Rutland County Council Conservatives Defeated By Liberal Democrats, Local Plan Will Be Withdrawn and a New Plan to be Created but at what cost?

Rutland County Council Conservatives Defeated By Liberal Democrats, Local Plan Will Be Withdrawn and a New Plan to be Created but at what cost?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

Rutland County Council would like to clarify its event process as a recent Facebook post by Oakham Town Council may have created some confusion among event organisers.

Rutland County Council would like to clarify its event process as a recent Facebook post by Oakham Town Council may have created some confusion among event organisers.  

First I question why are we still paying money for a clerk who is dishonest and incapable of doing most things correctly or providing members with the correct advice. It is disgusting that we have to pay for for this full time position and lets not forget the town is also paying for 'her friend' to be employed as an assistant, then we have a Cllrs wife who is paid to clean the expensive long row offices. I am pretty sure that comes close to breaking the law, I do know Cllrs can not be employed by the council, I would ask why the job was not advertised? but I won't.

Secondly if we are not going to have any events this summer and all we get is the grass cut and litter picked in the 3 tiny parks, manky expensive plants, and Christmas Lights why do we need this costly pointless town council?

I am told no one wants to do anything for the town, all they seem to do is fight each other and constantly fall out with Rutland County Council.

The neglect of the trees is a perfect example the Clerks failure to do their job. more branches fell this week.

Rutland County Council would like to clarify its event process as a recent Facebook post by Oakham Town Council may have created some confusion among event organisers.  

The Council’s event process has not been changed as a result of the event at Rutland Showground.  Since the advent of the pandemic event organisers have been required to provide the Council with event management plans that demonstrate, alongside other aspects of event management, how an event can operate and meet Government COVID guidelines.  This is to protect public safety during the pandemic.  

Plans are reviewed and agreed by a multi-agency group including Public Health to ensure they are ‘COVID secure’.   Details of what we have been require event organisers to supply can be found on our website: www.rutland.gov.uk/my-community/organising-public-events/

We have been notified that Oakham Town Council has decided to cancel all planned events up to 18 July due to Government’s extension of COVID restrictions.  They are planning to hold a programme of events from 25 July onwards and have been advised of the need to submit their event management plans for review.