New city leader Ian Brown vows to listen to the public saying 'it is not what I want, it is what they want' as Inverness gets its second female Provost in a row in Glynis Campbell-Sinclair while the climate change agenda gets a major boost with Greens Councillor Chris Ballance becoming deputy city leader
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GREATER focus on environmental issues and a drive to give local communities more of a voice are the twin promises of Inverness’s new political leadership.
A meeting of Highland Council’s city committee this week agreed to split Inverness’s civic and political leadership roles.
While Culloden and Ardersier councillor Glynis Campbell-Sinclair takes on the role of Provost, Inverness Millburn member Ian Brown has been appointed to the more political role of city leader.
Both SNP councillors were elected by a winning margin of just one vote apiece at the meeting where Green councillor for Aird and Loch Ness, Chris Ballance, was appointed deputy city leader.
His appointment to such a high-profile role suggests climate change will be prominent on the agenda over the next few years at least.
“Obviously the green agenda is there for everyone now and I think having a Green deputy leader keeps the green agenda at the forefront of our thoughts,” Councillor Brown said.
“We need to have more active travel, we need a proper bus service that we can actually use, we need to be cycling, we need to be walking, and it needs to be done safer, which is why having a Green deputy will help and help keep us focused.
“What we are looking for is to have, say, a five-year plan and/or a 10-year plan, because the city committee is basically an operational committee but we need to have a long-term view and we are becoming more strategic.”
Cllr Brown also promised to take a more “listening” stance when it comes to dealing with local communities – and to devolve more decision-making.
He accepted Inverness Town House has to improve its performance in terms of how it deals with the public it is there to serve, having been criticised previously for “not communicating, not consulting – or we consult, but it’s on our terms”.
“We’ve got to get away from that so the public realise, we are actually listening to them,” said the city leader.
“I fully intend to go around and speak to as many people as possible because it is not what I want, it is what they want.”
And he added: “I think for a number of years we’ve talked about localism – and we’ve talked about localism, and we’ve talked about localism.
“We need to actually act on localism – and the area committees are the committees to deliver that.”
The traditional civic role of the Provost of Inverness is also set for a shake-up under Councillor Campbell-Sinclair as she indicated that, instead of her deputies simply acting as her substitutes when she is unavailable, it is possible they will have a more pro-active role in representing the city on a broader scale.
Those deputies are newly elected councillors Morven Reid (Culloden and Ardersier) and Jackie Hendry (Inverness Ness-side) with Cllr Campbell-Sinclair saying the aim would be to act as more of a team than had previously been the case.
“It’s got to be joined up working for all of us,” she said.
“They’re both great ladies, both very intelligent, very capable of anything that they would have to do in their roles.
“I’m not precious about what I do and I just think that we’ve got to be inclusive – and, indeed, it’s such a huge role, and there’s so many demands on the Provost’s office, that there will be times when even the three of us are going to be stretched, so other members of the committee are going to have to step up.
“That’s the way it should be.”
It was also revealed that while the Provost will retain an office in the town house it was also revealed this week that the building will no longer be used for meetings of the city committee having been judged effectively no longer fit for purpose.
A Highland Council spokesman said: “With the move to a hybrid approach of enabling both in-person and Teams attendance at committees, the technology at Glenurquhart Road [council headquarters] supports this approach whereas the technology at the town house is not able to with the same reliability.”
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