City Centre Neighbourhood Action Group

A useful meeting of the City Centre NAG today.  Nothing particularly exciting but it was good to meet the new OUSU VP for Charities and Community - conveniently also called Daniel like his successor!  Daniel Stone this time.

It's good to be keeping this link with Thames Valley Police open and it was good to meet the new City Centre Inspector, Katy Barrow-Grint.  You can see the current City Centre team on their web page.

Licensing and Gambling Acts Committee and General Purposes Licensing Committee

I attended both of these committees today although was last for the first as I had a work meeting that was longer than expected. I had attended the pre-meeting on Monday so I knew there was nothing too contentious.  I'm always impressed at how much hard work the licensing team does and how much they seem to get done.  You can read their update report on the council web site.

The General Purposes Licensing Committee was a bit more interesting and a few things a worthy of mention:

Firstly, my fellow LibDem councillor Gwynneth Royce made some excellent comments about having women represented on the taxi-licensing sub-committee (a panel of three councillors - two labour and one libdem).  It would be fair to say that the panel consists of three white, older males so is not very diverse.  I think diversity is always good on decision-making bodies and Jim Campbell pointed this out saying it's good to have to work with people who don't agree with you.  We resolved to invite both Labour and the LibDem group to consider if they might like to change their nominated councillors for this panel so as to make sure both sexes are represented.

Secondly, we discussed the issue of designation of streets for trading purposes.  We agreed to make all streets in the City "consent streets" which means that street trading has to have a licence from the City Council.  This is good because it will simply things and make issues such as on-street car selling on Cowley Road easier to deal with but the legislation has a very broad definition of "Street" so it may affect some food outlets in private car parks such as the one near Wickes on Botley Road and the one in the John Allen Centre at Cowley Centre.  We asked Officers to look carefully at this to see what could be done to mitigate the problem.

Finally we had a discussion about pavement trading stall as there is apparently a problem that the City's standard 1Mx2M is difficult for traders as the "standard" size you can buy is 1.3Mx2.4M (4ftx8ft).  I'm a bit worried that this represents over 50% increase in area but was assured that this will only be a discretionary increase when officers believe that the larger area is necessary for the type of items being sold (i.e. a flower stall may well need to be bigger than a jewellery stall).  Personally I don't like the stalls with large objects attached to the side of them either.  They clog up the street and impede pedestrian flow as well as being grossly outside the size limit.  Officers agreed to consider these carefully when doing enforcement.

The meeting finished soon after 7pm.

Town Twinning trip to Bonn

I’m just on the way home from a brilliant trip to Bonn, one of the towns with which Oxford is twinned.  The flight is delayed so I'm writing this.  There was a delegation of seven City Councillors and a few others from Oxford and I should say at this point that we all travelled at our own expense. I took Gordon, my partner too.  We flew into Cologne on Wednesday 1st June and visited the wonderful cathedral there before having a good lunch and getting the train South to Bonn.

The visit programme started at 5.30pm with a reception in the Stadhaus in Bonn and then had a welcome dinner at the old Rathaus, that is in the middle of a re-furb.

Day two consisted of a wonderful boat trip down the Rhine to Remargen, where there is the remains of a bridge that was very important towards the end of World War II and a museum about it.  We hopped across the river while we were there to a little village called Erpel and had a needed ice-cream.  We got the boat back to Bonn a bit later and spent the evening having a nice meal in a Turkish restaurant with our hosts, Elmar Konrads-Hassel and his wife Ursula Hassel.

Day three started at the Stadhaus with an interesting seminar about all the fair trade activity that Bonn and its council takes part in.  We share Oxford experiences and were all presented with some fair trade coffee.  Lunch followed and then we had a free afternoon.  Gordon and I used that time to visit the cathedral in Bonn and the Beethoven memorial as well as the protestant church.  We went on after that to the Scholsskirche (the University Church) for an excumenical service that was held in both English and German.  I was pleased to be able to take part in the prayers of intercession, fortunately in English!  We then processed in our robes to the Bonn Oxford Club where we were treated to a barbecue supper and entertainment by the Oxford Fiddle Group, another part of the English delegation visiting Bonn.

