Rutland County Council Conservatives Defeated By Liberal Democrats, Local Plan Will Be Withdrawn and a New Plan to be Created but at what cost?

Rutland County Council Conservatives Defeated By Liberal Democrats, Local Plan Will Be Withdrawn and a New Plan to be Created but at what cost?

Councillors listened to petitions, deputations and questions.  

There was a proposal to adjourn for a toilet break, this was not supported, leaving most of the public bemused, with comments being whispered, if they can't agree on that what hope to we have for the rest of the evening. At this point one Cllr jumped out of his seat and slumped against the glass clearly suffering from discomfort possibly a dodgy curry before the meeting. Fortunately he did not have to wait much longer before the loo break was permitted.

The infighting among the Conservative group was very obvious this evening, disagreements over increased prices of garden sheds. 

The Libdems and at least on Tory suggested if the council supported the Conservatives proposal it would bankrupt the council rather like Northamptonshire.

Personally I think the council is heading that way the figure of a £2 million deficit was mentioned this evening.

So I was surprised the Libdems proposed to scrap the current plan knowing millions had already been spent on it and now they were proposing a further £1.4 million be spent on a new one. I wonder why the existing plan could not be revised.

Whichever option was agreed St Georges Barracks will be developed.

At the end of the meeting the Leader of the council certainly looked defeated, I wonder if this defeat will see a change of leadership. It was one of the biggest Tory defeats I have ever witnessed at Rutland County Council.

I am not sure this was a good day for the future of Rutland. There is a long period of uncertainty ahead. As the new plan is created. There will be an election in 2023 that should be an interesting one. with the possibility of increased council tax bills to pay for the new plan, I am not sure the next few year are going to get any better for Rutland.

It was good to see a Cllr wearing a Rainbow LGBTQ+ tie to show his support against discrimination. I was expecting a Cllr to take the knee during prayers that did not happen. Although it is unlawful for councils to pray in council meetings, Rutland County Council decided it would be fine to says prayers just before the meeting starts. Personally I think they should set aside a prayer room and not inflict that upon those who think it is pointless or even hypocritical. 

A video of the full meeting will be publish tomorrow. 

The Council agreed:

That Council:

1. Withdraw the submitted Local Plan (submitted to Government in February 2021) under

Regulation 22 of the Local Plans Regulations from the process of Examination in

Public following the decision made by Council on 22nd March 2021 not to accept the

offer of £29.4m Housing Investment Fund (HIF) grant funding which has impacted the

viability and deliverability of the proposed St. George’s Garden Village scheme and,

therefore, the wider development strategy affecting the soundness of the Local Plan.

2. Approves the creation of an earmarked reserve of £1,395,000 to resource the making

of a new Local Plan for the County and operating without a plan (as detailed in Section

5) and that authority be delegated to the Strategic Director of Places and the Section

151 Officer in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Planning and the Portfolio

Holder for Finance, Governance and Performance, Change and Transformation to

release funds from the earmarked reserve as required.

3. Approves that Council receives a quarterly statement of the Budget position in light of

the cost uncertainty so that it can track whether the earmarked reserve is sufficient or

can be released accordingly.

4. Approves the need to positively prepare and submit a new Local Plan informed by an

updated evidence base for the benefit of the County of Rutland, its residents and

businesses that will:

i. Deliver the corporate plan vision and themes for the County;

ii. Provide for sustainable growth to meet its objectively assessed housing and

employment needs, utilising and promoting sustainable transport wherever

possible, which will combine to contribute towards achieving the Government’s net

zero carbon emissions 2050 target;

iii. Protect and enhance the County’s heritage, character and natural capital (including

air quality, water resource management and biodiversity); and

iv. Ensure the timely delivery of all necessary infrastructure.

5. Approves the development of robust and effective strategic partnerships to support

plan-making through the duty to cooperate and required for a viable, deliverable and

sound plan.

6. Approves the establishment of a cross-party group to provide oversight of the process

of making a new Local Plan and delegates authority to the Strategic Director of Places

in consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Planning to establish a governance

structure in line with the Corporate Project Management governance framework. 

Conservative, Councillor Terry King, Rutland, County Council

Today I received a  email from Conservative Rutland County Councillor Terry King, 

It is in my view a very unprofessional and a perfect example of his bullying character style.

Some may say may response to him is very professionally but then I don't claim to be professional.

He claims copyright on his email what rubbish, It is so long I am going to ignore it 

T C King

This email and its contents are the copywrite of T C King and permission is given to reproduce it only in full, otherwise permission is denied.

and publish offending sections in the public interest to show who the real Mr King they have just re-elected. I can not believe a serving Councillor and Cabinet member can think he can get away with this.

He says:

As someone who is a Director of a local company I am personally horrified that our once respected Town Council will be represented by yourself from May 9th. Your pointless web blog is damaging not only the opportunities for some who wish to seek employment and it is also at risk of damaging the businesses of the Town you claim to work for.  The reasons why so few people have stood to serve the Town through the Town Council is a matter your actions have had a big negative influence on. 

