Bournemouth Liberal Democrats

The Political History of Cllr Peter Charon (Part 1 2007-2009)

The abridged political history of one of the most reviled public figures in Bournemouth and the only remaining Conservative Councillor in Redhill & Northbourne (Part 1 2007-2009)

People lead busy lives, they have jobs to do and children to raise; at the best of times it can be hard to find time to pay attention to even national let alone local politics. Yet a considerable proportion of our time is spent earning the tax money that our local politicians spend so readily. Bournemouth Borough Council has a budget of £154,000,000[1] all that is your tax money. At the median wage of £11.20 per hour[2], split between 163,441 residents[3] that's 84 hours you spend working each year to provide the council with its budget. In the last local election 58%[4] of voters in Cllr Charon's ward didn't vote and therefore had absolutely no say on how their 84 hours worth of work was spent. Cllr Charon was elected and subsequently became leader of the council with the direct democratic consent of 1,363 votes or 0.01% of the residents of Bournemouth and yet while he was in office he profoundly impacted the way the council was run and how everyone's 84 hours worth of money was spent. Ironically it seems that people aren't interested in the very elections they can have most impact on. What is most worrying however is that of the people who did vote it is unclear, at best, whether they had the relevant information to make an informed choice. In this multi-part series we hope to go at least some way to changing that.

2007

• Peter Charon first stood as a Councillor in Redhill & Northbourne in the May 2007 elections[5] and became the cabinet member for housing and procurement[6].
• Charon, among his fellow councillors for Redhill & Northbourne, won popularity for his opposition to a plan to develop the site of a former Ensbury Park Convent, the councillor won applause for "an impassioned plea" to the planning board to scrap the plan.[7] The planning application ultimately succeeded in January 2008[8]
• In July 2007 questions were asked about his suitability for his Housing and Procurement cabinet post in that he declared on the council's register of member's interests that he was a "property investment/developer" and "building contractor" he argued that it didn't present any conflict of interest despite the obvious possibility that he could forge council policy in his favour if he wanted to.[9]
• Charon set targets of building at least 200 affordable homes per year, however average house prices continued to rise and Bournemouth was named one of the least affordable areas of the country for the under 40s to live in.[10]
• In September 2007 Charon compared the former deputy leader of Bournemouth council, then Liberal Democrat Adrian Fudge, to Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe in a letter to the Daily Echo, in the same letter he accused the former administration and by extension their council officers of not carrying out their jobs properly. Cllr Stephen McLoughlin, then leader of the Bournemouth Council, denied this implication.[11]