Day four was an incredibly hot day so worked well for the Bürgerfest where lots of groups both from Bonn and Oxford gave performances.  The Bonn Irish dancers were among them as were the group from the Pegasus Theatre and the Oxford Fiddle Group.  Gordon and I visited the Beethoven Haus in the afternoon where an really excellent audio guide (thankfully in English) gave me a real sense of a tour through the great composer’s life from start to finish.  There was also a very modern 3D rendition of some scenes from Fidelio where the singers were 3D shapes and we could move them around to hear the change in musical effect.  We briefly visited the Arithmeum, a fascinating collection of mathematical and arithmetical instruments.  We didn’t have long there as it shut at 6pm.  The final evening’s entertainment was as the Haus den Karnevals where we were fed again and then took part in a sort of gig called Losst mer Singe – where we had to join in with a band singing carnival songs in a local dialect called Bönnsch.

Our last day started with another wonderful breakfast from our hosts and then a trip to a fairly new museum of  the history of Germany.  It covered the period from 1945 right up to the current day and gave a fascinating insight in the German Democratic Republic (from 1949-1989) and the Federal Republic of Germany and how reunification had come about.  I was interested to hear about the struggles of the former GDR to adapt to the economic freedoms enjoyed by the Federal Republic.  We finished off our trip by taking our hosts to lunch at Restaurant am Rheinaue (basically a lea on the Rhine).

I was extremely pleased to be able to attend this twinning trip and I feel I know some of my fellow councillors in Oxford much better now, as well as having made some wonderful new friends in Germany.  I do think that twinning is great for Cities and brings about an international dimension to their civic lives.  It’s also great to be able to take young people along such as those from the Pegasus Theatre as I think such things hugely broaden their horizons.

I look forward both to welcoming new friends from Bonn back to Oxford and to visiting Bonn and other twins of Oxford and strongly encourage other councillors and members of community groups to do the same.  It’s definitely well worth the effort and expense of the travel.  The youngest member of our group was still at primary school and the oldest over 90 so there are no excuses!

Turning Gloucester Green into a food court?

I have received much correspondence this week from concerned residents of The Chilterns, the apartments that are along two sides of Gloucester Green.  The applications are 11/01135, 11/01140 and 11/01142. The first appears to be on the West side and the second two on the North side.  All applications are for a change of use from use class A1 (retail) to A3 (hot food restaurant and/or takeaway).

Concerns are around the much larger amount of rubbish A3 units tend to produce and its storage as these are quite constrained sites.  There is also concern that food waste not stored properly will cause bad smells and attract vermin.  I certainly share those concerns and also those about late night running of noisy ventilation fans and of course all the people-noise that more food outlets will inevitably bring.  Some objections are based on the impact more A3 will have on the viability of existing A3 premises but unfortunately this is not a planning reason that can be taken into account when determining a planning application.

What can be taken into account is the actual noise, smell, refuse problems that more A3 units will inevitably cause.  I think this would be a step too far in reducing amenity and increasing nuisance for residents of The Chilterns so I hope these applications are turned down.  There is already another hour added to the opening time (making it 4am) of a food outlet that backs onto the cinema (subject of an earlier blog post) and I really do think that enough is enough this time.

The applicants seem to make the argument that the retail units are not financially viable and that the only way to make these units viable is to let them be food outlets.  I think the applicants (who are the landlords) are rather forgetting that the financial equation also includes the rent payable to the landlord. These applications therefore do rather strike me as yet another landlord being greedy and trying to maximise profit without showing any regard for the amenity of the area, balance of uses of premises or the rights of quiet enjoyment of their properties that those living in the area have.

I am pleased that these applications have been called into the West Area Planning Committee by my Lib Dem colleagues Stephen Brown, Alan Armitage, David Rundle and Jim Campbell and I do hope that when it comes to determine the applications  the new West Area Planning Committee will turn them down.

