Parish Council Elections - The Issues

On May 3rd, the residents of the parishes of Beaudesert and Henley will be given the opportunity to vote for a new Joint Parish Council (JPC). This is an important opportunity for the residents of Henley-in-Arden to have their voices heard, and it’s been a long time coming - the last time there were contested elections was on 4th May 2000 for Beaudesert and 2nd May 1996 for Henley-in-Arden. On May 3rd, there are 5 seats in Beaudesert and 7 seats in Henley to be contested.

Residents of Henley and Beaudesert who keep up to date with local news will be aware already of the back-biting and undemocratic processes that have tarnished the current JPC. These include the unpleasant slurs over the ‘Purple Shop’ (which eventually led to its proprietor closing and moving elsewhere) and the continued bitter and petty in-fighting with one of its own councillors which eventually led to Stratford District Council branding the JPC as dysfunctional, as well as costing taxpayers over £10,000 in various legal fees and associated costs. There are also numerous examples of supposedly public meetings and decisions being made behind closed doors. 

The JPC has been undemocratic, unsavoury and has sullied the reputation of Henley. For example, at the Stratford District Council Planning meeting on 9th March 2011, when the development of the cattle market was on the agenda, the then Chairman of the JPC, Cllr Les Goodman, told the planning committee that “The Parish Council, in principle, supports the application”. However, the Parish Council had not endorsed the scheme nor expressed any approval of the plans. Furthermore, 83% of the residents, in a properly conducted survey, had declared that they were against the planning application.

There have been other serious problems with the current JPC, which need to be highlighted, so that voters have the full facts. The most important thing the parish councillors do is to control the Precept. This is the element of your council tax, which is given to the JPC to spend on the parish. The Beaudesert and Henley JPC Precept is by far the largest of any mid-sized parish council in the Stratford area. The average is only £31,262. Tanworth in Arden, which has a larger population of 3,017 compared to Henley’s 2,930, has a precept of only £45,500 compared to Henley’s massive £78,000.

During the last few years, the amount of the budget that the JPC has spent on salaries and administration has rocketed to over 42%, which has left less to run the town and fund various good causes. The simple fact is that the JPC spends more money on salaries and administration than any other medium-sized parish council in the Stratford area. To camouflage this, the current JPC has been drawing money from its reserves. The Precept increased last year by 5%, at time when most Parish Councils aimed to keep their Precepts the same or in some cases reduced them. 

Then there is the question of where the Precept is spent. It does appear unfortunately that some groups have been favoured over others. 

Last year, the Youth Club requested a grant of £2,000 to help run the Hub but received NOTHING. Whereas, the Christmas Tree Lights, a group run by the previous chairman of the JPC, was given £3,000 and was the ONLY group applying for more than £300 to receive 100% of its request. 

Maybe it’s because the average age of the current JPC is well over 70 that the youth club had its grant application turned down!

Now, we can moan all we like about the current JPC – there is only one way to make a change and that is to vote in a new, younger and more representative team on May 3rd. So, fellow residents of Henley, you now have all the facts and you can now make a choice. Either vote for the Current JPC or vote for the 12 residents who are standing against them. Many will be voting for the Henley Independents and we urge you to do the same.

Despite the good intentions and commitment of the existing councillors,

if you Vote in the old parish councillors, you will get:-

• MORE OF THE SAME WASTE AND BEAURACRACY.
• MISINFORMATION ON IMPORTANT ISSUES SUCH AS GRANTS AND CROFT CAR PARK.
• A COUNCIL THAT FAILS TO SUPPORT LOCAL VOLUNTARY SERVICES LIKE THE HUB.
• A COUNCIL THAT HAS BEEN STYLED AS "DYSFUNCTIONAL" BY STRATFORD DISTRICT.
• A COUNCIL THAT IS INWARD LOOKING AND DEAF.

CURRENT JPC is:-

Wasteful, Bureaucratic, Unrepresentative, Inward Looking, Dysfunctional

if you Vote in the Henley Independents, you will get:-

• A COUNCIL THAT BELIEVES IN SIMPLICITY AND COST CONTROL.
• A COUNCIL THAT WILL SPEND MONEY WISELY ON LOCAL ISSUES.
• A COUNCIL THAT CAN BE MORE RESPONSIVE AND REPRESENTATIVE.
• A COUNCIL THAT WILL LISTEN, DISCUSS AND COMMUNICATE.

HENLEY INDEPENDENT are:-

Streamlined, Prudent, Transparent, Open, Responsive, Younger

 

Mike Willmott, Chairman of Henley Independents talks about the differences

Henley NEWS: Mr Willmott, we’ve seen Henley Independents candidates out canvassing, there are beermats in the pubs, flyers through our letterboxes, and adverts in Henley Focus – what is it all about?

