The lessons start here

It’s all still a learning process; the main lesson this week was about the planning process.

Planning is tricky: if a matter comes to a planning committee then by definition it’s contentious and someone – often more than one – will be disappointed by the outcome.

For this reason, there are some tight rules to make sure that decisions are made fairly. Members of the planning committee can be lobbied, can take part in pre-decision discussions, but they must ensure their decision take place transparently. It must be clear that at the meeting they approach the decision with an open mind and considering all the facts. It is a quasi-judicial decision and has to be made in accordance with planning law and guidance – hence the need for specific training.

Planning officers make recommendations to accept or reject applications. Planning committees don’t have to follow that recommendation, but we need to have good reasons under planning law if we disagree. This is both to be fair to all parties and also because if we didn’t have reasonable planning grounds then on any appeal costs could be awarded against the Council.

The Government has set the framework for planning authorities. There’s a presumption in favour of growth, of “sustainable development”, whatever that is. Authorities must prepare a local plan which sets out the main priorities and objectives for the area and decisions would normally reflect the plan. At the moment Northumberland uses the plans prepared by the previous six District Councils but is currently drafting such a plan, which after consultation is due for completion next year. As the plan is still at an early draft stage the emerging policies can only be accorded limited weight in planning decisions although some weight can be given to the recent evidence base work supporting the emerging plan. As the draft plan progresses further towards formal adoption we will be able to give greater weight to the draft policies.

Other things that should be taken into account are the views of statutory consultees, like the Highways Authority, English Heritage and Parish Councils, and others eg local groups or residents. Issus like design, noise, safety are relevant; property values, prospects of better alternatives and restrictive covenants are not.

What does this mean for a Councillor who is on a planning committee? I’m on the North Area Committee, one of three area committees in the County; it hears anything in North Northumberland where there are is a dispute about the outcome and is not covered by the central committee. The central committee covers big stuff – things like major energy or infrastructure projects (eg wind farms), applications which have implications outside the area or applications made by the Council itself.

If the application is covered by the central committee then I can behave like any other councillor: listen, form a view and present that opinion (if desirable) at the committee. If it’s covered by the North Area I need to decide whether I should be part of the decision process or should step aside. I would normally prefer to be part of the decision process, unless I had some form of conflict of interest, and therefore would need to behave carefully beforehand. I would listen but not contribute to planning discussions at Parish Councils; any lobbying or fact finding would need to include one of the Council’s planning officials. This means I can show an open mind when it comes to the planning committee.

The planning authorities’ discretion to make decisions has recently been restricted by the Government. It thinks that planning processes have hurt economic growth and if it allows people to, for example, put up extensions or change planning uses on retail units then a thousand flowers will bloom and our economic problems will be reduced. I suspect this is overly optimistic and also forgets the fact that planning frameworks exist for a reason. For any one person who wants an extension, there sometimes will be neighbours who are badly impacted. Equally, a high street may not need a string of betting shops. We will see if this change is beneficial overall.

But despite this restriction, I hope and expect planning will be one of the most interesting parts of the role, even if also the most contentious.

 

Elsewhere, I had a discussion about parking problems in Bamburgh in particular as part of a general briefing about the AONB; this was prompted by a report in the local paper that I wanted to arrange a meeting to cover bank holiday and parking issues in the area. It covered the long term project to improve the highway design and management, focusing on de-cluttering, parking and traffic flow. The lessons from this apply to the other coastal villages.

And the sunshine continues. It brings parking problems but also money!

The Council Chamber ... and elsewhere

The Council Chamber is a bit like a theatre, not necessarily a theatre of dreams, and what takes place there can be a bit theatrical.

 

I was there for my first Council meeting on the 22nd: it was when the various posts, committee structures and allocations were decided and where formal reports were made. The meeting reflected the deal made by the 3 Independents to support the Labour group

 

The various party groups met beforehand to discuss the agenda and how they should vote; we in the Tory group had concerns that although the allocation of people to the various committees was (in most cases) sensible, the allocation of proposed Labour councillors to virtually all the chairs/vice chair posts ran against the Council's previous policy of splitting roles between management and scrutiny. Does this matter or is it just a technical politician's point? I think it does matter, a bit; Labour did not get enough votes or seats to be in a majority on their own and there is a very important benefit in having a separation of a scrutiny/review function from an executive function. However, with the independents' support (and because some LD councillors were absent) this approach was put through.

