Message from Baydon Parish Councillors

 

 

We have two long standing vacancies for Councillors. Also as you know we do not have a Clerk.

 

We do understand that we cannot run as efficiently as we would like because we do not have a full complement of seven. We have members with full time jobs, plus associated commuting time, and only one retired member. On the positive side, and in spite of various setbacks, we feel we have achieved quite substantial projects as originally set out in the Village Plan 2009.

 

We think there should be a balance between working and retired Councillors so that some of the day time duties can be carried out by the latter, enabling our Parish Council to function with standards that residents expect.

 

With experience from the recent past, the alternative could be to pay outside resources to carry out some of the Council agenda items. Setting up and managing work, in itself, needs organising and sometimes attendance during   working hours. If this became established it may possibly lead to an increase in the Precept. The Precept is the only legal duty we have now and that does not require the existence of an independent Parish Council to set it.

 

An option regarding the Clerk vacancy could be to employ a locum Clerk ie. someone from outside the village.

 

In these days of continual changes to employment opportunities and practices we could slide towards a quorum or below. Retired members can help to counteract this potential problem.

 

In view of all the above we are appealing to retired residents to think about your village situation and hopefully be persuaded to join us on the Council. We can meet anyone on a one-to-one or group basis to discuss any queries etc. Please give it some thought.

 

 

 

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