SNP councillor rips into new South Ayrshire policy

Dec 25 2009 by Stuart Wilson, Ayrshire Post (main ed)

A COUNCILLOR ripped apart a pledge to consult with the public and blasted: “It’s not worth the paper it’s written on.”

SNP firebrand Tom Slider stunned colleagues as passions rose during a debate on nationalism.

South Ayrshire councillors were engaging in a lengthy discussion on the value of an independence referendum.

Mr Slider pulled no punches as he claimed South Ayrshire Council “has no desire to consult with the public.”

And he duly ripped up a document on community conversations, claiming it was worthless.

It came on the back of claims that the recent dialogue between public and council has been a success.

Council leader Hugh Hunter has applauded the project and says progress is being made.

But Mr Slider believes the conversations are merely a talking shop.

He revealed: “Every time there’s a crisis in the council, our motto of ‘ne’er forget the people’ comes up.

“But for me the message is simple – the council only wants to consult on its own terms.

“Conversation has to be two way, but the structure seems to be the public turning up at these meetings and telling the council how bad everything is.

“And all the council does in response is say we’ll note it down and look into things.”

Fellow councillors were visibly shocked as Mr Slider left the paper on community conversations lying in shreds on the floor.

They’re hoping to use the mechanism as a way of building bridges with the electorate.

But Mr Slider reckons there’s far more effective ways of doing so.

He insisted: “I’ve no regrets about doing what I did.

“The council is quite clear that it doesn’t want to consult unless it’s in their own interest.

“It took people marching down the High Street in the wake of things like Dalmilling golf course before we spoke to them.”

And he claimed: “An independent Scotland would solve a lot of our problems.”

But his motion to pledge South Ayrshire Council’s support towards a referendum was eventually defeated.

On the matter of community conversations, Mr Hunter said: “Our recent round of community, employee and business conversations – the first council events of their kind in South Ayrshire – were a huge step forward in how we communicate, engage and consult with our residents, staff and businesses directly.

“All of the political group leaders, including the SNP group leader, were very supportive of the Conversations and attended the great majority of the meetings.

“The feedback from members of the public who attended was overwhelmingly positive and they enjoyed the opportunity to hear directly from the council as well as have the chance to ask questions of the key decision-makers on the issues that matter to them.

“We will consider all comments made when planning similar events in the future to ensure we build on the success of the conversations and I look forward to further improving how we engage and consult with our residents as we move into 2010 and beyond.”