County Council meeting; 15 May 12
May 18th, 2012 by davidjenkins
It was the annual meeting of the County Council this month and that meant a little more ceremony than usual. In previous years that would have been all that we would get but the rules were changed recently, at the request of the Lib Dems, to allow oral questions. There were also a couple of motions but even then we were still finished by lunchtime.
John Powley was re-elected for a second year as chair with Kevin Reynolds as his deputy.And there was a minor cabinet re-shuffle with Steve Criswell stepping down from the hot seat of ‘buses, potholes and speed limits’ to be replaced by Tony Orgee. Steve Tierney joins the cabinet and as a result it is no less white male but at least the average age has gone down a tad.
There were neither questions nor petitions from the public.
There were 2 motions:
The first motion (Lucy Nethsingha, Lib Dem) on music education asked council to provide additional funding to complement the music hub grant during the transition period. The Tories proposed a neutering amendment which deleted the only action verb in the motion. The amendment was challenged because it simply rejects the substance of the motion but was ruled in order. The amendment was carried (Tories for, Lib Dems against) as was the motion as amended (unanimous)
The second motion (Kevin Wilkins, Lib Dem) was about the LEP (Local Enterprise Partnership at Alconbury) and asked that Council take steps to ensure that it was really for new enterprise and not enterprise moving to take advantage of local tax advantages. This time the Tory amendment for once neither neutered nor wrecked it and it was agreed to accept it without debate or vote. That left the Tories confused! Sue spoke during the debate to defend the Lib Dem record in arguing for improvements to the A14 and to welcome the opportunity to develop jobs in the northern half of the county. The motion carried unanimously.
Although the debate on the second motion drifted off into one about the national economy by and large both debates were stimulating and constructive.
In oral questions Sue asked about the Minor Road Improvements scheme in South Cambs and how we go forward with parishes not successful in first round of applicantionss. There is still £16K unallocated and this will be addressed at a meeting 7 Jun 12.
David asked about the broadband roll out with particular attention to Orchard Park. He asked for a map showing when villages currently poorly served could expect some improvement. The timetable is currently regarded as bing commercially sensitve because contracts have not yet been agreed but he was promised sight of it and note was taken of the situation at Orchard Park (21st century development, 19th century telephony).
There were also several questions about buses, road works and speed limits. There was also one suggesting that the archive centre moved to Ely. That would be fine except that we have already put in a proposal for it to move to Histon&Impington!
