12 March 2022
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Last Tuesday’s meeting of Hughenden Parish Council didn’t quite go as hoped but the Council is back in operation and can start to take decisions again.
First, the good news. All five parish councillors were able to attend the meeting making it quorate. By parish councillors, I mean myself and Simon Kearey who had been elected back in May and the three Bucks councillors who had been appointed to get HPC quorate again.
The meeting was introduced by Nick Graham who is Director for Legal & Democratic Services for Buckinghamshire Council. He explained that the role of the BC councillors was limited and temporary; the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972 stipulate that their appointment should only last as long as is required for others to take up office.
The meeting then voted to approve 6 co-options:-
- Jill Armshaw for Hughenden Valley Ward
- Gareth Cadwallader and Phil Renshaw for Widmer End Ward
- Stan Jones and Debra Main for Great Kingshill Ward
- Andrea Macfarlane for Naphill and Walters Ash Ward
Then the bad news.
Once the co- options were done, the 3 BC councillors had to resign. This meant the meeting became inquorate because only two of the co-opted councillors were able to attend in person. The quorum for Council meetings is five.
That meant two substantive items had to be deferred to the next meeting. These items are the planning application from Country Supplies for a car and lorry park in Bryants Bottom and a grant application from Widmer End Village Hall for playground equipment.
However, an Extraordinary meeting of the Council has been convened for Monday, 14 March when these two items will be considered. The Council will also consider two more applications for co-option for Naphill and Walters Ash ward. Hopefully, the Council can also start authorising payments to HPC’s outstanding creditors. The agenda is at Agenda-Bundle-Extra-Ordinary-Meeting-2022-03-14.pdf (hughenden-pc.gov.uk).
Helen Hogan, the Acting Clerk, resigned at the beginning of this week. Her last day in the office will be 31 March.