Nelson Town Council Meets For The First Time

History was made yesterday, as Nelson Town Council met for the first time, this is the first time since local government reorganisation created the Borough of Pendle that Nelson has had its own council.  Nelson Town Council consists of 24 members, 5 each for Bradley, Clover Hill and Southfield and 3 each for Marsden, Whitefield and Walverden.

Our first task as a council was to elect our chairman, we have elected former Mayor of Pendle Cllr George Adam to be our chairman.  Cllr Adam is a very experienced, popular and very well-respected councillor at Borough level, and as a former Mayor, he is very experienced in chairing meetings and maintaining order.  In addition, we took the decision for the council to be known as Nelson Town Council, rather than Nelson Parish Council, reflecting both the status of our town and the council which will serve its interests.  The Town Council has taken over responsibility for allotment gardens with immediate effect, and we will be taking a very active interest and role with regard to planning decisions and issues within Nelson.

Another important step was the appointment of the working party which will determine the committee structure of our Town Council.  I have volunteered my services to serve on this panel, and once we have decided on what we feel the best organisational structure to be, we will report back to the full council, where our proposals will be discussed and voted on.  Nelson Town Council will meet once a month, I will post the dates of Town Council meetings on this site in order to keep Southfield residents informed of where and when our meetings are held  I will also be posting my own activities on the site, as I have been doing since it was established last April.

Each Town Councillor signed their declaration of office, and I for one am looking forward to serving my fellow Southfield residents with the greatest of enthusiasm.  Over the next couple of weeks, Town Councillors will be attending training sessions to help us prepare for our role in serving the people of Nelson, and providing the best possible representation for our fellow Nelsonians that we can.  I would like to start by actively encouraging Southfield residents to raise local issues with me, and I will endeavour to do my very best to resolve them.

 

 

Welcome To Office Mayor Derwent

Pendle residents have a something to celebrate this week, this event is that of our new Mayor taking office.  Our new Mayor is Cllr Shelagh Derwent, Deputy Leader of the Conservative Group.  I’ve known Cllr Derwent for a good while and know her to be fair, reasonable and someone who will put her all into working for the people of both Pendle and Lancashire.  I say Lancashire, because Cllr Derwent is also a member of Lancashire County Council.  In addition to both councils, Cllr Derwent is also Deputy Chairman of Governors at Marsden Heights Community College.   I have the pleasure of serving alongside Cllr Derwent on the board of governors at Marsden Heights, and have the utmost respect for her.  What we will certainly not see in Pendle from Cllr Derwent’s mayoralty is petty politicking, political favouritism or any other similar abuse of office that we have seen in recent years.

Shelagh Derwent is someone who treats everyone she meets with politeness and respect.  From my own experience of working with her, she is one of the best political figures I have seen at any level.  Cllr Derwent works tirelessly to represent the people of Pendle and there is no doubt in my mind that she will be one of the best Mayors this borough has ever seen.

 

 

 

Pendle Power Struggle Over

The issue of who should run Pendle Council has been resolved.  Sadly the three party executive which was proposed by the Conservative Party was not accepted by the Lib Dems, despite this being the best solution to the fact that no single party has sufficient councillors to form a majority administration.   The Lib Dems will continue to run the council, as they remain the largest party, however, the chairmanship of the Scrutiny Committee and several other comittees have been taken over by members of the Conservative Group.  Conservative Opposition Leader Cllr Tony Beckett will chair the Scrutiny Committee, and I would like to take this opportunity to inform residents that Cllr Beckett will not allow the Lib Dems to get away with very much, each and every decision they make will be taken apart and assessed on its merits or otherwise.

The big disappointment for everyone is that the Lib Dems chose to stick with their intransigent and misguided all or nothing approach, which means that Pendle will not receive the administration I believe residents voted for this year.  Those of us who are members of the Conservative Party share the disappointment I believe the public feels in the shabby way in which the Lib Dems have behaved over the last couple of weeks with regard to the control of the council.  I can assure you that whilst our councillors were prepared to work with both of the other main parties to run the borough for the good of its citizens, the Lib Dems were not and would never have been prepared to work with anyone other than themselves. 

My own feeling is one of deep sadness and regret that the Lib Dems chose to adopt the tactics of arrogance and intransigence over the positive prospect of everyone working together to resolve the significant problems our borough still faces.  The opportunity they have systematically failed to grasp would have been an opportunity to work together to benefit the borough and its residents, this would have been the best solution for Pendle.  The Lib Dems’ appalling attitude problem has robbed our borough of one of the best opportunities we have ever had, thanks to them the politics of the kindergarten playground have taken precedence over those of good common sense.

 

Power Struggle on Pendle Council

Following the recent local elections, no one political party has sufficient numbers of councillors to take full control of Pendle Borough Council.  This has led to a great deal of speculation in the local media about who will be doing what on the council, and who will be the new Council Leader.   Various options have been floated, from the possibility of an all-party executive, a Lib Dem minority administration to a Conservative-Labour alliance.

The all-party executive proposal isn’t actually a bad idea, as it would harness the talents of all three main parties on the council, and seats would be allocated in proportion to the number of seats each party holds.  The devil of any such deal is in the detail, and the Lib Dems, perhaps rather predictably have already said this proposal would be unworkable.  The approach of the Lib Dem group is as unfortunate as it is predictable in that they still cannot get it into their heads that they have actually LOST control of the council.  The Lib Dem “all or nothing” approach is as outdated now as it was when British Leyland attempted to use it to obtain London Buses supply contracts 25 years ago.  The fact remains that if the Lib Dems think they can continue to operate the Borough of Pendle without a clear mandate, they will very soon fall flat on their faces when the rest of the council votes their first proposal down.

The Lib Dem group chairman has said that the proposal made whereby Conservative leader Cllr Tony Beckett would become Council Leader is unacceptable, I have known Cllr Beckett for a good number of years, and have always found him a reasonable man with whom one can share a joke.   What I can tell Southfield residents about Cllr Beckett is that he always works for the good of our borough and its citizens, and I can assure you that he will NOT involve himself in the sort of petty politicking that that we have seen in recent years.  If Cllr Beckett became the leader of our borough council, we would have the clear and positive leadership we need morning, noon and night, and I know he would do Pendle proud. 

The overriding issue which currently stands in the way of progress is that the Lib Dems do not appear to want to work with anyone else, and have a long history of using nasty and bullying tactics to get what they want, and of storming out in a huff when they don’t get it.  I would ask the Lib Dem group chairman, Cllr Howard Thomas, if your party is so highly regarded for good and competent local governance in Pendle, why did the public vote you out of power?

I would strongly urge every party leader to sit down and attempt to find a workable solution to the current power vacuum in Pendle and work together for the benefit of the borough and its citizens.

 

 

Yet More Road Repairs Requested

Southfield residents will only be too well aware that one of my pet dislikes in our area is the poor standard of repair of many of our roads.  I have reported another seven incidents to LCC Highways for attention, these being:

Back Tavistock/Whitehall Street at the junction of Earl Street.

The junction of Hallam Road and Whitehall Street.

Back Whitehall Street/Rhoda Street at the junction with Earl Street.

The pothole at the junction of Edith Street and Barkerhouse Road.

The section of Pine Street between Earl Street and Hallam Road, I have requested full resurfacing take place here, owing to the sheer poor condition of the road surface.

The pothole at the junction of Vincent Road and Woodlands Road.

The pitted road surface at the junction of Hallam Road and Tavistock Street.

I have asked the Highways department to attend to these as a matter of priority, and we should shortly see repairs taking place.