First Parish Council Meeting

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The April 7th Meeting was the first Council meeting I have ever attended. It was to be quite and event. .. Let me explain .. ..

Council Meetings allow Public and Press attendances, however very few Public or Press usually attend - I was under the opinion that this was the result of apathy or a lack of awareness of their arrangements - now after attending an actual meeting I do not believe that previous opinion of mine is anywhere near the truth.
At this particular meeting the “Public” attending comprised of “a family of five”, a mature lady village member, the “Chairperson” of the newly created “Village Plan Committee”, our village policeman, a representative of Severn Trent Water and myself.

Initially there was some procedural matters for the Council Members to agree upon -however, I did note that a reference to the absence of both Councillors O’Neill was noted, yet I had read an entry in the local Parish Magazine that they had already decided to step down at the end of the month ( not surprising then that they were not in attendance). I do wonder why there are so many resignations from the Council At this particular meeting there was only 7 members present, including the Chairman and this actually included recent secondments. Uum!.

I will not bore you with a minute by minute record of what went on prior to my presentation, other than to say it was quite disappointing for me to see the Severn Trent representative, the family of 5 and the Chair person of the Village Plan all leave prior to my own presentation - Shame on them! - for they may well have witnessed a taste of actual democracy in action, by that I mean unconstrained free and straight speaking by the public - me!.The April 7th Meeting was the first Council meeting I have ever attended. It was to be quite and event. .. Let me explain .. ..

Council Meetings allow Public and Press attendances, however very few Public or Press usually attend - I was under the opinion that this was the result of apathy or a lack of awareness of their arrangements - now after attending an actual meeting I do not believe that previous opinion of mine is anywhere near the truth.
At this particular meeting the “Public” attending comprised of “a family of five”, a mature lady village member, the “Chairperson” of the newly created “Village Plan Committee”, our village policeman, a representative of Severn Trent Water and myself.

Initially there was some procedural matters for the Council Members to agree upon -however, I did note that a reference to the absence of both Councillors O’Neill was noted, yet I had read an entry in the local Parish Magazine that they had already decided to step down at the end of the month ( not surprising then that they were not in attendance). I do wonder why there are so many resignations from the Council At this particular meeting there was only 7 members present, including the Chairman and this actually included recent secondments. Uum!.

I will not bore you with a minute by minute record of what went on prior to my presentation, other than to say it was quite disappointing for me to see the Severn Trent representative, the family of 5 and the Chair person of the Village Plan all leave prior to my own presentation - Shame on them! - for they may well have witnessed a taste of actual democracy in action, by that I mean unconstrained free and straight speaking by the public - me!.

For continuation of the original report within " Hot Gossip" at http://www.burtonjoyceonline.co.uk/
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I will continue.. ..

BJO's main platform is and always has been that we should foster the “all participating, all inclusive “ open community.. .. .for this is the essence of Democracy working for all.
BJO was created and developed for the ENGAGEMENT and PARTICIPATION of our community . It is already beginning to achieve those aims. The initial success will continue with even greater results, particularly if our independent, investigative, non aligned project, has the cooperation and endorsement of the BJPC and other establishment bodies, however irrespective of specific relationships, we will continue publishing our independent views and opinions to ensure our community is all participating , all inclusive and open.
We want a better place to live , we want less anti social behaviour, we want a caring sharing society, we do NOT want an untidy, unhygienic environment, we want a pleasant, peaceful, attractive environment, we want to help and give assistance to those in need, we want an equal sharing and allocation of facilities for ALL age groups. Yes, and the inclusion of the elderly and the infirmed within our community

All this brings me to the realisation, which came to the surface a couple of weeks ago ( the 4th of April actually) That the aims and aspirations of BJO are significantly and naturally closely aligned with those of the Burton Joyce Village Plan.. Uum! Very interesting.. .. ..

Don’t get me wrong, I am full of admiration for those who commit themselves to community service, however the B J Parish Councill seems to be presently following a path which is somewhat "overgrown and less defined than one would expect"

That’s my personal opinion .. for what it is worth !!
Bee Jay