In the event that the planning use changes are granted then I hope the provisions of the Licensing Act 2003 can be used to prevent any new A3 units from operating late at night and into the small hours that further disturbing the residents of The Chilterns.

Annual Council, Licensing, Mayor-making

Today at 4pm saw the formal annual meeting of council which does things such as approving the scheme of delegation and appointing councillors to committees. I have ended up on the Licensing and Gambling Acts committee again and also the Planning Review Committee.

After that brief meeting we had meetings of the two licensing committees, again very briefly. Mary Clarkson will carry on as chair of licensing and gambling acts committee and I will continue as the vice-chair of that committee. I was pleased to see that Lib Dem Clark Brundin will chair the General Purposes Licensing Committee, with Labour's Colin Cook being vice-chair.

At 5pm we gathered in our robes in the assembly room for the annual ceremonial mayor-making event.  This is a formal occasion but also ceremonial.  The tradition is that the councillor of the longest standing, who has not fulfilled the role before, gets to serve as Lord Mayor for the council year.  This year that honour falls to Elise Benjamin.  Lots of speeches of proposal and seconding are made for Lord Mayor, Deputy Lord Mayor and Sheriff of Oxford.  I was really pleased that Lib Dems Alan Armitage and Jean Fooks will serve as Deputy Lord Mayor and Sheriff respectively for this council year.

The evening was rounded off with a reception for civil dignitaries and guests in the main hall of the town hall.

City Centre Neighbourhood Action Group

This was a good meeting although our numbers were quite low.  It was ably chaired by Sgt Stuart Hudson, a City Centre Sergeant with Thames Valley Police. PCs Rob Parker and Paul Phillips were also present.

The issue of drug dealing in the Oxpens/Friars Wharf/Speedwell Street area seems to have gone quiet so this is a good thing.  There are still problems with drinking in the street and general disorder around the St. Michael Street and Luther Street areas.  This always becomes more of a problem as the weather gets warmer and the lighter evenings come along but I was a bit alarmed to hear that some residents are feeling St. Michael's Street is a becoming a no-go area after 4pm.  I am pleased that TVP is doing a lot of close work with residents to help ensure that this problem and their fear of it is tackled effectively.  The Luther Street issues are ongoing and TVP continue to work with O Hanlon House, A2 Dominion Housing Association and the Luther Street Medical Centre.  Some more signs about street drinking are also being investigated although I have my reservations about how effective these will be!

Big Issue selling still seems to be problematic with sellers actually begging (which is illegal) rather than selling and ignoring the 10pm curfew on such sales.

We talked about how many students want to help people on the streets but don't know how.  Giving cash was not recommended as most estimates think that over 75% of that goes on drugs and alcohol, which does not necessarily help.  A voucher scheme for O'Hanlon house (the "night shelter") has been tried but there was too much black-market selling and counterfeiting so it was stopped.  I don't believe this is an insurmountable problem and would like to see a scheme where people can buy vouchers online and print them themselves with a unique barcode on them (a bit like a boarding pass or a Groupon).

Finally, having complained about speeding on St Giles, I was horrified to find that 90% of drivers were speeding when TVP did a check recently.  I hope something can be done about this and suggested a firm letter to the Oxford Bus companies as buses are some of the worst offenders in my experience.

The last ever Central South and West Area Committee

This was a sad evening.  I have had six years of working with Central South and West Area Committee and we've had some great times and hopefully served the people of Central, South and West Oxford well over that time.  Today's meeting was at the Deaf Direct Centre, on Littlegate Street (St Ebbe’s) and I thought it worked rather well as a venue.  One of the few times we've had the area committee in Carfax ward so I hope we'll be able to hold some of the new Area Forum meetings there.

The agenda is available online and I was about 15 minutes late as I had been at a meeting at Oxford Spires Academy where I am a governor.

