Author Topic: CCBC costs and cutting  (Read 151022 times)

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Offline Cambrian

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Re: CCBC costs and cutting
« Reply #465 on: May 07, 2022, 06:28:56 pm »
Although there has not been much comment on here regarding the elections, it is perhaps interesting to note that many of the critical comments in the past have been about the ERF department.  The Tory Cabinet Member for this department lost his seat in Mostyn Gogarth and suffered the fate of being beaten in the voting not just by his two Tory colleagues but also by two Labour candidates and an Independent. 

The Tory Cabinet member for "Culture" also lost in the Blues' wipeout in the east of the Borough and the Independent Cabinet member for nebulous matters was defeated in Conwy Town.

There seem to be at least 29 new Councillors (out of 55) plus one retread, in the form of former Leader Dilwyn Roberts back, after a 5 year gap.

Although the Independents have the largest number, they have been in three separate groups.  The largest, Conwy First, seems to have survived although lost three through retirement and may gain some from newly elected Independents. The Smith Group lost two and the erstwhile Gareth Jones Group lost two both in the same ward one by retirement and the other a defector from the Tories who fancied his chance to replace the retiree.

It will be interesting to see who forms the new administration and whether the current Leader of the Council retains his position.

Offline SteveH

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Re: CCBC ...New cabinet and leader
« Reply #466 on: May 17, 2022, 03:05:59 pm »
Conwy’s largest intake of new councillors will vote in a new cabinet and leader this week. The new council will convene for the first time on Thursday for the annual general meeting.

Twenty-six of the 54 councillors are new members and will attend the hybrid meeting, which takes place at Conwy County Council’s Boblondeb HQ. Either Cllr Abdul Khan or Conwy’s chief executive are expected to chair the meeting before a new chair and vice-chair are elected.

Political parties and groups within the council will then put forward candidates to be considered as leader, and members will vote on who they want at the helm. Once the leader is elected, he or she will then appoint their cabinet.

Cllr McCaffrey also said she was happy that the council had fresh blood. “I think this is the biggest intake of new councillors, with the highest number of female councillors in the history of Conwy,” she said.

“45% of councillors will be new, and 38% of councillors will be female! This is good news for democracy, which will now be more representative of our local communities where there are more women than men.

"New councillors bring more diverse perspectives and experiences. With a better balance of experience and fresh ideas, things can only get better. Change is good!”

cont https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/former-conwy-council-leader-tipped-23971520


Offline Meleri

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Re: CCBC costs and cutting
« Reply #467 on: May 19, 2022, 03:42:38 pm »
The results are out for CCBC new Leader & Councillor Charlie McCoubrey has been re-elected. The chair for CCBC is now Cllr Ivor Lloyd & Vice Chair Cllr Sue Shotter. Well done to you all  $walesflag$

Offline SteveH

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Re: CCBC costs and cutting
« Reply #468 on: May 20, 2022, 09:31:29 am »
More on Meliri's above post.......                ref pioneer

In total, 26 of 54 councillors are new members and attended the hybrid meeting, which took place at the council’s Bodlondeb headquarters.

Cllr McCoubrey has also appointed the following councillors to his cabinet:

Cllr Emily Owen: Housing and Regulatory and Deputy Leader
Cllr Mike Priestley: Finance, Revenue and Benefits
Cllr Julie Fallon: Education
Cllr Liz Roberts: Children, Families and Safeguarding
Cllr Penny Andow: Integrated Adult and Community Services
Cllr Goronwy Edwards: Environment, Roads and Facilities – Infrastructure
Cllr Geoff Stewart: Environment, Roads and Facilities – Neighbourhood and the Environment
Cllr Aaron Wynne: Culture and Leisure
Cllr Chris Cater: Democracy and Governance
Cllr McCoubrey said: “This new cabinet is a coalition of 10 members: six members of the Conwy First Independent Group, two members of Welsh Labour and two from Plaid Cymru.

“In making these appointments, I have had the benefit of discussions with group Leaders and many members.

"I believe that I have been able to achieve an appropriate balance of political alignment, diversity, language and the geography of the county borough.

Offline Cambrian

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Re: CCBC costs and cutting
« Reply #469 on: May 20, 2022, 10:20:28 am »
Good to see that ERF has been divided between two Cabinet Members.  Hopefully this may be a precursor to dismantling this dysfunctional monolith of a department.  Seems to be lack of anyone dealing specifically with tourism and economic development.  The sole representative of the "old guard", Goronwy Edwards in back. It will be interesting to see how this cabinet develops given the potentially wide political differences between individual members. 

Offline SteveH

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Re: CCBC
« Reply #470 on: June 06, 2022, 12:58:16 pm »
CONWY'S new cabinet member for housing has vowed to try to resolve the county's housing crisis and help young people get on the housing ladder.

Cllr Emily Owen, who is also the deputy leader, was appointed cabinet member for housing by re-elected leader Cllr Charlie McCoubrey last month.

Cllr Owen admitted she didn?t have immediate answers but said she had firm ideas about the areas she wants to improve over the next five years.

As a tourist area with a high proportion of elderly people, Conwy has a disproportionate gap between house prices and wages. As the tourist industry and care sector often pay lower wages, this situation is worsened by older people wanting to retire here, driving up house prices.

Conwy also has a homelessness crisis with over 1,600 waiting on the housing register ? the fourth highest in Wales. Conwy also spent ?2.5m on temporary accommodation for the homeless last year, double the figure of the previous year.

Cllr Owen says she realises the size of the task before her and has handed her notice in at her trade union job to concentrate on her role full-time.

cont  https://www.northwalespioneer.co.uk/news/20189416.conwy-vow-help-young-people-get-housing-ladder/

Offline SteveH

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Re: CCBC costs and cutting
« Reply #471 on: June 13, 2022, 02:16:14 pm »
CONWY County Borough Council is highlighting the assistance available to owners of empty properties, including commercial premises, to help unlock housing potential.

