Planning Application Decision

Rugby Borough Council has reached the following decision on a planning application that was submitted in January:

• High Tor, Shilton Lane, Shilton - use of land as a private gypsy caravan site, comprising five pitches, hardstanding and amenity block - refused.

The full decision on this application can be viewed here.

Business Campaign to Improve Village Broadband Speeds

I noticed this article in the May edition of 'Business Focus' included within last week's Rugby Advertiser newspaper.

Poor broadband speeds in our villages continue to be a barrier to all of us enjoying the full benefits of the internet, and anyone trying to do something about that deserves our support. Therefore, I would urge as many businesses and residents as possible in Shilton and Barnacle to complete the survey on the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce's website.

Companies feel the need for speed by Peter Ormerod

A Rugby businesswoman is leading a campaign for faster internet connections in the town and surrounding villages.

Leigh Hunt works as an e-business adviser for Warwickshire County Council and is helping a group of companies and local authorities put together a bid for high-speed broadband across the county. She is now calling on businesses to tell her how the current system is working - or not working.

Leigh said: "Superfast broadband is not just a luxury for businesses. It has become essential. It's impossible to overstate the massive benefit this would bring to the whole economy - especially in our more rural areas, which are currently at a disadvantage because of not being able to use everyday technologies. But we need to know exactly how the current system is working and how it is affecting business to prove that action is needed."

Leigh believes that, as an example, every business and household should be able to use the BBC's iPlayer without difficulty - something that's not the case at present.

She added: "That's a good benchmark and if we can get the entire sub-region up to speed it would bring huge economic benefits. Even in places like Shilton, businesses have problems.

The campaign is being waged on behalf of Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership, which includes councils in Coventry, Warwickshire and Solihull and the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce.

Businesses and individuals wishing to make known their views on the subject can complete a survey at the Chamber's website.

See www.cw-chamber.co.uk for more information.

It's particularly pleasing that the rural areas are recognised as suffering with poor broadband connection speeds, and even better that Shilton is specifically highlighted as an example.

Read more about this here.

Planning Application Decisions

Rugby Borough Council has reached the following decisions on planning applications that were submitted in March and April:

• 74 Wood Lane, Shilton - demolition of outbuildings, provision of a link between dwelling and converted garage, and provision of a replacement garage - approved.
• St Andrew's Church, Church Road, Shilton - retrospective permission for the removal of the lead roof and replacement with a stainless steel roof - approved.

The full decisions on these applications can be viewed here (Wood Lane) and here (Church Road).

Annual Parish Meeting - 18 May

On Wednesday night, I attended the Shilton Annual Parish Meeting, held at the Village Hall in Shilton. This is not strictly a parish council meeting, but gives the opportunity for community representatives to report back to local residents on how the past year has gone within their organisations, and to look forward to the year ahead.

Sadly, it has been my experience that these meetings are sparsely attended, and Wednesday was no different. At best, it could be argued that four members of the public turned up (in addition to the parish councillors and those other individuals that were submitting reports) - although three of the four were connected to the BASIS magazine themselves and the other person was the wife of the Chairman! Before next year's Annual Parish Meeting is held, I think some serious thought needs to be given as to what people might actually want from this meeting and how it might better engage their attention.

Still, for everyone who wanted to attend but couldn't for whatever reason, here's something new from my blog.

Ever since I attended the WALC Annual Seminar in March and sat in on the presentation given by Nick Booth from Podnosh, I've become interested in the idea of recording parish council meetings and posting them online for people to listen to at their convenience. I firmly believe that local residents would become more interested in what parish councils do if they knew more about the things that are discussed. And whilst I don't expect people to sit through hours of meetings in order to hear the one bit of information that they're interested in, there's no reason that I can see not to bring the meetings to people's own homes by way of an audio recording posted online.

When Shilton Parish Council discussed this idea earlier this year, it'd be fair to say that it did not receive universal support (the general view being closer to universal rejection!). But in fairness, there was the suggestion that the Annual Parish Meeting be recorded and posted online. And so here it is.

