I attended a meeting last night of the Headland Parish Council. I hadn't been to one of these meetings for several months but judging by what went on last night I hadn't missed much.
Discussions about dog mess and litter bins were topped by a heated debate on the colour of lights on the Christmas Tree. One Parish Councilor bitterly denouncing the "blue and white" lights and claiming everyone she spoke to hated them and wanted coloured bulbs. Another Councilor said people he spoke to liked the blue and white as they were fresh and clean, very modern looking. Modern Looking! He might as well have gone into St.Hilda's Church and spat in the font!
To pass the time I tried to put the people there (less than a dozen including the Parish Councilors themselves) into some sort of hierarchy of who detested me the most. Ranging from would like to dance on my grave, through wouldn't pee on me if I was on fire, to mildly contemptuous down to didn't have a clue who I was. I didn't make the mistake of assuming anyone there actually liked me!
The discussion then went onto Parking problems on the Headland. A subject which generates considerable correspondence to me as a local councilor and which I once even made the mistake of trying to do something about! I am not short of enemies on the Headland, (I sometimes think the candidate that gets elected on the Headland is not the one with the most supporters but is in fact the one with the fewest enemies). Putting my head above the parapet on the parking issue has probably made me more enemies than everything else I've ever done combined. I wish the Parish Council Chairman ever success in his efforts to sort out the problem!
The Parish Financial report was presented and on the 31st January they had £11,281.73 in the bank an will be adding another £8,000 from the Parish Precept this year (up from £6,000 last year). Not exactly sure what they plan to spend this money on? Talk about spending £2,000 on Christmas lights was included in the previous discussions on the colour of the bulbs but in the six month period July 31st 2008 to January 31st 2009 the Parish Council bank balance has run at a positive balance of over £11,000. Credit Crunch, what Credit Crunch?
Here's a question for u Steve. Do you think Parish Councils are worth it? Do they add to a community? What do you think the balance is between local representation and the cost effectiveness of the body in question? To take it one step further, look at the dispanding of the districts in Durham to have one over-arching unitary body. Is this better? Do you think this is fortelling of what will happen in "tees valley"? Lot in there, but worth a discussion.
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