SUNDAY INDEPENDENT
EXCLUSIVE by John Collins
COUNCILLOR'S CONCERN: Graeme Hicks examines part of the county council's road network
ONE man's crusade to 'restore democracy' to local government will step up a gear in the New Year when the District Auditor conducts an inquiry into aspects of Cornwall County Council's business.
But what makes Graeme Hicks' campaign even more remarkable is the fact that he is not just an ordinary member of the public - he is actually one of the Truro-based authority's 79 serving members.
'That doesn't seem to count for much,' said Mr Hicks. 'If I can't get answers from officers, what hope have ordinary members of the public got?'
Mr Hicks, a member for Redruth South, believes that the award-winning council is heading down a slippery slope where officers, rather than the members, call the shots.
'The people of Cornwall are getting a bad deal,' he said. 'There is a real issue with democracy at County Hall at present. As councillors, we have to be accountable to our electorates but I am becoming increasingly concerned that the officers who, after all, are unelected bureaucrats, have far more power and say in things than they should.
'As an inexperienced independent candidate, without party support, I was given an overwhelming mandate in the county council elections specifically to oppose such an affront to democracy. I have no intention of betraying that trust reposed in me at the ballot box.'
It was an issue as seemingly inauspicious as estate roads which led Redruth born-and-bred Mr Hicks into conflict with some of the senior staff at County Hall.
The former diagnostics technician, who can trace his family's links back 600 years in Kerrier, was called in by residents to look at various concerns related to the newly-constructed road at Sandy Lane, which led to a private housing development at The Paddock and Carknown Gardens.
Cornwall Council's highways department had a duty to see that the developer lodged a financial bond with the council so that, in the event of bankruptcy before the scheme was completed, the cost of funding the completion of the road did not fall on the taxpayer. This duty, the councillor claims, it singularly failed to discharge.
'Furthermore when I drove along this stretch of road, I soon became aware that it was not up to the standards to be expected,' said Mr Hicks.
'What made this situation even worse was that part of the road on the approach to the new development had been constructed by our own arms length company, Cormac, so that one section of the road appeared excellent and the other left a lot to be desired.'
A similar situation arose when Mr Hicks investigated the adjacent residential estates. Here it was apparent, he alleges, that the statutory duty imposed by the Highways Act 1980 was not being carried out. This requires the county council to ensure that a bond or cash deposit is lodged before any house construction commences.
Its purpose is to ensure that funds are available to protect homeowners from paying for their streets being made up, should a developer fail to complete them.
Said Mr Hicks: 'A lackadaisical approach to inspection procedures and enforcement, unfortunately, is all too evident and this must raise serious concerns as to whether the taxpayer should be asked to subsidise this apparent incompetence.'
When Mr Hicks raised his concerns with Highways officials, he was far from convinced by their reaction. 'It wasn't exactly a wall of silence but there seemed to be a smokescreen around everything I tried to find out. I felt I was being fobbed off, almost treated with disdain in the hope I would go away and just be a good, quiet councillor', he said.
Consequently, he felt that he had no option but to approach internal audit, which was to make 31 recommendations, which Cornwall Council's chief executive Peter Stethridge, formerly the highways department head, promised would be addressed as a matter of urgency.
'This was progress, but one could not see why, unless the previous procedures were flawed, new ones were required,' said Mr Hicks.
It was internal audit's inability to tackle the fundamental issue of accountability that caused Mr Hicks most concern and he decided to call in the District Auditor. His Whitehall-based role as an independent arbitrator is to consider both a councillor's allegations and officers' responses.
His review of the aspects of Cornwall Council's practice will start in the New Year and is expected to be both robust and thorough. A full report, in which he could criticise councillors and/or officers, should be in the public domain by the late spring.
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Dateline: Wednesday, September 24, 2003
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