Cllr Matheou on the 'Human Rights Act'

The letters to the editor in this week's Stratford Herald demonstrate that the ruling group of the Joint Parish Council continues to attack those residents who seek improvements and cost reductions in the way the parish council is managed.

In his letter to The Stratford Herald, reproduced below, Cllr George Matheou talks about a secret agenda. There is no secret agenda. Residents are calling for economy and cost efficiency for their parish council and an end to the "we know best attitude" by the vast majority of parish councillors. Cllr Matheou has repeatedly told Councillors he wants to see Cllr Bill Leech in prison!

Henley NEWS has been conducting a survey of 112 parish councils in the Stratford area and the preliminary results show that the Beaudesert and Henley-in-Arden Joint Parish Council has the highest precept (parish council tax) of all the medium sized parishes of 1,000 to 3,999 population. At £82,650, the JPC's precept shows the massive excess over the average for all medium sized parishes of £26,363.

Those with a secret agenda frustrate council’s work

Sir: I should like to take this opportunity to explain some of the facts relating to the article  in your newspaper last reporting that Mr John Tristram of Prince Harry Road, had accused me of disregarding the Human Rights Act.

First, may I say that I do not know Mr Tristram, yet, he wrote two articles about me posted on a local website which contained inaccuracies, were biased and offensive to me. Since I have done nothing to infringe the Human Rights Act, in which I am a firm believer. I should also like to add that to the best of my knowledge in Henley we don’t torture, we do not have forced labour but we do believe in liberty and a fair trial. To bring the Human Rights Act simply as an argument to attack the parish council is propaganda of the lowest form and an insult to the intelligence of the people of Henley and to the reputation of our town.

In contrast, the parish council will continue working actively with other local organisations, with our community and partners to promote and improve every facet of our town. We do this because it is our job and duty as volunteer councillors. A few people with an unknown motive and a secret agenda who wish to frustrate our work by wasting our time, diverting our attention and providing negative publicity will not succeed in stopping the progress of our town.

Cllr George Matheou

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John Tristram Responds

Dear George, 

I was intrigued and flattered to read your letter published in the Stratford Herald on 23rd September 2010. All this talk of ‘Secret Agenda’ makes me seem like a character from a John Le Carré or Ian Fleming novel and borders on paranoia. Let me assure you that I do not have a Secret Agenda. Mine is quite open and straight forward. I would like to see a democratically elected Parish Council which properly represents the wishes of the electorate. I am not alone in believing that the current composition of the JPC does not achieve this.

To quote an extract from Oliver Cromwell’s speech at the Dissolution of the Long Parliament on 20 April 1653: "Depart I say; and let us have done with you. In the name of God, go!" Cromwell may have gone a little ‘over the top’, but he had a valid point, born of frustration. 

Regarding the Human Rights Act 1998, may I refer you to the Minutes of the Joint Parish Council meeting held on 6th September 2010, Minutes which you voted to adopt. Under Item 11 AOB it says: “Cllr Matheou went through the Human Rights Act paper article by article. He concluded that none of the articles applied to Henley in Arden”. 

I have received various interpretations of what you meant by your dismissal of the Act, but the approved minute accurately records what you said. Whilst I accept that there may not been any recent cases of torture in Henley, unless you include sitting through a JPC meeting, there are other Articles within the Act which do apply to the JPC and to which it must pay due regard. 

Finally, you say that you do not know me, this despite your spending some time talking to me about the problems of passing traffic not stopping to shop in Henley. You attributed this problem to a lack of adequate parking for passing trade, a worthy argument but the problem which has now been exacerbated by the extension of restrictions through the inclusion of more ‘Disabled’ spaces. I assume this is legal requirement but it does little to alleviate the problem you highlighted.  

George, as a native of Athens and an aspiring local government politician in England, you may be interested to read Cromwell's address which is a landmark event in English political history.  

John Tristram - Prince Harry Road