THE LATEST STRAW-POLL, conducted by this Blog over the course of Sunday and Monday, reveals that the vast majority of its readers are dissatisfied with Canvey Island Town Council and actively support its dissolution.
The poll was conducted after a number of readers wrote in to express their concerns over Cameron’s Big Society and querying the relevance of another administrative layer, paid for by residents, to distribute funds to local charities when islanders were perfectly able to support such organisations themselves.
‘I do not wish to write a blank cheque to the Town Council every year to see most of my money absorbed by outrageous overheads and see the balance distributed to organisations or projects that I do not necessarily support,’ says Mark.
And Judith is angered by the fact that the last Labour Government allowed Town and Parish Councils to be formed by a community’s minority. ‘It flies in the face of democracy,’ she says. ‘Why should the minority be given the power to mug all residents, each year, for an annual precept that is then frivolously spent on projects in which the majority do not benefit?’
Judith’s anger is shared by many.
Bill Sharp (Con, St James’) was accused by Dave Blackwell, back in October last year, of plotting to ‘wipe-out the Town Council’ at a recent full Castle Point Council meeting where the former queried the financial logic of having a third level of local government on Canvey Island; but this latest straw-poll suggests that the Conservative backbencher is much more in-touch with island opinion than its Canvey Island Independent Party leader.
In a side-panel to his May election leaflet, in which Mr Sharp will be standing against Dave Blackwell and John Anderson in the island’s Central Ward, Bill asks:-
- Do we really need a Town Council?
- Why should you need to pay £25 more per year than Mainland residents in Council Tax?
- Why do you need the extra expense of 11 Town Councillors?
- Why is 70% of your money spent in administrative costs?
- Why do the same two Town Councillors also represent you on the Borough Council at an additional cost?
Unfortunately, the previous Labour Government’s legislation does not make clear how residents might go about dissolving an unwanted Parish Council. And Blackwell’s strategy of taking-over Borough Council assets further complicates the constitutional problem.
Logic dictates that dissolving Canvey Island’s Town Council would require the co-operation of Borough and Town Councillors to unpick the arrangement of what are now Town Council assets and return them to Castle Point control. Then a joint resolution, put to both full councils, would need to be passed by both for any dissolution to take place.
It is likely to be a very costly affair – and strongly resisted by the CIIP at both Borough and Town Council level. Furthermore, some doubt exists as to whether mainland councillors would support a move to again take financial responsibility over costly island assets for which CIIP representatives have shown so much enthusiasm to manage themselves – especially when deep cuts are the order of the day.
The only way residents are likely to effect the demise of Canvey’s Town Council is at the polls on May 5th – by electing a majority of Town Council members whom share Bill Sharp’s views, and denying the opportunity for the CIIP to oppose a Town Council dissolution resolution in the Borough’s council chambers.
It has been uncharacteristically quiet on the political front for the past two weeks; but it looks as though that is about to change…
Bill Sharp in-Touch
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