In 2007, Henley NEWS supported a successful campaign by 217 Henley residents, pictured below, to ensure that the Joint Parish Council publicly declared that it was opposed to the first scheme proposed by Taylor Wimpey for the redevelopment of the market site. With this experience, the residents are now having to repeat this process with another Town Meeting on 17th August 2010. Commenting at the last parish council meeting on Monday 2nd August 2010, Cllr George Matheou said, "Cllr Bill Leech has no right to organise a Town Meeting". Consequently, it is not expected that the "Ruling Group" of the JPC will attend. So far, only Cllr Osborne, Cllr Hadley and Cllr Leech have told Henley NEWS Online that they will be attending.
The parish clerk has declined to confirm that 33 Henley parish electors have written to the Chairman of the Joint Parish Council, Cllr Les Goodman, requesting that he convenes a parish meeting after the Town Meeting on the 17th. Cllr Goodman told the Stratford Herald that he would seek advice regarding the validity of using the parish poll system in this way.
Under the 1972 Local Government Act, six or more parishioners, who must all be on the electoral roll for the parish, can convene a parish meeting to consider any business, which is a matter of concern to the parish and seven clear days notice must be given for such a meeting. There is no requirement under the Act for parishioners to ask for the permission of the Parish Council.
With 33 parish electors, which is far in excess of the 6 required by law, having written to the JPC Chairman requesting a parish meeting, many residents believe the JPC chairman has no option but to convene a parish meeting so that the residents can inform the JPC of their concerns about the proposals which Taylor Wimpey displayed at their exhibition last month. If the chairman fails to hold a parish meeting, this will be a violation of the 1972 Act and the residents can go ahead and call on Stratford District Council to hold a parish referendum on the acceptability of the proposed development.
Taylor Wimpey has declined to speak at the Town Meeting, saying that they have "already carried out a public consultation exercise and have received representations from the members of the public who attended the recent event [exhibition]." A spokesman for the developers told Henley NEWS Online that the developers had already met Cllr Les Goodman and some of the parish councillors as part of their local consultation programme required by Stratford District Council.
Mr John Stott Chairman of the Beaudesert and Henley Society, Mr Paul Wright Head of Henley High School, County Councillor Mike Perry, District Councillor Stephen Thirlwell, the Flood Risk Officer for this area from the Environment Agency and a significant number of residents are expected to speak.
We MUST be prepared to take responsibility for the community in which we live!
Simon Halsey - High Street
The proposals, as they stand, seem to be solely for the financial benefit of the developer and will have a long term detrimental impact on the residents of Henley.
John Tristram - Prince Harry Road
It seems all our concerns from the first planning proposals have been ignored. School safety and the increased risk of flooding are also of major concern.
Steve Aston - Warwick Road
"With 33 parish electors, which is far in excess of the 6 required by law, having written to the JPC Chairman requesting a parish meeting, many residents believe the JPC chairman has no option but to convene a parish meeting ..."
ReplyDeleteThe regulations for local referendum should be improved, which would make it impossible for a Council to refuse a valid proposal from the electorate. Also, the result of a poll (referendum) should be legally binding. This would certainly encourage local governments to pay more attention to the will of the people. The Conservative/Libdem coalition agreement promises some reform, for example that one in twenty local residents will be able to trigger a poll on any local issue. More detailed suggestions may be found on-line here http://www.iniref.org/poll-regulations.html
Michael James, Guildford, Surrey