 

Our group leader asked for "named votes" on the proposals. This a procedure where the Chief Legal officer reads out all the names of the councillors (alphabetically) and we shout out yes, no, abstain, or whatever. This is really tricky because you have to remember the exact phrasing of the motion and therefore whether to say yes or no. Fortunately I got it right each time. Rather satisfyingly, I'm the last Councillor alphabetically so I will always get the last word on such votes. Less satisfyingly, I'm in the minority group so it'll usually be a pointless last word. The named votes process was a bit time consuming but was actually quite important: it identifies and puts on record how we all voted on the proposals to change the way the Council operates - particularly important for those not in the Labour group.

 

Anyway, all that was theatrical with eloquent speeches, barbed insults and so on. But I sensed - and I hope - that some at least was acting and that once it was out of the way people would get on with working together to deal with the County's problems. And opportunities.

 

Personally, I've been placed on some committees which should be an opportunity to help this area - the Northumberland Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authority; the AONB; the North Area Planning Committee. And on some which I hope will let me help the County as a whole - the Audit Committee; the Licensing Committee and the Economic Regeneration working group.

 

Elsewhere, I had a useful chat with NEAT (I think it stands for Neighbourhood Environmental Action Team) about the issues in this area and I've picked up a couple of problems for people.

 

My main current concern is not knowing enough about who does what at the Council; the induction process starts next week with training on planning and then takes place through most of July.

Week two

(I will try to think of a more original heading for future posts)

 

Week two was a quieter week: as far as involvement with the Council is concerned, I'm waiting for the first meeting of the Council next Wednesday when the committee and management structure will be decided and I'll learn what if any committees I'll be involved in. The Labour group has said it has come to an arrangment with the three independents which could have implications for rural Northumberland. The training/induction/introduction to services and staff mostly takes place in June so at the moment I'm not sure which levers to pull if anything needs doing.

 

I have been to four of the parish councils: they all have different styles, I won't comment on which is more effective - not least because one meeting isn't enough to judge - but one common factor seems to be a frustration in getting a response from the County Council on issues. Some of this will be a question of a mismatch of priorities. I'll be interested over the next few months to see if there's another reason and to see if that can be improved. I got some feedback and help from one of the County's teams regarding bank hoilday rubbish collection, which was good, and the County has allocated someone senior to deal with one of the main problems in Belford. So it's not all bad.

 

Lastly, I've completed my election expenses - for the record, apart from the £6.50 cost of this website, everything else (about £400) was an allocation of printing and other costs from Berwick Conservatives for all those leaflets that I know people admired.

Week one

The election result for the County was inconclusive politically although satisfying for the 67 of us who got elected. Labour is the largest party with 32, reclaiming seats they lost in 2008, the Conservatives are next with 21, a net gain of 4, the LibDems lost 15 seats to end up with 11 and there are 3 Independents. 34 is the magic number to get voting control.
 

Until  how the groups will work together is decided the make up of the Council executive and then the make up of the various committees and how they will operate remains unknown. The critical date is May 22nd, the AGM of the Council and the date when the various posts get approved. And when people like me find out what formal roles we'll get in running or scrutinising the Council. The allocation will be made through a combination of party size, individual skills and interests and probably some unknown factors as well. I've indicated to the powers that be some areas I'm interested in: I'll report back in due course.

 

 

I've been to County Hall twice in the last week - first, a party group meeting to congratulate ourselves on bucking the national trend by winning a net four seats and to elect Peter Jackson as leader and Glen Sanderson as deputy.

 

 

Then a second visit, on Wednesday, an induction day. This was actually the day I legally became a councillor by signing the acceptance form. It was very much like you'd imagine the first day at school to be (although my first day was so long ago I've forgotten whether it was like I imagine it to be). First years wandering around slightly lost and wondering where the loos are; lots of forms to be filled out; old returning pupils being slightly superior and using incomprehensible jargon.

