Posted at 9th February 2008 15:17Objectors and objections
Broads users and enthusiasts owe a debt of gratitude to Norman Lamb and Richard Bacon for raising objections at the third reading of the Broads Authority’s Private Bill last week. It also seems the pair have put down a ‘Blocking Motion’ to ensure the House has an opportunity to debate this Private Bill once again.
Some observers must have been left wondering how a Private Bill that should have provided a boat safety scheme ever became contentious. They may also fail to comprehend how a debate that should have been about boats safety, widened to include political ideology such as public representation. The root cause of this Bill’s problems is a direct product of rising levels of public frustration and lack of trust in the Broads Authority. Many toll payers are now convinced the present Colegate management has a hidden, anti-boat agenda. The Private Bill presents their first opportunity in twenty years to meaningfully express their frustration and dissatisfaction at the Authority’s performance - in circumstances where complaints can’t be brushed aside with the sort of dubious statistics that would embarrass a fourth former. Given this unique, democratic opportunity, observers shouldn’t be surprised if malcontents take issue and hope to witness the Authority’s comeuppance. In this respect at least, the Authority played right into their hands by extending the scope of the Bill so far beyond Boat safety. It makes far better political sense to pick attainable targets; achieve them and move onto the next – this route creates winners; greeted as heroes. Not a single MP would have dared argue against Boat Safety – but nothing short of intellectual arrogance has presented this opportunity on a silver platter.
There is a difficult balance for the Broads Authority to strike between their three statutory responsibilities - but what are perceived as current attempts to alter the emphasis between them without either public or parliamentary approval has only succeeded in removing the lid from a jar of worms that had remained largely shut for over twenty years. During the extended negotiations involved with setting up the Broads Authority in the mid eighties, significant differences emerged between factions that took a long while to paper over. And paper was the extent of it – these differences have remained just beneath the surface. It is difficult, if not impossible to please all factions but the present, insensitive Colegate management has never really understood the special Broads ‘mind-set’ and probably failed to appreciate the depth of the potential for disagreement they were engendering.
Conventional wisdom, or is it riverbank hearsay, places responsibility at the feet of the Chief Executive. If this turns out to be the case, then the Chairman must stand beside him in the dock. In such circumstances, he too should have spotted the potential for fissures and probably kept his Chief Executive on a shorter leash. The current chairman is overdue for replacement and his successor will need the judgement of Solomon if Broads politics aren’t to go from bad to worse. I predict ructions if the next chairman is drawn from one of the conservation bodies. The Broads Authority would benefit from a major review of its responsibilities and bringing the Authority within the overall unitary council review might also prove productive.
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