A new Lib Dem member arrived in the council chamber and was seemingly a little at a loss.
She was surprised to be approached by Nick Paget-Brown asking if he could help her find her way around.
The new leader is very different to his predecessor, the unlamented Pooter.
Unlike Pooter, N P-B is highly unlikely to cling on to power and gather as many allowances as he possibly can.
Nor will the new leader find opportunities to hotfoot
Nick Paget-Brown has a reputation for decency and is building a further reputation amongst officers, councillors and residents for being highly accessible.
There is now a very different spirit at the Town Hall.
But the leader has many challenges....not least ridding the council of the vestiges of the Pooter rule.
It will take him time and patience...
And this leads the Dame to her conclusion....there are many good, hardworking and honourable councillors.
They have been shocked by the arrogant buffoonery of Cllrs Moylan and Palmer.
They know the behaviour of these two undermines all the good work Nick Paget-Brown is doing to reassure residents that he is 'on their side.'
He is sufficiently well regarded to be able come down heavily on these two:he should do so without delay.
This is a very honest assessment by the Dame. Paget-Brown now needs to revamp his Cabinet...dump Ahern, Campbell and Feilding-Mallen would be a good start
ReplyDeleteDifficult to understand why Cll Ahern is singled out for banishment. He is the only Cabinet Member who has had the courage to stand up in public and say that the Council needs to be more "resident friendly"
DeleteFielding-Mellen first
ReplyDeleteFielding-Mellen is the man RBKC have chosen to carry out the immoral "social cleansing" of North Kensington.
DeletePaget-Brown supports this fascist policy and will do nothing to remove his trigger man.
Dumping Moylan and Palmer for their behaviour at the Council meeting would send out a powerful signal to Officers and Councillors that the world has changed. Leaders sometimes have to make these gestures
ReplyDeleteThey do. The problem is that those two could prove to be the tip of a rather large iceberg.
DeleteNever look a gift horse in the mouth. Just go for it!
DeleteCllr Paget-Brown has got his feet under the table and he is a cautious man. But it is time for him to stamp his authority on Hornton Street. It is nearly a year since he was elected.
ReplyDeleteCllr Paget-Brown is engaging with residents and moving in resident circles. Exactly as it should be. A small example was the Kensington Society 60th Anniversary Dinner in the Mayor's Parlour this week, in the presence of the Duke of Gloucester. Cllr Paget-Brown was at the top table and seated next to the Chairman of the Society. Where was the Planning High Command? Cllr Coleridge? Cllr Warwick? Mr Bore? No where to be seen, of course. A developers dinner might have been a different story........
ReplyDeleteMore lies in the Hornet
DeleteAccessibility helps. And it has been noted by many residents (the "ask Nick" sessions have been particularly welcome). But doing something genuinely useful and in the interests of residents, and particularly the least able and most vulnerable, helps more. Put your hat on Nick, there's plenty to do out there!
DeleteThe Duke of Gloucester set a brilliant tone at the Kensington Society dinner when he said that Kensington is a collection of small villages served by local shopping centers. He defined this as "communities" which need to be preserved. The essence of the Borough
DeleteMr Bore has no understanding of the word "community". But why should he? He is a box ticker - obsessed with phony consultations and timelines. It is the resident representatives (the Ward Councillors) who are failing in the job. A failure to represent communities, and a failure to connect with Councillors on the Planning Committee.
ReplyDeleteThe planning apparatus also fails to preserve the architectural heritage of Kensington. The eminent architect Julian Harrap illustrated this at the Kensington Society dinner when he showed examples of how run down properties could be sympathetically restored and compared this with some of the new monstrosities that the Council has been approving. Bore and Co are a disgrace
DeleteThe planning department is clearly focused on "enabling" development. By this they mean rolling over and permitting just about everything, irrespective of whether it looks like crap or not. Sadly some of it is built like crap too.
DeleteIn planning matters, the tail wags the dog. Bore is in command. To such an the extent that he forbids Councillors on the Planning Committee to talk to Resident Associations. You could not make it up.
ReplyDelete