Ferret would just like to remind residents of the meeting which is taking place tonight at 7pm in the Community Centre in Hemsworth.
Please attend if you are able to. If you would like to discuss this, please contact Councillor Maxine Hird on 07881 958729.
In the footsteps of Paul Revere (American War of Independence), based on new intelligence, I need to warn “the diggers are coming!” Now, if you want to know what that means, please turn up at the meeting tonight. But, its not a red herring.
In respect to the questions the community wants to put to the council, can we be quite clear. These are not allegations that we are making. This is the community seeking reassurances that our councillors are putting the community first, and that there is no credibility to reports that individual councillors are acting inappropriately in respect to allocation of precept money. If the councilors have nothing to hide, and the allegations that we have heard of are either ill informed or malicious then they will have no fear in regards to discussing them. Or will they?
I’m weary with this now, and I can only thank Julie and other people for their steadfast support in getting to the truth. I’m able to continue to help because of their integrity and their commitment. It saddens me to hear that there is likely to be a small turn out because community members gave also grown tired of the fobbing off when questions have been put to councilors and WMDC regarding their actions during the consultation period on Local Plan 2036. Let me say right now that in the meeting on 3rd December 2021 the inspector was clearly told by Neville Ford that HTC and all of the councilors have known from the beginning.
Anyway, maybe time to call the estate agent….
I would have loved to have been at this Public meeting, if only to show support for getting to the truth. Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to attend any meetings for the past 2 years and have more recently relied on the live stream provided by Lyn.
So, I managed to see (maybe) half of the meeting which Lyn managed to capture.
This gave me a very clear impression of how the meeting was going to be “managed”.
I would be extremely grateful to anyone who actually attended in person to draft up some notes on what actually happened once Ian had left the room.
I don’t believe anyone was taking formal minutes because Cllr J Eccles described the meeting as “informal” at one point. A legitimate record should be agreed at some point, even if it’s created through a collaboration of attendees.
If anyone else has a recording, I’d be more than happy to try and transcribe it.
Finally, should anyone be interested in discussing this (informally) further, please join me outside the Lakeside Cafe tomorrow (Saturday) at 10.30am for coffee. I’d really love to meet everyone I see on Facebook, including The Hemsworth Ferret!
Many thanks. Linda. x
To be honest, the meeting culminated in me asking for a show of hands from people who didn’t have confidence in the council. With more than ten people putting up their hands, I asked for a parish meeting. But, I now understand this is unlikely as it was an informal meeting.
Why did I do this? Basically, as we have no way of ever getting to the bottom of this, and people are also concerned to hear the councilors refute the allegations being made on social media.
There has to be concern when we are almost daily being told about alleged transgressions, as it brings the council in to disrepute. We are not the ones making the allegations, but we hear them almost daily now.
The chair said that the councilors would only speak about LP21.
To be fair, it seems that only a few councillors have known anything about lp21 and plan 2036. But, this seems ridiculous given that the developments will change the face of Hemsworth permanently. They should all know, and it is clear that emails were missed or overlooked.
I have had enough of it now. We do not seem to be getting anywhere as regards transparency or a plan forwards. Though Ian is adamant that we can stop LP21 at the planning stage if the land is freed from green belt. I am not confident, having been told that if it is freed that it is an uphill battle.
I am sorry if in anyway I contributed to disrupting the meeting. I just felt that the information being given out was either inaccurate or misleading.
I will now step away.
Regards
David / Linda – please see below that is posted on HTC website it says a public meeting NOT informal public meeting.
Just because a councillor said informal meeting doesn’t mean that is what it was.
A public meeting will be held in the main hall at the community centre at 7pm on 13 January 2022 regarding Wakefield Council’s Local Plan – and, specifically, the land located between Springvale Rise and Vale Head Park (referenced in the Local Plan as LP21).
Please note that in accordance with the government’s COVID ‘Plan B’ restrictions, face masks must be worn in the community centre, unless medically exempt.
Cathy,
Yes, I totally picked up on this too, which is why I would have preferred to be there in person.
As it was a Public Meeting, my understanding is that the ground rules are different, giving more access to any member of the public to speak. There wasn’t much evidence of this though, especially with Ian’s Q and A session which I managed to see. Also, I don’t understand why Cllr J Eccles was chairing the meeting or telling the meeting that the agenda is restricted. She has no authority to do this in a public meeting.
So, I really need to understand what happened (if anything) in the 2nd half of the meeting. Was it much of the same as David is intimating?
And what next?
This is just one issue of many and I can fully understand how tiring it can be, but how should we carry on?
Maybe we just need to get more collaborative and organised in our efforts?