Report on the January meeting of Copeland Council
The January meeting of Copeland council took place this afternoon.
Highlights included
* A debate on the "Closer to Home" NHS consultation. The council unanimously approved a detailed recommendation from the council's Overview and Scrutiny Committee which will now go to the County scrutiny committee and local NHS trusts.
* The recommendation welcomed some of the changes which the Primary Care Trust (PCT) has made to the "Closer to Home" proposals, such as the fact that it is now proposed that West Cumberland Hospital in Copeland will need at least 220 acute beds and possibly up to 250, and the fact that the trusts are no longer insisting that all major trauma cases in North Cumbria will be treated in Carlisle. Patients with significant trauma will be taken to the nearest emergency treatment centre where a decision will be taken where to treat them, which may when that is in the patient's best interest, mean being treated at the West Cumberland Hospital.
* Planning issues affecting the centre of Whitehaven were discussed, including the pull-out of ASDA from the Ginns site, the need for a retail need assessment for Whitehaven and Copeland, and the impact of planning policies on the Whitehaven Maritime Festival and any successor. A number of planning documents including the Statement of Community Involvement were also re-approved.
* The council discussed the Community Package which has been agreed to provide extra services in Copeland and Drigg as part of the planning obligation agreement to go with the new storage facility in the area. The nuclear discussion also included reference to prospects for a new nuclear reactor of further reprocessing in the area.
Other issues discussed included Social Inclusion policy, an Audit of Copeland's Housing service and vexed question of recycling and pest control. An officer recommendation that the council should start to charge residents for rat extermination was rejected by councillors of all parties.
Highlights included
* A debate on the "Closer to Home" NHS consultation. The council unanimously approved a detailed recommendation from the council's Overview and Scrutiny Committee which will now go to the County scrutiny committee and local NHS trusts.
* The recommendation welcomed some of the changes which the Primary Care Trust (PCT) has made to the "Closer to Home" proposals, such as the fact that it is now proposed that West Cumberland Hospital in Copeland will need at least 220 acute beds and possibly up to 250, and the fact that the trusts are no longer insisting that all major trauma cases in North Cumbria will be treated in Carlisle. Patients with significant trauma will be taken to the nearest emergency treatment centre where a decision will be taken where to treat them, which may when that is in the patient's best interest, mean being treated at the West Cumberland Hospital.
* Planning issues affecting the centre of Whitehaven were discussed, including the pull-out of ASDA from the Ginns site, the need for a retail need assessment for Whitehaven and Copeland, and the impact of planning policies on the Whitehaven Maritime Festival and any successor. A number of planning documents including the Statement of Community Involvement were also re-approved.
* The council discussed the Community Package which has been agreed to provide extra services in Copeland and Drigg as part of the planning obligation agreement to go with the new storage facility in the area. The nuclear discussion also included reference to prospects for a new nuclear reactor of further reprocessing in the area.
Other issues discussed included Social Inclusion policy, an Audit of Copeland's Housing service and vexed question of recycling and pest control. An officer recommendation that the council should start to charge residents for rat extermination was rejected by councillors of all parties.
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