This will be a fairly short parish update but the limited issues it will address are very important for our future safety and democratic representation. Both their urgency and importance have prompted me, for the first time, to call an extraordinary parish meeting for the purpose of allowing a full debate about the issues referred to here and I would urge you to attend if you can. The meeting will be at the parish hall in Hoe on Monday 10th December. The doors will open at 6.45pm for refreshments and a chat before the meeting gets underway at 7.15pm.
I have now chaired the parish meeting for something like eleven years and during that time I have endeavoured to ensure it has provided for all of our residents a forum for open debate, which operates lawfully, transparently, accountably, fairly and efficiently. Occasionally that has been very challenging but on the whole it has proved rewarding and consistent with my expectation that I would be able to provide a useful service to the community within which I live. I will not be able to continue however and will not be putting my name forward for election as chairman again at the AGM in May next year. I will of course be available to offer every support I can to the person who takes on the role after me and I wish to ensure at an early stage there is a clear system of support in place when the chairman needs it. That system does not exist at the moment and I am asking for your support now.
The parish has consistently stated that our democratic representation should be expressed in the form of a parish meeting rather than a parish council and there is a legal requirement that the meeting elects a chairman. The issue of who he or she will be will be discussed and decided at the AGM but I am hoping on Monday we can settle how to offer backup and a solid mandate of support for whatever parish issues our chairman has to deal with both in the future and the present.
There are currently a number of things that I must do my best to resolve before handing things over and they include what further action the parish wants to be taken regarding the possibility of 10,000 new homes on our doorstep, what we should do where we have received misinformation on other matters and the continued threat to the lives and wellbeing of some of our residents. With regard to this last issue the desperation of those residents is something that could become a feature of the lives of any of us and we are entitled to expect the parish meeting to strive to help in any way it can. We should also have every confidence that where necessary our elected councillors will also work and campaign on our behalf but that has not been the experience of recent months and if we wish to resolve that we will have to agree what the parish should do.
I have made it clear in messages that have been ignored that local democracy is seen as being in a parlous state and that the needs of our small communities are not being met. Much more effort has been given to silencing me than listening to me and there is clearly concern to prevent an open debate about urgent issues that threaten people’s lives. That debate will take place at the meeting on Monday, when we will discuss how we can ensure that despite being small in size our voice is heard and I will put that immediately into practice when I represent you at a meeting on Tuesday.
Trevor Wood, chairman Hoe and Worthing. Tel. 860326 email woodumail@btineternet.com