An extraordinary meeting of Harborough District Council has voted unanimously in favour of a parish council for Market Harborough, reports BBC News.
This vote, which took place on Monday, followed a public poll in which 86 per cent of those who voted supported the establishment of a new council. I was one of them.
The BBC report makes great play of the fact that only 24 per cent of those eligible cast a vote, but I wonder if this is such a bad figure for such a poll.
Given the possibility that Market Harborough will be governed from Glenfield in future – it would be Nottingham if Labour had its way – the existence of a forum where the town to debate and decide what it needs is vital.
The turnout was actually quite impressive given how little publicity the poll was given. It was almost as if HDC wanted a low turnout.....
ReplyDeleteI think this will be an increasing trend in view of the creation of larger unitary authorities. If the whole of a district is covered by parish or town councils, it also avoids arguments about services like recreation grounds being funded by the local parish precept in parished areas but by the district council in non-parished areas.
ReplyDeleteYes, that was a big issue when I was a district councillor here in an earlier life.
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