Parish Councillor? |
Post Reply 
|
Page 123 10> |
| Author | |
watsy 
Chalfont Admin 
Joined: 11 January 2005 Status: Offline Points: 1426 |
 Post Options
 Thanks(0)
 Quote Reply
 Topic: Parish Councillor?Posted: 20 March 2015 at 12:40pm |
|
Interested in being a parish councillor - or the election timetable? The Parish Council has just published a list of timings.
|
|
 |
|
| Sponsored Links | |
|
|
|
watsy
Chalfont Admin
Joined: 11 January 2005 Status: Offline Points: 1426 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 10 April 2015 at 1:25pm |
|
Too late now! Here are the 'results'
|
|
|
|
|
dickybird
Villager 
Joined: 01 June 2011 Status: Offline Points: 144 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 10 April 2015 at 5:42pm |
|
Hi, Watsy
These 'results' have had a mixed reaction today. I am pretty furious. Every single person who got on to the PC today is a Conservative, and the local Conservatives have even put candidates in to replace Janet Harper and myself(Karen Dickson),because we refused to stand as Conservatives. Janet has been a parish councillor for 8 years already and has done loads for the village. I am a pretty committed volunteer myself who works hard. There is absolutely no reason to have only Conservatives on a parish council. In fact, it is completely wrong! It means the PC is not representative of the village then. We are the only PC in the whole area who insist members all join the Conservative Party, and now the 2 current councillors who have refused to do so stand to lose the 7th May parish council election because we don't have the money and might of the Conservatives to knock on everyone's doors. Pretty angry today. Discrimination of any sort is just plain wrong... |
|
|
|
|
Barn Owl
Villager
Joined: 12 August 2006 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 336 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 11 April 2015 at 11:03pm |
|
Who spearheaded this? ie exactly which people?
I don't know you but I know Janet and she has achieved so much. Vote for the person not the party. I like the idea of independents on our PC.
|
|
|
|
|
ladywithdogs
Sandbox 
Joined: 12 April 2015 Location: Chalfont St Pet Status: Offline Points: 1 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 12 April 2015 at 12:48pm |
|
Hello Barn Owl, thanks for the support. It is vital that our parish council become free of party politics. Gerrards Cross and Chalfont St Giles councillors are all independent, even though this whole area tends to vote Conservative at higher levels of government.
It's all about a few local party members who want complete control, to the extent of opposing two councillors who want to make the council more representative of the whole community. This unnecessary election is going to cost the community £1,700. That's clearly not in the best interests of the taxpayers of Chalfont St Peter. |
|
|
|
|
Sunray
Villager
Joined: 04 November 2006 Status: Offline Points: 428 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 12 April 2015 at 2:42pm |
|
Iflike me you do not really understand what this thread is all about, you may be interested in Richard Allen's letter below:
AN OPEN LETTER TO SENSE4CSP
Dear All The Parish Council in Chalfont St Peter
in recent years has improved although it still has problems. More recently there
has been an effort by the local Conservative Party to insist that all Parish
Councillors are Conservative. This has not always been the case. In the past we
have regularly had non-political Parish Councillors who are just people from the
Community who want to help. I personally don't have an issue with being a
Conservative as I vote for Conservative values (and nobody tells me what to do )
but I feel strongly that independent non-political Parish Councillors are a
major asset to our village and should not be opposed by political parties. We
currently have two in CSP Karen Dickson and Janet Harper. Both have done a great
deal for the village. Karen you will know from SENSE but Janet has put the Trees
in Church Lane, put new play equipment in Mill Meadow and introduced
biodiversity on the Commons as well as a new nature reserve near Mill Meadow.
Both Karen and Janet have put in huge amounts of work for the community for
free.
There is only a Parish election when
seats are contested. This rarely happens on Parishes. In the past the local
Conservative party has not put candidates up against independent candidates and
there has only been contested seats on a Parish when another party has put
forward a candidate. Basically political parties see Parish elections as a waste
of time and money not least because there is little on a Parish Council that is
political.
