There have been three more resignations in the last two months, making 5 councillors and 2 Clerks since June 19.
Around 10 January 20 Bleadon Parish Council (BPC) posted on its website that due to the recent resignations of Cllr Hemmingway, Cllr Richardson and Cllr Sharman, there are now vacancies in BPC.
"If by 30 January, 2020 ... a request for an election to fill said vacancy is made in writing to the Returning Officer at Town Hall, Walliscote Grove Road, Weston-super-Mare, BS23 1UJ by TEN electors for the said Parish ..., an election will be held to fill the said vacancy,
otherwise the vacancy will be filled by co-option. If an election is called, it will take place not later than 2 April, 2020."
In May 2018 there were six councillor vacancies, filled with the co-option of five lead members of BAT (Bleadon Acting Together), four of whom have now resigned. Just over 18 months later BAT is asking residents to do the same again.
If residents do choose to stand as councillors they should be mindful that they will be representing the whole 'parish' not just one part of the 'village', or only their own views. Also, that residents do not have to be councillors to influence the outcome of planning applications, as explained via How it Should Work ... blog.
Regardless of how the next councillors are elected, ideally Bleadon Parish Council should consider allocating responsibility for different areas of the parish to each councillor, a similar approach to Weston Town Council. This may hopefully stop the overwhelming 'village' vs 'parish' view and decision making, created through the co-option/'friends' process, and may make local democracy more inclusive for all residents.
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NSC has not yet published the Electoral Notices
Previous November Resignations.
The last contested Parish Election was held May 2013.
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