Fair Trade - its time for Bolsover!

I have failed to get Cllr Watts leader of Bolsover DC, to express any enthusiasm for adopting the living wage so I thought I have a go at asking him to consider oppressed workers in other countries and commit the District to becoming a Fair Trade area. Here's a draft resolution I could ask him to endorse at the December council meeting - let me know if you have any comments on it.

Bolsover District Council aims to be recognised by its residents and business community, its suppliers and employees and other local authorities as a Council that actively supports and promotes the concept of Fairtrade – ensuring that producers from all countries get a fair price for their goods and labour.

The Council resolves to:

• Review the Council's own purchasing policies to ensure that the Council purchases Fairtrade where possible.
• Offer Fairtrade tea/coffee at Council meetings and in its offices and restaurants where these are currently provided.
• Work with local Fairtrade Network in its work of achieving Fairtrade County status by nominating a Council member / officer to liaise with the Steering Group on a regular basis.
• Promote awareness of Fairtrade issues, and make publicity and educational information available to local people concerning the worldwide impact of unfair trade and the opportunities that Fairtrade provides to promote sustainable development.
• Promote Fairtrade issues and practices amongst local business, and commercial and other organisations.

The pre-contemplative stage

Change is never easy, many never get to smell the coffee.

At yesterday's council meeting the member allowance scheme was on the agenda, but the Chairman didn't want to have any discussion about it and when I dared to suggest that Cllr Watts record of claiming some of the highest travelling and subsistence allowances of any District Councillor in Derbyshire wasn't the best qualification for the role of presiding over other member's expenses they moved rapidly to the vote.

So for those who are able to get over the pre-contemplative stage and want to make the world of local government a better place here were my proposals:

1.   Remove all references to the Leader or Deputy Leader giving approvals for meal or hotel expenditure and replace them with the Chief Executive an independent, and accountable, officer.

2.   Reinstate maximum claims for meals and hotels, we cannot afford, and the public will not tolerate a 60% increase in these costs.

3.   For travelling costs state that where there is a public transport alternative Councillors the scheme should require it to be used.

4.   State that the Council will never pay for spouses, partners or friends whether the cost are subsequently reimbursed or not. They should be met from the basic member’s allowances, after all they are large enough!

5.   Where Council members take positions of responsibility with external organisations such as the ICA then the acceptance of such a position should be on the condition that organisation bearing the associated costs of travel and subsistence not the tax-payers of Bolsover.

 

It is hard to comprehend why such sensible proposals should get such a hostile response, unless that is, there is something to hide.

Still small voice of calm

 

 

 

Here's what Bolosver Council own plannikng policy officer has to say on their proposals to build a supermarket on a public park.

 

They wouldn't listen to me, they wouldn't listen to residents, will they listen to him? I expect not, but I think it is now dawning on them that a Government appointed planning inspector will.

 

 

Impact on Open Space provision

A substantial part of the proposed development site is currently designated as

public open space on the adopted Local Plan Proposals Map.

Local Plan Policy CLT 6 (Existing Outdoor playing Space and Amenity Open

Space) will only allow development on open spaces as shown on the

proposals map in the following circumstances:

·

Replacement open space is provided

·

A facility of equivalent community benefit is provided

·

The development results on an overall improvement or enhancement

of the existing facility for the benefit of the local community.

This proposal does not meet any of these criteria. Firstly, no replacement

open space is being provided for the loss of most of the existing area (a net

loss of around 1 ha). Secondly, a facility of equivalent community benefit is

not being provided. Thirdly, although the applicant intends to enhance that

part of the green space known as Stretton Memorial Garden, this would not

represent an overall enhancement of the whole green space.

With regard to Paragraph 74 of the NPPF a similar, yet differently worded

policy needs to be met, as follows:

“Existing open space, sports and recreational buildings and land, including

playing fields, should not be built on unless:

·

an assessment has been undertaken which has clearly shown the

open space, buildings or land to be surplus to requirements; or

·

the loss resulting from the proposed development would be replaced

by equivalent or better provision in terms of quantity and quality in a

suitable location; or

·

the development is for alternative sports and recreational provision, the

needs for which clearly outweigh the loss.”

In respect of the first requirement neither the applicant or the Council has

undertaken an assessment of open spaces that clearly shows which open

spaces are surplus to requirements. The Council has, however, undertaken a

quantitative analysis of open space that found that Bolsover Town has 2.66

ha of formal green space per 1,000 population which meets the minimum

standard set in the Green Space Strategy (2012) of 2.4 ha per 1,000

population

The area of amenity open space at Sherwood Lodge grounds is 1.22 ha.

From the plans submitted, only two areas of 0.28 ha and 0.21 ha would be

large enough to be counted in the green space totals (a minimum site area of

0.1 ha is required to count as green space). Therefore, only 0.49 ha would

remain including the Memorial Garden, representing a net green space loss of

0.73 ha.

The loss of 0.73 ha of amenity green space at Sherwood Lodge, would mean

that Bolsover Town has enough green space as a settlement to meet the

minimum Formal Open Space standard. However, this fact on its own is not

sufficient to indicate that the Sherwood Lodge grounds, or any other green

space in Bolsover is surplus to requirements. Such an assessment must be

informed by the current and potential uses of the green space, its location in

relation to residential areas and to other green space provision in the

 

immediate locality or neighbourhood. None of these considerations suggest

that the green space is surplus to requirements. In addition, Sherwood Lodge

grounds received a quality standard of 68% when it was surveyed by Leisure

Services in August 2006. It could not therefore be argued that the quality of

open space is so poor that the space does not provide any useful green

space function.

With regard to the second point the applicant argues (at page 28 of the P and

R statement) that a commuted sum could be provided to improve the quality

of the Memorial Garden “as an alternative location for open space and

recreation for town centre users”. I am not quite sure what is being argued

here. In my view whilst such a proposal would help to mitigate the loss of

open space, it would not replace the loss.

The proposal does not meet the third point because it does not propose

alternative sports and recreational provision.

The Green Space Strategy includes a policy that states that all residents of a

town should be within 400 metres of a formal or semi-natural green space

which is larger than 0.5 ha. The Sherwood Lodge green space constitutes

such a space. However, loss of this space would not result in any new

pockets of inaccessibility within Bolsover when judged against the above

standard. This is mainly due to the proximity of Dykes Field and Hornscroft

Park."

He goes on to conclude that the development breaches both local and national planning policies.

 

 

 

Is Bolsover on your sat-nav Ed?

Never one to miss a band wagon Ed Milliband has jumped on-board the idea of a living wage. He didn’t say much about it whilst in Government but he says his party is totally committed to it now and has threatened to name and shame any Council that doesn’t implement it.

Green controlled Brighton has nothing to fear from that because it’s been our party policy for years. Over a year ago I asked Eion Watts, the Leader of Labour controlled Bolsover whether he was committed to it and he said he liked the idea but it was impossible in Bolsover cos of the cost and equal pay legislation which required him to maintain all differentials!!. He was wrong on both counts of course, as his Leader is now telling him and countless other Councils are showing.

I feel a bit sorry for Ed it must be hard to lead such a party of nimbys but as the District Auditor will tell him it’ll take more than a little naming and shaming to get Elion to see the light. It also occurred to me that if its costs so much to pay people just £7.20 an hour we must have a lot of staff on poverty wages, a fine advertisement for socialism.