 

 

Another reminder of school (at least my school): there is a Members’ Room for Councillors. When I heard this, I had visions of wood panelling, leather armchairs, retainers with trays of spirits, paintings of long deceased aldermen and so on. Actually, its (70s) modern, some basic chairs and tables, a coffee machine and some photos of the county. It is so like my old 6^th form common room.

 

 

We had our photos taken; we will be given passes, County email addresses and so on. Even a laptop – because security issues prevent us from using our own for County business, which is a pain. And we were given some presentations on the Council, its functions – which are many - and then introduced to the induction training. There’s a lot to learn: the Council has a number of important statutory functions as well as providing the services we know – and those we don’t, and the necessary courses will take up much of June.

The presentation made a couple of points worth repeating:

Local Government is the politics of rationing and the management of expectations; the big three issues facing the Council over the next four years is the reduction in the budget, bringing improved broadband access to the County, particularly the rural parts, and dealing with the consequences of welfare reform. The discussion also raised the issue of how to get greater voter involvement, both in terms of the turnout at elections and also engaging with them between elections.

What else? I went to my first two parish council meetings – I’ll write more about that next week, after going to two more, followed up a couple of live issues with Council officers and went to the exhibition about one of the wind farms being proposed behind Belford. Wind Farms, I had been told, tend to divide communities. But this proposal seems to have united most people – in opposition.

So far when I’ve been stopped in the street people have congratulated me on winning rather than complained about potholes. It’ll be interesting to see how long that lasts. While it does, the first week’s experience suggests the role should be fascinating if time consuming.

 

The result, polling day and the count



My vote. My thanks to the other 812 people who voted for me.



John Holwell LD, 463; Nicola Morrison L 154, John Woodman C, 813.

So that's a win then. To show how in touch I was with what was going on, when I finished on polling day I had worked out that I couldn't possibly win. So I'm as surprised as anyone.

Polling day is a strange day if you're a candidate. Apart from voting, there's a not a lot you can do yet you sort of feel obliged to do stuff. I voted; I was first there at Beadnell and thanks to a couple of proxy votes took an early commanding lead of three. I visited the other polling stations a couple of times during the day, and noted a low count. We had "tellers" at Seahouses and Belford recording who had voted, the idea being that we could then chase potential supporters who hadn't voted. In Seahouses in particular this process sometimes turned the voting into a village event with people catching up with each other. Democracy has a purpose. Towards the end of the day we took stock, phoned a few people and sat back and wondered what had happened; as I said eralier I looked at the information and assumed it wasn't possible.

So the next day I had rehearsed my gracious losers speech by the time I got to the count, in the Willowburn sports centre in Alnwick. People told me I had won: before they count they open the boxes and check the numbers of votes actually tally, and when they do that you get a good idea of who is doing well or whether its close. And when they actually counted (in batches of 25, but unlike in 2008 they didn't use coloured pegs to indicate the party to collate the 25s, they just used paperclips) it was obvious I had won as the batches of 25 piled up. We had a quick discussion about the few spoilt ballot papers (a couple of blanks, a couple of Wot! no UKIP! ones) and then the announcement. I sensed some surprise at my victory - Bamburgh having been traditionally Lib Demn for so many years. A couple of journalists asked for a quote: I thanked the people who had voted for me, I thanked Pat Scott for looking after the Division for many years and wished her a good retirement and lastly I dedicated my victory to one of the world's good guys, Vin Clerkin, whose funeral I also went to on polling day.

And that was that. Except there was some excitement: there was one vote between two of the candidates in one of the Divisons, and that vote was a ballot paper where the voter had written a  comment and a mark by one of the candidates, rather than just a cross. This caused dissent and a number of recounts.

Please vote .... for me..

What can I say?

My thoughts on many issues have been expressed on this blog, and a link to the reasons I'm standing is to the right of this post. I write here about the "one thing" I would like to achieve if elected.

I think I could contribute to the area if elected; in the words of my final leaflet:
We need:
Value for money from our County Council - I'm an accountant so i know how the sums should add up;
A proper focus on this area and its residents.
I've helped local organisations adapt to the future. I can do the same for the Council.

