The straws that broke the camel’s back

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19 March 2025

I resigned from Hughenden Parish Council yesterday with immediate effect.  I always intended to carry on to the bitter end but, with 6 weeks to go, I changed my mind.  

Anyone who has read even a few of my blogs will realise what sort of Council Hughenden Parish Council is and what sort of councillors it has.  According to a number of residents (and my husband), it is a wonder I have stuck it so long.  

The straws on the camel’s back have been piling up over the years but over the past week they piled up thick and fast.  In the way of final straws, each one of them might seem trivial but put together they broke the camel’s back. 

Here are just two of the final straws that broke the camel’s back.

During the four years I have been a councillor, residents in Widmer End have had two major concerns – the streetlights and speeding.

During the last few months, I have worked to progress these issues, including preparing motions on each for yesterday’s Full Council meeting.   

However, neither of these motions was put on the agenda. 

Yesterday’s meeting was the last scheduled Council meeting until the elections in May. 

So, yesterday I knew that I had no opportunity to speak at the meeting on behalf of my constituents on the two issues that concerned them most - and no opportunity to do so at further meetings.  

This was the first of the final straws that broke the camel’s back.

I decided I had better things to do and resigned.  

So why, you might ask, were the two motions not put on the agenda?   

Well, I will let you know about the motion on the streetlights in another blog.  But here’s what happened to the motion on speeding.

For background, I can do no better than reproduce a letter sent by Widmer End Residents’ Association to Cllr Jones, Chair of HPC, on 10 March:-     

“Dear Stan,

Subject: Withdrawal of Funding for Traffic Calming Measures on North Road, Widmer End

I am writing on behalf of the Widmer End Residents Association (WERA) to express our profound disappointment regarding the recent decision to withdraw the previously agreed £10,000 in funding for traffic calming measures on North Road, Widmer End. This decision has sparked considerable frustration among our residents, who have long been concerned about speeding traffic, especially on North Road. The issue is exacerbated by drivers using the area as a shortcut to avoid congestion on the A404. Recent and upcoming housing developments have only intensified the problem, increasing traffic volume and speeding risks, particularly near the local school.

Over the past months, several residents have devoted substantial time and resources to developing a comprehensive proposal, engaging both the Hughenden Parish Council (HPC) and the Bucks Community Board (BCB). Our efforts have included:

1. Conducting a thorough review of existing, softer traffic calming measures to assess their effectiveness.

2. Presenting our proposal to the Community Board, which subsequently expressed its support to progress this initiative.

3. Securing the support of our residents at the WERA Annual General Meeting.

4. Receiving an agreement in principle from the Parish Council to support the proposal, including earmarking £10,000 in funding.

5. Gaining the endorsement of Transport for Bucks, further validating the proposal's necessity and viability.

It is particularly disheartening to learn that the funding has been withdrawn or reallocated and that other traffic calming initiatives are purportedly of higher priority. We would appreciate insight from HPC on these other priorities, their status, and the process used to determine their relative importance. We have several concerns regarding the decisions based on the following:

1. The project was agreed in principle by HPC in August with the support of David Carrol and others. £10,000 was set aside by the finance committee in December, but the decision was reversed at the January meeting when Linda and Gareth were not present to represent our proposal.

2. We are concerned that traffic calming measures in Great Kingshill (GK) are being actively promoted to residents via the HPC website. This is perplexing given that formal support for such proposals has not been documented, nor have other proposals been granted similar access to the website.

3. The GK petition states they will present to BCB in March, although we were informed that the deadline for funding projects was January 31st.

4. The Chairman of HPC, who is also a member of the BCB and a resident of GK, raises questions of impartiality, especially considering the petition for traffic calming in GK.

5. The Widmer End proposal is the sole traffic calming initiative formally presented to HPC and agreed upon by Transport for Bucks. As the only proposal ready to proceed, why is HPC not willing to progress?

6. If other priorities have emerged, what criteria and processes have been used to assess and prioritize these initiatives over ours?

In conclusion, WERA requests that HPC formally address these concerns and reconsider its decision to provide funding for our proposal. It is the most advanced, has significant resident support, and is increasingly urgent due to the impact of the Terriers Farm development. Delivering this initiative would positively reflect on HPC by acknowledging residents significant concerns on this topic.

We look forward to your prompt response and a constructive resolution to this matter.”

My contribution to the issue was to prepare, in consultation with residents, a detailed draft motion on the traffic calming scheme for Widmer End to go to yesterday’s Council meeting.

The motion asked Council to commit £30k from the reserves next year for the Widmer End Scheme.   

I sent the draft motion to Cllr Cadwallader, as agreed, on 25 February for him to submit the motion for yesterday’s meeting; Cllr Cadwallader was to propose the motion and I was to second it. 

There was no response.

The motion was discussed at a meeting of Widmer End Residents’ Association on 5 March and Cllr Cadwallader, who was present, agreed to submit it for yesterday’s Council meeting.

And that was the last anyone heard of the motion. 

When I realised the motion was not on the agenda, I asked Cllr Cadwallader if he had submitted the motion and if not, why not?     

There was no response. 

And WERA has had no response to its letter to Cllr Jones as far as I am aware.

Of course, it is annoying to do a lot of work and see it come to nothing.  But that is not the point. 

The point is I was fed up, to put it mildly, working with a councillor – and a fellow ward councillor at that – who says he will do something and then disappears. 

And this is not the first time this has happened – far from it. 

It is a lack of respect to me and residents, a lack of communication, of courtesy and honesty.  I simply couldn’t trust him.

This was the second final straw that broke the camel’s back.