Why wouldn’t Karen Roper support Parish Councils it is in her best interest to as without PCs S A L C would not exist and she would be unemployed and our main body of Local
Authorities would have hundreds of thousands of pounds in the public purse to regenerate our district towns.
How little you Know Karen, it is not true that Parish Councils are democratically elected bodies The Gorge, Madeley, Craven Arms
are amongst those who are predominantly
co opted. They are most definately not unpaid volunteers the few choose not to take their
allowance the majority claim it on average £45 per month either way it is included in the annual precept as a cost to the tax payer.
As for supporting community groups this is another delusion the only time Parish Councils align themselves to community groups is when they are boasting about giving out funding and jumping on the back of achievements of community groups.
1894 Government Act, almost medieval wake up, it’s 2009 now, I agree with Andrew Finch and
N Evans Parish Councils have had their day.
Local organisations and community groups are efficently run, more effective and really are in touch with the people and they do not claim allowances from any public purse.
Parish Councils are aimless and worthless, get rid.

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I agree with the comments above made against this letter and support N Evans fully.

We are all trying to save money just to live, and yet a body of people duplicating work already done by the borough seem to feel they are the almighty.

To have parish councils costs a hell of a lot of money, to scrap them would save millions per borough and ultimatley our pockets.On average over half the costs of the parish councils is in staffing costs alone, a real answer can not be given for red tape, a decision is not always made for the right reasons or reflects the community surrounding it, just the councillors in the room at the time and this is proving time and time again to be for political motives only.

Why not scrap the parish councils, many which are co opted and therefore the people have not had a vote. Save the majourity of the money and have a pot of money which community groups can bid for to achieve what through red tape, lack of enthusiasum, and sheer laziness can be achieved by community groups.

There are some good parish councils that take the role seriously and involve the community providing what the people have asked for and looking at ways to reduce the cost and beat expectations. Unfortunatley these are few and far between. Until the empire building in the parishes is squashed and they start working for the community the communities will suffer and we will all pay for it.

There is a reason why parish council meetings are poorly attended, the people are not listened to.

Bring on the revolution………….

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Upon being made redundant a couple of years ago I was advised by a Shropshire parish councillor to try to get elected as although it is unpaid you can claim £5000 a year tax free expenses for attending a couple of meetings a month, a nice little earner on top of your pension.

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[So get elected and make a difference!] to anything that personally affects you.

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Parish councils a vital part of local government.
When was that 1894?

Off with their heads!

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There are as ever pro’s and con’s with parish councils not all parish councils are bad .some serve their communities very well.There is however a question of how democratic they are not enough people are interestd councillorsare returned unopposed which can have disastrous results for democracy .There does need however a link between the smaller villages and towns with the larger unitary authorities who can also be against democracy also in the unitary councils many of the council officials seem to be a law onto themselves.Some are promoted beyond their capabilities and become tin pot hitlers ,unable to interpret rules or legislation.and devoid of common sense .They cannot be reasoned with they have a we know best attitude ,I have dealt wth some myself people who would be overpaid if paid in washers .All councils should be made to adopt common sense and use this in all cases .Perhaps a new look at all thes problems should take place with a view to steamlining ,a view to efficency ,a view to adopting common sense and a duty to the long suffering electorate D.L.Barnett

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