I've reproduced the agenda below, with timings indicating when each item can be heard, so I'd suggest you fast forward to the bits you're interested in. I must warn you not to expect crystal clear, DAB broadcast quality sound, but certainly most of what I listened to is reasonably clear and people's voices can be clearly heard.

And now a request from me. If you like the idea of being able to listen to future Shilton Parish Council meetings online, when it suits you how, where and when to listen, then you need speak out in favour of this in one of three ways. Click on the 'reactions' button at the bottom of this post to the one that most closely reflects your view, or leave a comment saying what you think. Alternatively, email the Clerk and tell her why you think all parish council meetings should be recorded. Email clerk-shiltonparish@hotmail.co.uk and let her know what you think.

The most likely way to get Shilton Parish Council to change its mind on this matter is to let us know that you, the Council Tax payers, want more meetings recorded and made available to listen to. So, it's up to you.

Anyway, enough of my party political broadcast. Time to 'enjoy' the 2011 Shilton Annual Parish Meeting:

Shilton Annual Parish Meeting 18 May 2011.mp3 (hold down CTRL when clicking on this link to open in a new window)

AGENDA
1. Welcome from Councillor Bill King (0:00:00)
2. Minutes of last year's Annual Parish Meeting (0:00:26)
3. Matters arising from the minutes (0:06:59)
4. County Councillor Phillip Morris-Jones' report (0:07:21)
5. Borough Councillor Tony Gillias' report (0:16:51)
6. Parish Council Chairman Bill King's report (0:41:39)
7. Shilton Playing Fields Committee's report (1:02:31)
8. Shilton Village Hall Committee's report (1:08:02)
9. Barnacle Village Hall Committee's report (1:09:40)
10. BASIS magazine editor's report (1:13:45)
11. Shilton and Ansty Trust report (1:26:15)
12. Any Other Business (1:31:10)

More on the Elections

Just a bit more information and a few thoughts from me on the local elections that were held earlier this month. I've totted up the Rugby Borough Council-wide vote totals to judge the relative strengths of the local parties compared to when these particular seats were last fought four years ago, and these are:

Conservative - 12,889 votes (46.2%, +1.0%)

Labour - 8,296 votes (29.7%, +4.0%)

Liberal Democrats - 4,522 votes (16.2%, -9.5%)

Green - 1,456 votes (5.2%, +2.2%)

Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition - 758 votes (2.7%)

In terms of the share of the vote, the losers on the night were the Liberal Democrats, although given their results across the country as a whole, I suspect they'll be relieved to have lost only one seat. Their share of the vote seems to have split one of three different ways: to Labour, the Greens or the new Trade Unionist & Socialist Coalition. The Conservatives will no doubt be pleasantly surprised to have increased their majority on the council (along with their share of the overall vote) despite pre-election predictions of widespread party losses.

At the local parish level, special mention must go, of course, to Birdingbury and Wolfhampcote parish councils for being the only two villages within the borough who generated enough candidates to require elections to be held (see here for more on this).

It was obviously a national problem, which the Daily Telegraph picked up on in a short piece entitled "Dibley Effect 'Hits Parish Councils'":

The BBC sitcom The Vicar of Dibley has been blamed for putting people off the idea of running for parish councils.

In a number of wards around the country, no candidates put their name forward in Thursday's elections, meaning vacant seats were uncontested.

No candidates stood in three wards of Forest Row Parish Council in East Sussex.

Rodabe Rudin, the clerk of the council, said "I think people are stuck with a Dibley-esque mentality when it comes to parish councils.

"They see parish councillors as powerless eccentrics like in The Vicar of Dibley. But that is outdated and untrue."

Across Rugby borough, 14 seats were left unfilled because not enough local people put their names forward. Parish councils will now need to try and co-opt individuals to come forward, a situation that I feel is never particularly satisfactory.

