Planning Appeal over Blyth Homes of Multiple Occupancy plans are dismissed

Applicants appeal over refused plans for more bedsits in Blyth town centre, which proved very unpopular with residents and locals alike, has been dismissed by the planning inspectorate

Leader of Northumberland Labour Group, Councillor Susan Dungworth of Hartley Ward salutes the planning inspector Alison Scott for her strength of application in dismissing this planning appeal.

The planning application was seeking permission to convert a vacant building on Waterloo Road, in the centre of Blyth opposite the Market Place, into an Home of Multiple Occupancy  with 17 en-suite rooms for tenants, while the front section of the ground floor would be kept as a retail unit.

The plan from the Holy Eagle organisation had caused a lot of public unrest, with a huge number of residents concerned that the tenants could be homeless people and ex-offenders, resulting in increased drugs, crime and anti-social behaviour in the town centre and pour cold water over the Towns bid to bring grant funding in to help revive Blyth’s High Street and surrounds.

The proposals were recommended for approval by planning officers, however, the Ashington and Blyth Local Area Council which is made up of mainly Local Labour Councillors concluded at its meeting last September that this was not the right location for such a development.

The applicant appealed this decision.

In papers issued to Northumberland County Council planning department last week planning inspector Alison Scott agreed that ‘the proposal would undermine the vitality and viability of Blyth town centre.

she wrote: ‘Creating well-designed, safe and inclusive places is a multi-dimensional part of successful planning.

‘Crime and disorder and any actual or perceived fear of crime is a material planning consideration. It is not acceptable to merely suggest that anti-social behavioural incidents that may occur at the proposed site could be addressed through other means.

Labour’s Susan Dungworth said: “that while understanding that people need homes, ‘Blyth has more than enough of these types of dwellings’ and that the location was not suitable for this type of housing.

“We spoke to many local people and found there was very little, if any, support for the project,” she added.

“We want to pay tribute to the people who campaigned and we are pleased and relieved, as we are sure they are, that the right decision for Blyth has been made.”

Labour Councillor Brian Gallacher from Ashington said” I know fully,  the hard work that’s been put in by Blyth Labour Councillors to try to improve the future prospects for their town. This application was the wrong one in the wrong town in Northumberland and I’m ever so pleased that the Planning Inspector was of a similar mindset and I’m proud that my colleagues felt they could support the public in the way they did”.

AB&T Line reopening in doubt following Government redefining the ‘North’?

Today's news that following the re-nationalisation of Northern Rail, Local Authorities in the North of the region have been removed from the body which will look at future investments in rail by the Government, Its expected this major change will damage the future of the reopening of the AB&T Line to passenger transport.

 Doubts on the Tories commitment to the re opening of the line following a run down of their blanket news stories issued to bolster PR opportunities for their new MP for Blyth Valley, have been brought to the fore following a visit from the Government's transport minister Grant Schapps, who didn’t pledge anywhere near the £90M required to get this mineral line up and running for passenger transport.

 The chosen by Government service provider for the AB&T Line was to be Arriva, who have just been kicked out of the Northern Rail Franchise by Nick Hurd,  the man who replaced Schapps in Johnson's new cabinet, leaving this headline project up in the air.

 Mainstream media have expressed the opinions on investment cuts by Nick Forbes of Newcastle upon Tyne and Gateshead’s Martin Gannon who represented the North of the region on Transport for the North while Councillor Peter Jackson has remained silent on the AB&T Lines future as the Tory Tees Valley Mayor is promoted by Nick Hurd to represent the north-east.

Climate Emergency? Not in Newbiggin or Ashington!

 Wednesday televised Council meeting from the money maelstrom of County Hall in Morpeth was enormously entertaining until the Independent Councillor for Berwick East and Chairperson of the Audit Committee showed the world that she couldn’t follow a simple instruction from the Chair of the meeting, the Councils Solicitor and its Chief Executive.


Prior to that disgrace we Laymen laughed at Councillor Anne Dale’s very measured put down of Councillor Sandersons puffed chest statements about the Councils Handling of its declared Climate Emergency and his program of  planting trees valued at £419 each. She reported that her family were buying 4 foot saplings complete with a stake for 80p each.

He was then lambasted by Councillors Grimshaw and Simpson who pointed out that their areas, Ashington and Newbiggin by the Sea have been ignored in his program.

