Monthly Heads-Up prior to the
Shalfleet Parish Council Meeting Wednesday 12th
November 2014.
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those on my update list. If you would like to be added to my list,
please email me at wellowresidents@gmail.com
There are often updates during the month as matters arise.
There is a Shalfleet Parish Council
Meeting this week, on Wednesday 12th November 2014 at
7.15 pm at the Shalfleet School. It's a long agenda
with public questions at the end, I'm
afraid. If you'd like to ask anything about a main agenda item you
have to give 24 hours notice in writing – they will not accept
agenda questions on the night unless you have given written notice.
Email is usually the best way, but I see that there is a discrepancy
between email addresses used. The address on the website is
clerk@shalfleetiow.org.uk
while the address on the agenda is shalfleetpc@btconnect.com
The former works, or did a week or so ago. You should use BOTH in
case one or other isn't being monitored. On many occasions I have
seen residents refused the right to speak, so do it by the book!
I have searched online to find
background information for the agenda items which, according to the
agenda, will be provided to councillors not “the public”. This
month all I have found is the agenda item 096/14-15 Yarmouth flood
update, which I've included in the blog on the agenda page below.
That document is the update for 2014 and there is a lot more
information on the Yarmouth Harbour website; I have given the link on
the blog.
Another item I'll specifically draw to
your attention is the NASAG item, agenda 094/14-15. This is
the Ningwood and Newbridge Safety Action Group. This is a
group of local people, self-appointed, I understand, with no public
accountability, under the overall control of Cllr Hewston. The
NANSAG members stand by the side of the road with a radar-trap
supplied by the police and take down the registration numbers of
vehicles that have exceeded the speed limit. They told me that they
have access to the Police National Computer and can put registration
numbers into the police databank. They told me that the police use
the data and contact motorists who have been caught in the traps,
sending a letter or a police officer is sent to the home of the
offending motorist.
This does not seem to be widely known
and I feel that if our Parish Council is involved we should be told
and residents should be give a say; speed enforcement is not within
the legal remit of Parish Councils. To put it another way, Parish
Councils have no right to enforce speed limits. I shan't be
raising this with the Parish Council myself. If residents want to
know more they should ask the Parish Council, probably best at a
Parish Council Meeting – don't forget to give 24 hours written
notice because they will not let you speak during the meeting. They
are allowed to, but they don't. There are a number of these 'Safety
Action Groups' on the Island and presumably throughout the country.
I have no other knowledge of them, whether they are affiliated,
whether they can all report motorists to the police with direct
access to the Police National Computer so if you'd like to know more,
you should ask.
You
will see that the agenda item for NANSAG
mentions a 'list of items' which residents have not been given a copy
of. Parish Councils do have the power to change speed
limits on certain classes of
road but any such order must be approved by the Parish Council. Not
having seen the 'list of items' they intend to send to the IWC and
Island Roads for 'funding' then presumably some action that costs
money is being proposed by this 'NANSAG', outside public scrutiny.
You should decide whether you are happy with that; I have raised it
here and shall not be raising it at the Parish Council Meeting.
101/14-15 Proposal to give £500 to
the West Wight Sports Centre The
question is not whether it's a worthy cause but whether it is an
appropriate use of residents' money. If you consider the catchment
of WWSC including Totland, Freshwater and Yarmouth, is £500 from
Shalfleet proportionate? Maybe the Parish Council should find out
what the other parish councils gave and then draw up a comparison on
a per capita basis. Last year the Parish Council didn't, to my mind,
take into account the views of the residents. This year, WWSC did
collaborate with the Millennium Green (Wellow) for a fun day. Mrs
Cowley was the key organiser for the MG. I wasn't able to attend but
I understand it was a great success. I shan't be raising this
myself, if you wish to, write 24 hours in advance of the meeting if
you would like to speak. I have a monthly ticket to WWSC and am a firm supporter; if you've not visited the WWSC recently, why not have a look?
Planning Application agenda
099/14-15 some notes and comments on the following blog pages:
I can't give any more comments because
the information is not made available to residents and I hope that
this heads-up has been some help to you.
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