tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17934023.post6015517883330268327..comments2024-03-20T12:28:00.031+00:00Comments on Liberal Bureaucracy: Handforth Parish Council - a reminder that technology is not without its perilsMark Valladareshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15773193846795037711noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17934023.post-16620651040407654932021-02-05T21:50:00.864+00:002021-02-05T21:50:00.864+00:00Phil,
I can’t speak for other Parish Councils, bu...Phil,<br /><br />I can’t speak for other Parish Councils, but here in Creeting St Peter, as Chair I tend to be pretty permissive in terms of audience participation, even where I don’t need to be - I’m a strong believer in the wisdom of crowds. And that usually applies to planning applications. The minor ones are dealt with by round robin e-mail and only get formally discussed if a councillor has concerns. Anything bigger is discussed in, effectively, open forum and residents are trusted to behave - they usually do.<br /><br />Our precept is £52.27 for a band D property, or around £5,250 in total. Half of that is spent on our full-time Clerk, the rest on street lights (we own them), grass cutting, playground maintenance and renewal, dog waste bin emptying and resident communication. We could do more, but there’s little clamour for that.<br /><br />We’re a statutory consultee for planning applications, and we take that seriously, offering thoughtful comment to the District Council based on their policies and the potential issues as they affect us - traffic, disruption, loss of amenity.<br /><br />I’m pretty visible as Chair, partly because I get much of my exercise walking around the village, and I’ve tried to make us a little more focused so that we can do things more effectively - shorter, more disciplined meetings for example, that allow us to get through the business whilst giving councillors more time in their busy lives (we’re all still of employment age).Mark Valladareshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15773193846795037711noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-17934023.post-42565963282996709462021-02-05T19:26:15.338+00:002021-02-05T19:26:15.338+00:00Many viewers found the video amazing. Many would b...Many viewers found the video amazing. Many would be surprised that Town Councils existed, and that planning questions might be discussed by neighbours. Tell us again. What is that precept about?<br /><br />So where they live, local people can chip in what they think?<br /><br />What is your optional spending again, Mark?Phil Beesleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18442987962398498812noreply@blogger.com