Last night's council meeting was a boisterous affair. Perhaps as it's the "End of term" for the councillors and they are all ready to go electioneering, perhaps it was running the gauntlet of cuts protesters out side the meeting. However, it was certainly an interesting and some what explosive meeting from time to time with anger flaring and tempers strained to the point at which one to the Tory councillors rather stupidly got him self banned for making slanderous accusations. Last night's council meeting was the last one before the election, and means that with 5 councillors standing down it was their last. Councillors Siddle, Smith, Simpson, Cawsey and Briggs all attended their last meeting last night having decided not to stand again at the next election.

Election Arrangements

The meeting opened with some updates about arrangements for the May 5th elections, stating that this year no schools were to close, and where schools have been used in the past alternatives such as church halls have been put in to use instead. The labour councillors then made a bid to turn the agenda item into a speech supporting the No to AV campaign. This was a little disappointing as there was clearly a division of views on this, not just from the labour benches but across the entire chamber. The "AV" referendum will provide the voting public with the means to select candidates at elections in preference of place. This means that in order to be elected as an MP the winning candidate will have to appeal to a wider audience as they will undoubtedly rely on some peoples "2nd choice" to gain their position. It is hoped at a local level that AV will promote smaller parties and independent candidates, and could certainly in future years see a change to the make up of the council if voted through.

Good News On Jobs

There was some good news regarding the council's forward plan, the South Humber gateway and the formation of a Humber wide LEP. While these were all dealt with separately, I've lumped them together as they are all related. The conclusion which can be drawn over these matters is that there finally seems to have been some degree of success in each area. Cllr Kirk reported that Able UK had had their proposal returned to them from central government and having worked with planning teams, the RSPB and Protection for Rural England were therefore a step nearer to creating the South Humber Gateway and the first trench of 4,000 jobs which would go with it. Cllr Kirk also later in the evening in response to a member of the public asking why we had not joined a Lincolnshire LEP, announced a commitment from Hull City Council, East Yorkshire and North East Lincolnshire to form a pan Humber LEP. As reported on Visit Scunthorpe last week, failure to do so to date has led to our region failing to gain enterprise zone status. The final bit of good news as far as jobs goes, relates to the provision of a new waste recycling facility and service contract. This is a 250 Million Pound contract which will result in the recovery of house hold waste with the intention of just 7% going into landfill. This pleased green groups as not only do the agreed plans make us potentially one of the greenest areas in the North East, but, plans specifically exclude any form of incineration. It was revealed at the meeting that a preferred suppliers short list has been drawn up consisting of WRG and Cemex, but that no decision will be made until after the local elections on May 5th. It was noted however that both are local companies and both the development of the complex and the running of it afterwards will create local jobs.

Public Questions

There were several public questions, the first one from a Mr Day asked why North Lincolnshire had not joined Lincolnshire as part of an LEP. The short answer to that was that it was not seen by either Lincolnshire or North Lincilnshire as being in either parties' interests as North Lincolnshire's industry should (at the bequest of industry leaders) work with the north bank for the betterment of the Humber as a whole. The second question was asked by Visit Scunthorpe, as will be detailed along with the full reply in a later article on this site The third question from the public was the most controversial and led to one of the Tory councillors being banned from speaking following repeated outbursts and allegations of lying. A member of the public looked to quash rumours that Messingham Library would be closed. We are aware of at least two occasions where there has been a very clear public statement made stating that the library will remain open and that there is no intention to close the service provided in Messingham. It would seem however that in Messingham that rumour is abound, and that it could potentially be used as a political vote swinger to try to influence voters. Councillor Trevor Foster repeatedly called the speaker (Councillor O'Sullivan) a lier. Having been asked to sit down and be quiet on several occasions, a vote was taken to silence Councillor Foster under section G121 of the constitution. Councillor O'Sullivan issued a challenge to Councillor Foster to prove his allegations, yet remained adamant that there were no plans to close Messingham Library, and re-iterated (as she did at the last meeting) that all libraries in North Lincolnshire would stay open. This was a major embarrassment for the local Tories as councillor Foster was clearly trying to score a cheap political point in the run up to the election. Council ended for the elections on May 5th Watch out next week as Visit Scunthorpe will be bringing you exclusive information about who's standing, where they are standing and attempts to explain what the AV referendum is all about. A separate article supporting the actions of protesters against the proposed closure of Scotter House and The Lilacs care home's in Scunthorpe will appear later today. If you are standing for election in May, or have a particular point of view on AV or any of the items discussed in this article, please, email Editors@VisitScunthorpe.Com or create and post an article using your own account.