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| Stifling democracy with confusion.; Opinion | |
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| Topic Started: Feb 11 2015, 06:54 PM (42 Views) | |
| Wat Tyler | Feb 11 2015, 06:54 PM Post #1 |
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Only 84 (1.3%) out of almost ten thousand eligible residents have responded to a consultation run by Stoke-on-Trent City Council into whether or not Fenton, one of the six towns making up the city, should have a town council. Last year 1,600 people signed a petition calling for the Potteries 'forgotten town' to have its own council. Speaking to the Sentinel Glenn Parkes, Chairman of the Fenton Community Association, the campaign group which instigated the petition criticised the confusing number of options presented to people who took part in the consultation. He said 'There were too many options. Even the front cover 'Community Governance Review' would have left people confused. All that was needed was something like 'A town council for Fenton.' There will now be a second consultation and dependent on the outcome of this possibly a referendum to decide whether or not Fenton gets a town council. Confused? You can bet the residents being consulted were, and it may all be part of what some people within the city council think is a cunning plan. It is fairly easy to see what seems to be going on here, the city council doesn't much like the idea of Fenton having a town council. It's nothing personal, they're just afraid that it might spark a rush for other parts of the city to follow suit, resulting in a dilution of their power. To openly oppose the plan would do little for their already low standing with the public and so they've tried to kill it by stealth. Their weapon of choice being that old favourite confusion, don't tell the people they can't have a thing, just give them so many options they aren't sure what they really want. A more honest option would have been to go straight to a referendum and allow both campaigners and council to make their respective cases and take their chances. There is a real risk now that a brave experiment in devolving democracy will never get off the drawing board, leaving an already sceptical public with the impression that politics is fixed against their interests and apathy as the only long term winner. |
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2:30 PM Jul 11