It's election day tomorrow! Don't forget to vote!

The end game

At last the end game approaches.

It’s the part where I’ve no control over what happens – it’s where the voters take over. Hopefully they will vote - and make the right choice. Someone sent me a copy of the Times front page cartoon: Tory HQ, “Voter apathy is our only hope”. I replied that at least that was a strategy. But it’s not one we’re employing here; I hope there is a decent turnout despite the general air of fed-up-ness seen on the doorstep.

And of course although I’m fixated on Thursday 2 May, and have been for some time, to most people it’s just a date. I spoke to a couple of people at the harbour today who hadn’t realised polling day was on Thursday. But they are the ones with a life, not me.

So what am I doing in the lead up to polling day? Delivering my second leaflet to the few streets I haven’t been to yet and admiring my posters that have been put up in various strategic places.

Feedback from the last couple of days of door knocking has been mixed.

Having identified the key signal for a holiday let in Beadnell (a model boat in the window), I realise that in Seahouses it signifies people who were involved in the fishing industry. That is useful to know. Someone in Bamburgh spotted (the first one) that my photo on the front of the leaflet was taken more than a year ago (although to be fair it wasn’t too far ago). That wasn’t very helpful. More seriously, I heard a strong plea against the reduction in housing subsidy (I said that although there may be individual problems as a long term decision it had to be right). I heard concerns about over development in Seahouses and about potholes. And I heard a couple of complaints that there had been too many leaflets in this campaign: “you lot only visit at election time” said someone before saying they weren’t going to vote. Well, yes, I didn’t say: you’d hardly want us visiting at other times. Would you?

I don’t know if I’ll win or not. If I do I’d somehow like to address that disengagement by working out how to communicate better, how to keep an involvement going for the next four years rather than just at the end of it.

Lib Dem scare

I woke up on Friday to a text: Did you know Nick Clegg is here today?

I didn't know, but replied That certainly trumps what I was going to do that day. (Which was, rather like other days, to visit houses, deliver leaflets and talk to voters).

In fact, in the morning I was also going to a meeting of the National Trust's Farne Islands Advisory Committee (which does what it says on the tin); they had an interesting guest speaker from ITOPF talking about the effects of marine pollution on wildlife; ITOPF is an organisation that advises on cleaning up oil pollution in particular. But during the talk I had an ear to what was going on in Seahouses outside for crowds welcoming Clegg.

As it turned out, he visited Belford but not apparently many people knew or came out. Equally, the serious hail storm in the afternoon curtailed my house visits.

The Local Papers (6)

There was a similar attack to last week by the Lib Dems on one of the Conservative policies, that of trying to fix the pothole problem. They seemed to be saying that there wasn't a pothole problem; perhaps there isn't in SE Northumberland but there certainly is around here. (In some ways I quite like having an unfit road by my house because it keeps the traffic down - but keeping the traffic down isn't the ideas of a road network, especially in an area dependent on visitors).

 

Referring to the previous week's debate on free residents parking, the Lib Dems attacked the Market towns Chamber of Trade for supporting that policy.

A bit sad as that organisation will know what is important for the economy of the market towns.

 

Lastly, there was a report on Belford's Parish Council meeting where the issue of Bedmax traffic through Detchant, and the lack of a response from the Council, came up again; it's a problem which needs proper resolution.

And then there were little sketches about all the candidates: I'd drafted my 50 words a few weeks ago so i'd almost forgotten what I said about myself. A number of people have commented on its accuracy ("a keen but inadequate golfer") which does show they have been read.

Knocking on doors

I started the campaign with the wish to knock on all the doors in the Division, and the fact that I’m trying is why I haven’t written anything for ages (that and a brief visit to London to support a friend running in the London marathon which was a great experience).

In fact, I won’t be able to knock on every door – there just isn’t time – but I did decide to do virtually all of the second leaflet deliveries myself, and I’ve knocked on about 2/3 of the doors (with voters: I’ve ignored holiday rental homes, and there’s many of those in some places. They can be often be identified by the house name, by the rental company logo outside. And an awful lot have a model boat in the window: that’s not an absolute indicator of a holiday let. But it’s a pretty good sign.)

