26/07/2022
Today (25 July) saw the Full Council meeting held at the Town Hall.
A resolved item in the minutes of the Executive meeting of 12 July caused an outcry from the public gallery at tonight's meeting.
Representatives from Gemini Dance Centre held banners declaring "save our dance school" as they listened to the council conduct their meeting.
Community House building and associated land in Easemore Road, Abbey Ward, has been declared surplus to Council requirements and will be sold at market value for housing.
Trustees from Redditch Common Neighbourhood Trust claim that there were 7 inaccuracies in the minutes - resulting in a decision being made with incorrect information.
Cllr Bill Hartnett raised a point of clarification- asking Kevin Dicks, the chief executive, to explain.
Mr Dicks said that he was investigating a timeline, but relevant officers were currently on leave and this had delayed reaching an answer.
The public gallery became agitated and said this was an unacceptable answer. This led chair Deputy Mayor Tom Baker-Price to shut down any further comments or questions.
The gallery responded by chanting "do not mess with GDS" and challenging this. Full disruption ensued and Cllr Baker-Price called an adjournment. The majority of the Tory group left the room and did not engage with any of the members of the public.
Speaking on behalf of the Labour Group Cllr Sharon Harvey said, "The conduct of the Conservative group is sadly a perfect example of how they dislike being held publicly accountable. They conduct business behind closed doors and they refuse to listen to residents who disagree with their decisions."
Cllr Bill Hartnett said "As chair of Overview And Scrutiny committee I led a thorough scrutiny of the report on Community House. There was a lack of clear information and we agreed a cross party recommendation to defer the decision. The Tory Executive chose to disregard this and resolve the item."
Cllr Joe Baker adds "Monday night's full council meeting just proves what happens when the Conservatives make decisions behind closed doors without consulting the very people that decision affects. The public in Redditch showed that it will no longer accept being kept in the dark. The public have a right to know the truth and to be consulted. This was our manifesto at the local elections - Truth and Transparency."
