Turbulent end to 2008 for council
The final months of 2008 ended with nothing but bad headlines for Northampton Borough Council, with arguments flaring over plastic Christmas trees, delays at Sixfields, reorganisation plans for the Market Square and the possible scrapping of the Balloon Festival.
While it may seem a long way off now, the year actually began much better for the authority, with Government officials declaring it was improving and labelling the town's streets among the cleanest in the country.
Looking back on the year, the leader of the borough council, Councillor Tony Woods (Lib Dem, St Davids) admitted the last few months of 2008 had been the hardest since his party came to power in May 2007.
He said: "I know there have been some bad headlines in the past few months, but I think we are moving the council, and indeed the town, in the right direction.
"And I think in the next month or two, we'll see further evidence that the council's performance and capability is improving. We now have some highly qualified managers in place and the signs are there that things are improving."
The year started well for Guildhall bosses when in April, the Audit Commission, one of the council's toughest critics, which rated it one of the worst councils in the country in 2004, said the authority was finally getting better.
Further praise came in April when the town's streets were classed among the cleanest in the country and its recycling rates were also praised.
But chaos in the Guildhall in June when a key council meeting had to be cancelled because of a row over a chair offered a hint of the troubles which would hit the authority.
The real problems began in October, when plans to increase councillors' pay way above the rate of inflation were announced shortly after the council had declared a 7.2 million funding gap.
Looking back on the decision, which was voted through by a majority of 23 to 15, Councillor Woods said he stood by it and argued pay rates should have been increased years earlier.
He said: "It was a long term problem that everybody else had failed to grasp the nettle on.
"The timing for when the report came out was really bad and it did bring us some bad publicity, but it was something that needed to be put right.
"You can't have a situation where the largest district council in the country is so far out of line with any of our equivalent councils."
Unfortunately for the council, the pay rise debate was followed by a number of equally controversial issues.
In November, Guildhall bosses announced the town would have new Christmas decorations – three fake Christmas trees costing 33,000 – while lights which usually hung across Abington Street would not be put up because of health and safety fears.
The news was followed in December by the revelation that 2008's Balloon Festival had cost council tax payers 177,000. It was later confirmed the future of the festival would be reviewed as part of the council's annual budget and one option being seriously considered was "ceasing" the event.
Councillor Woods said: "The problem is, in the past, the accounting was never really done properly on the Balloon Festival. So it may be that it costs 150,000 to 200,000 for the council to put on a festival of that size and we have to say, is it worth that?
“So we’re asking the people if they want it and whether they’re willing to have it at that cost. We certainly can’t have it for free.”
Other controversial options announced in the budget included the possibility of closing public toilets in favour of a scheme paying shop owners a small amount of money to open their facilities to the public, and a possible reduction in museum opening times.
But the headlines at the end of the year were dominated by two issues, the reorganisation of the town’s Market Square and the expansion of Sixfields.
A joint protest between market traders and Cobblers fans was held in the town at the end of December.
But on the issue of the Market Square, Councillor Woods said he had faith in the plans to increase the current entertainment area and create a new food and drink area.
Defending the plans, which some traders have said will lead to the death of the market, he said: “There’s a perception that we’re halving the number of stalls, but there will still be enough there for the traders who turn up.
“There will also be places to sit and get a drink and something to eat, so it should become a much more lively place, if a slightly different one.
“It will be more of a social centre for the town than just a market.”
And on the Cobblers, Councillor Woods said he was slightly confused by the increase in tensions because of delays in the football club’s expansion plan, explaining the council had not changed its attitude towards the project.
He said: “It’s a strange one because the council’s position has not changed probably in the past 18 months.
“We’ve always said we’ll work with the land owners at Sixfields, but we’ve also said all along that we won’t subsidise the football club.”
The coming year will see the council’s budget plans finalised and projects such as the Market Square reorganisation and improvements to council houses pushed forward.
But Councillor Woods warned he expected the international credit crunch to hit the Guildhall badly.
He said: “One of the main landmarks of 2009 will be coming out of Government intervention before much longer. That will make it much easier for us to do the things a council should be doing.
“That will be a big step forward and a vote of confidence in the ability of the council to manage itself.
“We’ll also see some important steps forward in terms of the regeneration of the town centre and we’ll see the Market Square change.
“But there will be some really tricky periods. This recession is massive, there are going to be a lot of victims and one of the first places people turn to will be the council, either for benefits claims or because they’re going to lose their homes.
“That’s going to put a huge strain on the borough council at a time when we’re already strapped for cash.”
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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