We would just
like to remind readers, this blog is not run by any one person, it has a number
of residents as members and we work as a team, no single member has full
control on what appears. If you wish to comment on anything on this blog you
should either comment through the normal channel or email us direct, If you would
like to join our group please email us, thank you.
Response
to comments on Parish Meeting post.
Thank you for your comments on the Parish
Poll posts, we’ll try to answer the points raised which are, in no particular
order,
1.
What happens if not many people attend.
2.
East Riding may refuse on technicality.
3.
Should Parish Council organise it.
4.
Annual Parish Meeting.
5.
Why is this information not given by the Parish Council.
6.
Can any 6 people call a parish meeting on any subject.
7.
Likelihood of success.
8.
Why hasn’t PPCP used this tool.
9.
Would we organise your meeting.
1.
What if not many people attend.
You should not be too optimistic on attendance levels, we have suggested you print 3 dozen agenda’s, that’s the most we would reasonably expect to attend. There is no lower limit set, if you only get 2 people attend you obviously wont be able to generate your 10 signatures and no poll will take place, that’s why we have suggested you keep in touch with your supporters and have a substitute group on hand to attend if any of those need to fall out at short notice. So long as your 10 signatories attend you should be ok but you must be 100% certain they are all on the electoral roll for Preston. Once you have the 10 signatures you can then request a Poll take place, providing you have followed the correct procedure in calling the meeting.
We would suggest your 10 signatories and substitutes email East Riding and request their Electoral Roll number so they can be included in your documentation.
You should not be too optimistic on attendance levels, we have suggested you print 3 dozen agenda’s, that’s the most we would reasonably expect to attend. There is no lower limit set, if you only get 2 people attend you obviously wont be able to generate your 10 signatures and no poll will take place, that’s why we have suggested you keep in touch with your supporters and have a substitute group on hand to attend if any of those need to fall out at short notice. So long as your 10 signatories attend you should be ok but you must be 100% certain they are all on the electoral roll for Preston. Once you have the 10 signatures you can then request a Poll take place, providing you have followed the correct procedure in calling the meeting.
We would suggest your 10 signatories and substitutes email East Riding and request their Electoral Roll number so they can be included in your documentation.
2.
East Riding may refuse on a technicality.
If they are able to we suspect they would object to a poll and the Parish Council would almost certainly encourage them to do so.
We have made arrangements to record the proceedings on video from people walking in to the meeting from the moment it’s convened, through to its closure, this becomes essential if council members are involved as Chair and Secretary. We have produced a plan for a timeline of every action we take along the way such as obtaining signatures, posting Notices of the meeting, where, when and time they were posted, with every other action committed to the Time Line.
Should there be any dispute we would be able to establish our position beyond reasonable doubt.
If they are able to we suspect they would object to a poll and the Parish Council would almost certainly encourage them to do so.
We have made arrangements to record the proceedings on video from people walking in to the meeting from the moment it’s convened, through to its closure, this becomes essential if council members are involved as Chair and Secretary. We have produced a plan for a timeline of every action we take along the way such as obtaining signatures, posting Notices of the meeting, where, when and time they were posted, with every other action committed to the Time Line.
Should there be any dispute we would be able to establish our position beyond reasonable doubt.
3.
Should the Parish Council organise it?
Absolutely not, that would be a crazy idea. The Parish Council have proven themselves to be untrustworthy and have prevented a Parish Meeting in the recent past, we would certainly not feel comfortable relying on them.
The council is not involved except for the Chairman and Clerk acting as Chair and Secretary during the Parish Meeting if they attend, that’s extremely doubtful. It should also be remembered that if the Council Chairman does not attend but the Vice Chairman does, that person should act as Chair of the Parish Meeting.
You must remember this is a meeting of the Parish (residents) not the Parish Council, the council have no influence at a Parish Meeting, that’s the idea of it, its residents who organise it and residents who decide on the issues. You should inform them of the meeting with the appropriate information and invite the Council Chair and Clerk to attend, beyond that they are of no consequence.
Absolutely not, that would be a crazy idea. The Parish Council have proven themselves to be untrustworthy and have prevented a Parish Meeting in the recent past, we would certainly not feel comfortable relying on them.
The council is not involved except for the Chairman and Clerk acting as Chair and Secretary during the Parish Meeting if they attend, that’s extremely doubtful. It should also be remembered that if the Council Chairman does not attend but the Vice Chairman does, that person should act as Chair of the Parish Meeting.
You must remember this is a meeting of the Parish (residents) not the Parish Council, the council have no influence at a Parish Meeting, that’s the idea of it, its residents who organise it and residents who decide on the issues. You should inform them of the meeting with the appropriate information and invite the Council Chair and Clerk to attend, beyond that they are of no consequence.
4.
Annual Parish Meeting.
There must by law be a Parish Meeting held at least once each year, the “Annual Parish Meeting” between 1st March and 1st June.
