More than 90 per cent say no to parish idea
MORE than 90 per cent of people have voted against creating a parish council in Horbury.
In total 1,967 registered voters took part in the Community Governance Review (CGR) conducted by Wakefield Council.
A whopping 93.9 per cent of those said they did not want it, while only 6.1 per cent were in favour.
Another petition signed by 1,822 people against the parish council was also submitted to Wakefield Council.
The results of the review have been outlined in a report set to go before the cabinet on Tuesday.
The report states: “The majority of the responses showed a lack of support for the proposal to create a parish.
“The main reasons given related to the cost of a parish council, the feeling that this would be paying twice for services already provided by this council, the fact that the area is already represented by the ward members and the adequacy of existing informal bodies.”
The CGR was triggered after a petition, signed by 10 per cent of the electorate, calling for a parish council was sent to Wakefield Council.
The cabinet report also contained comments from people who responded.
One voter said: “I consider that the creation of a parish council for Horbury would not provide any significant benefits for the area. It would, however, bring a burden of cost to every household at a time when finances are constrained.
“I feel very strongly that a parish council would be a retrograde step and only serve to provide another layer of bureaucracy and ‘red tape’.
But another voter said: “I think that the creation of a parish council will be a good thing for local democracy and give Horbury people a greater say in what happens in their own community.”
The review cost 5,000 but the cabinet report said “funding to carry out this work needs to be identified”.
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Friday 10 February 2012
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