Special Area Committee Meeting

As one of the worst offenders I appreciate the following better than most. If there is no gallery then no one will play to it. Last Nights special Area committee meeting for Inner North West was a superb example of politics at its best. We spent an hour in mature discussion about the new devolutionary measures Leeds City Council is making. We all welcome the prospect of additional powers but rather agreed the details leaves a lot to be desired. We then moved onto the thorny and long running issue of the Woodsley Road Multi Cultural. We heard a delegation from the management committee and went "below the line" ( a Council term for a Confidential discussion ) to discuss staffing and financial issues. We agreed an option appraisal for changing the tenure of the building. The issues are complex and the management committee have a long term aim to own it them selves. This will be a bumpy ride but the status quo of council ownership, funding and it seems zero operational control can't continue.

After that we had a budget seminar and laid the foundations of next years £230k well being budget. This will save enormous time on 7/2/08 budget meeting proper.

My point? In just under 3 hours we did justice to three really big pieces of work. The defining factor being the almost complete absence of the public. With no gallery, there was no point scoring or theatrics. The very high levels of public attendance that our area committee has developed is great in my view. It certainly keeps us on our toes. But last night made me think as I have before whether or not the occasional private session once every 6 months would allow a bit more reflection.

Will any of this make a difference to residents lives? Perhaps. Leeds City Council is so huge that an expanded, more frequent and better funded Area Committee could do more. I think we decided last night to keep pushing. Re funding our success stories such as the Planning Officer and Fundraising Project keeps this capacity in place. Woodsley Road run better could be a significant hub for the Kashmiri community who are playing such an important part in regenerating the area.

I often moan on this blog but last night we did some good governing and i suspect the process was part of that.