Tuesday 22 March 2011

Rusthall Parish Council - a voyage into the unknown

The latest edition of the Rusthall Village Association's newsletter gives the impression of confusing the Association with the parish council. We aim to improve the infrastructure of the village.  Who or what is the we?  It is as though there is an assumption that the new parish council will follow the Association's agenda.  All the more reason for people to stand who are not connected with the Association.

What will be interesting will be the following:
  • The budget that is set - what will be spent and why?
  • Does the new council intend to publish a parish plan?
  • How will it engage with the community before making major decisions?
My main fear is that the council will become an administrative nightmare.  The Village Association's newsletter informs us that the new parish council will probably have four sub-committees. I would have thought  that is a matter for the council to decide.  One declared candidate has a reputation for setting up sub-committees at the drop of a hat.  Thereby is the road to slow decision making, inertia, irrelevance and indeed hostility.
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4 comments:

  1. Robin24 March 2011 at 18:49

    Good day, John. I will keep my counsel on this for the present - and watch this space.

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  2. Kent Community Activist24 March 2011 at 20:17

    Are you standing Robin? There is a Village Association meeting at the WMC tonight at which people can say why they are standing. My hope is that there are more than 9 candidates and therefore a contested election.

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  3. Anonymous27 March 2011 at 15:18

    Again John, why don't you get in touch with the village association and help rather than rubbishing us? We are not born with intrinsic knowledge of local council matters and the new councillors will all take the training. If you think we all need educating then I am absolutely open to being better informed.
    Kind regards
    Carol Lawrence
    25 Common View

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  4. Kent Community Activist27 March 2011 at 20:37

    You see Carol you have stated the problem well. The village association is not the parish council. Through all the documents there is an assumption that the village association is the parish council in waiting.

    Far from rubbishing the association I am making points about what the parish council will need to be doing. My comments are far removed from some of the very nasty things said by some respondents to the Borough Council's consultation.

    Getting the date wrong for submission of nomination papers is very poor.

    I have been a parish councillor and have also had to attend meetings of a number of parish councils Councillors have to learn to be thick-skinned.

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