It’s been good to see parts of the area I’ve never been to before, especially as I’m interested in architecture, design and so on. So since last writing I’ve knocked on about 1,200 doors (and spoken to about 3 or 400 people). What have I learned?

1.       Electric doorbells are unreliable. Unless their owners just didn't want to speak to me.

2.       People are generally very polite even if they disagree: the number of abusive people has been less than on the fingers of one hand – and even then they weren’t very abusive.

3.       People do seem to value meeting a candidate, even if they don’t support them.

4.       There are a few common themes, similar to my experience the previous week: wind farms (anti), dualling the A1, resident’s car parking, the state of the roads, a lack of jobs, some planning decisions. All of which chimes with my views and the Conservative manifesto. Where people comment on national issues, they worry about the economy, whether the Government is being effective (although most appreciate it was handed a poisoned chalice) and more dislike the EU than support it. All understandable.

Leaflets

Last time I stood I wondered about the benefits of leaflets. We (the candidates and parties) take great care* over them, trying to distill our thinking into a few words and then hoping that the message gets across. But what is their fate? Do they go straight in the bin? Are they glanced at first? Does that depend on your predisposition? I’m quite positive about them; as I’ve delivered my second leaflet a number of people have said – “Oh yes, I saw your first leaflet” or “I’ve already got one, thanks.” But here’s some other angles:

Someone said he had found my first letter in a cottage he was working in and it had been of great value to test whether or not the boiler was still leaking; it was just the right size to slip underneath. He could quote from it so he must have read it first.

After golf one day, someone else said: “John. These leaflets. Do you mean what you say?” I said yes. I couldn’t speak for others, but I had worked hard to set out what I really thought. I was impressed with the Conservatives’ approach: we had a design template (blue and green) but then each candidate wrote their own election address. There’s a degree of consistency but it does  mean that each leaflet reflects the individual’s views. Which is good.

I hadn’t seen an opponents’ leaflet yet – but someone I visited to said that a Lib Dem leaflet had just been delivered (by post). I asked to see it; they immediately looked for it in the bin. It was actually the county wide leaflet rather than an individual one and again it seemed negative – the old “Only the Lib Dems can beat xxx” trick. In other words, don’t vote for who you want, vote to stop something else. I had a non-political friend helping me that day – they agreed that it was a negative leaflet and unprompted noted that the Conservative manifesto was positive, talking about what they would do. Which is also good.


*Update:

I thought we all took great care over our leaflets, but I've just seen the latest leaflet from my opponent which says he has the energy, commitment and enthusiasm to deliver for Warkworth. That did surprise me given Warkworth is a few Divisions away: I can only think that not all candidates do take great care over their leaflets!

The Local Papers (5)

There wasn’t much in last week’s papers relating to the Bamburgh Division. The only major relevant matter to the election related to car parking: the Lib Dem's leader had suggested that the Conservative pledge to introduce free parking for residents was uncosted; Peter Jackson, the Conservative leader, responded noting that the Council officers had previously investigated the possibility of such free parking but the Lib Dems had rejected it. And he explained how it would be paid for (through finally sorting out the Council’s property portfolio).

I don’t understand why the Lib Dem leader made this point: it’s the sort of negative and misleading politicking which turns people off. My sense is that voters would much rather hear about positive things from candidates and parties rather than the opposite.

In contrast, the Northumberland Market Towns Chamber of Trade was reported as supporting free parking. They will know how it would help business. And, as I note elsewhere, the fact that N Northumberland residents have to pay for parking and those in the South East of the county don’t is one of the main issues I've noted on the doorstep.

The local papers (4)

The main item of interest for me was the excellent article about Sylvia Harris’s 106^th birthday: Sylvia is an incredible advert for NE life and also for her home at Abbeyfield Bamburgh - which in the same week celebrated being awarded the Abbeyfield gold star rating.

