Mike Bell http://www.mikebell.org.uk Campaigning for Weston-super-Mare and the villages Mon, 05 Dec 2011 15:36:47 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Tropicana demolition http://www.mikebell.org.uk/2011/11/28/tropicana-demolition-%e2%80%9ca-very-sad-day-for-weston%e2%80%9d/ http://www.mikebell.org.uk/2011/11/28/tropicana-demolition-%e2%80%9ca-very-sad-day-for-weston%e2%80%9d/#comments Mon, 28 Nov 2011 15:21:58 +0000 admin http://www.mikebell.org.uk/?p=44
 
A working party of North Somerset Council today agreed to recommend to the council’s ruling Conservative Executive that Weston-super-Mare’s Tropicana should be demolished and the site returned to beach.

The working party has been meeting for many months and met for the final time today following the results of a round of “soft marketing testing” by the council’s appointed external professional advisors, DTZ.

The working party voted by six votes to three in favour of recommending demolition. The final decision will be made by the North Somerset Council Executive on 13th December.

Liberal Democrat Group Leader Councillor Mike Bell, who is a member of the Tropicana working group and attended the meeting today, said: “This is a very sad day for Weston. The decision to demolish the Tropicana lets down present and future generations of Weston people and consigns a historic part of our town’s sea front to the scrap heap.

“I spoke and voted against this decision because we cannot honestly say that we have done everything we can to save the site. The council could have chosen to invest in the site and enable a development in that way. Conservative councillors have consistently refused to do so. North Somerset Council has contributed to the failure to redevelop the Tropicana over the past decade and it should be contributing to the cost of restoring it.”

Liberal Democrat councillors have consistently proposed a significant council contribution towards the capital costs of redeveloping the Tropicana. Their alternative budget proposals for next year, which are currently being debated by the council, propose a £10 million investment in the Tropicana site in partnership with the private sector or a community trust. The £10m council funding would be paid for through savings identified in the Lib Dem budget plan.

Councillor Bell added: “I cannot look local people in the eye and say we have done our best until I believe we have. Conservative councillors think they are being courageous in taking this decision. They could not be more wrong. It is the easiest thing in the world to knock things down, it is far harder to build things up. I would urge every local person who cares about the Tropicana’s future to contact their local councillor and fight for a change of heart. We must not let this be the end.”

]]> http://www.mikebell.org.uk/2011/11/28/tropicana-demolition-%e2%80%9ca-very-sad-day-for-weston%e2%80%9d/feed/ 0 Youth service protestors rock Town Hall http://www.mikebell.org.uk/2011/11/15/youth-cuts-could-lead-to-trouble/ http://www.mikebell.org.uk/2011/11/15/youth-cuts-could-lead-to-trouble/#comments Tue, 15 Nov 2011 15:01:21 +0000 admin http://www.mikebell.org.uk/?p=12

 The council chamber at Weston-super-Mare Town Hall rocked to the chants and protests of young people tonight.

Dozens of young campaigners, supported by their friends and families, lobbied councillors ahead of a council meeting in a bid to stop massive £600,000 cuts to youth services being proposed as part of the North Somerset Council budget for next year.

Liberal Democrat councillors tabled amendments to the council budget proposals that would reverse the cuts to youth services and protect youth clubs and the jobs of youth workers.

Councillor Mike Bell, the leader of the Liberal Democrat Group on North Somerset Council, said: “The plans to cut the youth service to almost nothing are absolutely the wrong kind of choice to be making. Young people are our future and they need good advice and support to make the most of their potential. We will do everything we can to persuade Conservative council leaders to think again.

“Many people are starting to recognise the cost to the economy in terms of increased antisocial behaviour and social problems as a result of cutting youth services, but what about the even greater cost of these cuts on the lives of North Somerset’s young people? The futures of thousands of young people are at stake and we should not underestimate the importance of the decisions we take.”

Cllr Bell praised the young people who lobbied the council meeting. He added: “It was great to see so many young people turn out at the Town Hall. They passionately put forward their case with placards and speeches and did a fantastic job raising awareness of the issues involved. It is so important that councillors listen to the voice of local people and I hope the force of this protest ruffled a few feathers in our stuffy council chamber.”

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