Row over effort to 'ban' councillors revealing travel schemes to public

CONCERNS have been raised about attempts to stop councillors from sharing information about active travel schemes – those encouraging walking and cycling – being put forward by BCP Council.

Emails sent to councillors with details of projects planned in their wards have all asked that the information be kept “confidential”, writes Josh Wright of the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Cllr Drew Mellor, leader of the Conservative opposition, said it amounted to “banning” councillors from discussing proposals with the public.

A number of schemes have been – or are being – introduced by the council through the government’s emergency active travel fund which has seen it awarded more than £1.5m.

Concerns have been raised about many of the proposals and that people who would be most affected by them have not been consulted.

Earlier this month the council scrapped plans to block part of East Overcliff Drive in Bournemouth to through-traffic due to a backlash from hoteliers in the area. Opposition Tory councillors said this could have been avoided with greater consultation.

Emails sent out to councillors have requested that information be “kept confidential” and that it is “not distributed further to avoid confusion with the corporate communications currently being prepared”.

Cllr Mellor said: “We are amazed that Vikki Slade, let alone her transport portfolio holder [Cllr Andy Hadley], can be so opposed to any form of consultation with the public that they would overrule officers’ recommendations to consult and go far enough to attempt to ban councillor colleagues from discussing these schemes with their residents.

“This is the least transparent council I have ever seen and you have to question how long the Independent or Boscombe Labour members will continue to have confidence in this anti-consultation, anti-car, dogma-driven liberal alliance.”

The council’s cabinet will be asked to retrospectively approve the schemes it has implemented when it meets on 9th September.

A report published ahead of the meeting said the seven-day timeframe within which projects had to be put together meant consultation could only be carried out with Cllr Hadley before they had to be submitted.

“Due to the scale of the task and short timescale, officers were only able to consult with the portfolio holder for transport during the latter stages of the process close to the submission date and it was not possible to meet cabinet timescales for reporting or to facilitate wider cabinet or ward member engagement,” it said.

The council did not comment on Cllr Mellor’s concerns that ward councillors had been “banned” from discussing projects with the public.