Mike Willmott: Henley Independents is a collection of independent candidates who have come together as a group to contest the parish council elections on May 3rd. The reason we are working together is that we are much stronger and more visible as a group. We want to make substantial changes to the way the Joint Parish Council (JPC) is run and we can only do this if we can get a majority of us elected (i.e. at least 7 of our 12 candidates). You mentioned canvassing in your question – we have been very active in the last few days, really listening to what residents want. The response has been very encouraging so far.

HN: But can you really have a group of independents? Surely you are either independent or part of a group?

MW: Yes you can. When residents of Henley and Beaudesert meet us they will see that we are individuals with a variety of backgrounds and experiences, all with our own points of view and interests. Trust me, the group we have put together contains a number of strong-minded people and I have no doubt whatsoever that they will act independently if elected!

HN: So why are you standing for election to the Joint Parish Council?

MW: Simply because we feel we can make real changes to Henley, for the benefit of all residents and businesses. We feel that the current JPC has done a lot of good work for Henley in the past but that it has lost its way in recent times. I am not going to disparage the current JPC in public, as I would rather focus on the positives that Henley Independents will bring to the town, - the issues with the current JPC are well known and well documented in any event.

HN: What are the positives that Henley Independents will bring to the town then?

MW: Firstly, we have identified substantial cost savings – if we can achieve a good portion of these savings, then this money can be spent on projects in the town. At a time when county council budgets are being cut we think that we can fill some of this gap by managing the JPC’s money prudently and efficiently. People must remember that the JPC’s income (known as the Precept) comes from the residents of Henley and Beaudesert, via their council tax – it is the duty of the JPC to spend this as wisely as possible and to keep unnecessary expense and waste to a minimum. This chart shows that spending is out of control compared to many other similar sized parish councils in the area. This money has to come from the council tax payers in Henley and Beaudesert. Our JPC currently spends 64% more than Tanworth in Arden, which has a similar size population.

HN: Finding more money to spend on local projects and initiatives would be a good thing for Henley, what else do you have in mind?

MW: We are keen that the JPC is open to all and really listens to all members of the community. So, for example, we would like some of our meetings to be based around a certain section of society (the old, the young, local businesses etc) – this would be a chance for these local groups to discuss their concerns and opportunities with us. We also plan to streamline the number of meetings the JPC has – our goal is to have just one meeting a month. We think that one meeting a month, open to all, should be enough for a town the size of Henley – it’s what happens in many comparable towns after all. The big advantage for residents is that the one, monthly meeting can then be a focus for all discussions of town business – all issues can be aired and discussed at the monthly meeting. We also feel it is important that our discussions are held in public so, apart from in certain circumstances where we are required to discuss issues in private, everything else will be discussed and debated in public.

HN: Do you think that simply reducing the number of meetings is a vote winner though?

MW: What it shows, I hope, is that we are thinking of the residents, and are trying to fit in with them and their busy lives. We know that the to-ins and fro-ins of the JPC is not the most important thing in most people’s lives. What we are trying to do is to create a system that is efficient (so we can spend the JPC’s income more wisely), open to all, and transparent. I think these are important principles and they should be important to residents of Henley.

HN: But Henley is already a great place to live – how would electing Henley Independents make much difference to the town?

MW: Henley IS a great place to live. But we want to do more. I have already mentioned that we will free up some of the JPC’s income to spend on more projects around the town, but we have plenty of ideas that won’t cost any money, and which will benefit the town. For example, we would like to look at ‘guerilla’ gardening projects – planting vegetable plots around the town, for the benefit of townspeople. We will also look at the idea of working reciprocally with groups within the town. As another example, the Scout Hut needs a number of small repair jobs doing over the summer – could we encourage people to help with these jobs and ask the cubs and scouts to do some jobs around the town (maybe a litter pick) in exchange? There will be many other ideas and projects we can consider – if we can create a new JPC to help encourage these ideas and to actually help put these projects into action, then we are on to a winner.

HN: This all sounds encouraging and to be applauded, do you have any final thought for readers of Henley News Online?

MW: We can’t achieve any of this if we aren’t elected on May 3rd. So we need all supporters of Henley Independents to vote for us on that day. Residents of Beaudesert have 5 votes for the JPC and Henley residents have 7 votes. You can simply vote for all of the Henley Independents candidates on your ballot paper – we will be easily identified with a Henley Independents logo.

In the end it’s really very straightforward: if we get enough votes we will be elected. I really hope what I have outlined here will encourage people to vote for Henley Independents on May 3rd, as we feel we can make a real difference to the town.