WEDNESDAY’S council meeting will surely go into the record books and, might I say, not for all the right reasons.
The venue was again the Magistrates Court where members were crammed in like sardines.
No microphones, abysmal lighting even to the extent of using a 100 watt anglepoise lamp and hard wooden benches. We were stuck in a cubby hole and couldn’t hear a damned thing.
It could be favourably compared to a scene from ‘Garrow’s Law’ which could only be have been improved had the leader of the council been in the dock.
The first part was true to the tradition of not answering the questions which were asked but it was when we got into the motions that tedium kicked in.
Councillor Thomas spent 20 minutes more than what was necessary to win her vote.
Councillor Walsh’s question enable virtually every Labour Cabinet member to drone on at length about everything in the garden being rosy.
It was left to Councillor Donaghy to introduce some much needed humour into the evening’s proceedings.
By 10.20pm with three motions left to debate, members were shuffling their feet, taking bets on what time we would get away and Googling what time last orders was at Wetherspoons.
The motion on the EU wasn’t really a debate with the only real challenge coming from councillor Greenhalgh as to whether it was recommending ‘Leave’ or ‘Remain’ in spite of the word ‘Leave’ appearing in the body of the text. Some 25 of the Labour Members chose to abstain with Councillor Byrne protesting that it was premature. Only ten weeks to go John. Suggest you get your brain in gear.
By the final motion on travellers, most members had lost the will to live. The proposal to find a better way of removing travellers was heavily defeated by the Labour group and finished up with an argument with senior officers as to when is a motion not a motion.
11.20pm and we all get away. I headed home to a cold flannel for my fevered brow and a glass (or two) of vodka.
That’s four and a half hours of my life I’ll never get back.
Councillor Paul Richardson
Ripon Close
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