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The following article was refused by CMS Newsletter for publication because they said that…. “Its message is aimed primarily at the recently elected councillors and the editors do not feel the the Newsletter is an appropriate channel for this communication. “ YOUR PARISH COUNCIL COMMUNITY OPINION Now that the elections are over and Cradley and Storridge now have for the first time in a long while a Parish Council who have been voted there by the people of the community. The future should be planned well so that this body can no longer be a battlefield for personal interests and agendas. Those who have given themselves up to the task of serving only the interests of the people of this Parish before everything else, should seek out wise council to develop, over time the skills and wisdom required of such a position. They should think deeply about the burden that being a part of probably the only truly democratic tier of government that exists in this nation, will place on them. As the old saying goes “you can please some of the people all of the time………(I’ll let you look up the rest and realise the truth held therein). As we have a large contingent of people elected, who have never served on a PC before, the first few meetings can be akin to the first day at School when everyone apparently knows oh so much more than yourself and you are afraid to ask. Don’t be! It is a councillor’s job and responsibility to question, investigate and ultimately to seek out all the correct information needed to make well informed decisions on behalf of the community Seek out more experienced councillors (old and new) and ask for guidance and their advice but ultimately you choose and make your decisions based on the principles you sign up to. The basis of a Parish Council is that IT makes ALL of the decisions democratically, by all councillor’s participation. NOT the Clerk NOT the Chair NOT the vice Chair NOT any single councillor NOT HALC The Clerk is employed by the council and there to ADVISE the PC on the legal aspects of the council and to supply the PC with whatever information is needed by councillors, to make decisions. The Chair is elected by the council to chair PC meetings not make decisions on behalf of the Council. All councillors have the right and the duty to question and examine, oppose or support 6
anything put before council for decision and should do without fear or favour. It is not the place of any councillor or the Clerk or the Chair to censure, alter or withhold from the council, information that is relevant to councillor’s decision making. Inclusion or relevance is for the council, as a whole to decide. No one else! It is a lazy and ineffectual council that allows others to make decisions and does not examine each and every suggestion without true democratic debate and discussion. All workings of the Parish Council should be carried out professionally, with integrity, honesty and complete transparency The leader:- “jump!” the follower:-“how high?” style has no place in our Parish Council Ken Nason Sewage Waste Fly Tipping COMMUNITY OPINION On Friday 2nd February at around 2:30 pm, someone disposed of what appears to be a septic tank full of sewage waste into a storm drain in Oaklands. The result was a stream of foul slurry pouring from the storm drain outlet into the fresh water stream that borders our garden in Beech Close and feeds a tributary of the Cradley Brook at the bottom of our garden. We were fortunate enough to be in the garden at the time and so were able to pinpoint the time of this environmental crime. We reported the incident to Severn Trent Water who reacted very swiftly and worked throughout the evening to identify the cause of the slurry pouring from the storm drain outlet. They returned the following morning and filled 3 bin bags with sanitary waste and flushed the storm drain and stream until the water flowed cleanly again. Some of our neighbours were able to add detail and reported having seen a small tanker of a light colour (possibly yellow) with an elephant hose, working in the road at around 2:30pm that day. It was accompanied by a small white van. Another dark blue transit van was seen parked on the opposite side of the road at the top of Oaklands at round the same time. Just before this, men were seen inspecting each of the man holes in the street in turn, presumably to identify the main sewer drain. This appears to be someone fly tipping sewage. Had they picked the correct drain, no-one would have been any the wiser, though it would clearly still have been a crime. Our concern now is that this may happen again, if not in Oaklands, but somewhere else. We hope that by alerting the community of this illegal activity we shall all now be aware of the practice and take a more active questioning approach to unusual vehicles working in our streets. It is the last thing I would have expected a tanker in my street to be doing! In addition to Severn Trent Water, the Environmental Agency and Herefordshire Council have been informed and would be interested if anyone has any further information. Peter and Sue Warner 7
Page 1 and 2: editor@cradleyenquirer.com CradleyE
Page 3 and 4: 3 Simon Alexander (Editor) WHO MAKE
Page 5: in such actions. If they want a new

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