Bid to have Great Coates parish council abolished is turned down
DEMOCRACY in Grimsby is dead.
That was the reaction from disgruntled Great Coates residents after their bid to have their parish council abolished was rejected.
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Disappointed: Members of Great Coates Residents' Association, from left, Steve Souter-Smith, Mike Stewart, Shaney Thomas, Danny Prest, Raymond Lawrance and Neil Wherritt, at the meeting.
North East Lincolnshire Council last night voted to save the village council, despite a 700- signature petition calling for it to be axed.
However, the parish council was warned that "business as usual is not an option" and that failure to change its ways would trigger another review which could lead to abolition.
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At a special full council meeting at Grimsby Town Hall, councillors voted to accept the recommendations set out by a select committee last month.
They include that the parish council should be retained, but that it should carry out a review of its activities and report on a quarterly basis to NELC's policy, performance and resources scrutiny panel.
Councillor Ray Sutton (Lab, Freshney), chairman of the scrutiny panel, told the meeting that "the extent to which abolition was considered should not be underestimated", and that there had been "a lack of transparency" within the parish council.
But he added that even if it had been scrapped, the cost of the controversial village hall project which triggered the petition would still have fallen on the villagers.
Councillor Terry Thurogood (Lab, Croft Baker), chairman of the select committee, said: "Although we didn't go for the nuclear option of abolishing the parish council, business as usual is not an option."
Council leader Chris Shaw (Lab, Sidney Sussex) said: "We need to make it crystal clear to Great Coates Parish Council failure to comply with the recommendations will trigger another review. This council is not going to go away, but if they don't toe the line and do what has been requested, they may well do so."
However, speaking after the meeting, Ray Lawrance, chairman of the Great Coates Residents' Association, expressed his disillusionment with the outcome.
He said: "Of course it is what we expected, but the really disappointing thing is that even though the councillors have been quite scathing about the parish council not one of them had the courage of their convictions to get up and support dissolution. If this is democracy, I'm afraid democracy in Grimsby is dead."
Nicola Maasdam, the chairman of the village council, said: "We are very pleased with the outcome. I think it is a good thing for the village to have a parish council and we look forward to working on the recommendations. I accept that our communication could at times have been better but I don't accept that we haven't been transparent. We do all our business in the meetings."
Comments
by lawrence61
Tuesday, January 22 2013, 3:13PM
“There are three vacancies on the council? Is that correct?
In that case I expect to see on here next month lots of complainers telling us how they went along to the next council meeting and tried to get a place on the council only to be told they couldnt because they were too-----Whatever, fill the blanks.
However, if you dont go and try to bag a position I will believe that you are all just a bunch of whingers who once the stadium fiasco was blown out of the water had nothing else to winge about and this came up just in time to give yourselves something to fill your days. Please prove me wrong and show us that you really are looking out for the best interests of your village and put your money where your mouth is and STAND FOR COUNCIL! Else please just give it a rest and let those who bother to do the job get on with it.”
by chimchereeGC
Tuesday, January 22 2013, 2:44PM
“Wherejustice, there are now 3 vacancies within the council so you have no excuse not to go on there! I shall be going for one of the spots so ill see you at the next meeting then? Or were you making that bit up about trying to get on the council? Not sure what autism has to do with it but I think you are probably "special" enough for the job. Or maybe a little too "special". Bless.”
by Malcolm_Ex
Tuesday, January 22 2013, 1:47PM
“You are a microcosm of everything that is wrong with this country. YOU are happy with it, so up yours to the majority.
Make the most of the village hall, because once running costs are factored in, it won't be too long before it's boarded up due to lack of funds.”
by chimchereeGC
Tuesday, January 22 2013, 12:37PM
“Well, its done so tug your hair all you like. I personally cant wait for it to open because I like socialising! Its a sad world we live in where people prefer interacting via a computer than meeting in real life which is what this is about. No amount of poring over pages of documents is going to make you feel better or stop this happening. Its happening get over it. Ill bet youll be one of the "cut off your nose to spite your face" brigade who wont come near the place! Good I say to that!”
by Malcolm_Ex
Tuesday, January 22 2013, 11:52AM
“Resorting to name calling, Iwantahall? Oh dear.”
by Malcolm_Ex
Tuesday, January 22 2013, 11:48AM
“35% for some residents! Or don't they count? Let's just reiterate the facts here, shall we?
First ballot: 151 votes cast. 24 votes (16%) FOR new village hall, 127 AGAINST (84%)
Second Ballot: 464 votes cast.87 votes (19%) FOR new village hall, 377 AGAINST (81%)
Not really very close, is it?
So, what we have is small minority who don't give two figs about the rest of the village, who think they know best, who think it's ok to force people to pay for something they don't want. That is not the role of a Parish Council.
Then we have the figures. The Parish Council needed to find an extra £15,000 a year to make the loan repayments. They have increased the precept to raise £5000. That leaves £10,000. Where is that £10,000 coming from? That is 50% of last years budget? Are the Parish Council saying they set the precept too high? Are they saying they deliberately set the precept too high because they had already decided that this was happening and wanted to squirrel away some money to pay for it? What about next years precept? Another increase?”
by chimchereeGC
Tuesday, January 22 2013, 11:35AM
“There was a comment on here earlier about the chair of grass once being a councillor and then kicked out for being a very naughty boy! Is this true? Makes me realise why he is against the council then.
Get the hall built, get the kids to use it, get the OAPs in, have some form of entertainment in the evenings and lets get our village to meet and get to know one another again. Those who dont like it can stay away. I bet they try and hire the hall though when it suits them!”
by Iwantahall
Tuesday, January 22 2013, 11:26AM
“And it must be said it is Herman Munster and his Grassites that have drawn a divide in the village, no one else.”
by Iwantahall
Tuesday, January 22 2013, 11:24AM
“Malcolm ex, please enagage your narrowminded brain cell before switching on your pc please.
Your links show you are wrong in your 35% increase rant. Read them and you will see 25%.
Also, as you seem to know so much about local tier government you would know that the minutes are not published until after they have been verified at the next full council meeting. So to make that more simple for you and completely clear, they will be published after the NEXT meeting. Get it??”
by Malcolm_Ex
Tuesday, January 22 2013, 10:10AM
“GCBWZ - If the majority of people were in favour of paying hundreds of thousands of pounds for a village hall, then yes, I would agree with you. However, an overwhelming majority showed they didn't want it. Why did the Parish Council respect the wishes of residents after the first lower turn out vote, then completely ignore the much higher turn out vote? Why did the Parish Council rush through the signing of the agreement before the council review?
It's all very, very undemocratic. Whatever happens in the future that hall will be a financial millstone around the neck of the Village. At the moment ANY increase in taxes is highly unwelcome, especially with the scrapping of council tax benefit. This could have been handled so much better, but the arrogance of the Parish Council has created an us and them split. It is even more galling that most of the decision making is coming from the unelected clerk.”