Over Parish Council will not allow a Public Open Forum at the start of their monthly meetings for parishioners to tell
Councillors about anything of concern, without prior notification.I told them their own professional advisers, Cambridge & Peterborough Association of Local Councils (CPALC), say it is recommended best practice – information that is available on their website for all to see.
All other local Parish Councils do this for their residents.
For nine months, since I made my request, Over Parish Council has prevaricated, provided wrong information and even had a Councillor telephone me to say how difficult it is for Councillors to get to the start of the meeting on time!
The time has come for Over Parish Council to either :
1. say ‘Yes’ and show that they are open, transparent, approachable, prepared to provide the same opportunity offered by other Councils and recommended as ‘best practice’ by their own Association;
2. say ‘No’ and leave us wondering what they are hiding.
Click on the '1 comment' link below to read comment from 'Anonymous', who is known to me but whose identity I have decided not to reveal.
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Hello Jane Lovett
ReplyDeleteWelcome to the world of stinking, local democracy.
Let me guess. Every time you ask for a ‘Public Open Forum’, they reply about ‘Public Participation’.
In other words, THEY want you to talk only about what THEY have put on THEIR agenda, THEY want you to write to THEM before the meeting so THEY are prepared and then THEY can decide whether to let you speak.
I checked the CPALC advice – here it is as of five minutes ago. The Public does not have “the right to speak during the formal Parish Council meeting but it is best practice for a period to be set aside for public question time (normally referred to as the Public or Open Forum) before the start of the meeting when the public should be allowed to ask questions or make statements on any issue affecting the community.”
Find out who is playing that silly game – probably the Chairperson or Clerk. Check the Council Papers for the last two years, (the Clerk should make them available for you to read) and see if a particular name crops up in a way that leads to you ask more questions. It may help shine light on why they do not want a Public Open Forum.
If you have made it clear to the Clerk you want a ‘Public Open Forum’, and not ‘Public Participation’, and you can prove it, invoke the Council’s Complaints Procedure for obstruction and misrepresentation against the Clerk.
Local Radio can be a good ally if you find anything.
Good luck.
Hi Jane,
ReplyDeleteDo you have an update to this sad story or is the Parish council still behaving as if the people who allow them their positions are not important enough to be heard?
Hi Anon - thank you for your interest in this story. Further details later. In the meantime, if you have a particular interest in this matter, perhaps you would like to email me and I can update you. Jane
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