The Annual Alderley Edge Parish Meeting was disrupted by a group of local residents who were determined to have their say.
About twenty members of the public attended last night's Annual Parish Meeting, which was not a council meeting but a meeting for the residents - providing an opportunity for the electorate to learn what the Parish Council has been doing on their behalf for the past year and raise local issues which are important to them.
As usual the meeting began with a series of annual reports from councillors but they were repeatedly interrupted by several members of the public who were frustrated with the format of the meeting.
At one point three members of the public joined councillors at their table, they were asked several times to move away from the table but remained seated.
Local resident Claire Macleod said "I would have hoped that the Chairman of this meeting would have looked in to the details of exactly how this meeting should have been formed."
Cllr Mike Williamson, Chairman of Alderley Edge Parish Council, replied "I wasn't anticipating that how we have done it for the last 15 years was going to be a problem."
Claire MacLeod responded "You're claiming ignorance which is very disappointing given how many people have turned up tonight."
At times the conversation became quite heated with people talking over one another, raising their voices and repeatedly reminding councillors that it was not a Parish Council meeting but a meeting for the residents.
Margaret Melrose, who was a councillor for 34 years, twice Chairman of Cheshire County Council and fought tirelessly for the construction of the bypass which is named in her honour, was amongst the local residents who interrupted proceedings to remind councillors "this is the annual meeting of the parish".
Cllr Mike Williamson said "This evening you will have to bear with us, we will continue to run this meeting as we have always run it, otherwise we are not going to get anything done. We will then listen to what you want."
Speaking after all the reports had been delivered, John Tomlinson said "I believe there is something of a democratic deficit in the parish. Your standing orders do not give us the right to speak, make statements or ask questions. Neighbouring areas make such provisions, they all provide opportunities for the public to speak and ask questions.
Mr Tomlinson added "Local parish councils: Adlington, Chelford, Chorley, Great Warford, Handforth, Mobberley, Mottram St Andrew, Nether Alderley, Over Alderley, Prestbury, and Styal – all have opportunities for public speaking at start, end or both of formal meetings and where they have them, for committees too."
Whilst residents are not able to mandate the Parish Council, John Tomlinson did put the following motion before the Alderley Edge Annual Parish Meeting:
"This meeting requests that at its meeting in June 2012 Alderley Edge Parish Council amend its standing orders to provide for public speaking at all meetings of the Council and of its committees.
"The standing orders should allow up to 20 minutes at the start of each meeting for members of the public to make statements and ask questions of the Council or committee on any matter within the remit of that body, with the exception of the Planning Committee.
"For the Planning Committee up to 5 minutes should be allowed per application considered, the public speaking to be timetabled immediately prior to the committees consideration of the relevant application."
Cllr Mike Williamson said "The Parish Council has already agreed to allow public speaking we just haven't changed the standing orders yet which we will be a job for the new council".*
Speaking about the planning meetings, Cllr Frank Keegan said "It is wrong to move a limit of 5 minutes because it often takes people a lot longer time to focus on the issues involved."
A modified resolution (replacing 5 minutes with as long as it takes) was adopted, with the Parish Council agreeing to accept the spirit of the resolution which will form part of their debate when they come to rewrite their standing orders.
Given it could take longer than a month to rewrite the standing orders, as public speaking is only one element of the Parish Council's review, Mike Williamson proposed that twenty minutes for public speaking be added to next month's agenda as a temporary measure whilst they have the chance to agree what the Parish Council want to do.
Cllr Joseph Bergin said "I wouldn't want to prescribe to it in the way it is being described as it will make our meetings less effective. It won't work."
Commenting on the motion, Cllr Nigel Schofield said "We should use our appropriate judgement at the time as this will make it too clinical."
Cllr Mike Williamson said "We have established the principle that we are going to allow it so we will try it and see if it works, and if it doesn't we will change it."
Speaking at the end of the meeting Cllr Mary Maczkowiak said "I felt extremely uncomfortable and pressurised, this is not why I joined the Parish Council. I was not happy with the nastiness and vindictiveness tonight. I would like that noted."
As I previously mentioned public participation is an item on the agenda of every Wilmslow Town Council, Prestbury Parish Council and Knutsford Town Council meeting, along with many neighbouring areas. It is not a debate, or in many cases a two way conversation. From my experience at other meetings, councillors will answers any questions raised as and when they choose, or have the appropriate information - on many occasions they will agree to respond at a later date, but it does mean that any resident can attend the meeting and address local issues of concern which will be minuted and if appropriate acted upon.
*At the Annual Parish Council Meeting, which followed the Annual Parish Meeting, the Chairman and Vice-Chairman were elected for the coming year. Cllr Mike Williamson will continue as Chairman and Cllr Matthew Lloyd will continue as Vice-Chairman for the third consecutive year.
Comments
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I am pleased that we, the public, were given an opportunity to express ourselves and I am optimistic that, as a result, in the future, residents will be given further opportunity to ask questions and represent themselves to the Parish Council, in a fair and reasonable manner. There is never any excuse for residents, or indeed councillors, to speak disrespectfully to one another, or exhibit 'nastiness', simply because views differ - no matter how passionate one might feel about the issue at hand. As an elected local politician, however, one must reasonably expect that some decisions may be questioned or challenged. Surely, this is the democratic system that we all cherish, at its colourful best.
I suspect the next election will be challenged as we don't have any other choice.
At a Parish Council meeting councillors set the agenda, do all the essential talking and sit at the horseshoe-shaped "Council table". The public is allowed to attend but has no statutory right to speak and sits on chairs outside the horseshoe.
The Parish Meeting is different. It is a meeting for the electors of the parish, where they can set the agenda, are statutorily allowed to speak and to move resolutions. The Chair of the Parish Council chairs the Parish Meeting and the Clerk of the Parish Council takes notes. But other parish councillors are no different from other members of the public – if they are electors of the parish they may speak and vote on resolutions; if they are not electors, they may speak but have no vote.
On arrival in the Council chamber for the start of the Annual Parish Meeting councillors sat in their usual seats around the horseshoe table, while other electors sat in the seats provided for the public at Parish Council meetings. Before the meeting started I spoke privately to the chairman. I drew his attention to the inappropriate seating arrangements which implied that this was a meeting of the Parish Council, which it was not. He declined to take any action on the seating.
As the meeting progressed the chairman repeatedly referred to it as a Parish Council meeting. I corrected him, relying upon advice I had from the Chief Officer of the Cheshire Association of Local Councils. Eventually, wishing to demonstrate that, in this meeting, we as electors had every bit as much right to sit at the horseshoe table as other electors who were also councillors, three of us moved to sit at that table. This excited the wrath of some, uncomprehending councillors.
We did not seek to disrupt the meeting, but rather to have a Parish Meeting as prescribed by the 1972 Local Government Act. In the end all those who wished to speak were permitted to, and I was allowed to move a resolution and have it voted upon.
National guidance on such meetings recommends holding the Annual Parish Meeting and the Annual meeting of the Parish Council on separate occasions to avoid this type of confusion. I hope we can follow that pattern next year and that the chair of the 2013 Annual Parish Meeting will be better prepared.