Why Independent Councillors Are Good for Berkhamsted

By 05Bryan02 | Monday, April 18, 2011, 18:55

Town and parish councils, like Berkhamsted, are the lowest tier of local government. They have few areas of independent decision making authority and they command modest budgets to match. This doesn’t mean, though, our Town Councillors are not important. Collectively and individually they can be an effective pressure group making clear to higher Authority, in our case Dacorum Borough Council and Hertfordshire County Council, what Councillors believe to be in the best interests of the town and its citizens and resisting decisions and actions which they believe are detrimental to the town We need our Councillors to fight our corner – to hold the officers and Councillors of the higher Authorities to account and be vociferous in support of the Town when decisions appear to ride roughshod over our interests. How well they doing that should be our test of whether they are doing the job we elected them to do.

When it comes down to it, conventional party politics and party policy lines have no meaningful role to play at town council level. What on earth can the main parties at national, or even county level, have to say which has direct meaning or value for the people of Berkhamsted. Yet, election after election, the main, often the only, choice is between candidates put up by the main parties – in our case the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats.

So why would having Independents on the Council be good for Berkhamsted? Firstly, Berkhamsted is the priority of Independents standing in the election on May 5th. There will be no divided loyalties. Amazingly, the same individuals are able to stand simultaneously for Town AND Borough, and are doing so. We can guess how the vote will go if there are decisions to be made at Borough level which are not what the people of Berkhamsted want! Secondly, Independents stand because they want actively to put something back into the community, pursue things they are passionate about, show more interest in the concerns of the people they represent. Thirdly, Independents will not vote a party line – they will vote according to their conscience and best judgement and be prepared to argue their case with their fellow Councillors. This may make for more debate but it is democracy at work and we would be the better for it.

Berkhamsted is a great place to live but there is plenty of scope to make it better.

Bryan Atkin

Independent Candidate for Town Councillor, Castle Ward, Berkhamsted

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Comments

I brought this subject up when I was elected in 1995. Appently, the leaders of the main parties agreed that fly posting shouldn't happen in our Borough and so Political Parties shouldn't do it.
It's called on rule for them and another for the rest as I bet you see fly posters all over the town.
I agree that providing there are contact details and there is a limit to the time they are on show - why not. It happens in many other places, even under the 'blind eye' system!

By N Cutting at 15:17 on 25/04/11
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Out leaflet dropping for the Castle Independents this sunny holiday weekend I was struck by how little evidence there is aorund the streets about the elections coming up. I noticed the odd poster promoting a Yes or No vote in the AV referendum but not boards or window posters for any cadidate or party in the local elections. This strikes me as unusual but is in keeping with the low turnouts for town meetings. It may be that the voters of Berkhamsted are either happy with life in the town or else turned off by the whole thing. Disappointing though - interest in the local elections is one indicator of a vibrant democracy. And there is plenty of scope to help take or lobby for decisions and actions which can improve things for the town or prevent erosions of our services in the name of the"cuts".

By 05Bryan02 at 12:57 on 25/04/11
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Bryan - "they command modest budgets to match". When you are elected, you will find that Town and Parish Councils have a great deal of power and money raising abilities - indeed without limit, unlike the Borough or County Councils. Surprising, but true. Of course, whether Berkhamsted Town Council would wish to raise enough money to, say, buy land and build a multi-storey car park to alleviate the towns parking problems, is another matter. I can tell you that I did the calculations for the Town Council to actually buy the REX building and develop it as an arts centre, cinema, theatre and Council offices but by that time, the political parties had the upper hand and wasn't even considered although I suspect at the end of the day, residents would not have been happy with the bill, no matter how much they wanted the eye sore resolved. Still, that's democracy for you!

By N Cutting at 11:25 on 20/04/11
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I saw your comment about the type face in "Why Independent". I have changed it, I hope it is now easier to read. By the way it is lovely to see our boat in the header of the web site. But back to local issues, if you want to support BERKHAMSTED vote INDEPENDENT on 5 May - There are five of us standing in Castle Ward - we won't let you down. We love our town.

By Weinreb at 17:21 on 19/04/11
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Thank you - very useful! The font in the "Why Independent" part of the website almost makes my eyes bleed, but apart from that, it's just the thing I wanted to see.

By garyb1975 at 13:42 on 19/04/11
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