As mentioned in an earlier blog some people in Rusthall have been agitating for a parish council. Tunbridge Wells Borough Council has commenced consultation and should the eventual decision be to form a parish council the first elections are likely to be in 2011.
I have been a parish councillor and have attended meetings of numerous parish councils. Town councils have the same powers as parish councils and if the shenanigans at Crowborough and Southborough Town Councils are anything to go by we do well not to have one. Fortunately most parish councils act in a non party political fashion.
I think the misty-eyed enthusiasm of those promoting the idea of of a parish council for Rusthall will disappear once the reality of the what parish councils actually can do sinks in.
I would much prefer a community council which would not be inhibited by the statutory framework within which parish councils have to operate.
As a Current Chairman of a Parish Council, I can with some experience say, Parish Councils, unless they are filled by people with too much time on their hands, are utterly pointless.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment which echoes my thoughts and experience. Are you in the Ashford area?
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