DERBY CITY COUNCIL

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Labour city councillor Hardial Dhamrait and Independent Frank Leeming have both defected to the Tories. The pair revealed the move at the start of a full meeting of Derby City Council. Mr Leeming said, "I have taken this decision in the best interests of my constituents as I consider their needs can only be met fully by being inside a political party." Mr Dhamrait said he had made the decision because he felt the Labour Party was not acting in the best interests if his constituents.

Council leader Chris Williamson said, "I think that Hardial has made a grave error of judgment. I am very disappointed in him, especially as he has been such a strong supporter of the Labour Party and its values and policies. I really think that he needs to take time to reconsider his decision. It is not too late for him to change his mind." Speaking about Mr Leeming, Mr Williamson said, "He was a member of UKIP, then he was Independent, then Veritas, then back to being Independent and now he's a Tory. I expect him to turn up as a member of the Tupperware party next." (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph, Nov/07)

Derwent Housing Association was given planning permission under the previous Labour-controlled council in April 2003 to build eight two-bedroom flats in Oakwood. The auction of a quarter-acre plot of grass on the corner of Wayfaring Road and Wood Road, is expected to fetch between £250,000 and £300,000. When the Lib Dem/Tory alliance took control that year it saved the plot from development. In October 2003, Tory councillor Philip Hickson, the council's deputy leader, defended the alliance's stance by saying, "Residents are quite vehemently opposed to the disposal of this public open space." That same month, Lib Dem council leader Maurice Burgess said, "We believe it is important to listen to the views of local people. That's why in this case we, as a council, have now backed the local councillors in their campaign to keep this an open space." Now both councillors appear to have had a total change of heart.

Mr Burgess said, "We tried very hard to keep it as open space. But the land is designated as housing land and we found it was not as easy as we thought to officially adopt it as public open space. I do regret that it has taken so long to come to this conclusion." A report to the cabinet meeting states that funding to transfer the land to public open space and for future maintenance is not available. The current maintenance cost is £130 a year. The land is "owned" by the council's ring-fenced Housing Revenue Account, which would have to be refunded from another area of the council's budget if the land was officially adopted as public open space. Mr Hickson said, "We could just leave it, but then we wouldn't realise the capital receipt for the land. The priority is to provide affordable housing in the city to alleviate the waiting list."

According to council director Michael Foote funding for its transfer for public open space purposes and its future maintenance cannot be found. Maintenance costs amount to £130 annually, so that can't be the real reason. It's clear that the sale of that land had been earmarked at budget time to provide the cash to build some low-cost homes. Without the sale the homes can't be built. And that surely means the u-turn was actually made months ago when the budget was set. Mr Foote said the council would now have to go through the process of reclaiming the land for development as it had been used as public open space for so many years. (Source: Derby Evening Telegraph)

Derby Kids' Camp which provides holidays for hundreds of underprivileged children is to have its funding cut by £5,000 a year. The charity costs between £25,000 and £30,000 a year to run and provides free camping holidays for about 250 city children annually. The camp is funded by grants, fund-raising events and donations and receives about £5,000 from Derby City Council to pay for food on the camps, which are held over five weeks. Organisers have received a letter from the council saying that the authority can only fund the group for one more year. A council spokeswoman said, "We need to ensure we prioritise funding to meet the social care needs of the most vulnerable adults and children. This means there'll be times when funding for a particular service has to be withdrawn so it can be spent on higher-priority needs."

The camp is making an urgent appeal for helpers. To run each camp, the charity needs about 24 volunteers a week and, at the moment, there are enough volunteers to run holidays for a couple of weeks. Volunteers will receive on-the-job training and be paired with an experienced volunteer. They remain on camp for the entire week and are responsible for all aspects of camp life from cooking, equipment maintenance and looking after the children. For more information on how to volunteer, call Mr McCann on 01332 290443 or Ms Neville on 07810 377169.

The Standards Board is investigating Labour councillors Sara Bolton and Ray Baxter after Lib Dem councillor Sean Marshall complained about their behaviour in relation to a planning application he submitted before he was elected councillor. A spokeswoman for the board said the councillors were being investigated for allegedly bringing their office or authority into disrepute and for allegedly securing an advantage for themselves or others.

Mr Marshall had been operating an unauthorised textile business, Marshalls Textile Repair Centre, and had been told to seek retrospective planning permission. Mr Baxter and Ms Bolton, both members of the planning control committee, helped to persuade the committee to reject the application and an enforcement notice was subsequently issued to Mr Marshall to close his business.

Mr Marshall claimed the councillors had acted maliciously because they knew he was a prospective Liberal Democrat candidate. He said, "When you know you're right about something, you pursue it and dig your heels in. I want things to be done right and by the book." Ms Bolton said, "I will let the investigation run its course but my conscience is clear." Mr Baxter said, "The whole thing is totally without foundation. There's virtually no evidence whatsoever to support the allegations."

A disabled man who relies on public transport was refused permission to board five buses because drivers did not recognise his new bus pass. John Spare of Shelmory Close, Allenton, was the victim of a blunder by Derby City Council, which did not send samples of the new passes to bus companies. Mr Spare is profoundly deaf and qualifies for a travel concession permit which allows him to use Trent and Arriva bus services and some train services for free. He was issued with his new bus pass after reading a council notice which advised holders to renew their permits from September 27 at the Post Office or the Council House. After picking up the new pass from Derby’s Victoria Street Post Office, Mr Spare went to get on a number 69 Arriva bus to Allenton but was refused passage because the driver said he did not recognise his pass.

Mr Spare also attempted to board a Trent bus but was met with the same response. On inquiring about the problem at the bus station in Morledge, he was told to go to the Council House to sort it out. At the Council Houses he was given a written notice, which confirmed the new pass was valid from September 27. Mr Spare said, “It is totally unacceptable that this has happened when all I did was follow the instructions that were given to me. For the authorities not to have informed the bus companies of what is a major change is a terrible error and I am disgusted with the treatment I received.” Since his ordeal, Mr Spare had to get both Arriva and Trent to write a travel note, which he has to show drivers.

Pat Ethelston, Derby City Council’s chief engineer, said, “We have been encouraging people to renew their passes in good time but did not anticipate the passes coming into use until November 1. We have not yet sent samples of the new passes to the bus companies so that is why their drivers would not have recognised it, but we will be taking steps to make sure the sample is sent in the next couple of days.” Melvyn Hopwood, Head of Communications for Trent Buses, said, “The scheme itself is owned and run by the city council and we simply follow the guidelines they give us and our drivers are under strict instructions to follow these.” Nobody was available for comment from Arriva.