Minutes row sparks uproar
Shocked gasps follow chairman’s comment
Monday’s Crieff Community Council meeting blew up following an argument over draft minutes.
A row erupted just as the monthly gathering at Strathearn Community Campus was drawing to a close when the issue arose of why members of the public do not have access to the draft minutes.
And when local Perth and Kinross Council elected representatives Rhona Brock, Ann Cowan and Anne Younger said they did not always have sight of the draft minutes either, Crieff CC chairman Craig Finlay’s response was: “It’s because you can’t be trusted.”
Shocked gasps echoed round the room and calls of “shame on you” were heard. “Kangaroo court” was also shouted out.
Following the flashpoint, Councillor Cowan said it would “be nice if the chairman would withdraw his statement and apologise”, but Mr Finlay refused.
There was also discontent that only three community councillors were regularly turning up to meetings despite there being seven on the committee.
Former community council
member, Andrew Snowball, believes it is wrong that draft minutes are not put in the public domain before they are signed off by the group at the subsequent meeting.
He said: “We all turn up at the meeting and none of us have seen the last minutes that the three of them [community councillors] have approved.
“You can see at meetings that there is a lot of dispute about who said what, and they are just not allowing us to see any draft minutes. This is all in the public domain – it’s a public meeting.”
Councillor Cowan said it was “extremely disappointing” that the meeting had “ended up in another row”. She told the Herald: “For several months there have been concerns that people are not being allowed to see draft minutes, so that corrections and comments can be made, in the normal way.
“Sight of draft minutes is an essential tool for democracy and fairness, and it is simply not right to withhold them.
“Ever since the new community council for Crieff was approved in October, draft minutes have been withheld from both the public and the elected members of Perth and Kinross Council. This is unacceptable.
“I find it especially disappointing as I made a short statement at the start of the meeting asking for a new start, that 2016 had been a bad year, and asking the community councillors to turn over a new leaf. It fell on deaf ears.
“People attending any meeting have a right to know what is being written afterwards concerning what they said, and also any responses given to their questions.
“The community council is supposed to speak for Crieff, and community councillors are their mouthpiece – so the people of Crieff need to know. The community council should not act like some sort of secret society, and one has to ask ‘why?’ Democracy is currently taking a back seat and must be reinstated.”
When asked for a response, Mr Finlay stuck to his guns and maintained the community council is not obliged to let members of the public see the draft minutes.
Following the meeting, he said: “It’s perfectly understandable that a small number of people are unhappy that draft minutes are not made available to the public before being approved by community councillors.
“The reason this change to the process was agreed several months ago was in order to avoid a repeat of an incident where a member of the public was ridiculed in draft minutes, which were then distributed on social media to an audience of thousands.
“Everyone can view our minutes after they have been approved. Crieff CC has a folder in our library containing all minutes. We publish the minutes on social media and also email them out to anybody who asks.”
Mr Finlay continued: “Councillor Cowan rightly highlighted the importance of community councils having a strong relationship with ward councillors, and I agree completely with her sentiment.
“Unfortunately, for various reasons – some stemming back months – I don’t feel Crieff CC has a good relationship with our ward councillors.
“A good working relationship, by definition, works two ways. There has to be good and speedy communication; the ability to have full trust in each other and full support and openness in each others’ endeavours.
“To my continual frustration, none of these traits seem to be present in the relationship between Crieff CC and our ward councillors.
“In the past 100 days, Crieff CC has achieved an immense number of resolutions on issues which have been brought to us, and I sincerely thank each community councillor who has contributed to that.
“Some can’t always attend monthly meetings due to family and work commitments but, as unpaid volunteers, family and bills must come first!”