Welcome to my second blog ... there has been some justified criticism that there is not yet a facility to leave comments to my blog on the council website.

This frustrates me too, and is down to the technical abilities, or lack of them, of the Council’s system for managing our website.

This is set to change, with a project currently underway that will see a new Council website early in the new year – complete with true blogging ability!

If you are reading this on the Bournemouth Echo website, you can comment below, or if you prefer, email me at peter.charon@bournemouth.gov.uk

Some of you have done just that, and I thank everyone who has taken the time not only to read my thoughts, but to let me know yours too.

I may have been on holiday, but I’ve been keeping an eye on the issues of the day. So forgive my ‘mega-blog’ this week – I have three weeks to catch up on!

The first thing I did on my return to Bournemouth this week was to meet with the Managing Director of Mouchel, the company that the Council may engage to deliver our ICT, revenues, benefits and facilities management services.

Cllr Mrs Beverley Dunlop, the new Chair of the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Management Panel joined us. We had a highly constructive meeting, but there is still a lot of work to do.

If every one of the concerns raised by the Council’s Overview & Scrutiny Management Panel on 5th July are dealt with to the Panels’ satisfaction then it may yet prove to be the way forward.

The new business case will need to be clear, concise and compelling. By compelling, I mean that it will need to demonstrate that the Council can achieve millions of pounds worth ofsavings whilst delivering ever better services – that will then allow us to achieve our goal of keeping Council Tax at the lowest rates seen in Bournemouth over many years. If at the same time we can actually create 300 or more real jobs at above-average salaries, then we will be onto something potentially very exciting.

Cllr Mrs Dunlop has requested that Mouchel make available their key personnel to attend the next relevant Management Panel meeting, so that members of the Council and of course members of the public can submit questions themselves, and hear first hand the responses from our potential partner.

I have said that I am committed to restoring trust and increasing this Council’s openness.

Yesterday, the Standards Committee’s Hearing Sub-Committee held its meeting, in public, to consider the report into the use by Cllr Stephen MacLoughlin of a Council-owned laptop for accessing adult material.

The Council decided, in my absence on holiday, to provide the Investigator’s report and other papers at the meeting, rather than in advance. I support this decision now and would have done had I been here. It is imperative that nothing prejudices a fair Hearing, and to release the report in isolation, ahead of the meeting day could, in my view, have done just that.

I attended the entire public meeting yesterday. It was conducted very professionally and all parties were given the opportunity to speak. After hearing and considering all of the evidence including submissions by both the Investigator and Cllr MacLoughlin, the Sub-Committee of three people, two of whom are independent, non-elected members, reached a decision, and it was announced publicly.

The Sub-Committee decided that, given the very specific circumstances and what not condoning in any way the use of the Council owned laptop by Cllr MacLoughlin in the manner it was, they nevertheless concluded that he was not acting in an official capacity at the time and therefore the Councillors' Code of Conduct does not apply.

My understanding is that the detailed reasons for coming to that decision will be published during the course of next week.

The extension of the 40mph speed limit trial on part of the Wessex Way seems to be dividing opinion. Some of you are unconvinced that it will make a difference to road safety and reducing accidents, and suggest that new slip roads from Richmond Hill would have a much greater impact.

No doubt this is the case, but in these times of severe and growing austerity, the Council simply does not have the millions of pounds that these would cost.

Not having the money to make such an obvious improvement does not negate our duty to promote road safety, and the 40mph speed limit trial is designed to do just that. We are monitoring closely the accident rates, but need a full year to assess this, so we aren’t comparing a period of months with a period of years – that would be apples and pears.

Let’s not forget – this is about making the A338 safer, and until we have data that is genuinely comparable, we can’t be sure if a 40mph on this stretch of the Wessex Way is the right thing to do. I suggest we wait until the trial concludes to pass judgement.

This week, the Task and Finish Group of four councillor colleagues met to seek a cost-effective technical solution to enhancing the performance of the surf reef. They have already heard draft proposals from ASR (the company that designed and built the reef), which are now to be reviewed by officers, local surfing reps and technical experts from Plymouth University. The group will, in due course, hear the views of each of these groups in turn, before recommending a way forward. More news as soon as we have it.

On to an issue where it seems there is much less division – the submission of the Council’s planning application for an ice rink at Kings Park. I am very pleased that we have reached this stage, as I am acutely aware of the strong public support for such a facility in the town. Should the Planning Board grant permission, we can actively seek a private developer to turn the plans into reality.

It could be a number of years before we get our rink, but I’ll be making sure the Council does all that it can to make Bournemouth as attractive as possible to any potential rink developers.

Many thanks for reading, do let me have your thoughts below or at peter.charon@bournemouth.gov.uk

Until next week, kind regards,

Peter