But for anyone thinking that the public at large aren't really interested in parish-level politics, consider this: the voter turnout in the two villages that did have parish council elections were 75% (Birdingbury) and 68% (Wolfhampcote). The highest turnout for the borough council elections was just 55% in Dunchurch & Knightlow ward, and only 35% of voters turned out in the New Bilton ward to elect their borough councillor.

Perhaps proof, if it were needed, that if only more local residents would consider standing for parish council elections, the voting public are more than willing to play their part in the process?

Rugby Borough Council Election and Referendum Results

Voting to elect 16 councillors to sit on Rugby Borough Council for the next four years took place yesterday, and after the votes were counted, the Conservatives were returned to the Town Hall with a slightly increased majority.

By the end of the night, the Conservatives had won nine seats (an increase of one), Labour had secured four seats (unchanged) and the Liberal Democrats three seats (down one). The overall balance of power for the next year will be:

• Conservative - 29 seats
• Labour - 11 seats
• Liberal Democrats - 8 seats

The Conservatives now have a majority of 10 over all other parties in the Council Chamber and retain the control of the council they've had since 2007.

There were no local elections this year in the Fosse ward, but the whole borough did get a chance to vote in the referendum on changing the voting system used to elect MPs to the House of Commons. Across Rugby borough, the vote was:

• Yes - 8,733 (27.0%)
• No - 23,574 (73.0%)

which turned out to be even more emphatic than the UK-wide result of Yes 31.7%, No 68.3%.

Planning Application Consultation

This week, a planning application has been submitted by:

• St Andrew's Church, Church Road, Shilton - retrospective permission for the removal of the lead roof and replacement with a stainless steel roof.

Full details of the application (including site plans) can be viewed here. All comments on the application must be received by Rugby Borough Council by Thursday 19 May.

Where have all the Parish Councillors Gone?

Birdingbury and Wolfhampcote aren’t normally places associated with being at the forefront of local democracy. But right now, the residents of these two villages can consider themselves to be showing the rest of Rugby borough the way it should be done. Next Thursday is election day. Not only is there the national referendum on electoral reform being held alongside elections for most wards on Rugby Borough Council (although not Fosse), but there are also elections for 104 parish councillors sitting on 16 different parish councils in the area.

Public voting for any level of government, national or local, only takes place if more people stand for election than there are vacancies. If there are enough vacant seats for everybody who puts their name forward, those people are elected automatically, without the need for anyone else to vote on the matter. It's called an uncontested election.

And whilst an uncontested election is never likely to happen again at a General Election (the last time being in 1951 in four seats in Northern Ireland), it is equally rare in local elections to Warwickshire County Council or Rugby Borough Council. Sadly, the same can’t be said for parish council elections.

That is why the residents of Birdingbury and Wolfhampcote deserve special recognition, because they are the only parishes holding elections this year where more residents have put themselves forward to sit on their local parish council than there are vacancies available. In the other 14 villages, there will be no need to have an election, because there’s an empty seat available for everyone who put their name forward – and with seats still going spare!

The 14 parishes – Binley Woods, Bourton & Draycote, Brandon & Bretford, Cawston, Dunchurch, Frankton, Grandborough, Leamington Hastings, Marton, Princethorpe, Ryton-on-Dunsmore, Stretton-on-Dunsmore, Thurlaston and Willoughby - have a combined 94 parish council vacancies, but only 80 people wanting to fill them.

So why don’t local residents want to become involved in their parish council?

Perhaps parish councils don’t publicise elections enough and nobody actually knows that they are being held until they turn up to vote on 5 May, only to be told that it's a done deal. It’s certainly true that an unscrupulous parish councillor can just keep their mouth shut about the upcoming elections, safe in the knowledge that the best way to get re-elected is by avoiding drawing public attention to the matter. Perhaps too many people still view their parish council as a joke and have no desire to get involved (although that view is self-defeating and will only perpetuate the status quo). Maybe people think that they're a toothless talking-shop, and whilst it’s true that you’re not going to be able to change the world as a parish councillor, there is more scope to influence things than you’d initially consider to be the case.