2008

• In February 2008 a proposed housing development in Redhill & Northbourne led to, what Daily Echo reporter Melanie Vass described as "a bizarre situation in which one local councillor, Liberal Democrat Sue Levell supported residents, and Conservative Peter Charon backed the developers." Vice-chairman of the planning board Ron Whittaker said that "Over-development of this magnitude would have a real impact on the area" and planning permission was refused by eight votes to two.[12]
• With average house prices in Bournemouth reaching 12 times the average annual income, Charon increased the target for new affordable homes to 400 per year and a dedicated officer was recruited to help bring empty homes back into use.[13]
• In March 2008 the council cabinet including Peter Charon was caught in a minor scandal after a trip to the Israeli resort town of Netanya (twinned with Bournemouth) commenter's on the Daily Echo's website accused the cabinet of using council money to go on holiday[14]. The scandal was quickly put to bed when it was pointed out that council staff all used their own money on the trip.[15]
• On the 23^rd March Cllr Charon supported a housing development scheme in Bournemouth's triangle against the planning officer's recommendation, this involved demolishing part of a listed building on West Hill Road. Cllr Beryl Baxter supported a movement from Cllr Roger West to refuse planning permission saying "It is a listed building, we have to consider its integrity; the design is wholly inappropriate and would adversely affect the character of the area." The movement lost by 3 votes to four and planning permission was eventually granted[16]
• Charon sparked controversy on the 27^th March when a traveller site was proposed in Longham. Longham District Residents Association told the Daily Echo that "This is typical of Bournemouth council. They have told us absolutely nothing about this". Cllr Charon responding to central government funds which would provide set-up costs for the project said "doing nothing is not an option" and a site had to be identified in order to access the money.[17]
• On the 28th Bournemouth Council had to apologise to local Lib Dem councillors Claire and Richard Smith for not informing them of the traveller site plans. Pam Donnellan, Chief Executive, said "The decision to consult on this particular site as the proposed location for a gypsy and traveller transit site is delegated to the portfolio holder [Peter Charon]". Peter Charon would not comment on the failure to tell ward councillors that a specific site had been identified.[18] Ultimately the Millhams site was ruled out as it would have been too expensive to make the site safe.[19]
• In response to figures showing a 500% increase in the number of people on Bournemouth's housing list in the last decade Cllr Charon said "We've got a lot of work to do" and implemented a system of actually advertising the houses available to the people who wanted them, as opposed to showing them a house one by one until they found a suitable one.[20]
• In June 2008 Charon backed a proposal to close the failing Townsend Primary School[21]
• On the 24^th June Charon used perhaps an ill advised choice of words when he said "I have threatened, and I don't mind using that word, every member of the council that if they continue with the sort of language that they are using, I will report them to the Standards Board." This was in response to comments made about the proposed traveller site in the Millhams Mead area in Longham after two Independent councillors objected to providing toilets, skips, and a rubbish collection service to the site. Charon continued saying that "It is bordering on racial prejudice and encouraging other people to make similarly offensive comments"[22] In a bizarre twist Charon was later criticised by a member of the traveller community for his comments.[23]
• In August 2008 travellers moved onto Redhill Common, Peter Charon as cabinet member for housing said officers had been instructed to get eviction procedures underway. [24] Bournemouth Borough Council succeeded in applying for an abridged hearing to fast-track the eviction process. Lib Dem Councillor Roger West said "I'm appalled, it should have been predicted that this was going to happen and that area should be better defended."[25]
• On the 18^th of August travellers moved onto the Hengisbury Head car park, Cllr Charon said "Once the travellers have moved from the site we will be working to ensure the site is made secure and cleaned if necessary."[26]
• On the 28^th of August travellers moved onto land designated for disabled parking at the Bournemouth Air Festival. Cllr Charon said that the council was doing everything it could to evict the travellers and that he still hoped they would leave before the air festival begins, they did not.[27]
• Having constantly railed about the need for a permanent travellers' site in north Bournemouth Cllr Peter Charon "warmly welcomed" a 2,000 strong petition against one near Cherry Tree Nursery which was in his own ward.[28] Bournemouth Council later confirmed it would no longer entertain the idea of placing the site in Northbourne.[29]
• A cabinet report released in October 2008 suggested that £500 million would be needed to improve South East Dorset's infrastructure to accommodate government plans for nearly 50,000 new homes, including 1,500 new homes on green belt land at Throop and Muscliff, Peter Charon opposing a cross party consensus said "I'm with everyone else on the green belt opposition, but it must be remembered that we have 7,000 people on our waiting list for homes. We need to deliver more affordable housing."[30]
• In November 2008 Charon devised a new plan to reduce the number of empty homes in Bournemouth which would force home owners to take government grants to improve their properties or face a possible compulsory purchase order from the council. [31]
• On the 25^th November the council was rocked by a stand-off between Charon's department, housing, and the planning department over a proposed 36-bedroom care home. Peter Charon urged councillors to back the scheme to prevent the loss of more than £2 million in government money. Senior planning Officer Simon Gould on the other hand said that the benefits of the care home were outweighed by the fact that the proposed building was too big, out of character with the area and would result in unacceptable levels of overlooking.[32] On the 27^th November the planning board refused consent to the scheme.[33]