August 23, 2017 in News
So what am I talking about? Well there has been ongoing discussion about the closure of the public toilets across the district. RDC wants to save money (again) and this time it's eyed up the public toilets as a means to save a penny. However, not only have they eyed up the toilets as a means to save money, they've also been eyeing up the Parish Councils budgets!
Transferring the maintenance costs to the Parishes free's RDC from there responsibilities - however it has surprised me that there has not been outrage by residents as in the case of Rayleigh Town Council, a £20,000 budget has been put in place to cover these costs, resulting in an increase in the precept, resulting in..... yup an increase in the council tax!
The plan has evolved and currently (for Rayleigh), the existing toilet building will be 'gutted' and a new 'modern' block of toilets will be built on the land adjacent.
Taking to social media to 'inform' residents of the plan - it has become evident that this is not the 'plan' that residents wish to see happen. As we (the Lib Dems and other opposition groups) have been fighting this from the outset and voting against at every possible level, District & Town, it was now apparent we would have to resort to raising a petition against the actions.
Alas, this is not to be, I am told by an undisclosed officer at RDC that petitions are not for Councillors, they are for members of the public. I'm struggling with this - I simply do not remember waiving my rights as a member of public when I became elected as a Councillor. Someone show me where and when I signed a legal document to waive such rights and I will gladly go on my way and create no further fuss about this. Until I have this evidence I feel as though the voices of my residents have been silenced. They are not allowed to look to their elected representative to create a petition to voice their feelings about a decision that has been made by those who they didn't choose to represent them.
Rochford District Council - I await the response to my email to tell me specifically who denied my request for a petition.
Want to support me? Then help me by sharing this article with all your friends and family
You might also be interest in these posts...
Being in business for myself, I do a lot of reading about local high streets and regeneration. I’ve come across an article in this month’s ‘first’ magazine from the federation of small businesses, an article about regeneration. An interesting extract which goes entirely against what Rochford District Council are planning to do with moving the
Read MoreYou may remember some time ago, I posted on social media about the proposition of planting trees in our area. I have since received a response from officers with some suggestions of areas that we could plant in. Undoubtedly, planting trees will help with climate change – even if it makes a 0.0000000001% difference it’s
Read MoreMonday night’s Rayleigh Town Council Full Council meeting was a discussion amongst other matters about Crown Hill Public Toilets. (Item 19)We had spent the afternoon discussing with the Town Clerk that this item SHOULD NOT be in private & confidential as it was in the public interest, however it was feared by the Clerk that
Read More