Margaret Swift
Well said Lynne. I find the silence from Dawlish Town Coucil quite disturbing given we have a retired architect/planning expert on the council who is in a good position to advise us.
@Micheal Clayson, I am not in anyway trying to make my colleagues look bad and I really do not know why you would say that. I think all our councillors work very hard and attend as many meetings as they can. This started from a post by Lynne when she made a perfectly valid point about the timing of meetings, particularly those linked to the NP, so your comments regarding an argument between Dorian ...
And as such I am now able to attend more meetings in the months I am not working but the months I do work I work full time. However, even in my working months I attend as many meetings as I am able.
Michael's post is plausible but does not detract from the fact that many of the additional F&GP meetings, including those for the budget sub-committee, are held during the day. That is a fact that can be checked by looking at council records.
@ Dorian , define dismaI? I present my apologies to the Town Clerk with a valid reason and my attendance across the board stands up to scrutiny, which cannot be said for every councillor. I don't see you sitting on the council and giving your time, or do you?
Well it isn't astro physics! I attend all the meetings I am able to when not working, ie, being paid by my employer to be at work. When doing voluntary work I make sure it compliments my duties as a councillor to enable me to attend meetings, but as a paid employee I have to attend work to meet the employer's demands. Those councillors who are retired or unemployed do not have the restrictions ...
On the contrary, I attend numerous evening meetings, a good example is the planning meeting I attended tonight! I use the term paid employment to differentiate from voluntary employment, I assume you know and understand the difference.
@Likeablerat , the point i was making is that all the meetings to discuss and firm up the budget are organised by the chair of f&gp and, at his choosing, are held during the day so those of us in paid employment cannot normally attend. i have on several occasions voiced my concerns but to no avail. as councillors we do get to see a draft of the budget in papers issued before the february meeting, ...
The budget setting meeting MC refers to on 6th December at 13.02 is the Town Council meeting in February. All the work has been done by then by a small group of F&GP members who can attend afternoon meetings, which of course precludes most members who are in paid employment. So far, one meeting held in November and one being held this week, both afternoon meetings.
It really is good to see that at last one budget setting meeting is in the evening, progress. Many councillors who are in paid employment also have caring duties and volunteering duties but it really is important that meetings are placed so as many can attend as possible, the same applies for the NP steering group.