I think the most notable item was a rather large dormer window planning application for a property on the south corner of Abingdon Road and Kineton Road.  The planning officers were recommending us to approve as this was an improvement on an even more obtrusive previous application that they had declined under delegated powers but their steer was that we could probably decide either way quite legitimately.  The dormer windows were to be on the rear elevation of the property and would probably not be allowed on the front.  Stephen Brown's argument that the side of the house is also the front on a corner plot is what convinced me to vote against the application.  Most of the rest of the committee agreed and the application was turned down.

The meeting finished around 6.45pm giving just enough time for a quick dinner and a pint at the Swan and Castle in time to get to the Annual Lib Dem Group meeting at the town hall at 7.30pm.  A busy day for a councillor!

Lib Dem group annual meeting

This was our annual meeting where we choose group officers for the coming council year.

There's not much to be happy about nationally as a Lib Dem at the moment but this was a good and positive meeting and I remain convinced that LibDem councillors are good for the people of Oxford that we are doing our best to get Lib Dem policies put into effect at local level.  Remember policy is formed by the party, not just by those in government.

Our nominations to council committees for the next council year are:

Value and Performance Scrutiny: Cllrs Brown, Royce, Gotch and McCready
Communities and Partnerships Scrutiny: Cllrs Khan, Campbell, Jones and Wilkinson
East Area Planning: Cllrs Rundle, Brown and Fooks
West Area Planning: Cllrs Jones, Gotch and Goddard
Planning Review: Cllrs Altaf-Khan, Brett and Armitage
Audit & Governance: Cllrs Brundin and Mills
General Purposes Licensing: Cllrs Gotch, Royce, Brundin and Goddard
Licensing and Gambling Acts: Cllrs Brett, Gotch, Royce, Brundin and Goddard
Disciplinary Committee: Cllrs Brown and Mills
Appointments Committee: Cllrs Brown and Mills
Standards Committee: Cllrs Brundin and Gotch

I'm pleased that we have managed to spread what is quite a heavy workload between us and look forward to working with these colleagues and those from the other parties represented on the City Council.

Full Council

Well this was a mammoth of a meeting!  We started with the normal formalities and also observed a minute's silence to mark the death of Bob Hoyle, who served Oxford City Council as a member for many years.  Bob was also a personal friend so this was a particularly poignant moment.

We heard a few addresses from members of the public including several people objecting to the end of Area Committees and the new planning arrangements coming into force.  We also had addresses from Jane Alexander and Nigel Gibson about the proposed new pool at Blackbird Leys and how nobody seemed really to want it, and concerns of more elderly and infirm users that it would be much colder than the current pool, possibly meaning they couldn't use it.

We had the usual plethora of questions from members of council, which are really more about making a point in public than actually needing to ask in that forum.  There were then two petitions, one about publicly funded leisure in Oxford and one about the Chinese Advice Centre which has suffered a savage cut to its grant this year at the hands of the Labour-run Council.  We stopped then for council tea and I had to dash home and back on my bike as I'd forgotten my lights and it would be dark at the end of the meeting.

After tea we moved on to the motions on notice and I was quite appalled at how many members of the Labour administration appeared to be deliberately filibustering so that we would run out of time and not get to the motions that might embarrass them.  There was one motion about Bee colonies and I was flabbergasted at home much research and how many long speeches we heard from Labour councillors.

We also had a discussion about the new single-member decision-making that is coming into force and I expressed concerned about how transparent that would be and quite how a single member is going to make any decision other than the one recommended on the report that they will probably have requested and approved!

The final item that caught my attention was a tightening up of taxi licencing policy and making some recommendations on the relevance of offences, cautions and convictions of those applying to be private hire or hackney carriage drivers.  I think it must be right that the decision-making panels have discretion to take these into account even when they might be "spent" for other purposes as taxi drivers are in a huge position of trust and we as councillors cannot risk putting vulnerable members of our society at risk by allowing people with incompatible histories to take on such positions of responsibility.

The meeting finished after 10pm and I was very glad to get home and have a rest before bed!  You can see a video of this meeting (beware it's 338 minutes long!)

