Readers will know that last month’s full council meeting played host to a ‘State of the Island Debate’. Following the transcription of Cllr Mazillius’ speech earlier in the week, Cllr Chris Welsford has sent VB the speech he gave at the meeting for those who didn’t attend. In his own words. Ed
As Cllr Stephens has said, when we requested a State of the Island Debate we did so in the expectation that this would lead to a public meeting, organised by the Isle of Wight Council, where the views of residents could be heard.
I would like to take this opportunity to explain why a State of the Island Debate is important and why it should be a part of our democratic process.
Distinction between State of the Island Debates and motions
Firstly, I believe we should make a distinction between a “State of the Island Debate” permitted under Procedure Rule 15 of our constitution and Motions, which are brought forward under Procedure rule 10.
The very fact that each is facilitated under a separate constitutional rule should be clue to the fact that they are not the same and should be handled differently.
“Local people know best”
In the absence of any other explanation I feel that Procedure Rule 15 was put in the constitution to help satisfy a growing Central Government emphasis on local democracy and community engagement, which can be seen in the 2007 Sustainable Communities Act which begins from the principle that local people know best what needs to be done to promote the sustainability of their area, an idea developed further in the more recent Localism Act.
State of the Island Debate should be annual
It is regrettable that our constitution fails to define what the State of the Island Debate is supposed to achieve or how it should be held.
I believe that the State of the Island Debate should be an annual opportunity for residents to have their say on and debate any subject to do with the State of the Island and thus help inform the Council and others about what they can do to make our island a better place for the future.
They take place around the country
State of the Area Debates have been used in other places but it is interesting that a number of councils have found them to be very uncomfortable events.
Many have either removed them from their constitutions or changed them to meetings where the Leader or Mayor is able to control and use the meeting to present an often political and sometimes self-Âcongratulatory account of the year’s events as it relates to the Council without any meaningful public contribution.
The fact that State of the Area Debates, hosted by local councils, but attended by and informed solely by the views of residents, to which elected members are required to listen but not speak, are unpopular amongst local politicians, may speak volumes about local politicians and must impact on local democracy.
First IW State of the Island Debate
The Isle of Wight has managed to avoid having a State of the Island Debate altogether, until now.
The right to call a State of the Island Debate is written into our constitution but there is a lack of definition or explanation to determine how the meeting should be held and what the rules of debate should be. I feel that that this needs to be addressed and Procedure rule 15 redrafted for approval by Full Council to hopefully provide a more understandable and workable Procedure for an annual State of the Island Debate.
Received a wide range of views
In the circumstances we have held our own State of the Island Public meeting and we received a wide range of views, which we have shared with everyone here tonight.
I have agreed to take up two topics: Procurement by the council and other organisations on the Island and the Environment – in particular alternative modes of public transport and renewable energy production.
Procurement: Local first
It was felt that it is important for the sustainability of our Island economy that organisations and businesses operating on the Island, have procurement policies that promote the purchasing of goods and services locally before resorting to mainland or foreign suppliers.
This would help reduce the carbon footprint and help boost the local economy.
Sustainable energy
We need to facilitate the generation of more of our own power, through solar, wind and most importantly in the view of participants, tidal power. There was genuine support for The Eco Island initiative. The use of biomass was also an important theme.
Whilst the use of small Centralised Heat and Power units was accepted by most as a legitimate use of biomass, the Stag Lane plant was seen as likely to increase carbon emissions and they did not view it as a sustainable project, let alone one that has any environmental benefits. The overwhelming view was that tidal power should be the focus of our power generation efforts.
Sustainable transport
Ideas for sustainable transport included the introduction of trains and cableway pods. Pods are small 4-Âseat cable cars and could be an answer to those areas where there is no opportunity to reintroduce trains.
The development of the cycle -path network was welcomed and its extension called for.
These themes link with most other ideas that were brought up as forming a self sustaining Island, able to feed and power itself, thus reducing vulnerability to shortages and transport delays.
Thank you.