We contacted Councillor Simpson after the meeting and she told us “I’m concerned that Newbiggin will be one of the first places damaged by any rise in sea levels yet the Council have cut us out of their Climate Emergency plans, it just shows that its politics first and people second in the eyes of Northumberland Conservatives.”
 

Were led to believe Rick O’Farrell is the Interim Director of Place at Northumberland County Council.

Mr Smith who wrote to Price Waterhouse Coopers said:

“I will be objecting to these payments at the audit but you may wish to take immediate action to prevent any further waste of council taxpayers money.”


What will the audit committee spin doctor in Northumberland make of this?


 

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MAY 27, 2014

South Tyneside: Mr Monkey hunt: New plea to stop spending taxpayers’ cash

Town Hall bosses today faced a renewed call to stop using taxpayers’ money in their pursuit of the notorious ‘Mr Monkey’ internet blogger.
 The website first appeared in 2008, making malicious claims about certain political figures in the borough.
South Tyneside Council backed a bid to discover the identity of those behind the Mr Monkey blogs on behalf of four plaintiffs who came under attack – South Tyneside Council leader Iain Malcolm, Coun Anne Walsh, the late councillor David Potts and council regeneration boss Rick O’Farrell.
It instructed Washington DC lawyers McDermott, Will & Emery to find who was responsible for the website, with the firm producing a dossier which said Mr Monkey was most likely a two-person operation and that a libel action would be “highly successful” if pursued through UK or US courts.
But to this date – and at a cost of about £150,000 – Mr Monkey has yet to be unmasked, some six years after the site first appeared.
That has infuriated George Smith CBE, president of South Shields Conservative Association, who has called for immediate action to prevent “further misuse of council taxpayer’s money.”
Mr Smith  believes the four the plaintiffs in the case – not the public – should have funded the legal action.
Town Hall officials say the legal action was taken because the council has a “duty of care” to protect employees.
But Mr Smith has written to PricewaterhouseCoopers, which is to conduct South Tyneside Council’s annual audit, demanding it steps in.
He says: “Although any authority may indemnify individuals in ‘defending himself against legal proceedings brought by a third party’ they are ‘prohibited from indemnifying members or officers for the cost of taking legal action for slander or libel.’
“I will be objecting to these payments at the audit but you may wish to take immediate action to prevent any further waste of council taxpayers money.”
A spokesman for South Tyneside Council said: “This legal action was taken because the council has a duty of care to protect its employees from the kind of intimidation and harassment caused by the wilfully false and defamatory statements published on the blog.
“South Tyneside Council is satisfied that Section 111 of the Local Government Act 1972 gives the power to take the action that has been taken.”
June Elsom, who stood as an independent for Cleadon Park in last week’s Local Elections, asked Northumbria Police to investigate the matter, but a force spokesman said there was no cause for a criminal investigation.
The spokesman said: “We have received correspondence raising concerns around legal costs incurred by South Tyneside Council in relation to the ‘Mr Monkey’ blog.
“Advice has been given that as it stands, this is not a matter involving criminality and there is therefore nothing to indicate a criminal investigation should be launched at this stage.
“Should another body looking into the matter decide a referral to the police is appropriate then an investigation would be carried out.”
As part of the council’s courtroom pursuit of ‘Mr Monkey’ a former South Tyneside councillor was hit with a whopping £40,000 legal bill last year.
Mr Khan had launched an American courtroom bid to halt the search for the controversial blogger, which he said was a waste of public money.
But San Mateo County Court dismissed his anti-SLAPP motion (Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation), describing it as “frivolous”.
The council is chasing Mr Khan – who has always denied being behind the ‘Mr Monkey’ blog – for the extra legal costs it incurred as a result of his unsuccessful challenge.
A council spokesman said the authority was continuing to pursue that demand – although it is not known how much, if any, of the amount owed had so far been paid.
> As far as I was aware, Mr Monkey stopped publishing in 2009. Still online, though, at:  http://mrmonkeysblog.wordpress.com
Source – Shields Gazette,  27 May 2014
 

‘Nasty Party Gagging of Councillor Steven Bridgett of Rothbury shows how the Tories expect to Control the Northumberland media in future’

In a recent article we the laymen exposed Northumberland Conservatives designed control of the press through the transfer of responsibility from democratically elected Councillors who represent the people to a series of private companies that will not be covered by laws allowing media reporters into meetings dealing with Council Business.

Today they are going one step further by denying a member of the opposition access to be able to speak with, and report locally on the good works the employees of Northumberland County Council do each and every day.

