Letter just sent to the Sentinel in response to Cllr Garner and Days disparaging comments concerning the town council campaign. Labour Cllrs Martin Garners and Neil Days attempts at belittling Fenton residents campaign for a town council were as pathetic as they could have been, serving only to underline their own incompetence, lack of understanding of the issues, and bolster the campaigners case. After three years of residents having to fight for a degree of autonomy in the form of a town council in a city with a serious democratic deficit, and within a country containing 10,000 serving 16 million people, I am personally astounded that the submission has produced such consternation amongst our elected and unelected representatives. This feeling is only heightened by the fact that many of them reside in the leafy parishes surrounding Stoke-on-Trent and should be familiar with the workings of this lowest tier of local government. A leadership in Stoke-on-Trent that doesnt support town councils in todays world displays a staggering degree of stupidity in its misreading of public feeling round the city, but also a fundamental lack of understanding of basic social economics. However, true to form, Stoke-on-Trent city councillors send out a message to residents that they should be grateful for what they have in a city where abandonment and neglect is seen as a daily part of life. The allusion Cllrs Garner and Day radiate is that we should bow down to their approval of a Governance Review; of course they neglect to mention that the review was a mandatory requirement following validation of the petition. After all the gratitude and shows of appreciation, I would ask the residents of Stoke-on-Trent to please remember that in many areas round the country many imaginative, forward looking local authorities are realising that parish and town councils are a significant mechanism in the avoidance of bankruptcy and political suicide. Thats right, there was no need for activists in Fenton spending all this time and energy having to raise these signatures. It may be that after the Governance Review takes place the answer will be a NO and that therell be a magnanimous offer from the local authority for the residents to form an area committee - a posh version of a Community Association. It could be from initial rhetoric theyre already trying to stuff the words into the campaigners mouths. I would argue this is NOT what the people of Fenton, or the people of Stoke-on-Trent for that matter, need. Town councils can achieve far more in terms of accessing their own regeneration funding streams and they involve real devolvement of power, a club where each and every resident has a vested interest in the regeneration of their neighbourhood. It may be that the answer will be a YES and that the authority were planning to establish them all along... Alan Gerrard
Posted on: Mon, 12 May 2014 08:36:01 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015