The way it’s supposed to be.
This morning I attended a small meeting with two officers and two other councillors who had shown an interest in the issue of how Derwentside is to create more affordable housing.
Away from the show politics of the council chamber we had a positive debate and discussion which simply reflected the fact that we were three local people concerned that far too many people in this district are unable to get into suitable housing because they just can’t afford it.
In a month or two I believe we will be able to present a positive and imaginative policy approach which will make a real contribution towards solving the issue. We could have been defeatist about the fact that any policy devised by Derwentside has a short shelf life with the council’s demise due in March 2009. Instead we took the view that we needed to set down a marker for the new authority so that the expertise and knowledge developed in Derwentside is not simply lost.
I left the meeting feeling positive about having been able to make a contribution, and about the motivation of the two fellow councillors who will be my party’s opponents in the forthcoming elections. That’s the way that local politics should be.
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