Barnet Council stick up two fingers to residents at Planning & Environment Committee

Sadly, last night, after  a passionate speech by Cllr Jack Cohen, Conservative Councillors nodded through yet another erosion of democracy in Barnet. I have to yet again thank the Barnet Bugle for their excellent coverage of the decision which you can see here. I got the distinct impression that some Conservative Councillors were uncomfortable with the proposal especially Cllr Maureen Braun who seemed to agree with just about everything Cllr Cohen had said. We were promised that this is a trial and that it can be reversed in six months time. However as Cllr Rawlings pointed out, reducing the number of meetings from three to two was supposed to be a trial and not attempt has been made to reverse that decision. I would also point out that in 6 months time the planning service will be privatised to either EC Harris (not likely) or Capita (very likely) and getting them to change the procedure will be virtually impossible because it will mean an increase in contract cost.

Planning has many similarities to the parking fiasco we have experienced over the last 12 months. This will affect all residents alike including many Conservative voters. I suspect there will be some very difficult Councillor surgeries coming up when residents are told they no longer have a right to speak at meetings by the very same Conservative Councillors who voted in favour of this change.

Watching the video of last night's meeting it became quite clear to me that the person running the meeting was the Senior Officer and that Councillors had to do as they were told. The Senior Officer had the cheek to say that because some other authorities are less democratic than Barnet (but he wasn't allowed to say which ones because the benchmarking was 'confidential') that was a good reason for Barnet to be less democratic. That is the logic of the madhouse!

The officer also said that reducing democracy was necessary to make the service "fit for purpose". Frankly I think that Barnet Councillors who voted for this decision are not fit for purpose and I sincerely hope they get voted out at the next election.

What price democracy in Barnet - £40,000 a year?

Barnet Council, in its wisdom, decided a year ago to reduce the number of planning meetings from three to two. Previously they were split by the three parliamentary constituencies but in order to save money they were reduced this down to two meetings East and West of the Borough. This has resulted in some meetings running over. To address the problem, rather than go back to three meetings, the Council has proposed that for a planning application to be referred to the committee, five people have to object rather than the current three people. The council have identified that this may save up to £40,000 a year in reduced officer and Councillors time (I thought Councillors were paid a fixed allowance irrespective of how many meetings they attended.) The problem is that with many planning applications the council informs residents of only those immediately adjacent properties meaning that often very few people know about the application.

I attended a planning meeting recently where two planning applications recommended for approval by officers were refused by the committee. This reflects the fact that most Councillors live in their local communities and are much more in touch with what is and what is not appropriate.

In 2010/11 planning application fees generated income for the Council of £1.58 million and when One Barnet Outsourcing is implemented they are forecasting that will rise by another £237,000 per annum. Trying to save £40,000 by reducing residents' right to speak at meetings seems both inappropriate  and ill judged. 

I urge every resident who has ever been affected by a planning application to write to their Councillors asking them to reconsider this stupid proposal. If this proposal goes through it will illustrate - yet again - that actually the Council is prepared to sacrifice the rights of residents all for the sake of £40,000 a year.

Democracy RIP

Tonight I sat through a very thorough dismantling of democracy in Barnet. Council meeting, number to be reduced,questions on the work of the cabinet eliminated, reduction in the number of opposition motions. Much debate but irrespective of the arguments Conservative group simply put it to the vote and pass what they want. Limited discussion on Delegated Powers Reports. Then on to residents forums. Officers prepared a range of options; someone has carried out research with residents, two people speak and then the Conservative group put up their own proposal. It is an example of control freakery in the extreme. Labour and Libdems fight a losing battle - put to the vote and that's it the conservative group's proposal is accepted. Mr Reasonable confidently predicts that by this time next year residents forums will be gone forever. One of the objectives for the review of residents forums was to make them more cost effective. Well closing them down will certainly achieve that objective!
I simply despair.
I am sure Mrs Angry will give a far more comprehensive witty and lucid report of the meeting but I had to get this off my chest before I go to bed.