News from County Councillor Rob Kendrick
Community Speedwatch Launched
Volunteers including myself have started speed checks in Metheringham. The first session took place near the primary school. The team will be undertaking checks at locations approved by the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership. These include known speeding “hotspots” around the village. As I have mentioned before this scheme is not one of enforcement, that is issuing speeding tickets (only the police can do that) but one of raising awareness of speeding.
Vehicles recorded as exceeding the speed limit will have their details passed to the police who will write to the driver reminding them of the need to drive safely keeping within the speed limits. There is the possibility that if a particular area is found to have a lot of speeding problems, then the Road Safety Partnership could attend and undertake enforcement.
Controversy over new “tip” booking system
As you will be aware the County Council is introducing a booking system for the Household Waste Recycling Centres – “tips”. At the last meeting of the council a motion seeking clarification of the claimed benefits for doing this including asking for hard data was rejected by the Reform chairman. Therefore, it could not be debated. It is the duty of opposition councillors to question and challenge on behalf of residents’ decisions made by the council leadership. The council has had extra funding from government this year. It has been suggested that a fraction of this money could be used to extend “tip” opening hours rather than introduce a booking system.
Scrutiny reduced
As mentioned above an important role of councillors is to check and challenge decisions. This is like the work of MP’s in parliament when government policies are examined and challenged. It is a key part of our democracy. Unfortunately, we are finding there is an aversion to scrutiny in some councils. In some cases, they go so far as to change the constitution of the council. In Lincolnshire, the rules about submitting motions to the council have been changed so that last minute urgent issues cannot be debated. In another council they have banned a media outlet from attending and reporting their meetings. This was because the council leadership didn’t like the way journalists were reporting their meetings!
Happy to chat.
As a councillor not only do I aim to attend as many parish council meetings as I can but I am also happy to attend events and meetings of community groups.
Often at these meeting residents raise issues of concern which I can take up on their behalf. This is in addition to being stopped in Metheringham Co-op and asked a question!