Conwy has around 1,700 households on its waiting list for all types of properties, with all of these households in a housing need.

At any one time, the county has around 2,500 privately owned, empty properties, with many of these temporarily empty and coming back into use within a few months.

Yet more than 1,500 remain empty for longer than six months and some for many years, whilst many households are struggling to find affordable accommodation in the area.

The Council?s Empty Homes Officers are encouraging empty property owners to get in touch to find out about the help that could be available to bring the wasted resource of these empty properties back into use.

The Council has an interest-free property improvement loan of up to ?35,000 available for properties that have been empty for six months or more which need work to enable them to be sold or let at the end of refurbishment.

READ MORE:  https://www.northwalespioneer.co.uk/news/20205719.council-highlight-need-turn-empty-properties-homes/



Offline cygnusx-1

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Re: CCBC costs and cutting
« Reply #472 on: June 13, 2022, 06:56:25 pm »
Maybe Conwy Council could use the reception area of Coed Pella which has not been occupied for 2 years and appears to be a wasted resource?!!

Offline SteveH

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Re: CCBC costs and cutting
« Reply #473 on: June 15, 2022, 09:46:44 am »
CONWY County Borough Council?s cabinet has supported plans to submit multi-million pound funding bids to the UK Government.

The UK Government has announced a capital UK Levelling Up Fund available to each local authority in the UK.

The fund is intended to support investment in places where it can make the biggest difference to everyday life, and is designed to help areas select genuine priorities for investment.

At a meeting today (June 14), the council?s cabinet discussed the proposals and supported submitting bids to the UK Levelling Up Fund.

read more....... https://www.northwalespioneer.co.uk/news/20209738.conwy-county-borough-councils-cabinet-supports-bid-funding/?ref=rss&IYA-reg=49560bcd-5a9c-47f0-8fc5-ba2e71710589

Offline SteveH

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Re: CCBC costs and cutting
« Reply #474 on: July 04, 2022, 01:31:52 pm »
CONWY'S lack of affordable housing is worsened by a shortage of suitable sites for construction, says the council?s leader.

Conwy County Council struggles to find suitable plots for housing, due to much of the county?s land existing on a flood plain or being in a protected area.

The current Local Development Plan (LDP) ? the plan that plots what development can go where for a five-year period ? is due to finish this year (2017-2022), and the new plan will go out to public consultation in early 2023.

Conwy?s leader says the council is now looking at council-owned land that can be used for development.

?Unfortunately, Conwy has got the second-highest number of people in private rental properties (in Wales),? he said.

?So we rely heavily on the private sector, and obviously prices are going up and up and up, which creates an awful lot of pressure. We need to build more affordable houses, but that is a challenge in Conwy.

Read more  https://www.northwalespioneer.co.uk/news/20254008.conwy-leader-lifts-lid-challenges-providing-affordable-housing/

Offline SteveH

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Re: CCBC costs and cutting.......Colwyn Bay
« Reply #475 on: July 21, 2022, 09:56:36 am »
Major investment transformed 'iconic' building's fortunes but it still lies empty
The Longman property was designed by renowned architect Sidney Colwyn Foulkes in the heart of Colwyn Bay

A council is bidding to fill a prominent building that has been regenerated in a major town centre scheme but is still lying empty. The Longman property was designed by renowned architect Sidney Colwyn Foulkes in the heart of Colwyn Bay in 1930 and became stylish department store Dando?s at a time Colwyn Bay was booming thanks to the holiday trade.

The Grade II-listed building later became a discount store and the property?s decline reflected the downward spiral of the seaside town. But its fortunes were transformed in a regeneration project by Colwyn Bay Townscape Heritage Initiative, backed by Conwy council, Welsh Government and EU cash.

cont https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/major-investment-transformed-iconic-buildings-24546144?IYA-reg=49560bcd-5a9c-47f0-8fc5-ba2e71710589

Offline SteveH

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Re: CCBC costs and cutting...Porth Eirias parking charges
« Reply #476 on: July 23, 2022, 09:53:17 am »
Council to introduce car park charges at Porth Eirias in Colwyn Bay
Conwy County Borough Council has appointed Creative Car Park Ltd to manage the customer parking

Conwy County Borough Council has appointed Creative Car Park Ltd to manage the customer parking. They said it was being put in place to help users of the restaurant, retail offer and watersports activities at Porth Eirias access parking spaces at the building?s car park.

cont https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/council-introduce-car-park-charges-24564290

Offline Helig

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Re: CCBC costs and cutting
« Reply #477 on: July 26, 2022, 10:54:51 am »
I found this on What do They Know? It looks like one to watch. I shall be keeping an eye on the reply as the information should be interesting.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/council_spending_on_sea_defences#incoming-2084390

Offline SteveH

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Re: CCBC is less open
« Reply #478 on: July 27, 2022, 10:09:13 am »
CONWY County Council is less open, transparent, and democratic than neighbouring authorities when appointing committee chairs, says a concerned councillor.

Cllr Harry Saville criticised Conwy for the way it appoints chairs for its various scrutiny committees.

In the past, chairs of the committees were elected by other members, but this civic year they have been appointed by the leader and deputy leader.

cont https://www.northwalespioneer.co.uk/news/20578623.conwy-council-less-open-transparent-democratic/

Offline norman08

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Re: CCBC costs and cutting
« Reply #479 on: July 27, 2022, 02:59:05 pm »
Poor Harry didn?t get a cabinet post or a chair on one of the committees so he?s crying 🥲.  Bless him, their is a good sensible reason for the way this has been brought about.