Scrutiny debate defeat for Tories
OPPOSITION members on Maidstone Council claimed a “really important result for democracy” after a debate about who should chair a key scrutiny committee. But it was a blow to two Tories in partic-
ular – one of them on his full council debut. They had proposed that the constitution should be changed to ensure their party picked the chairman. Libs Dems accused the ruling Conserva-
tive group of “squalid party politics”. But Tory leader, Cllr Chris Garland, questioned how the council could be seen to be demo- cratic if it excluded half of a committee’s members from the chance of chairing it. In May, a corporate services scrutiny com- mittee meeting had ended in chaos when
Need for transparency LIB Dem leader Cllr FranWilson said scrutiny is not for the benefit of council- lors, but of residents, who should see things done “fairly and properly”. Their perception of how things are
run was important and if the chairman was from the same party as the cabinet they would perceive that “we are not transparent, that somehow there is some- thing going on”, she added.
Roll up for roller
skating competition MAIDSTONE Leisure Centre is hosting the National Open Roller Skating Competition later this summer. It will be held at Mote Hall
on September 10 and is one of five “free lets” by the borough council for the leisure centre in 2011-12. Already, a charity concert fea-
turing the Maidstone Singers was given a free let last month and the other three will be: September 23 – SNAP Disco, set up by Kent Police and Crimestoppers for 11 to 17- year-olds to enjoy live music in a safe environment October 8 – Voices for Hos-
pices, a concert in aid of the Heart of Kent Hospice January 27 – Youth Sport Achievement Awards cere- mony.
Hockey games raise
£400 for hospice A CHARITY hockey tourna- ment raised £400 for Heart of Kent Hospice. Maidstone Hockey Club or- ganised the event, which in- cluded appearances by Maidstone Rugby Club,Astor of Hever School, Heart of Kent Hospice and tournament win- ners Kent Police. Playerswere rewardedwith a barbecue and drinks before a raffle was held to win two Olympic tickets.
Snappers’ show MAIDSTONE Camera Club will be holding its annual exhibi- tion in The Mall, Maidstone, from August 22 to 26. Opening times will be the same as for the centre.
Contact Tony White on 01732 521121.
members were unable to elect a chairman. It happened because newcomer Cllr Nick de Wiggondene wanted to reverse an existing agreement that the position should go to someone outside the ruling group. Proceed- ings reached an impasse – and the three Lib Dem members walked out of the chamber. The issue came back to the June full coun-
cil meeting as a change of constitution was being proposed. Mr de Wiggondene (Thurnham & Detling) led the charge again. He said the commit- tee holds the executive to account and it was only reasonable that its mem- bers were free to choose any member they consid- ered to be right for the job. He felt the constitution should not constrain the chairman coming from a particular party, or not.
Seconding him, Cllr Stephen Paine (Fant)
said the best chairmen are administrators, organisers and facilitators of debate, but need not be a “political counter-weight to cabinet”. Shadow cabinet member Cllr Rob Field
Lib Dem leader Cllr FranWil- son said after the meeting: “This was a really important result for democracy over narrow party politics. “I congratulate all those Conservatives who actually took on board the strength of our arguments and had the courage to vote accordingly.”
(Park Wood) said it was about accountabil- ity, transparency and good governance. It was widely recognised that it is right to be held open to account by your opponents. Fellow Lib Dem Cllr Clive English (High Street) said the fairest waymight be to allo- cate chairs proportionately as in the House of Commons and Lords. The Independents’ leader, Cllr Mike Fitzgerald (Boughton Monchelsea & Chart Sut- ton), said the constitu- tional change would be a “huge retrograde step”. But council leader
Cllr Garland (Shepway North) said: “I maintain that a change to the consti- tution would be demo- cratic.” Lib Dem Cllr Fay Gooch
(Barming) said the council, which has trou- ble enough getting the public involved in politics, should at least show that “we can look at our administration from without”. She added: “It does not look good for the administration to have all the seats.” The motion was lost 11-20, with several abstentions.
Council responds
Ernie Munn (right) receives his £1,000 jackpot win from Maid- stone United director Terry Casey.
Ernie first winner of Stones’ draw
A LIFELONG Maidstone United fan has won £1,000 in Maid- stone’s club-draw lottery. Ernie Munn, a dedicated supporter of the Stones for 60 years,
was the first winner of the club’s new lottery, which had been running for two months. He said: “I go to all the games and do everything I can to sup-
port them so, of course, I signed up to the lottery but had no idea I would win.” The draw offers a £25,000 jackpot and raises money for the
club’s campaign to return to the county town from their tempo- rary base in Ashford.
A third of children do not own bike ONE third of children in Maidstone do not own a bike and 10% cannot cycle, according to a survey of 1,500 children aged be- tween six and 15. The study, commissioned by Tata Steel, found that youngsters
are “turning their backs on fitness”. While 33% of under 15s do not own a bike, 77% own a television or a video console, which only keeps them “digitally fit”. In response to these findings, a free mini triathlon took place at
Mote Park to encourage local school children to get active. More than 600 pupils from 35 schools swam, cycled and ran their way around their very first triathlon. The sports day was organised by British Triathlon, in partnership with Tata Steel. Almost one child in 10 cannot swim, according to the survey. However, the 9% figure for Maidstone compares favourably to elsewhere in the country. In Edinburgh, 19% cannot swim.
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to housing moans A STAFF member to deal specifically with housing com- plaints has been nominated by Maidstone Council to improve response times. In all, 33 of the 288 com- plaints to the council during 2010-11 related to housing – second only to development management with 60. But only 58% of the housing complaints were dealt with on time, compared to 88% of the development-related gripes – just short of the 90% average response rate for all issues. “This is lower than the 96% recorded in 2009-10 and is due in large part to the complexity of some complaints, particu- larly housing-related ones,” said a report to councillors. It added: “Over the last 12 months MBC has taken a more robust approach to complaints monitoring. The purpose is to improve the overall customer experience by using complaints not only tomeasure satisfaction but as an improvement tool.” A review of the complaints policy and staff training are also planned.
New vice-chancellor A NEW vice- chancellor has been elected at the University of Creative Arts, which has a campus at Oak- wood Park, Maidstone. Dr Simon Ofield-Kerr, who
has a PhD in the History of Art and Visual Culture from the University of Leeds, re- places Professor Elaine Thomas, who is retiring from her position.
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