This year however the local Conservative
party under the guidance of what appears to be the Leader of Chiltern District
Council Cllr Isobel Darby, and others, who want to push off the independent
candidates and replace them with Conservatives.There is no practical reason for
this other than wanting to influence the Parish and we all know why that might
be, given we took Chiltern District Council to Court over redevelopment on the
Holy Cross site. In my view this is a very sinister decision. It will also cost
the Parish Council around £1700 to run this Parish Election. Worst of all though
its a kick in the teeth for Janet and Karen and anyone else who wants to give
their time for free to better our community with no political agenda. Gerrards
Cross Parish Council have no political members, neither does Chalfont St Giles
Parish Council, and both appear to be all the better for it.
I am putting this issue on the Parish
Council agenda at the end of this month (held at the Councils Office in Mill
Meadow on the 30th of April) and I hope you can come along and anyone else you
know who may feel strongly about this. Bring a banner...'We Want people not
politics in our Parish'
This may seem petty but if the Parish
Council had been dominated by politics when we dealt with Holy Cross we would
not have had a Judicial Rreview and the site would have been developed years
ago.
Thanks
Regards
Richard Allen
|
|
|
Sunray
|
|
|
|
|
big baggles
Chalfont Snapper 
Joined: 11 January 2005 Status: Offline Points: 7320 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 13 April 2015 at 1:07pm |
|
this is awful, i for one think if this is the case this needs to be raised, and maybe in the local press too,
i for one would much rather have comitted councillors on the parish council irrespective of thier political views.... people not politics is a great banner slogan.... |
|
|
need a stella and i need one now !
|
|
|
|
|
dickybird
Villager
Joined: 01 June 2011 Status: Offline Points: 144 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 14 April 2015 at 8:50am |
|
I agree wholeheartedly, Big Baggles - it is about the commitment and drive of the individual person not the political party they belong to. I understand that we live in a Conservative stronghold, and people can vote Conservative for county and national elections, but there is no need whatsoever for people to vote Conservative in the parish council elections on the same day. If villagers vote Conservative in May, (parish council elections are on the same day as the general elections) CSP will have a parish council that consists entirely of Conservative councillors! That means a parish council that is under complete control of the 4 people who run the CSP local branch of the Conservatives...
Janet and I are both standing as Independents because we believe Chalfont St Peter need parish councillors who are more concerned about the needs of our village and her villagers than about the needs of the Conservative Party. I hope the residents of Central and Austenwood Ward agree and vote for the person and not the party when they cast their 2 parish council votes on the 7th May |
|
|
|
|
Guests
Guest
|
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 14 April 2015 at 1:27pm |
|
You definitely will get my vote (can you remind me of your name), I don't vote conservative but feel I'm forced to in the district elections as the other party is UKIP. Hope it's clear from the ballot paper who the conservative candidates are. This issue needs to be raised in the community so people are aware. Yes the press should be contacted. Can people post on Streetlife.com as well please. Is it legal for a parish council to request conservative party membership? That doesn't sound right at all. I'm in central ward, how many parish councillor positions are up for election?
|
|
|
|
|
dickybird
Villager
Joined: 01 June 2011 Status: Offline Points: 144 |
Post Options
Thanks(0)
Quote Reply
Posted: 14 April 2015 at 4:54pm |
|
Hi, Wheelz
I will try to answer your questions as best I can: National elections are a more complicated matter and I will leave that to you and your conscience! All I can do is speak about parish elections which I know and understand: 8 parish councillors are already in place for CSP for the next 4 years - all Conservatives, as no one stood for election against them (announced on Friday 10th April on Chiltern District Council website). 7 more parish council seats are still available and will be voted on 9th May (same day/time/place/process as general election) 7 Conservative candidates are standing, (in Central ward and Austenwood ward) as well as 2 stubborn individuals (Janet Harper and myself, Karen Dickson) as Independents If all 7 Conservatives get in, it will mean that our PC will be under complete Conservative Party control. If the 2 Independents manage to get voted in, it will be a 13:2 ratio which is not at all great, but at least more representative than 100% Conservative. Hope that helps bring a little more clarity 
|
|
|
|
|
Post Reply
|
Page 123 10> |
| Tweet |
| Forum Jump | Forum Permissions You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot create polls in this forum You cannot vote in polls in this forum |
Topic Options