The Liberal Democrat Group on Highland Council have withdrawn from the Council’s Budget Working Group, because of dis-satisfaction with the manner in which the Independent/SNP-led Administration is handling the budget process. The key complaint is insufficient time for scrutiny and/or public consultation, with just days available for this to be done before the Administration’s proposals go to the Council.
Black Isle Councillor Dr David Alston, deputy leader of the Lib Dems
on the Council, has issued a press statement:
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Excellent piece by Helen Paterson in the Inverness Courier on the history of Inverness Common Good Fund, not an easy subject to cover but the article gives a very clear sense of its historic nature. The Common Good Fund, of which the councillors are effectively trustees, dates back hundreds of years, and includes parts of the Longman Industrial Estate, the Ness Islands, the Victorian Market, the Town House (rented to the local authority) and sizeable financial investments.
The article can be found here:
http://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/news/fullstory.php/aid/4931/
Concerns about how it is applied are not confined to recent years, with a major problem in recent decades being the size to which the Fund has grown as compared to the limited nature of clearly accepted uses.
Highland Council administers eight Common Good Funds inherited from predecessor authorities, with Nairn being in the news recently due to the huge increase in its value as a result of 86 acres of land at Sandown on the western edge of the town being developed for housing. The sale proceeds, which have not been divulged, were in excess of £14 million.
A paper showing the current year’s income and expenditure for Inverness Common Good Fund is at this link (as a PDF document) is here.
A move for proper scrutiny of City services has been launched by councillors Alex Graham and Janet Campbell with support from their Liberal Democrat colleagues.
They have submitted a motion for the next meeting of the Inverness City Committee expressing concern that the Committee has not yet been able to scrutinise services in the City properly, and calling for regular reports to be provided.
Janet, who is a Lib Dem councillor for Inverness Central, thinks Inverness councillors should be monitoring things such as housing improvements and renovation works on the large housing stock on a City basis, and so far these have not been reported directly to the City Committee.
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Councillors have voted 15 - 2 to grant outline planning permission for an Asda Superstore at Slackbuie, after a lenghty debate attended by approximately 100 members of the public. The development consists of a superstore, petrol filling station, 5 small retail units and associated works on land at Slackbuie Farm on the east side of Inverness, opposite the new Gaelic School.
The Committee will discuss detailed conditions to attach to the consent at a future meeting - probably in February 2008. These are likely to be concerned with traffic on the Southern Distributor Road, particularly at the nearby Inshes roundabout where traffic lights will be considered. The Inverness Courier has reported (Friday 18 January) that the cost could be of the order of £1.2m.
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Highland 2007 will be remembered mainly for the use of £250,000 of Inverness Common Good Fund on a 14 minute fireworks display.
There was massive opposition in Inverness to the use of Common Good Fund money for this closing event. The fireworks were good but the Inverness Common Good Fund should not have been used to pay for them, seems to have been the genral opinion.
One aspect of Highland 2007 that watered down its credibility — apart from its solidly top-down nature culminating in the astonishing call in the P&J by former HIE Chairman Jim Hunter that people should stop moaning and enjoy the show — was the manner in which activities of all kinds have been rolled into its list of achievements.
Improvements costing £440k in total at the Ness Islands — owned by Inverness Common Good Fund as it happens — have been widely hailed but to include them as a H2007 cultural year achievement on the basis of a £30k donation is stretching matters.
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Following on the success of “Musicworks” last summer, Charleston Academy is to present the Wizard of Oz at Eden Court Theatre on 25th and 26th June 2008. Don’t forget to put it in your diary!
Charleston Academy has a website at this link.