The new SNP leadership has vowed to work to compromise and find common ground – provided the Conservative administration meet them in the middle.
Veteran Maybole and North Carrick Councillor, William Grant, was last week named as the new leader of the South Ayrshire SNP group, taking over from Cllr Peter Henderson, who is stepping down as an elected member on health grounds on June 30.
Kyle Councillor Julie Dettbarn was named depute leader.
Cllr Grant, who has served his community as councillor for more than a decade, praised Cllr Henderson, who was elected as leader in 2020.
He said: “He was an absolutely great councillor who has worked his socks off for us and his ward.”
One of the first decisions made by Cllr Grant was to ensure that the roles on various panels are spread across the SNP group.
He added: “I have always tried to work, where I can, with people. Don’t get me wrong. There is a lot of stuff that administration is doing that I would never support.
“But it is a case where I think we sit down and we listen. If you listen then it is more likely that they will listen to what you have to say.”
Councillor Dettbarn raised the issue of the Provost’s casting vote in a number of key decisions and called on the administration to collaborate more.
She said: “When it comes down to 14/14 votes, you don’t want half of the people to be unhappy all of the time.”
Cllr Dettbarn talked about her role chairing the Integration Joint Board, where there was no casting vote.
She said: “There is an equal number of council and health board members and the chair doesn’t have a casting vote. Therefore you really have to work your socks off to find concensus, to really find the thing that works for everybody.
“I think it was one of the most valuable things I learned coming into the council. To have that more collegiate approach where you don’t make a decision until that one thing everybody can agree with.
“If it was up to me that is how all panels would work. It builds collaboration, it builds relationships. It really gets things done.”
Cllr Grant suggested that he would like a different approach to the budget process.
Much of the contention around all parties being part of a ‘budget working group’ stemmed from opposition parties feeling they were being forced to agree an administration-led budget.
Cllr Grant said that he would be keen to follow the route of other councils which provide all members with budget seminars to allow them to develop their own proposals.
He said that, under his and Cllr Dettbarn’s leadership, the building up of councillors and their roles would be the main focus. He added that a meeting with new Labour leader Duncan Townson was planned.
The retirement of Cllr Henderson means a by-election in September, where the election of just one councillor in a multi-member ward is hard to predict.
It also potentially means an end to the 14/14 votes, should the SNP lose out on the vote.
Cllr Grant said: “If you take a look at the figures [from May 2022] we have got a promising start.
Cllr Dettbarn added that she was confident and looked forward to joining the local members on the streets of Girvan and South Carrick during the campaign.
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