High Peak Borough Council held an Extraordinary Council meeting on Tuesday 18 March 2014.
Cllr Jon Goldfinch attended this meeting and posted the C9 outcome on this forum but unfortunately he had to leave before the end because of other commitments. Although the meeting had been going for over 3 hours before Jon had to leave we now know there were significant developments after he left.
The Buxton Advertiser has now reported more details of the meeting, and a formal press release has been made by HPBC.
At the start of the meeting Cllr Julie McCabe asked the leader of the Labour group to confirm or deny if the Labour Councillors had a free vote on the local plan or had they been whipped to vote on block. Cllr Caitlin Bisknell for Labour confirmed that they had a free vote.
The various areas were voted through with all the Labour councillors voting on block for the numbers. Their actions backed up the view held by many that the Labour councillors had been whipped to vote on block even though Cllr Bisknell had denied this.
C9 is within the central area (New Mills, Chapel, Whaley Bridge) and unfortunately the block Labour vote ensured it remained within the local plan.
When C14 in New Mills came up, at least one Labour councillor declared an interest and had to leave. This left the Labour Party at risk of defeat on the housing numbers in Central.
When it became clear that Labour would lose the vote on site C14, Cllr Godfrey Claff, the Labour executive councillor who, together with Cllr Caitlin Bisknell, has been in charge of the preparation of the local plan, insisted on making a statement to the council.
Cllr Claff told the full council that the councillors had to vote for the inclusion of the site in the local plan. If they did not agree to do this, it would render the local plan unsound.
When the vote was taken on C14, it was even and the mayor used his casting vote in favour of the residents around C14 and refused the site from the plan. A furious row broke out within the Labour councillors and also between Cllr Claff and the Mayor.
Before the final vote that would decide if the local plan could be accepted or refused, the Labour councillors requested an adjournment. They gathered in the corner of the chamber for some ten minutes.
When they came back, Cllr Claff collected his belongings together before he was taken to one side for discussions with Simon Baker, the council's Chief Executive. Eventually, Cllr Claff re-joined the Labour benches and the vote was taken.
Incredibly six Labour councillors including Cllr Claff then voted against the local plan and Labour lost the vote. Cllr Claff the executive member with responsibility for the local plan, voted against his proposal, defeating the motion by one vote. His vote defeated his own motion!
Fortunately for residents opposed to C9 Whaley Bridge has no Labour Councillors. Cllrs John Pritchard, David Lomax, and Linda Leather were all present at the meeting, all spoke, and all voted to remove C9 from the plan.
Cllr John Pritchard also proposed an amendment to the annual number of houses to be built in the High Peak from now until 2031, proposing that it be lowered from 360 to 325. This was again defeated because of the block Labour vote.
Jon Goldfinch has confirmed our three Borough Councillors did their best for us at the meeting, the vote was very close, but it did not go the way we hoped and I think they should be congratulated for the efforts and contributions.
If Whaley Bridge had a Labour councillor who had followed the other Labour councillors and had agreed to toe the party line we would now be facing a local plan which included the C9 development.
Residents are very quick to criticize our councillors in Whaley Bridge but when you compare them to councillors in other areas I think overall we have a pretty good set of people representing us.
HPBC have now issued this statement on their website -
This statement relates to the Extraordinary Council meeting held on Tuesday 18th March 2014. The meeting was called to consider the Publication of Submission Version of High Peak Local Plan. The Plan was not approved by Council. Officers are considering the implications of the discussion at Tuesday night’s Council meeting and are advising Councillors about the options for progressing the local plan following that discussion.
No wonder Caitlin Bisknell, the Labour Council leader was on the front page of the Buxton Advertiser saying “ we're not sure what happens now.” This Labour controlled council hasn't had a clue from day one.
After three years in control and two years of shambolic preparation they are no nearer adopting a local housing plan.
This is not the first time Labour councillors have angered local residents. Cllr Godfrey Claff was involved in the decision to deny access to the Cenotaph in Whaley Bridge Memorial Park on Remembrance Sunday.
HPBC, controlled by Labour and led by Cllr Bisknell is a shambles moving from one fiasco to another.
It's hard to comprehend that Cllr Caitlin Bisknell thinks she should be our next MP!
