Henley electors vote one day on their confidence in their parish council. . .

A TOWN poll for Henley will take place next Tuesday after more than ten residents voted that confidence had been lost in the joint parish council at the annual town assembly on 19th April.

The question to be put to the vote is: "Do you agree that confidence has been lost in the leadership and management of the joint parish council and that all existing councillors should resign immediately and that there should be an election for a new parish council as soon as possible?"

Only Henley residents will be able to vote as there was not enough support for a poll in Beaudesert.

The poll was proposed by Peter Crathorne, co-founder of The Reform Association, which aims to "restore democracy in Henley" along with John Latham and Cllr Bill Leech.

In an open letter to residents Mr Crathorne said the poll would allow those who believe the joint parish council is doing a fine job to give their view in equal measure to those who believe the process of the local democracy is in a state of disrepute.

Mr Crathorne said: "This proposal is borne out of the frustration created by this failure to recognise the value of wide consultation about the issues. Those of us who support this proposition understand that there is a cost attached. We are also aware that it cannot be legally binding upon the joint parish council. However, if in this poll the town indicated their desire for a new beginning and this was ignored, the present parish council would do irreparable harm to their already tarnished reputation."

He added: "This proposition is not a personal attack on any individual parish council member; they are respected for the time they give to the community. It is a comment on the council as a whole and the fact that they have taken this town on a journey which has heaped public criticism from within itself, from the surrounding districts and in the local press. The poll is like a set of traffic Sights saying to all stop, consider, should we not be taking another route?"

As it stands the next election for parish councillors is not due for another two years, in May 2012.

The poll will take place between 4pm and 9pm in the memorial hall on Station Road. Results are expected to be declared about 30 minutes after the close of the polling station.

.  .   .then two days later, for a councillor

HENLEY electors- are set to cast their votes in a by-election next Thursday to fill a Henley seat in Beaudesert and Henley Joint Parish Council left vacant following the sudden resignation of Sheila Dalman in March.

Ms Dalman resigned during the parish council meeting on 15^th March when she said she could not work with Cllr Bill Leech who, she said, was working to the detriment of the council.

The three candidates standing in the election are: Graham Hindley, of High Street, John Latham, of Riverside Gardens, and Gordon Trinder, of Arden Close.

The by-election comes, after months of controversy for the joint parish council and two days after a vote on whether all the councillors should resign. This by-election is only the second time in nine years the election of a Henley parish councillor has had to go to the ballot, the first being the by-election just last month for the Beaudesert ward when resident Sue Osborne beat veteran councillor George Atkinson by just eight votes.

The vote will take place between 7am and 10pm on Thursday in the Memorial Hall on Station Road.

Results are expected to be declared about 30 minutes after the close of the polling station. The poll will not involve the electors of the parish of Beaudesert.
Report by Rebekah Smith - Stratford Herald - Thursday 20th May 2010