University of Oxford Building work programme briefing

This was a fascinating presentation by Oxford University's Estates department.  After a sandwich lunch we were shown a fascination presentation by Mike Wigg, the Acting Director of Estates.

It's great to see that the University has so much going on in this time of economic difficulty.    Mike covered areas including:  the Science Area; Outside Oxford; Bodleian Libraries Projects; the Headington Hospital Sites; International Projects  and the Radcliffe Observatory Quarter.

I was particularly interested to hear about the roof replacement on the University Museum and also enjoyed the tour around the new Earth Sciences building.  We saw a mass spectrometer that had just been delivered and was in the process of being assembled, and had to wear shoe covers to go in that room.  I was also fascinated by the information about the burial ground that had been discovered on the old Radcliffe Infirmary site.

I think it's great that the University is showing that it has a proper strategic building plan and I am glad that all this work will keep lots of local people employed in these difficult financial times.  It also makes planning decisions easier if councillors can see them as part of a clearly well-thought out strategic plan.

Central South and West Area Committee

We met today at West Oxford Community Centre. Our agenda was fairly short and included the normal items such as the open session, Police and Community Safety, Street Scene and Parks and Planning applications.

We also had a presentation from two Oxford Brookes Students showing their design for a poster for Mount Place in Jericho.  I liked the poster and suggested it have a QR code added for mobile camera phone users to get access to more information about it on the web.  There is an Oxford Mail article about this too.  You can click the picture to see a bigger version.

[caption id="attachment_233" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Brookes Students Design for Mount Place signage"][/caption]

The main planning application was the one for the new Jericho Health Centre on the Radcliffe Infirmary site and was just for comment as it will be determined by the Strategic Development Control Committee.  The application was by Oxford University and as that's my employer I decided to declare a personal but not prejudicial interest.  The committee supported the officers' view that planning permission should be granted although there was some disagreement about whether to put the health centre right on the street or to retain an historic stone wall and put it behind that.  As the application was for the latter, that's what was recommended to the Strategic Development Control Committee.

We also had a planning application about a mobile phone mast near Walton Well Road at the entrance to Port Meadow.  It was to replace a mast that was already there and had only been allowed by a planning inspector on appeal in the first place.  The whole committee bar one member voted not to allow an even bigger and taller mast in this extremely beautiful and sensitive part of Oxford.

The meeting closed around 7pm.

LibDem Group Meeting

I don't get to a lot of these as they are on Mondays and that clashes with Rehearsals for the City of Oxford Choir of which I am a member and the chair.

It was a good meeting with many issues discussed and a lot of consensus formed. We are now ready for the Executive Board meeting on 13th April and Full Council on 18th April!

New Library and Teaching Building Celebratory Event

I attend this exciting event today that was held at Oxford Brookes University. It was to mark the progress of the work on the New Library and Teaching Building that Brookes is building.

[caption id="attachment_226" align="alignleft" width="211" caption="Lucie Acraman, Janet Beer, Lorna Fround"][/caption]

I was impressed by the speech from Janet Beer, the Vice-Chancellor of Brookes and her vision for making Brookes even better than it already is. We also had a talk from Lucie Acraman, the President of the Students Union (theSU), and I was pleased to hear that its focus has moved from trading and basically being a big nightclub to much more student welfare, advocacy and support. The new building will enable that to happen much more effectively than currently and will be very close other important services that students will use. One of those services is the Brookes Careers Centre and that took us to the next speaker Lorna Froud, the Head of the Careers Service, who told us about all the good work that it does and how the unemployment rate of Brookes graduates in their first year after graduating is much lower than for other comparable post-92 Universities.

The evening was a good event and it reminded me how luck Oxford is to have not only one of the world's best "old" Universities but also one of the UK's best post-92 Universities.

