Rusthall Blues

So, only two members of the public attended the first meeting of Rusthall Parish Council following the annual meeting.  Much as might be expected, given the boring nature of most parish council business. Two is better than none, as often was the case at meetings of Tunbridge Wells Borough Council until Roy Bullock agitated the local citizenry.

The view expressed by a local resident that the failure of the public to attend does not bode well is wide of the mark. I imagine there will be a good turnout when a contentious matter is on the agenda.

The newly elected Borough councillor for Rusthall, Victor Webb, has weighed in with the comment that the majority of people did not want a parish council. Admittedly, most residents did not bother to express an opinion during the consultations, but of those that did a big majority were 'for' a parish council.  Using Cllr Webb's logic, the majority of people did not want him as a Borough councillor.

Cllr Webb points out that 40 people attended the Village Association AGM and asserts there is more appetite for the association than the parish council.  The difference between the two is that the former is a voluntary organisation and people can speak at meetings.  The parish council is a statutory body elected by residents at which members of the public only have limited speaking rights. Different as chalk and cheese.

Let's wait and see how the parish council performs, that is how it will be judged.  Why be so negative at this early stage in the council's life?

As I stated in an earlier blog, the funding farce is a disgrace. The received wisdom was that Tunbridge Wells Borough Council would make available a repayable loan of £40,000 to tide the parish council over the first year.  TWBC has offered a 'gift' of £500 and presumably the £40,000 will become available once the parish council has drawn up a financial plan.  It is sensible to have a financial plan and the difficulty is that until the council came into being it could not agree a plan.   Presumably the £500 will pay for essential expenditure for a couple of months by which time the financial plan could be in place. I agree with Councillor Webb, TWBC should have been more pro-active in preparing a draft financial plan, particularly as the Leader of TWBC was one of the staunchest supporters of the proposal to form a parish council.