Topic: A statement issued by the town council

[Shizzy]

This is a direct copy from a post on the community forum. It is a public statement from the council so see no issue with copying it in its entirety. I also think it is worthy of posting here a over recent days MCM has made a few posts attacking previous council members and then removing them before or when comments are made.

The tone of the statement is clearly an attack on the conservative party and many of the points are views that MCM has publicly aired in the past. Rather than a coucnil statement I think it's a statement by MCM or at least heavily influenced by him.



Westbury town council is issuing this statement in response to some misleading  statements that have been made recently in the local press.
we wish to reassure local people that this council is in great shape , continues to address relevant local issues and is continuing to Improve in many ways by pointing out the following FACTS.

1. At the last ordinary town council elections in May 2007 , 10 of the 16 council seats were won by the conservative party. council meetings were often dominated by an adversarial form of party politics and sharp disagreements on policy.

2. Since may 2007, 8 of the original 10 conservative town councillors have resigned from the town council for a wide range of reasons and the other 2 have simply left the party to become Independent.

3. The main reason why the council has had a large number of by-elections or co-options in recent years is that the councillors elected as conservatives keep on leaving, Indeed , It is worth recognising that the 3 current conservative councillors joined this council either by co-option or in a recent by-election and the 2 who won a recent by-election have already left the town to live in Warminster.

4. The council now benefits from a generally more friendly form of consensus politics .
Key reason is the fact that one party no longer tries to dominate the council or to put down motions already decided by their group members before the council meeting.

5.The Mayor and Town clerk are actively looking at ways to ensure that minor and administration issues are dealt with quickly, whilst still recognising the right of any councillor to question and challenge any point- whether they re Independent or members of a political party.

6. Year by year , the town council continues to improve the way it functions and the range and quality of services and events it provides for the benefit of the town. This has been achieved by building on the previous good work done by the council and staff and also through Improvements to the way councillors and staff work together. For example , we now have more working groups considering in depth a greater variety of Issues before they come to full council debates and we now employ a professional project officer/ manager to provide advice and professional leadership on our major or more complex projects.

7. It is the Conservative cabinet at county hall that has cancelled funds for several capital improvements in Westbury and who have threatened to close the swimming pool and Leighton sports centre, if they can not find someone else to run and fund these facilities.

8. It is the Conservative cabinet at county hall that has Imposed ridiculous car parking charges on our town centre car parks. They even prevented the town council from paying a subsidy to retain the free parking for 1 hour and so removed all the relevant free parking in April this year.

[Al]

If that is an official state,ent from the Town Council then I am greatly saddened. The TC should not, as a body, be involving itself in petty political back biting. I appreciate that a few on the TC seem only to be there to satisfy their egos, and thus this kind of petty snipping is to be expected, but I would hope that the TC as a whole would rise up above it.

[Shizzy]

Totally agree Al, I think rather than clearing up any misleading statements it raises more questions about the goings on in the TC. Like you said I find it sad, as this continuous back biting means less time is then spent addressing the serious issues.

I can understand why Mike Hawkins decided enough was enough.

[Shizzy]

A question for Baldy. When it is proposed to issue a statement  on behalf of the Town Council is this voted on before the statement is issued?

[baldy]

I wrote this statement by myself.
 
I proposed and several councillors attempted to second it. I think Mike C-M got there first, so he was the official seconder.
 
The statement was debated at length.
 
The final vote was 3 for and 2 against with the vast majority abstaining (because they wanted the statement to succeed but did not want to be seen actually voting it through).
 
The reason for the strong criticism of the Conservative party is because it is their members who have made the recent unreasonable criticism in the White Horse News about most of the town council, and it deserves a full and strong response.
 
The statement is in the hands of the press.
 
The Conservatives in Westbury can now be seen in their true colours  ..........