Take the money that's available as an example. The 80 parish councillors returned unopposed this year will, between them, have the responsibility and authority to spend over £330,000 of taxpayers’ money in the next 12 months on whatever they think their villages need. Whether you're elected unopposed or by a public vote, you have a four year term of office, so the lucky 80 councillors will now have over £1.3m at their disposal before they are required to stand for election again.

Dunchurch parish councillors will spend £70,000 this year, Stretton-on-Dunsmore and Ryton-on-Dunsmore will both spend around £53,000 each, and the parish councillors in Cawston will be spending over £50,000 during 2011/12. If any proof was needed of the topsy-turvy world of parish politics, eight residents in Wolfhampcote are fighting for five seats on their parish council (total annual budget £1,500!)

The next elections for Shilton Parish Council will be held in May 2012. At this stage I have no great confidence that enough people will put their names forward to force an election here either. I hope they do. By then, I'll have managed to be a parish councillor for six years without anyone having to say whether they actually want me in that role. Worse still, it's said that there's not been an election to the parish council in living memory.

If you are interested in what happens in your village (and I've met very few people who aren't) there's no better time to get involved. Budget cuts at national and local level, plus the challenges of the Big Society, mean that villages need people to speak up on their behalf and fight to keep vital services. New legislation will also mean parishes developing Neighbourhood Development Plans that will give them a greater say in planning applications affecting their area. Everybody sings the praises of localism, now we just need the people to make it a reality!

I hope more of us can take inspiration from the Birdingburys and Wolfhampcotes of this world.

Planning Applications Consultation and Decision

This week, a planning application has been submitted by:

• 74 Wood Lane, Shilton - demolition of outbuildings, provision of a link between dwelling and converted garage, and provision of a replacement garage.

Full details of the application (including site plans) can be viewed here. All comments on the application must be received by Rugby Borough Council by Tuesday 26 April.

Rugby Borough Council has also reached the following decision on a planning application submitted in December:

• Top Park, Top Road, Barnacle - retention of the use of land and ancillary operational development as a residential caravan site, including the erection of six temporary amenity blocks - refused.

The full decision on this application can be viewed here.

Time for a Bulkington Parish Council?

Have you been wondering what Bulkington Parish Council is doing in response to the proposals to close their village library? The answer's easy - it's doing nothing, because there is no such thing as a Bulkington Parish Council.

Despite the village having a distinct boundary and strong civic identity amongst its residents, there has not been a local council of any description around which issues affecting the village can be debated and problems solved since 1932. Just 15-odd miles to the south, the 7,500 people who live in Whitnash have their own town council with a £90,000 budget to look after their interests, whilst the 6,500 people of Bulkington have, well, nothing.

OK, to be fair they do have a county councillor (but who doesn't live there) and two borough councillors. But doesn't Bulkington need and deserve to have access to grassroots representatives who live amongst the people they represent, who hold public meetings locally and are accountable in a sense that someone who lives in Nuneaton and attends meetings in Warwick isn't?

It's not like Warwickshire County Council even holds a distinct Bulkington Community Forum for the people who live in the village, preferring instead to have a 'Whitestone & Bulkington' forum, as if a suburban housing estate in Nuneaton shares any of the issues and problems that a village community does.

Perhaps Bulkington doesn't want it's own council. Perhaps it thinks that the threatened library closure, the solutions to the traffic and parking problems in Chequer Street and Leicester Street, the bus services to Coventry that will be cut, and all the other issues that it will have to face up to in the coming years are best left to bureaucrats in other places, without the direct input and influence of people who have to adapt and live with the consequences of these decisions.

It's been nearly 80 years since the residents of Bulkington were served by their own local council. As the ideals of localism and civic self-responsibility come back into vogue, is it now time to ask again whether those residents can be better served with their own local parish council giving a louder voice to their interests, instead of forever being told by others what's good for them?

Over 200 new parish councils have been established across England in the last ten years, and the National Association of Local Councils' 'Power to the People' toolkit should be the first port of call for anyone who's interested in exploring this issue further.