Green perspectives on Stockwood and Bristol. Mostly.

Friday 20 June 2014

Little local difficulties

For most of us, this was the first sighting of The Man from Stoke Bishop in Hengrove. At centre stage, too, as it turned out to be his turn to chair the Neighbourhood Partnership meeting on Wednesday.

It didn't start well. After inviting the other councillors to introduce themselves to those residents who'd bothered to turn up in the lecture hall of the Oasis Academy, Mike Frost took his own turn.... “I'm Councillor Mike Frost, the newly elected UKIP councillor for Hengrove....” To add a bit of emphasis, he then asked those present to raise their hands if they'd voted for him – and looked a bit crestfallen at the minimalist response. Evidently UKIP voters are rare among those who actually take part in local democracy.

It could only get better after that embarrassing intro, and it did, mostly because Cllr Frost generally deferred to the more experienced officers who really run the show in these parts.


There were a couple more fireworks in the box, though.


The threat of a new bus stop


Not just any old bus stop. This one, proposed for Fortfield Road, will not merely inconvenience those living nearby. Peeping toms (well, you know what bus passengers are like) will threaten privacy, walls will collapse under their weight, vandalism and rowdyism will be rife, road accidents will rocket, and civilisation as we know it will come to an abrupt end. ( Somehow Stockwood Pete hadn't realised this when he blogged about it over a year ago.)

Most of the residents present had come simply to alert us to this threat, so that we could act now to make sure it doesn't happen. And the newly elected UKIP councillor for Hengrove made no secret whose side he was on. He brought the topic straight to the top of the agenda from its lowly spot in 'Any Other Business'

The objectors were quickly reassured that the whole issue will be revisited, this time with extensive consultation through a couple of widely advertised drop-in sessions. That wasn't enough for the objectors, though. After they'd offered some pretty broad ranging contributions from the floor, the newly elected UKIP councillor for Hengrove closed the discussion and moved to the next agenda item. Cue a mass exodus by most of the objectors, loudly complaining they'd not been listened to. The newly elected UKIP councillor for Hengrove looked perplexed. You could tell he's not been around for long.


The threat of a public forum


It was Stockwood Pete who lit the blue touch paper on the second firework. And did he really, as Stockwood Cllr Jay Jethwa claimed, twist her words? Or was he untwisting them when he said that at the last NP she'd rejected suggestions (broadly supported by the Hengrove councillors and most others present) to open up a new dialogue between councillors and residents. Whichever was true, neither was mentioned in the draft Minutes, so they could not be a true record.

Stockwood has long stood out as a ward where the councillors take pains avoid any kind of public forum where they can be held to account. And this new threat to their cosy position was a suggestion, put to the last NP meeting, that “we have a spot in the ward forum meetings...... in which councillors can report back on their activities and deal with any related questions from the floor?”

Whatever the truth of how she responded at the last meeting, this time Cllr Jethwa was unequivocal. She has NOT turned down the suggestion, and she told us so.

So maybe.... just maybe.... our next ward forum might see our Stockwood councillors tell us for the first time what they get up to at City Hall. They might even let us ask them about it. Watch this space.

4 comments:

Woodsy said...

It could only get better after that embarrassing intro, and it did, mostly because Cllr Frost generally deferred to the more experienced officers who really run the show in these parts.

Why do I get the impression the officers are going to run rings around the new boy?

Stockwood Pete said...

Councillors in this NP seem to be more reactive than proactive; occasionally they'll resist something that appears on the officer-led agenda, but that's about as far as it goes.

Who knows, maybe the new boy, without experience and without a party whip, will want to challenge the status quo. Perhaps we'll find ourselves voting on a motion to get Stockwood and Hengrove out of Europe!

michael frost said...

Thanks Pete,
i have read your comments with ammusment, yes i am new, yes, it was the first meeting i attended and i was in the chair, and neded some guidence, but come the general election one thing will be certain, greens and lib dems will be wiped out, and this media that unfortunaley allows "the nutter on the bus" like you, to contact more people than just whoever is unlucky to sit next to you

Stockwood Pete said...

Welcome to the Stockwood Pete blog, Mike. Actually I thought this post was quite objective for an opinion piece; apart from poking a bit of fun at your faux pas at the start of the meeting, I don't think there's any unfair comment in there, and some sympathy for a new boy coming into what can be a bit of a bearpit.

I hope you'll want to comment constructively (I can do without the gratuitously offensive comments) on other posts you see on here - maybe like the most recent one about Hydrogenesis, climate change, and His Georgeness.

As it says on the tin, this blog is 'Green Perspectives on Stockwood and Bristol - mostly' so like any comment piece there's a bit of an agenda behind it. I wish there were more on our patch, because it would open up ideas for discussion across both wards, reaching well beyond the usual suspects who turn up at Neighbourhood Partnership meetings. Maybe you could start your own? I'd be happy to add comments. Politely, of course.