This evening the new, fully manned (or should I say womaned), Parish Council met at last. It was refreshing to listen to a meeting that was not bogged down by undercurrents of tension. Well almost none. There was some friction between the Chair, Councillor Gregory, and Councillor Chris Richards. Clearly Chris was uneasy about the manner Nicky Gregory is hanging on to the position of Chair and some decisions made in a closed-to-the-public meeting. I hope the new councillors noticed that Nicky hastened to shut him up on two occasions. What he did manage to get though is very worrying. I noted that he told the Chair that he was not happy with “How things were agreed”.
It is wrong, wrong, wrong, that Nicky is still the Chair for many reasons. Some of which were listed by Mrs. Eileen Mckechnie from the public gallery. I left the previous meeting with the clear impression that she accepted the position as an interim measure - just until the new councillors are in. I was surprised and annoyed to find out that she pulled a ‘Marion Clayton’ – she used crafty wording that sounds good but conceals the real intention. Now she sais she’ll stay on until the new councillors learn how to be ones. Sounds reasonable no? NO! After each election you get inexperienced councillors but they do elect a Chair at the first meeting where the continuity of knowledge and correct procedure is ensured through the guidance of the Parish Clerk. Having heard the discussions today it is clear there are councillors that can take up the challenge of Chairship. Moreover, Councillor Gregory thought they were all experienced enough to vote for almost £5000 ponds to be spent on a vehicle activated sign.
But that is nothing compared to how infuriated I felt when Councillor Richards quoted a decision made behind closed doors to send a letter to a parishioner to ”apologize for causing unnecessary distress”!!!! If that is to whom I think it is, it means that they have taken a side on the “Mrs. Green Affair” just before they declared an independent investigator is going to look into it. They are saying that the councillors that resigned and the Parish Clerk were wrong without waiting for the investigation. As it happens I believe they were protecting the interests of the people of Wendover.
So! Good luck to the new councillors. I can’t resist a direct plea to the councillors:
1. Don’t wait for the investigation and do not draw all your knowledge about the “Green Affair” and its impact from a one sided presentation a “management meeting” would be.
2. Please, Please, Please spare me the agony of watching Councillor Balantine presenting the planning applications. Today she stepped well out of the mark with her comment about one of the applicants who to her opinion “can’t be trusted.”
3. If you manage to clear the “Green Affair” you seem like a bunch that could do good for Wendover – onwards and upwards.
P.S.
I am in total support of the Vehicle Activate Sign that Councillor Worth is campaigning for. He mentioned a very interesting statistic: in a recent survey done on the London Road the average speed was about 45 MPH. I also think that AVDC Councillor McPartland made a lot of sense with his suggestion that the Parish Council establish a police liaison group.
You see not all is bad.