In Preston that meeting is held in accordance with the legal requirements but beyond that the whole thing is a farce.
Section 9 of the Local Government Act 1972 states that ‘for every parish there shall be a parish meeting for the purpose of discussing parish affairs and exercising any functions conferred on such meetings by any enactment...’ Section 13 of the Act states ‘the parish meeting of a parish shall consist of the local government electors for the parish’. It is not a part of any Parish Council Meeting and any councillors who might attend are there as residents, just the same as anybody else.
With the Preston ‘Annual Parish Meeting’ its usually given a 30 minute slot before a normal council meeting, less if the council can manage it, that way its swallowed up and nobody really realises its actually taken place it just becomes part of a council meeting to most residents eyes. Giving a parish meeting 30 minutes without informing residents what its actually about is an absolute joke and demonstrates the councils lack of commitment to residents.
The council to our knowledge has never given out any information to make residents aware of their rights and the true purpose of a Parish Meeting. If you ask, the vast majority of residents will most likely tell you that they think it’s a ‘Public Participation’ exercise only and they have no idea of their legal rights. The council should at the very least cover the subject of Parish Meetings on their Web Site to make all residents aware of what they are all about and the rights residents have in convening a meeting and during such meetings. The council very clearly does not want any residents to have that type of information.
There must by law be a Parish Meeting held at least once each year, the “Annual Parish Meeting” between 1st March and 1st June.
In Preston that meeting is held in accordance with the legal requirements but beyond that the whole thing is a farce.
Section 9 of the Local Government Act 1972 states that ‘for every parish there shall be a parish meeting for the purpose of discussing parish affairs and exercising any functions conferred on such meetings by any enactment...’ Section 13 of the Act states ‘the parish meeting of a parish shall consist of the local government electors for the parish’. It is not a part of any Parish Council Meeting and any councillors who might attend are there as residents, just the same as anybody else.
With the Preston ‘Annual Parish Meeting’ its usually given a 30 minute slot before a normal council meeting, less if the council can manage it, that way its swallowed up and nobody really realises its actually taken place it just becomes part of a council meeting to most residents eyes. Giving a parish meeting 30 minutes without informing residents what its actually about is an absolute joke and demonstrates the councils lack of commitment to residents.
The council to our knowledge has never given out any information to make residents aware of their rights and the true purpose of a Parish Meeting. If you ask, the vast majority of residents will most likely tell you that they think it’s a ‘Public Participation’ exercise only and they have no idea of their legal rights. The council should at the very least cover the subject of Parish Meetings on their Web Site to make all residents aware of what they are all about and the rights residents have in convening a meeting and during such meetings. The council very clearly does not want any residents to have that type of information.
5. Why is this information
not given by the Parish Council.
We can’t answer for the Parish Council other than they clearly don’t want residents to have such information as stated above, if they wanted residents to have it they would have given it long before now.
If residents were aware of their legal rights it would mean the Parish Council would be open to challenge from residents and that is something they appear to avoid at all costs.
Some months ago we were told that the council were exploring how to “engage with the public and make the council more open and transparent”, that was because some questions were being asked at the time but a number of councillors were unhappy with that approach because they obviously didn’t want the Council to be ‘open or transparent’. It would seem they have once again won the day because the issue hasn’t been mentioned since, it seems to have died a death!
Ironically, it was in response to a request to the council for a Parish Meeting (that shows the lack of residents understanding), the council was not at all responsive and refused to organise a Parish Meeting and used the above to side step the issue. That was an ideal time for the council to make information available to resident’s, they obviously had no intention of doing that.
If the council wish to give residents meaningful and understandable information explaining their legal rights it should develop a short manual and make it available to all residents and possibly on the Council’s Web Site. There should also be a mechanism in place to explain the items in more detail should any resident request it.
We can’t answer for the Parish Council other than they clearly don’t want residents to have such information as stated above, if they wanted residents to have it they would have given it long before now.
If residents were aware of their legal rights it would mean the Parish Council would be open to challenge from residents and that is something they appear to avoid at all costs.
Some months ago we were told that the council were exploring how to “engage with the public and make the council more open and transparent”, that was because some questions were being asked at the time but a number of councillors were unhappy with that approach because they obviously didn’t want the Council to be ‘open or transparent’. It would seem they have once again won the day because the issue hasn’t been mentioned since, it seems to have died a death!
Ironically, it was in response to a request to the council for a Parish Meeting (that shows the lack of residents understanding), the council was not at all responsive and refused to organise a Parish Meeting and used the above to side step the issue. That was an ideal time for the council to make information available to resident’s, they obviously had no intention of doing that.
If the council wish to give residents meaningful and understandable information explaining their legal rights it should develop a short manual and make it available to all residents and possibly on the Council’s Web Site. There should also be a mechanism in place to explain the items in more detail should any resident request it.