Brontë by Polly Teale

[caption id="attachment_219" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Michelle, Nancy and Polly"][/caption]

I was invited to see this production on Tuesday by the Shared Experience Company at the Oxford Playhouse so gladly accepted.  The performance was preceded by a reception where we had talks by Michelle Dickson (Director and Chief Executive of Oxford Playhouse), Nancy Meckler and Polly Teale (co-directors of Shared Experience).

I greatly enjoyed the play. It gave a really vivid and realistic depiction of how life must have been for the Brontë sisters living in that poor vicarage and putting up with their wayward brother.  I found the second half of the production really quite moving but won't spoil the plot for you here.  I highly recommend going to see it if you haven't already though! You don't have much time left but booking is available.

It was good to hear the news that the Shared Experience Theatre Company is now resident at the Oxford Playhouse.  Shared Experience says: "After many years of touring to the Playhouse we have come to enjoy a thriving relationship with both the theatre and it's audiences. For the first time in it's 35 year history Shared Experience will have a theatre for a home allowing us to evolve a special relationship with the city. We will premiere many of our plays in Oxford and create events that allow access to our rehearsal process and opportunities to see "behind the scenes" and get involved.  At our rehearsal space in London we will create productions for the Playhouse that will tour nationally and internationally bringing thrilling evenings of vivid theatricality to the widest possible audiences."

I am however horrified to see that the Arts Council has cut the national portfolio funding for Shared Experience at this exciting and fruitful time of its life.  Shared Experience say "We are shocked and disappointed to hear that we will receive no National Portfolio Funding from 2012. We feel strongly our work delivers the Arts Council’s goals and we are devastated by their decision. We will now take time to consider fully where we stand and explore how we will continue beyond 2012. We very much hope to find a way to continue our new partnership with Oxford Playhouse as their resident company."

I too hope that the partnership between the Playhouse and Shared Experience can be exploited as best as possible to ensure the continued viability of Shared Experience and the opportunity for the people of Oxfordshire and beyond to enjoy their creative expertise.

Hearing to determine application for later opening by Branos on Gloucester Green

I attended this licensing hearing today not as a member of the panel but as a ward councillor representing the views of the people who live in the City Centre are are affected by noise from the City-Centre late-night economy.

The application on the table was to allow the Branos burger and kebab bar on Gloucester Green (behind the Odeon) to open for an extra hour on Friday and Saturday nights.

I had emailed the St. John Street residents' association and put posters up in the flats on Gloucester Green (The Chilterns) letting people know.  I asked people to give me comments both positive and negative.  I had a few comments back and I think the major concerns were noise, litter and violence.  Some thought it was better to have people around to make the area feel safer but was frustrated by people ignoring the signs and sitting on the steps at the entrances to the Chilterns, making noise and leaving litter.

The panel decided to grant the extension from 3am to 4am on Friday and Saturday nights but with conditions that included identification-quality CCTV, extra staff on duty late so queues don't build up, staff to clear litter in the vicinity of the area and prominent signs in the stall asking patrons to keep quiet and not litter the area.  I hope these measures will reduce the impact on local residents as much as possible.

Special Full Council: Core Strategy

We had a short full council meeting today to vote on the finalised Core Strategy document that puts a strategic framework around development of our City for the next fifteen years.

The meeting started with a few words from the Lord Mayor about the terrible disaster unfolding in Japan. We had a minutes' silence to reflect on all the suffering and loss of life.

The core strategy was then presented by the deputy leader of the Council. Two speeches of five minutes were allowed by each of the Labour (administration), LibDem, and Green Groups. We had decided to abstain on the vote - not because we didn't approve of the core strategy as presented but because we didn't think it went far enough on things like the need to build housing and being more energy-efficient. The Green voted against and for some reason demanded a named vote whereby every councillor present has their name read out and has to declare their vote for the record.

There were lots of people in the public gallery who seemed in the most part opposed to the Northern Gateway proposals for housing.

I must say arguing over housing in Oxford, while a serious matter, did feel rather insignificant compared to the troubles some Japanese Cities will be facing for years to come after this weekend's earthquake.

