On Wednesday evening, Conservative Councillors attended full Council. The full Council meeting had a packed agenda, lasting until 10 p.m. Excellent questions were asked by the Conservative Group and local residents, with Motions also submitted by the three main political parties.
PETITION
The first highlight of the meeting was a petition submitted by residents in North Halifax, demanding Labour to scrap their planned Cycle Lane in Ovenden.
Mrs A Balme, the lead petitioner, argued to the Council that the Cycle Lane would be an imposition and that the Cabinet had not taken into consideration the demands of local residents. Mrs Balme explained the development would lead to the chopping down of many trees, and the Cycle Lane would restrict parking, which would be a significant problem and challenge for older residents and those with disabilities.
Conservative Councillors supported residents and made the point that local demands should be listened to and that the Cycle Lane will become a ‘white elephant’, like the ridiculous cycle lane in King Cross.
At the end of the debate, Labour voted and resolved that "the ongoing consultation on the Active Travel proposals in North Halifax be noted; and ... officers be requested to take account of the issues raised in the petition together with other comments and views in developing the next stage of the proposals."
This likely means Labour will continue with the cycle lane and ultimately ignore the pleas by residents in North Halifax and Ovenden, who “oppose this cycle lane and do not want it or need it”.
After the meeting, the Conservative Group Leader also wrote to the residents and said “I want to congratulate you on your campaign. I am pleased we could support you at the Council meeting last night. I understand that you will be disappointed with the outcome, but everyone should be proud of their hard work. Over 2000 signatures is a massive achievement, and I hope you will continue to be a strong voice for North Halifax.”
MOTIONS
Conservative: Car Parking Concessions will boost the Local Economy.
The Conservative motion proposed to the Council that the Executive should “develop full-costed proposals designed to attract visitors to Calderdale”.
Cllr Leigh outlined that the Conservative Group had accepted that Labour was going to implement their unpopular increases to parking charges, but argued the Council should try to alleviate the negative consequences of the increases by offering limited free parking at set times as this would attract visitors to our Towns.
Labour ultimately voted down the motion and did not accept their parking policies would negatively impact our Town Centres.
Labour: Save Calderdale’s Bus Routes
The Conservative Group agreed with Labour’s motion and understood that bus services are failing to provide inadequate services. This is a particular problem for those in rural areas and on low incomes.
Cllr Leigh proposed an amendment to the motion over Labour’s misrepresentation of the Conservative Government 2017 Bus Services legislation, which had prevented local authorities from creating public bus companies, but as an alternative, enabled mayoral combined authorities to establish public controlled franchising models such as the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.
However, the Conservative attempt at bipartisanship was fruitless as Labour preferred to play politics by voting down our amendment.
Liberal Democrat: Unadopted Streets
The Lib Dem motion wanted the Council to develop a report on the issue of unadopted roads in the Borough, and how the Council can help residents bring their unadopted up to the required standard for adoption.
The Labour Group proposed an amendment that accepted the good intentions of the original motion but said the Council could not adopt roads under the current financial difficulties.
The Conservative Group supported the good intentions of both the Lib Dem motion and Labour’s amendments but abstained.
QUESTIONS TO CABINET
Cllr Issott once again demanded and pleaded for action over recent horrific speeding incidents in her Ward. She raised the issue at full Council in July and said nothing has been done since then. It is completely unacceptable that many road safety improvements were given the green light several years ago, but still await implementation.
Cllr Leigh asked for an update on the new Halifax Bus Station development, which will partially open over the next couple of weeks.
Cllr Blagbrough raised two questions. Firstly, he praised the hard work of residents with their legal challenge against the Local Plan. He asked if the Council would suspend the Local Plan until we have the outcome of the Judicial Review as this would prevent additional and potentially unnecessary spending.
He then asked for an update on the subway improvements in Brighouse and said he was dismayed to hear the Council had first started work on the wrong subway.
Cllr Dickenson asked for an update to his question at Cabinet in August regarding the removal of books from libraries in Calderdale because he had received no communication since the initial response advising there would be an investigation.
Cllr Whittaker also asked two questions. Firstly, she raised concerns on behalf of residents in her Ward about the Woodhouse Local Plan development and then queried the Council’s ties to the Charity, Stonewall.
Cllr Robinson brought forward several queries regarding the new North Bride Leisure Centre and said he was glad to hear it was back on “track after 9 months of stagnation.” But was not glad to hear the number of facilities will be cut. He asked what facilities are expected to see the cut, and how much this is expected to save the Council. Then asked the bigger question regarding the current estimated costs for the Leisure Centre, and the expected opening date.
COUNCIL DECISIONS
REVIEW OF FRAUD POLICIES – This decision by the Council was voted for by all Councillors and included updates to the Council’s Fraud Policies. However, it was not without complications because the policies were initially implemented several years back, but never approved by the Council, which is a violation of the Constitution. This was first highlighted at the last Governance and Business Committee, where Conservative Cllrs, Howard Blagbrough and Peter Caffrey, said it was wholly unacceptable and demanded reassurances that this would not happen again.
MEMBERSHIP OF THE AUDIT COMMITTEE – This Report concerned the make-up of the Audit Committee. The Chair of the Audit Committee, Conservative Cllr Whittaker, brought forward the Report over concerns about the independence of the committee because the Council was not following external guidance that states the executive should not be involved in the Audit process.
