AN SNP COUNCILLOR has said he will “potentially” look at legal options after his bid to publicly debate access at a recycling centre was blocked by Labour-led Fife Council.
David Barratt has voiced his concerns over the level of public scrutiny within the council after a booking system at Dalgety Bay Recycling Centre was introduced last month without any discussion taking place with elected members.
The decision by the site operators Fife Resource Solutions has been heavily criticised by the public and attempts to publicly explore alternative solutions proposed by councillors were ruled inappropriate by the Labour administration.
SNP councillor Barratt has now said he is worried about the democratic state of the local authority following the decision.
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“If we’re being blocked from public scrutiny, I want to potentially look at the legal options,” he told the Press and Journal.
“Who runs Fife Council? Is it officers or is it councillors?”
The future of the booking system is currently being discussed at officer level.
Barratt added: “It doesn’t feel like the council is being run in a democratic way at the moment.
“We’re elected to do a job and we’re not being allowed to do it.
“I was repeatedly told motions referencing the operation of the centre would not be competent.
“There’s a lot of public interest in this and to now say it’s going to be dealt with in private I don’t think is right.”
Following Barratt’s attempts to raise the recycling centre’s booking system issues at committee level it has now led to a review of powers held by all the council’s arms-length organisations and trusts.
The review follows concerns about opening hours and staffing levels at council run facilities.
The Labour administration has since accepted it made a mistake in the process of the decision around the recycling centre, and insisted the local authority is open and accountable with its decisions.
Fife Council leader David Ross told the P&J: “Fife Council is member-led.
“The one mistake Fife Resource Solution made was they should have talked to council members first.
“We’ve made that point to them, which I think they have accepted.
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“We don’t want to restrict access and we need to be able to discuss that to come to a sensible resolution.
“Elected members, spokespeople, have been involved in that.”
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