[baldy]

Here is the full statement with correct/ original formatting:
 
 
Westbury Town Council is issuing this statement in response to some misleading statements that have been made recently in the local press. We wish to reassure local people that this council is in great shape, continues to address relevant local issues and is continuing to improve in many ways, by pointing out the following FACTS:


1.      At the last ordinary town council elections in May 2007, 10 of the 16 council seats were won by the Conservative party. Council meetings were often dominated by an adversarial form of party politics and sharp disagreements on policy.
2.      Since May 2007, 8 of the original 10 Conservative town councillors have resigned from the council for a wide range of reasons and the other 2 have simply left the party to become Independent.
3.      The main reason why the council has had a large number of by-elections or co-options in recent years is that the councillors elected as Conservatives keep leaving. Indeed, it is worth recognising that the 3 current Conservative councillors joined this council either by co-option or in a recent by-election and the 2 who won a recent by-election have already left the town to live in Warminster.
4.      The council now benefits from a generally more friendly form of consensus politics. A key reason is the fact that one party no longer tries to dominate the council or to put down motions already decided by their group members before the council meeting.
5.      The Mayor and Town Clerk are actively looking at ways to ensure that minor and administration issues are dealt with quickly, whilst still recognising the right of any councillor to question and challenge any point – whether they are Independent or members of political parties.
6.      Year by year, the town council continues to improve the way it functions and the range and quality of services and events it provides for the benefit of the town. This has been achieved by building on the previous good work done by the council and staff and also through improvements to the way councillors and staff work together. For example, we now have more working groups considering in depth a greater variety of issues before they come to full town council debates and we now employ a professional project officer/manager to provide advice and professional leadership on our major or more complex projects.
7.      It is the Conservative cabinet at County Hall that has cancelled funds for several capital improvement projects in Westbury and who have threatened to close the swimming pool and Leighton Sports Centre, if they cannot find someone else to run and fund these facilities.
8.      It is the Conservative cabinet at County Hall that has imposed ridiculous car parking charges on our town centre car parks. They even prevented the town council from paying a subsidy to retain the free parking for 1 hour and so removed all the relevant free parking in April this year.
 

[Shizzy]

The final vote was 3 for and 2 against with the vast majority abstaining (because they wanted the statement to succeed but did not want to be seen actually voting it through).

Hardly a ringing endorsement.

the vast majority abstaining (because they wanted the statement to succeed but did not want to be seen actually voting it through).

Did they tell you this or is it an assumption?

[baldy]

Shizzy
 
I've been a councillor for 9 years and so I do know why councillors abstain most of the time.
 
Sometimes they abstain because they don't really mind which way a matter goes or because they have been told by their party not to vote or because they don't understand a matter.
 
However, this time it was obvious from the debate that most councillors supported much of the statement.
 
 
The fact is that the resolution was passed.

[Shizzy]

Shizzy
 
I've been a councillor for 9 years and so I do know why councillors abstain most of the time.
 
Sometimes they abstain because they don't really mind which way a matter goes or because they have been told by their party not to vote or because thay don't understand a matter.
 
However, this time it was obvious from the debate that most councillors supported much of the statement.
 
 
The fact is that the resolution was passed.

An assumption then.

To be honest I am now beginning to get tired of the Independents behaviour, I used to think it was a good idea to have independents on the council free from party politics. I think I will give them a wide berth come election time.

[Shizzy]

I wrote this statement by myself.

I guessed it hadn't been written by MCM

[baldy]

Shizzy
 
I've been a councillor for 9 years and so I do know why councillors abstain most of the time.
 
Sometimes they abstain because they don't really mind which way a matter goes or because they have been told by their party not to vote or because thay don't understand a matter.
 
However, this time it was obvious from the debate that most councillors supported much of the statement.
 
 
The fact is that the resolution was passed.

An assumption then.

To be honest I am now beginning to get tired of the Independents behaviour, I used to think it was a good idea to have independents on the council free from party politics. I think I will give them a wide berth come election time.

 
I would expect a Conservative supporter to say exactly this.
 
I don't know what your usual political views are, but I think most people will absorb the whole picture when they see the whole story unfold in the press.
 
I'm sure there will be much more of this to come.
 
The Conservatives started this stir ....... and I for one will respond to rebut their lies and misleading claims.....

[Shizzy]

Another assumption Baldy, which in this case is wrong. I have nearly always voted Independent at a local level.

[Al]

The conservatives can now be seen for their true colours? Perhaps, but the Independents can now be seen for theirs too, and I for one don't like it.

Russell, can you tell use the 3 people that voted for, and the 2 against? I'd like to know so I can vote accordingly myself come the next election.

[baldy]

Al
 
You are responding to only part of the story.
 
All will become clear over the next few weeks.
 
I am not going to spell it all out here as a lot of different events will be happening over the next few weeks and each one will need to be handled differently and according to the nonsense stirred up by Conservatives and their supporters.

[Al]

Al
 
You are responding to only part of the story.

I am responding to what I know. That is all anyone can ever do.