Councillor Steven Bridgett from Rothbury an independent member of Council has regularly reported on the weather in the Coquet Valley, and which access routes have been gritted and are safe for people to use.

Many people are eternally grateful for his input as it can save locals hours of frustration and for people traveling alone through one of the UK’s most remote areas the ability to reach home or work safely and soundly is paramount. We the Laymen know that this is a service second to none provided by a thoroughly well meaning Local Councillor.

Don’t let these nasty ungrateful Tories who want to stop all news of their misdemeanours and poor management being released to the people across the County drag you down and I hope social media support for your efforts shows just how bad they are.

Council bullying report finally made public ‘so its not only Northumberland?’

When Northumberland County Councils auditor dug into matters to write what turned out to be his ’final report’ he commented on the bullying of officers, indicating some experienced difficulty with bullying.
We have been told that opposition Councillors spend as little time in County hall as possible pre or après meetings (apart from the tittle-tattlers) then one has to ask who are the bully’s?

A recent report into allegations of bullying at Ryedale DC, where a former top NCC officer secured the job as its chief executive was commissioned in 2017 and completed the following year.
It has finally been made public following a Freedom of Information request. The report found that staff were reduced to tears at the council, with public humiliation, emotional abuse and unmanageable workloads common, and some staff even left feeling suicidal as a result. The council, which covers one of the country’s largest areas, but with one of its smallest populations, underwent a major restructuring in 2015, with staff numbers reduced from 270 to 170.

A spokesman for the council said that since current CEO Stacey Burlet joined in 2018, “prompt and decisive action” had been taken to address the problem, with Ms Burlet saying there is “no place for bullies or bullying at the Council.”

She should be invited back to sort things in Northumberland.

More Spin, More Fear, More Secrecy, Ever More Outsourcing and Less True Scrutiny in forthcoming Northumberland Tory Budget.

Almost three years on following their shock win in May 2017 and Northumberland Conservatives have taken their prize and sailed it onto the rocks.

Virtually unsupported through their own Governments austerity packages (cuts to you and I) inflationary growth, the giant spend on the renovations and enormous running costs of County Hall in Morpeth, the huge waste of money caused by their unbelievable planning decisions and regular compensatory payments to developers who skin them alive at planning appeals and the public becoming evermore aware of the hollow promises that are never delivered has led them to the cul de sac of despair and they are now suggesting a privatisation package that will allow then to avoid public scrutiny and possibly legally bypass audit.

This will be Northumberland Tories second attempt at privatisation of core services from 2010 until 2013 they waggle danced with local Lib Dems and North Tyneside’s Tory Mayor to jointly outsource services and unveiled a blueprint for services in Northumberland under a Conservative council.

In 2012, Cllr Jackson worked hand in glove with his current Lib Dem colleague Andrew Tebbutt of Morpeth to ‘team up then Tory led North Tyneside Council in a joint services partnership with a potential privatisation giant. It would have meant phase 1 of a privatisation of the whole council with 51% of services offered up.

At the time, Cllr Jackson denied he knew anything about the ‘secret privatisation deal’ yet he nominated Cllr Jeff Watson and Cllr Gordon Castle to represent his team on the working party which seems to cast a doubt on his denial.

This report shows how it was to be done
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/383993/response/937729/attach/html/3/iMPOWER%20Report.pdf.html

Northumberland Tories latest thoughts on the delivery of services sit within the County Council budget, a budget being set on the back of accounts that the External Auditor hasn’t signed off.

The core spending power estimate this budget is premised on does not include any allowance for the unfunded cost pressures which the Government have recently announced. These include the rise in the national living wage, the increased apprenticeship levy and the change in working arrangements through the Borderlands and NE Devolution programs.

There appears to be no funding for the increased demand from some services facing significant increased cost pressure; such as children and adult social care services. The need for adult social care across the county is ever increasing and Northumberland’s aging population is above the national average, leading to a build up of problems facing the partner organisation Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

The Tories answer: to deliver services via a private limited company, another back door privatisation from those who have an interest in paying back their sponsors at anyone’s expense.

The Council is proposing to set up its overarching company to sit over up to 10 companies that will deliver services to the public. All from a Council who doesn’t deliver best value according to its former external auditor and does all of its work in secret making these proposed changes ‘all their own work’.

Maybe now’s the time for Councillor Jackson to really tell the people of Northumberland about what he knew in 2010 and what his plans for services and jobs are in 2020?


http://committeedocs.northumberland.gov.uk/MeetingDocs/45991_M9494.pdf