I must assure you I have neither the interest or the time to want to show any interest in you or your Blog and I suspect  most people who come into contact with you would wish to have no further contact with you?


I am sure as you will be a servant of the public again from May 9th, perhaps you can put the large amounts of time you appear to have on your hands to a more constructive use?


Your treatment of some hard working members of the community leaves a lot to be desired as do your communication skills.


If you feel it acceptable to be abusive and the publisher of inaccuracies and lies, then I may in future take the opportunity to challenge your views and your actions. 


I sincerely hope your period on the Town Council does no more damage to the good name of the Town and its residents.




Well Councillor King I am sure I can't do any more damage than this http://martinbrookes.blogspot.com/2011/05/how-rutland-conservatives-celebrated.html  I most certainly don't behave like those local dignatories. As we all now know this party was attended by many former Councillors and Mayors and one even posted a video on You Tube for the whole world to see I don't think my blog can match that shame brought upon our town.

Eric Pickles: Citizen journalists and bloggers should be let in to public council meetings

Eric Pickles: Citizen journalists and bloggers should be let in to public council meetings

I was sent this news: I imagine most of Oakham Town Council are feeling quite sick now along with the Chief Executive of Rutland County Council. Neither feel they need to be open and transparent.

Published	23 February 2011

Councils should open up their public meetings to local news 'bloggers' and routinely allow online filming of public discussions as part of increasing their transparency, Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles said today.

To ensure all parts of the modern-day media are able to scrutinise Local Government, Mr Pickles believes councils should also open up public meetings to the 'citizen journalist' as well as the mainstream media, especially as important budget decisions are being made.

Local Government Minister Bob Neill has written to all councils urging greater openness and calling on them to adopt a modern day approach so that credible community or 'hyper-local' bloggers and online broadcasters get the same routine access to council meetings as the traditional accredited media have.

The letter sent today reminds councils that local authority meetings are already open to the general public, which raises concerns about why in some cases bloggers and press have been barred.

For example Tameside Council has accredited professional journalists to report from meetings using Twitter.
The decision means local bloggers, the public and even councillors are not permitted to tweet because they are not considered members of the press.
Eric Pickles said:

"Fifty years ago, Margaret Thatcher changed the law to make councils open their meetings to the press and public. This principle of openness needs to be updated for the 21st Century. More and more local news comes from bloggers or citizen journalists telling us what is happening at their local council.
"Many councils are internet-savvy and stream meetings online, but some don't seem to have caught up with the times and are refusing to let bloggers or hyper-local news sites in. With local authorities in the process of setting next year's budget this is more important than ever.
"Opening the door to new media costs nothing and will help improve public scrutiny. The greater powers and freedoms that we are giving local councils must be accompanied by stronger local accountability.
"We are in the digital age and this analogue interpretation of the press access rules is holding back a new wave of local scrutiny, accountability and armchair auditors."

The letter also reassured councils that giving greater access will not contradict data protection law requirements following concerns over personal information. In the majority of cases the citizen blogging about how they see the democratic process working is unlikely to breach the data protection principles.

Chris Taggart, of www.OpenlyLocal.com (external link), which has long championed the need to open council business up to public scrutiny, added:

"In a world where hi-definition video cameras are under £100 and hyperlocal bloggers are doing some of the best council reporting in the country, it is crazy that councils are prohibiting members of the public from videoing, tweeting and live-blogging their meetings.
"Councils need to genuinely engage their communities and giving wider access to their meetings through these technologies is one way they can do this."

You may also be interested in:

1. The Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 (external link) opened up meetings to the public, allowing members of the public and press to attend meetings of certain public bodies including councils. Margaret Thatcher was the backbench MP who championed this as a Private Members Bill.

2. The Local Government Act of 1972 (external link) states that 'duly accredited representatives of newspapers' should be afforded 'reasonable facilities' to attend council meetings 'for the purpose of reporting proceedings for those newspapers'. It also sets out that for those parts of council meetings that are open to the public, councils are prevented from ejecting members of the public unless they are guilty of disorderly conduct or other 'misbehaviour'.

3. The Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985 (external link) provides for greater public access to local authority meetings reports and documents subject to specified confidentiality provisions; to give local authorities duties to publish certain information; and for related purposes.

Dave Brown, Head of Highways, Rutland County. Council, lack of people skills?

Dave Brown, Head of Highways, Rutland County. Council, does this man suffer from what a Rutland County Councillor described to me. "A few of our officers lack people skills"

I met a member of the public, who had just had a meeting with Mr Brown. Either he is a bully or a maverick or lacks people skills. I am not sure which.

The member of the public is female, why is she seen by a male on her own?
She left the Council building in tears, this is not acceptable.

I understand, he said take take us court in an aggressive manner amongst other things.

I question why the paid officers at Rutland County Council often adopt this manner? I think back to last year waiting in the reception and staff walking through from planning saying, I just told him get lost and take us to court. No wonder planning is the highest failing department at Rutland County Council and it now seems Highways could be going the same way.

Its a disgrace these people pay your wage and should not be treated with such contempt.

It took an hour for this lady to compose herself over coffee at Costa. Rutland County Council should be ashamed of itself.