6. Can any 6 people call a
Parish Meeting on any subject?
Yes, with the proviso that they are all registered electors of the parish and the subject is within the remit of the Parish. A resident calling a parish meeting must ensure they follow the correct procedure for any meeting to be effective. If you raise 6 signatures for a Parish Meeting to discuss the war in Afghanistan it may not be valid because the Parish Council (who will be paying the bill) has no power to discuss or influence the war in Afghanistan, in other words its outside of their remit.
Yes, with the proviso that they are all registered electors of the parish and the subject is within the remit of the Parish. A resident calling a parish meeting must ensure they follow the correct procedure for any meeting to be effective. If you raise 6 signatures for a Parish Meeting to discuss the war in Afghanistan it may not be valid because the Parish Council (who will be paying the bill) has no power to discuss or influence the war in Afghanistan, in other words its outside of their remit.
7. Likelihood of success.
If you follow the steps we have outlined and have 10 registered electors of the Parish willing to vote in your support there is a high likelihood of success. Be sure not to fall foul of the procedural requirements.
If you follow the steps we have outlined and have 10 registered electors of the Parish willing to vote in your support there is a high likelihood of success. Be sure not to fall foul of the procedural requirements.
8. Why hasn’t PPCP used
this tool.
This is one of the things we had planned for in the early days, we set out the subjects we would be prepared to call a Parish Meeting on and once we decided to go, how we would proceed. Another consideration for us was the potential cost to the Parish Purse, we have no desire to waste money on meaningless and possibly ineffective Parish Meetings. We concluded at the time that the timing of any such meetings would be our most important consideration, that came out as the 12 months leading up to a common election in 2015. That is due for re-consideration early in 2014.
This is one of the things we had planned for in the early days, we set out the subjects we would be prepared to call a Parish Meeting on and once we decided to go, how we would proceed. Another consideration for us was the potential cost to the Parish Purse, we have no desire to waste money on meaningless and possibly ineffective Parish Meetings. We concluded at the time that the timing of any such meetings would be our most important consideration, that came out as the 12 months leading up to a common election in 2015. That is due for re-consideration early in 2014.
9. Would we organise your
Parish Meeting.
We would be very reluctant to organise your meeting for you, that’s the reason we have tried to give you as much information on how to do it as we could.
It is not because we do not agree with your aims, our views on the Play Park should be reasonably well known by now and we do support a Play Park for Preston, we strongly disagree with how people have gone about it and possibly not with the extent of the proposed installation. In addition to that we very strongly disagree with what appears to council secrecy on the whole topic, so in principle we support your view.
Without strong requests from a reasonable number of residents for us to be involved or organise a meeting we would have to remain with our own aims.
We would be very reluctant to organise your meeting for you, that’s the reason we have tried to give you as much information on how to do it as we could.
It is not because we do not agree with your aims, our views on the Play Park should be reasonably well known by now and we do support a Play Park for Preston, we strongly disagree with how people have gone about it and possibly not with the extent of the proposed installation. In addition to that we very strongly disagree with what appears to council secrecy on the whole topic, so in principle we support your view.
Without strong requests from a reasonable number of residents for us to be involved or organise a meeting we would have to remain with our own aims.
If you decide to go ahead with your plan for a
Parish Poll we feel you now have all the information you need to make your
effort a success and if you do take it forward we wish you all the best and
shall support you. If you require further help please e-mail us and we will be
pleased to help if we can.
We hope this has been useful.
If there are any residents with similar experience of
the council do please contact us by comment or email. If you wish we will post
on your experience without your identity being released, or not post anything
if you simply want to share your experience it’s entirely up to you. We would
love to hear your story, your not alone, there are a number of us, let us
compare notes and grow as a group.
Yes I remember that being on HU12 I think and some one from the other Preston site asked the council for a parish meeting, they refused and put that statement out. Don’t expect any help from the council theyre too busy covering their own backs. I cant understand why people in Preston don’t stand up and put things right for their own sakes. If we had a different council we might be more of a community with some good leadership. I hear there is a lot of arguing among councillors about the play park and a lot of hard questions being asked about money , ok it all might be rumors but the council should clear it all up, they don’t and this is whats wrong with Preston! I was told today that a councillor is trying to set up a group to take control from the origninal people, a funny smell seems to be going about!!
ReplyDeleteHi Pete
DeleteThanks for your comment and for reading.
The Team
I agree with the Play Park and think it will be a good thing, it could have been done better, quicker and smoother than it has been but it looks as though it will happen.
ReplyDeleteHi Preston resident,
ReplyDeleteWe agree with you the Play Park should be a good thing for Preston, its just a pity it has been done in such a divisive way.
Thanks for your comment.
The Team.
The council should be challenged and made accountable, as long as Preston people let it go on the council wont do anything. If the resident and taxpayer wants another name to the list I have sent you an e-mail you can send it to them if they ask for it.
ReplyDelete