cost of the council while maintaining key services.