Bourne Comment

FIVE TOWN COUNCIL SEATS GO BEGGING

A new record appears to have been set for Bourne Town Council although not one of which we should be particularly proud because it reflects an unhealthy apathy towards local government in that only ten candidates put their names forward for election this year when fifteen seats were available, the lowest response since the authority was formed in 1974.

This means that all are being returned unopposed and will form the new council, one of them even becoming mayor, without a single vote being cast, a situation reflected in 66 other town and parish council elections across the entire South Kesteven region.

Certainly there have been boundary changes with the result that we now have four wards instead of two to keep pace with an expanding town, the old Bourne East and Bourne West remaining with five seats each but we now have the additional Bourne Austerby East (three seats) and Bourne Austerby West (two seats), although that should have no bearing on the enthusiasm for becoming a councillor because more people have moved here since the last election and it was a reasonable expectation that this would mean additional candidates for election.

That theory, however, has not been sustained and instead we have fewer than at any other time in the past forty years which is not good for democracy because anyone who takes a seat without the endorsement of the people under whatever circumstances has no moral mandate to make decisions on their behalf.

Perhaps this reluctance to stand is monetary because parish councillors do not get paid whereas those at district and county level are rewarded handsomely with allowances and generous expenses but this consideration is a churlish one as we assume that those who seek office do so for altruistic reasons because they wish to serve their fellow man rather than to reap rich rewards.

The point of holding elections every four years is to give the electorate the opportunity to either keep or change their councillor but insufficient candidates means that you are stuck with what you have for good or bad.

Those back in the council chamber are men and women who have already served for several years. They are Judy Smith (since 1999), Jane Kingman (2002), Brenda Johnson (2007), Helen Powell (2007), Colin Pattison (2010), Paul Fellows (2011), Philip Knowles (2011), David Mapp (2011), Roy McKinney (2011) and Bob Russell (2011).

The current problem has arisen because five other long-serving councillors did not stand this time round, John Smith, a member since 1974 who died last month, and four others who have retired, Shirley Cliffe (1976), Trevor Holmes (1999), Pet Moisey (1999) and David Higgs (2007), all of them past mayors of Bourne.

However, few people knew of the vacancies and this may have been one of the reasons why there were no new candidates for the available seats. Even the boundary changes announced earlier this year that have had such a marked effect on Bourne by extending the two existing wards to four were little known until April 17th when The Local newspaper informed readers of the shortfall of candidates and urged more people to “take part in the local democracy” but by then nominations had been closed for eight days which confirmed that the town council would be five councillors short.

Local newspapers tend to forget that they themselves are part of the democratic process with a particular duty to keep the public informed and if all available information about boundary changes and pending retirements involving some of our leading councillors which was circulating in the town for several weeks had been published earlier then perhaps the situation might have been different.

But then the reporting of council affairs is no longer a priority for many sections of the provincial press and so meetings and other matters pass without the public knowing about important issues even though the traditional printed newspapers have been augmented by daily digital Internet editions which should enable editors publish more local news when in fact they appear to be publishing less.

This is a very different situation to that which existed when I began in journalism over sixty years ago and every detail of activity in and out of the council chamber was given column space as a matter of priority while coverage at election times was stepped up including interviews with every councillor about their intentions with the result that interest was intense throughout the campaign. Such enthusiastic press coverage in the run up to the election maintained public awareness right up to voting day, a stark contrast to the lukewarm reception we have experienced in Bourne in recent weeks that has left us with the present situation.

The town council is on the lower level of local government but it does have responsibility for the allotments in South Fen Road, the cemetery in South Road, the public toilets outside the Community Access Point and the Christmas lights display and switch-on. The authority also fulfils an important function by acting as a conduit for opinion on all local affairs and planning issues and is currently engaged in drawing up a Neighbourhood Plan for the future of Bourne and so it is an important part of the democratic process.

How then will the vacant seats be filled? Well, the town council must begin the process of co-opting suitable candidates according to the local government rules of procedure and the town council’s own standing orders and this involves considering people deemed to be worthy of the task who can apply in writing to the town council while others may be invited directly.

Candidates must meet certain criteria either by being registered as a voter in the parish, which includes Bourne, Cawthorpe, Dyke and Twenty, or being a tenant or owner of land or property in the parish during the past 12 months, or had their principal or only place of work in the parish or has lived either in the parish or within three miles thereof during the past 12 months. Candidates who fulfil at least one of these conditions should write to the town clerk by Friday 15th May giving their reasons why they wish to become a councillor.

They will then be interviewed on a date to be arranged by a panel of councillors who will test their suitability, a system that works well with an elected council which finds itself in mid-term with the odd vacancy through death or retirement but one hard to justify when the members of the panel themselves have only just secured their own seats without a single vote being cast.

There is also the daunting prospect for applicants of being grilled by unelected councillors who may be anxious to secure their own positions and not jeopardise their future by approving anyone who does not agree with their views, a case of consolidating what they have rather than inviting division from doubtful or unknown quarters. It is a natural instinct to protect our own territory and so it is unlikely that anyone secure in their own seat for the next four years would invite someone to join them who might conceivably rock the boat on this issue or that which they favour.

I mention this because of an inquiry from a local man who intends to apply for co-option but is known for his controversial views and when I advised him of the correct procedure, he was already having second thoughts because he said: “I cannot imagine that any of the existing councillors will be keen on me joining them.”

It is therefore hoped that he will proceed and even be co-opted because councils whose members have been together for long periods, a situation we now have with Bourne Town Council, tend to coalesce into a cosy coterie that shuns controversy whereas progress can only come through lively debate on a pool of ideas. Complacency needs an irritant and the grit in the oyster may well turn out to be a pearl of wisdom.

This raises the troubling question of who can be trusted with the power to co-opt, whether unelected councillors have the adequate credentials, or as it was so aptly put by the Roman poet Juvenal (1st and early 2nd century AD), quis custodiet ipsos custdodies, or who will watch the watchers.

Alexis de Tocqueville (1805-59), the French political thinker and historian, also tells us that in a democracy the people get the government they deserve which appears to be true of our present electoral system but public vigilance cannot be sustained without knowledge of what is going on and this can only be imparted by an active and reliably informed local press.

Note: This article was published by the Bourne web site on 9th May 2015