Horndean Parish Council is our closest and most accessible Tier of local government. It also spends as much of our Council Tax as East Hampshire District Council. Of the 5200 homes and 12,942 people it represents, very few people take a day to day interest in the organisation and what it does.
The main reason (I believe) is that we are all busy people running ever busier lives and there is often too little time to go beyond our immediate interests. For this reason I personally believe that the concept of ‘Localism’ is complete Bollocks.
There are a few documents at HPC worth reading though so you know what they do and where your council tax is spent, and these include the annual report (what the money is spent on) and the Annual Return (the financial report for the Council). In here you can see how the parish council spent its £371,700 precept between March 2012 and March 2013. (This has been increased by 9% for this current year)
In a spirit of openness and transparency the Parish Council have published in full the expenditure for the year including salaries, training, incomes from clubs and hall hire and bills. It is a fascinating read.
Click here for the HPC Annual Return 2012-2013
Click here for the HPC schedule of meetings, agendas, supporting documents and minutes: http://www.horndeanpc-hants.gov.uk/meetings.php
Hi,
Could you let me know the precise reasons for the curious announcement of the departure of Ms Predeth on the parish council website
Was she pushed or did she jump?
Hi Lance, as I understand it, Tracy has always had her sights set on career advancement and was some years ago hoping to become a Town Clerk somewhere. I am sure this is just a hard working individual looking for the next career opportunity. The Parish Council may be able to tell you more though? Best wishes, Guy Shepherd
Evening.
My thoughts on your reply closely resemble your opinion of localism as expressed in the blog above.
Months of dispute, secret business at meetings, suspensions, stress, sickness and finally a brief and terse announcement of her departure lead me to believe she must have done something to upset the cabal at the heart of this dysfunctional organisation.
You are a hard wroking District Councillor. Please distance yourself from this moth eaten bunch of misfits.
Lanny.
Happy Christmas BTW.
Good evening Lanny, An exceptionally good reply, and I did enjoy that, and yes, your thoughts are a completely correct assessment of my response. There is a limit to what can be said as an opinion in an open blog, but I am very happy to talk about local issues over a coffee in Horndean most Saturdays if you like.
I am very much hoping that over the next few months HPC will be able to focus on some of the issues we hope as a local community that they can deliver. We should have high expectations of them and hopefully over the next year they can refocus and work well for the community.
Thank you for your kind works, and I wish you a very happy Christmas too.
Guy.