The discussion at the North Sunderland parish council about the proposed development next to Kingsfield at Seahouses was also interesting. The county planning team was supportive, although it contained atypical houses at the entry to the village and it is not clear the development matches the village’s needs. The parish council did not support the development. This is yet another example – and there’s been quite a few during the campaign alone – why we need to set a planning framework that’s suitable for our area.

The poor state of our roads and the risk of the County walking away from some of them was reported, I’m pleased to say with a brief quote from me.

The Bamburgh Research Project has over the last 17 years carried out fascinating digs at Bamburgh Castle and a variety of nearby sites to learn more about the archaeological heritage of Bamburgh – they are starting a fundraising exercise to support the work in 2013.

The previous week’s papers reported on the possible allocation of funding for dualling the A1. I remain optimistic that it will happen; apart from wind farms the need for dualling is the commonest comment when I’ve knocked on doors and spoken to people. Anne-Marie Trevelyan is generally acknowledged as having kick started the campaign to have it done and I hope for some reflected glory.

Speaking of wind farms: there was a report of David Cameron’s meeting that I described earlier, referring in particular to concern about wind farms.

And lastly, relevant to the planning policy approach I noted above, the periodic occurrence of letters about coastal development at Beadnell started again.

Leaflet deliveries

My second leaflet is out, and very colourful it looks too.

I know it has to be delivered before the election – it’s not much use afterwards – and there’s enough people willing to help for this to be easy. But I’d like to do as much as possible myself because it’s a good catalyst to meet as many voters as possible.

So this week, I’ve knocked on the door of over 10% of the houses (with voters) in the Division.

As always it’s a good experience. Being a natural introvert, it’s not something I look forward to but I’m always pleasantly surprised how polite at worst and welcoming at best people are – in fact many seem pleased to meet a candidate.

Mind you, I have been surprised how many doorbells don’t seem to work. It couldn’t be – could it? – that people just don’t want to open the door to a politician?

Although there were a few negative comments (“I’m not voting this time – you’re all the same”; “I’m not voting Conservative again” or even, after spending quite a long time talking to someone, “Of course, we usually vote Labour”) the vast majority of things people said chimed with the issues in my leaflet, in the Conservative manifesto, in the topics I’ve written about on this blog. In Belford in particular, a concern about wind farms and speeding on North Bank, and in general, the A1, planning issues, the state of roads and the local economy. That doesn’t mean they’ll vote or even vote for me but at least it suggests I’m on the right lines.

More of the same next week…

Down to Business

Pending the receipt of my next leaflet – a very colourful one this time – I decided to talk to some of the businesses in the area, focusing on Belford first, to see what issues they had.

There was one common theme - transport infrastructure – and then some other particular concerns.

Dualling the A1 was seen as important to improve the links of this area between Scotland and Newcastle, to improve the experience of visitors and increase its attractiveness to new residents. Similarly, re-opening Belford station was seen as a way of getting new blood and giving more employment choices. The campaign to dual the A1 is something that the Conservative Anne-Marie brought new life to and some progress is being made. I said that I thought it would happen in my lifetime – but then I’m an optimist; one person said that as a cynic they’d rather be pleasantly surprised if something happened rather than disappointed when it didn’t. Re-opening the station has been a long term effort driven by the illogicality of trains stopping and starting at Chathill but actually coming up to Belford to turn round, arriving and leaving empty. Some money has been found. I hope it happens even if it’s just the romantic in me remembering coming back from Edinburgh to London after my cousins wedding and seeing friends get off to a snow covered car in a snow covered car park after a snow covered but very enjoyable wedding.

Other topics raised were the wish to see more life in the village, the need to train and support younger people, the need for better footpaths, concern over affordable housing to attract people for jobs that are there as well as some specific to particular industries.

 

I got a fresh perspective on wind farms: their construction had brought a lot of activity and investment into the area so although they made no economic sense at a national level they had done so locally.

Generally, businesses had adapted to the downturn in the economy and weren’t doing too badly. But more encouragement and support, for example in training, would be helpful.

 

It was an interesting exercise to listen to those on the front line of the economy; there weren’t too many direct messages for the Council or a potential Councillor. Except that it's good to listen.