Power to Communities

It was a full day at the County Council today where we had the first council meeting of the new year and at first it was thought that the public gallery could not be open because of a 'security risk'. A video link was set up in the committee rooms to enable anyone who wished to view us to do so. As it turned out, the public gallery was open, and nobody was interested in watching the video link! It appears that there was not much to engage our communities except that we did have some speakers on the proposed library closure in Summertown.

Quite a lot of people are concerned about library closures and cuts to our youth facilities and as I have mentioned in my previous post, there is a possibility of signing an e-petition on line at the County website. However, today I proposed an important motion welcoming the Localism Bill which was passed today. This is supposed to give power to our communities by encouraging referendums, petitions etc. It also encourages transparency by ensuring councils put on their websites all transactions over £500.

The bill also encourages communities to get involved with local planning decisions and this is to be welcomed as we face housing development all over the county, not least here in Grove and Wantage. We need to be involved in planning local infrastructure as the new Community Infrastructure Levy is implemented. There is a lot to take in, but anyone interested in reading about the bill can find out more here.