May 2011 elections
Council elections 5th May 2011
Council elections were held on 5th May 2011. This included Lydford Parish where councillors were elected unopposed in May 2007 i.e. not a single vote was cast by members of the public for any of them..
In fact the same situation occurred in 2011. Five of the seven councillors decided to stand down but five more "candidates" appeared. Not only will the ordinary council tax payers of Lydford have to see more of their money wasted on administration but they had no choice as to who is to "represent" them at the parish level. This is anything but democratic.
Parish Council 2007 to 2011
It would be nice to think that the departure of five councillors would be a new start for Lydford Parish Council. Let us hope the new council learns from the failings of the old which has a pretty unenviable record:-
- They receive a precept of over £6,000 per year but the only tangible service they provide is grass cutting costing about £150 per year (see Council tax).
- When faced with questioning that was not to their taste they conducted a coordinated verbal attack on the parishioner who dared to raise the issue (see Misinformation).
- False information has been published in their official minutes. When this was pointed out the response was "They're our minutes" (again see Misinformation).
- They have resorted to verbal abuse, a former member being found by the local Standards Committee to have broken the Code of Conduct (see Standards and LPC).
- They have refused to meet with a parishioner to discuss issues, including false accusations, preferring to take legal advice and not just about that person (see Unanswered questions).
- In July 2006 they voted to implement a parish plan. This was so mismanaged that finally in December 2009 they decided not to proceed with it. They laid the blame firmly on "lack of interest from the parishioners" (see Parish Plan).
- They conducted a deeply flawed consultation into a proposal to build a new sewage works and in November 2008 they voted to support the project. It later turned out that a new works was not necessary. (see Lydford sewage works).
- The parish council have been involved in talks about a proposed housing development. Months later no details of that meeting had been made public. In whose interest is it to keep this secret? Not that of the ordinary parishioner. (see New housing).
These are just some of the issues. There is more in other sections of this website. Of course it does not have to be like this.
Return to top of pageThings can change
Other communities have experienced similar problems and turned things around. Somerton Town, for instance, has a new council. An external auditor and the police have been making enquires into the old one. Mentmore parish where in August 2010 campaigners finally felt vindicated and they were looking forward to the May 2011 elections and a new council. Letchworth, where campaigners are working towards the abolition of the unnecessary and free spending parish council with significant savings in council tax.
The parish council slot in the March 2011 edition of the Lydford Parish Magazine contained the information that some councillors would be standing down. This was good news. The article also said:-
"If there are less than 7 nominations, Lydford could lose its parish council all together".
If this had happened it would again have been good news and a significant saving as almost all the precept is spent on administration. The article also carried a warning:-
"Decisions about the village could then pass to others with no direct interest in our community. IS THAT WHAT WE WOULD WANT?" (their capitals).
That statement is completely wrong but that is no surprise.
Lydford Parish Council are well aware that, with the exception of a small amount of grass cutting, all the useful local authority services for Lydford are provided by West Devon Borough Council, Devon County Council or the Dartmoor National Park Authority. Lydford Parish Council may be consulted but DO NOT MAKE DECISIONS about any of the services provided by these other authorities.
The truth of the matter is that the ordinary folk of Lydford may well be better represented without a parish council than with one. Lydford is represented by councillors on both West Devon Borough and Devon County Councils and (based on previous experience) these councillors seem prepared to at least listen to those they represent. See Unanswered questions and Parish Plan for LPC's attitude to the views of ordinary parishioners.
Return to top of pageLPC election results
The list of candidates for Lydford Parish Council was announced in early April. As there were seven candidates they were elected unopposed. Only two members of the old council stood again so we can but hope that it will be more than just the faces that change. Time will tell.
LydfordFS
The issues listed above for Lydford Parish Council 2007 to 2011 have, perhaps unsurprisingly, been found in councils in other parts of the country. The problems seem to be partcularly bad with councils at the parish and town level. The Localism Bill can only make matters worse by dismantling, rather than reforming, the standards framework.
Other sites have had some success in bringing about change in their communities (see links) and some have been closed or scaled back as a result. It is far from clear if the new members of Lydford Parish Council will bring about any real improvements in the way it is run or if it will continue much as before. For that reason LydfordFS will continue. To date LPC has never questioned the accuracy of anything published on this website.
Return to top of pageParishes in West Devon
The West Devon Borough Council website lists 55 parishes in this borough but only 4 of these were contested at the 2011 elections. Given these figures it seems fair to question why so few of the parishes were contested.
Is it because of apathy and disinterest from parishioners or is it perhaps that some other councils also operate in a similar fashion to the Lydford Parish Council of 2007 to 2011 (see above for a summary)? If ordinary members of the public see their local parish council behaving more like a private members club than a modern democratic organisation then a lack of enthusiasm to stand in a parish election is understandable. The turnout figures for May 2011 elections are actually quite high, 51% overall in West Devon and 49.2% in Lydford indicating that the problem is not lack of interest from voters.
Of course there are undoubtedly good parish councils and some parish councillors who work hard in the interests of the people they are supposed to represent. Unfortunately, for those who fail to meet high standards, there seems to be little incentive to improve. At a time when public sector budgets are under great pressure it seems amazing that such pressures do not seem to extend to parishes. In the great scheme of things parish council expenditure may seem small but there are a lot of them and if they are anything like Lydford then the amount wasted could be really significant when taken across the whole country.
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