Reform councillors demand recorded vote… then walk out

Reform Councillor Ray Blackman brought a motion to Council proposing a six-month parking enforcement trial in Bletchley and Fenny Stratford.

Liberal Democrat Councillor Kerrie Bradburn and Cabinet Member for Environment, Waste, Highways and Transport proposed an amendment that keeps all options on the table while ensuring the Council’s new parking enforcement contract is used to deliver the greatest benefit for residents.

The amendment asks officers to look at what actually makes streets safer, including more targeted patrols in problem areas, smarter use of technology and data, and the use of new Government powers to tackle pavement parking when they become available.  

Councillor Kerrie Bradburn, said:

“Obstructive parking is a serious problem, especially for disabled people, pedestrians and parents with pushchairs. But it’s not a problem unique to Bletchley. Our older towns, including Wolverton and Newport Pagnell face many of the same challenges.  

“Bletchley already receives targeted enforcement and sees more parking tickets issued than anywhere outside of Central Milton Keynes. As Councillor Blackman acknowledged in his own motion, the current approach has not changed behaviour, so is it fair to ask whether simply issuing more tickets will solve the problem.

“We could have voted against the motion outright. Instead, we chose to engage with it because residents have raised a genuine concern and that deserves a serious response.

“Residents don’t care how many tickets we issue. they care whether they can get down the pavement safely.

“Cross-party working means listening to other views and finding a practical way forward. It also means staying in the chamber and voting, even when your original proposal has been amended.  

Councillor Jane Carr, Leader of Milton Keynes City Council, added:

“I was astonished that Reform requested a recorded vote and then walked out before casting their votes.

“To the best of our knowledge, nothing like this has happened at Milton Keynes City Council for more than 40 years.

“Residents elect councillors to attend meetings, debate issues before them and make decisions, even when they don’t get everything their own way.

“If Reform believed strongly enough in this issue to demand a recorded vote, residents will rightly ask why they chose not to take part in it.”