We have tried very hard to remain a-political with this matter; however, in the light of the following information it really does not look as though we cannot divorce ourselves from politics over this issue
There are disturbing reports about Party Group Whips for the ruling Party within ESCC not allowing a free vote and insisting that their Members vote in favour of the Waste Strategy
Bearing in mind the volume of public & other official body objections this would be regarded by all concerned as a gross abuse of their power and contrary to the interests of those whom they 'claim' to represent
Refer to the following:
21. The party whip - ESCC Constitution
A party whip may be imposed, but when considering any matter in respect of which a member of an overview and scrutiny committee is subject to a party whip the member must declare the existence of the whip, and the nature of it, before the commencement of the committee's deliberations on the matter. The declaration, and the detail of the whipping arrangements, shall be recorded in the minutes of the meeting.
Could we please have an immediate declaration on whether there is or will be '.. the existance of a whip ..' over this matter
Here is a breakdown of the Parties within East Sussex County Council - as can be seen a 'Whip' by the dominant party would clearly out vote the the other parties combined. This must NOT BE ALLOWED to happen over the Waste Strategy
Following the last local elections (June 2009) the political make-up of East Sussex County Council is:
The Leader of the Council is - Cllr Peter Jones
The Deputy Leader of the Council is - Cllr Tony Reid
References:
Here are some pointers for those of you who were ignorant of local Government politics until now. In this context Officer = ESCC Employee and Member = Party Political Elected Person
A–Z of councillors and electoral divisions within East Sussex
Senior Council Members
The Role and Function of the Chairman
Protocol on Member/Officer Relations
If these reports are correct we believe the whole consultation process has been nothing but a sham engineered by ESCC and the Political Party concerned; with absolutely no intention of heeding any objections
Has the electorate been (once again) betrayed over this entire consultation process (per Matthew Lock's comments at the Hailsham Meeting about the Newhaven Consultation where 14,000 objections were ignored)?
The message to any councillor is very simple - You were elected to serve the wishes of the people and NOT YOUR OWN AGENDA - if you are not prepared to do this then STAND DOWN
This should be a FREE VOTE and NOT one along party lines
Councillor Nick Bennett assures us that there is NO SUBSTANCE to these rumours