City Centre Neighbourhood Action Group

A useful meeting with lots of Thames Valley Police officers present as well as councillors, residents' association people and Nightsafe.

We talked about drugs issues in nightclubs, speeding on St. Giles and Magdalen Bridge and fake Big Issue sellers.

These meetings are good at keeping City Centre stakeholders in touch. I was pleased to be able to explain that the Union Society (with which the Police say they have had a few behaviour problems) is nothing to do with Oxford University Students' Union.

Sainsburys Heyford Hill and the roundabout there

I received a useful letter in the post today that is basically information from Sainsburys Heyford Hill that you may or may not find useful. It is essentially outlining the plans for an extension and refit of the shop and reconfiguration of the Heyford Hill Roundabout to which the shop is directly linked.   Sainsburys has worked constructively with Oxfordshire County Council to develop a roundabout improvement scheme. The current outline of works is:

• Sun 6 Mar to mid-April 2011: Reconfigure and resurface car park


• Early April to mid-October: Highway works to upgrade Heyford Hill Roundabout


• Early May to Mid-June: Demolition and ground works for shop extension


• Mid-June to Mid-July: Shop extension construction


• Mid-July to Mid-October: Internal re-fit


• Mid-late October: Re-opening

Sainsburys anticipate a short closure of up to a week in the run up to the re-opening in October.

I suppose my main concern with this is that it will involve even MORE traffic lights.  The ones on the Tesco Roundabout at Cowley, while of course extremely useful in the rush hour, are just an utter pain at other times and cause huge delays to everyone trying to navigate the roundabout.  I just hope the traffic lights here will be a bit better thought-out.

Licensing and Gambling Acts Committee

A fairly quick and painless meeting at which we reviewed the licensing activities of the City Council for the last quarter, considered the impacts of the extension of licensing hours nationally until 1am on the day of the forthcoming Royal Wedding and agree to recommend the new charges for the 2011-12 financial year.  We were done in 3o minutes!

I was pleased to hear the the licensing team is planning to get accredited so it can offer training for new personal licence holders.   I think this is a good move for the people of Oxford and the City Council as nobody understands the local context better than the people who's job it is to manage and regulate it.

Labour killing democratic accountability?

I received a consultation questionnaire in my council mail today about the proposed changes to the Council's decision-making process. I'm afraid I think this is one of those consultations that is basically there to tell people what has already been decided. I don't think public comments will make any difference to what is going to happen.

The changes are essentially:

• Abolish monthly formal Area Committees, and their revenue budgets, and replace them with quarterly informal, largely powerless, Area Forums.


• Remove powers to make planning decisions from the local level and set up two large planning committees that won't really have any neighbourhood link or context understanding.  There will be a "west" and and "east" committee.  Bizarrely the west committee will include east Oxford!  The committees will be politically balanced meaning each will have 4 Labour members, 3 LibDems and 1 Green.  I think this is shocking as it means the administration effectively takes over control of all planning decisions.  In the current scheme North area has a LibDem majority and East has a Green majority.


• Remove planning decisions call-in to full council and replace this with a "planning appeals committee".  This will also be politically balanced, so Labour-controlled.


• Drastically cut the number of Executive Board meetings and let executive councillors make most decisions that were previously Executive Board decisions on their own with no requirement for a public meeting.


• Give each councillor a paltry £1500 to spend as they wish on their ward.

You can read about this in detail and I urge you to fill in the consultation as I think this is an extremely important matter of local democracy and accountability.  You need to register first to do the survey but please do - this is really important!  It's clear Labour doesn't want to hear much from you as the boxes only allow 500 characters and that includes spaces! You can see my response on my website.

My main concern is how the changes will effectively render the councillors of the North Area Committee (entirely LibDem) and those of the East Area Parliament (almost all Green) pretty much voice-less and powerless.  My own area, Central South and West will no longer see political balance of 4 Labour 4 LibDem but instead all its planning decisions will be made by committees with a Labour majority.  I have rarely seen such megalomania in a political party as Oxford Labour!