The silent leader: my experience

May I share with you below my experience of politely trying to communicate with Cllr Derek Bastiman, leader of Scarborough Borough Council, and the lack of response:

From: Ali Wilkins Sent: 23 November 2017 14:03 To: Cllr Bastiman’s PA -

Hi, I have not received any reply to the emails below and wondered if you could tell me if Cllr Bastiman is able to reply to emails now?

Best wishes, Ali Wilkins From: Ali Wilkins Sent: 30 October 2017 13:10 To: Cllr Derek Bastiman -

Hi Derek, I was wondering if you are able to reply to emails now. I would be pleased if you could reply to my query.

Best wishes, Ali

From: Cllr Derek Bastiman Sent: 05 October 2017 17:12 To: Ali Wilkins -

I am unable to reply to emails at the moment. If your enquiry is urgent please contact my PA or the Deputy Leader Cllr Helen Mallory.

Thanks Cllr Derek J Bastiman, Leader of the Council From: Ali Wilkins Sent: 5 October 2017 15:26 Ali Wilkins wrote Hi Derek, I am a bit puzzled and wondered if you could help. I was under the impression that the Stephen Joseph Theatre Trust Ltd was owned by the Scarborough Theatre Development Trust. Now I understand from the opening statement of the response to the objections to the Futurist demolition planning application that it is stated that Scarborough Borough Council own the Stephen Joseph Theatre. So is the Scarborough Theatre Development Trust Scarborough Borough Council? I would be pleased if you could clarify this for me. Best wishes, Ali

This highlights how difficult it is to get an answer.

We are forced to submit a Freedom of Information request in order to get a simple answer to a pertinent question.

If the council was as honest and transparent as they would have us believe, I would not be writing this.

I have had similar experience with three complaints to the Standards Committee in June concerning unacceptable behaviour of councillors at the Vote of No Confidence meeting. They have gone to the Meeting of Independent Persons apparently, which sits every eight to 10 weeks ... 21 weeks later and I have just received a response from Mr Kitson, “deputy monitoring officer”. Ali Wilkins Londesborough Park Seamer in the club who has bowled there.

There was no consultation, unlike in the 2011 development brief regarding the Filey Road Sports Centre when a great deal of effort went into talking to the residents and getting their views in an eight week period June 13 - August 8, 2011.

The resultant development brief was in keeping with the area - low density development in a conservation area etc.

This seems to have been thrown out, as the latest marketing material suggests.

August 4 BNP Paribas marketed the bowls club as a dashed line in their marketing material together with several feasibility masterplans (anyone wishing to see them - contact savethegreen@icloud.com) - these ranged from 55 houses: houses, hotel, pub and carparks.

As a club there has been no communication.

The club held an EGM and a public meeting - there was tremendous support for staying where we are and opposing the extreme masterplans evident.

Organisations have been contacted - their support enlisted, articles in the press, TV and radio coverage; and a petition organised by The Scarborough News has yielded in excess of 400 forms.

In addition, the dedicated email has received many messages of support.

On September 24, the club applied to be designated an Asset of Community Value. This was confirmed in late November. What impact this will have remains to be seen.

October 17 at Cabinet - you can view it all on https://scarborough.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/312322 and view agenda item 13 where you will see and hear the following:

The portfolio holder, Cllr H Mallory, recommends the adoption of a third resolution, ie: “To authorise Mr Edwards, in conjunction with myself, to consult with the South Cliff Bowls Club about finding a suitable alternative site to facilitate the club and on that basis I would like to add that to the recommendation.”

Looking at the minutes of the said cabinet meeting they state:

Authorise Director (NE) in conjunction with the portfolio holder to consult with the South Cliff Bowls Club about finding a suitable alternative site to facilitate the club.

So, following the meeting we were anticipating a visit from the above mentioned.

Now as of the first week of December, we are still waiting. In the interim we have managed to engage with one of our two ward councillors, to explain our concerns.

At the recent South Cliff Community Group November 14 meeting, there was a ray of hope. Finance director - Nick Edwards - offered the following answer to a question from the chairman of South Cliff Community Group regarding consultation. He stated that he would come back to the bowls club and wider community before a decision is made by cabinet (I assume the decision he means is the acceptance of a bid) and then again at planning. We are still waiting.

We have also requested a meeting (email November 7) with the chief executive and leader.

Despite initial interest, and a response on November 23 focusing on legal confidentiality clauses are still waiting.

However, the last email (November 24) did suggest that this meeting might take place at some time in the future – once the council is in receipt of BNP’s report.

As we approach Christmas, we are left with the feeling that our views, opinions will not be heard and the heritage of the site will not be considered.

The next cabinet meeting is scheduled for January 16, 2018.

The cynics might suggest that the bid will be nodded through at that meeting with no consultation with the bowls club, nor any information/consultation for the residents.

Perhaps the council might consider consulting us before any deals are done. They might then avoid another embarrassing entry in Private Eye.

John Rowlands South Cliff Bowls Club

Filey Road Scarborough Eye) is embarrassing. Do they ever work in accordance with the Nolan Principles of public life?

1. Selflessness - Holders of public office should act solely in terms of the public interest 2. Integrity - Holders of public office must avoid placing themselves under any obligation to people or organisations that might try inappropriately to influence them in their work 3. Objectivity - Holders of public office must act and take decisions impartially, fairly and on merit, using the best evidence and without bias

4. Accountability - Holders of public office are accountable to the public for their decisions and actions and must submit themselves to the scrutiny necessary to ensure this

5. Openness - Holders of public office should act and take decisions in an open and transparent manner. Information should not be withheld from the public unless there are clear and lawful reasons for so doing 6. Honesty - Holders of public office should be truthful.

7. Leadership - Holders of public office should exhibit these principles in their own behaviour. John Stather Scalby Road Scarborough

3) Clearly, as the report points out, the advent of a unitary authority carries much more influence and is now a model pursued by many authorities.

4) Of great appeal, is the opportunity to tackle the sheer waste of resources. A trivial but poignant example is one in my ward this week. “How many people does it take to change a light bulb?” Well, with Scarborough Borough Council and North Yorkshire County Council, firstly you have to find out whose light bulb it is! Oh yes, then who gets to fix it? The irony is that the borough council light bulbs are sub contracted to - North Yorkshire County Council fitters. The protocol, risk assessments etc cost a fortune. Who pays?

5) In our towns, I have become increasingly aware that we are marginalised. Health services, Social Care, schools to name but a few. It is also clear that the majority of Whitby folk would embrace the opportunity of a re-think on how local government works.

This report opens the doors for a re-think.

Finally, during my time as a councillor, I have come to the conclusion that the present system is expensive and inefficient.

We live in a time of change and ultimately, the views of electors, who are also the paymasters, should be heard, respected and acted upon.

Cllr Rob Barnett Labour/Streonshalh Esk Terrace

Whitby