Greenwich Council Meeting: 24th February 2010

Council-owned housing rent

Greenwich Councillors voted through a 1.6% rise in rents on Council homes in the borough at a full meeting of the Council last night.

The move – which will see average rents go up by £1.30 a week – was opposed by Conservative and Lib Dem councillors.

Cllr Graeme Coombes (Con, Kidbrooke with Hornfair) described the proposed increase as “unwarranted and unnecessary”.

Cllr Eileen Glover (Con, Eltham South) said “we should be good landlords. These are stringent times. We should not be putting up council rents at this time”.

Cllr Brian Woodcraft (Lib Dem, Middle Park and Sutcliffe) called the rise “totally unjustified”.

In defending the move, Council leader Chris Roberts (Lab, Peninsula) told councillors that there would be a “loss of subsidy to the council if rents don’t increase” because of the complex funding arrangements for Council owned housing stock.

Recycling

Conservative councillors put forward a motion asking for a commitment to the weekly black topped bin collection and opposing any introduction of “bin taxes”.

Cllr Spencer Dury (Con, Eltham North) told the meeting that whilst the recycling system had been “something of a success”, there was still “substantial concerns about incineration”.

Cllr Graeme Coombes (Con, Kidbrooke with Hornfair) said that collecting the bins was “one of the fundamental tasks in local government” and that any introduction of bin taxes would result in an increase in illegal fly tipping.

Leader of the Council, Cllr Chris Roberts, said the meeting had spent “45 minutes on a Tory motion that’s completely irrelevant” and that because of the council tax package previously voted for by councillors, “all bins will be collected on a weekly basis whether they are blue, black or green”.

Greenwich Foot Tunnel

The council’s formal response to a recent petition opposing the closure of Greenwich and Woolwich foot tunnels whilst renovation is undertaken contained details of the closure programme that is being proposed.

The works are likely to run from February 2010 to March 2011 and will see Greenwich Foot Tunnel closed weekday nights from 9.00pm to 6.00am.

Woolwich Foot Tunnel will have daytime closures from Monday to Friday. Consideration is being given to starting closures at 10.00am, and only on days when the Woolwich ferry is in operation.

Cutty Sark

Cllr Chris Roberts used a written answer to a question from Cllr Paul Webbewood (Lib Dem, Middle Park and Sutcliffe) to reject recent criticisms of the plan to suspend the famous tea clipper 11-feet off the ground as part of its restoration. He commented:

“The difference between the iconic scheme the council has supported and simply putting the Ship back together as was could not be greater. It will create an attraction which people will want to return to… it will host a range of uses as well as create a stunning visual backdrop to those wishing to visit Greenwich”.

Webcasting Council Meetings

Council leader Chris Roberts was asked by Cllr Nigel Fletcher (Con, Eltham North) about the possibility of webcasting Greenwich Council meetings – an idea which was last month approved by Lewisham Council after local Greens proposed it.

Roberts told the meeting he was fairly open minded but it perhaps reflected “an inflated sense of self importance in the chamber” if they thought people would switch off the football to watch council meetings.