WARD COUNCILLOR John Dennis has hit out at a decision made by a Hedon Town Council committee to play no part in the consultation process on proposed boundary changes.
The Boundary Commission for England has proposed that Hedon and the wider South West Holderness Ward is included in the Kingston Upon Hull East constituency for Parliamentary elections from 2015 (when the next General Election will be held).
Councillor Dennis, who is also a Hedon Town Councillor, had tabled an item for discussion on the boundary changes at the Town Council’s Finance & General Purposes Committee last month. He takes up the story in his own comments:
“I had asked for the matter to be discussed in committee on 22nd. September at the Hedon Town Council and I e-mailed members with my thoughts before the meeting as I was unable to attend that evening due to being away on holiday.
Upon my return I am told, to my absolute amazement, that Hedon Town Council has made a decision NOT to become involved in the consultation process! I think it my duty to make the residents of the town and the surrounding villages aware of this.”
The matter is considered ‘too political’ for the Hedon Town Council to become involved in. But Councillor Dennis disagrees:
“This, to me, is not a party political matter, it is wholly a COMMUNITY issue; it’s about whether the residents of this Ward, which comprises entirely rural communities, would be disadvantaged by being lumped together with the entirely urban wards within the city of Hull…”
The Councillor has urged people to get involved in the consultation generally, but also to contact the Town Council with their views on the issue:
“I urge residents to make representations to the Town Hall without delay. A response to this Blog item, a letter to the Town Clerk or an email through me will suffice. The Town Council cannot re-visit their decision for 6 months unless new information comes to light. Perhaps demands from a significant number of the people who voted for them will count as ‘new information’. The consultation process ends in early December, so please act now and ask your family and friends to do so too.”
Councillor John Dennis has submitted his views in response to an article published yesterday. His comments can be viewed in full at HU12, visit: Boundary Changes – “Is Hedon Town Council letting its residents down?
Link: Contact your Councillors
ON READING Councillor John Dennis’s disclosure of a Hedon Town Council committee decision not to get involved in the Consultation Process on The Proposed Boundary changes, I think I was as amazed as him. Do Hedon Town Council know something that the general public of Hedon and District don’t ?
Strange that an elected Council do not appear to be concerned about the possible demise of all that is good about this area.
As I see it, the decision is nothing short of a surrender, we all know what happens when you sit back and do nothing, The acceptance of The Yorkshire Water Treatment site being a prime example, it should never have been allowed in the first place, Also, what would have happened if a group of interested people had not joined HOTI and fought for what they believed in!..
I appreciate that change happens, things do not stand still, but do not change systems just for the sake of it, and be of no possible benefit to us, as it appears to be the case in this instance.
It would be more sensible to even electorate numbers up by changing local government wards within the existing City boundaries than the proposal to reduce the electoral disparity between constituencies when and where totally different issues arise.
ln our case the proposal is nothing short of legalised land grabbing for an authority to fulfil expansion plans, when that authority finds great difficulty in successfully managing their own affairs, and the proposal should be dealt with accordingly.
lf Hedon Town Councillors do not get involved, Now, they may as well forget the nine hundred years of history, put the Towns Silver in a wheelbarrow and take it to the Hull Guildhall, as Hull City Council will have received everything else for free…
BY Jim Uney
GERIATRIC JOINER AND RESIDENT OF SOUTH-HOLDERNESS FOR EIGHTY YEARS.
I agree. The town council misunderstands the process. The process is not political, and if the town council or anybody in Hedon wants to express an opinion on the Boundary Commission’s proposals they are free to do so. The Commission welcomes emails at yorkshumber@bcommengland.x.gsi.gov.uk
Best wishes, Adrian
http://ukelect.wordpress.com/2011/10/19/humberside/