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?	Northwood Parish Council Nominations Posted: Thursday, April 10, 2008 8:54 AM (BST) Oh what a pity that there weren't more nominations, resulting in a 'proper' election! Oh what a pity that so few members of the community felt sufficiently motivated and interested to grasp this opportunity and form a truly democratic and representative Parish Council! Oh what a pity that once again the 20 - 55 age group can't really be bothered! If you go on doing what you've always done, you'll go on getting what you always got.........
?	Northwood Parish Council Nominations Posted: Thursday, April 10, 2008 2:33 PM (BST) So who should be the leader of this quality parish council? Without a ballot, we won't know who would have got the most votes. Will they ask the audience? (not '50/50' or 'phone a friend')
?	Northwood Parish Council Nominations Posted: Thursday, April 10, 2008 11:37 PM (BST) "Oh what a pity that once again the 20 - 55 age group can't really be bothered!" ~ I feel this is a tad harsh - I expect it isn't a case of not being bothered, but more a case of working all hours going to pay for massive mortgages (and topping up the island pensioner's retirement/holiday funds) and not having time and resources to be involved. "Oh what a pity that there weren't more nominations, resulting in a 'proper' election!" ~ Having just stumbled on this site, I have to admit this is the first time I have heard of any parish council nominations - If I haven't heard of something how can I become involved in it? "If you go on doing what you've always done, you'll go on getting what you always got........." ~ Spot on comment. Poor planning = poor performance.
?	Northwood Parish Council Nominations Posted: Friday, April 11, 2008 6:12 AM (BST) Information about the new Parish Council has been carried on many occasions in the County Press, the Northwood News, in Roger's Report and on the local notice board: what more do you want? As for non-involvement of the 'working-age' residents: it was exactly the same when it came to the Parish Plan questionnaire - 18% response, and virtually nobody under 40 could even be bothered to spend 15 minutes filling it in. It's not lack of time - we've all been there and got the scars, as well as the t-shirts and the videos - but there were a lot more of us who made the time to do things in the community: school, scouts, church and so on. I'm afraid we now have generations missing from active involvement in their communities - to any extent - and the consequences of that will become all too apparent over the next 20 - 30 years. Should I worry, or should I bow to the inevitable and join the apathetic majority?
?	Northwood Parish Council Nominations Posted: Friday, April 11, 2008 3:05 PM (BST) Firstly, are there that many under-40s in Northwood? Secondly, What does a parish council do, and why do we need one now if we haven’t had one in the last thousand years? We have a council to provide services, why do we need 48 or so parish councils to do things that could probably be done centrally more efficiently. We have local input via that independent guy that was elected a few years ago. For many younger people, Northwood is a postal district of Cowes, and part of the Island. Instead of playing hopscotch on the local pavement, and marbles on the local drains, people now go bowling at Ryde, hiking on Tennyson Down, and shopping in Newport. if not Southampton. As someone in the real council tells us, we are ONE ISLAND. People move to do the activities they want, irrespective of where they reside. If you want to do basket-weaving then you may go to one place; if you want to exercise on one of those cardio-vacuum machines in a gymnasium then you go somewhere else. Even on a local basis, I am more likely to sit on a bench in Cowes than in Northwood. If we are one Island, should we not have one council? Theo
?	Northwood Parish Council Nominations Posted: Saturday, April 12, 2008 2:35 AM (BST) The problem is not apathy, it is that a majority of residents see no point in having a Parish Council! All we have done is sleepwalked into paying more money for the same services that the IOW Council did and should provide. But how can you stop them? How can you disband the Parish Council, vote of no confidence?
?	Northwood Parish Council Nominations Posted: Tuesday, April 15, 2008 1:20 AM (BST) You would have had to pay the money in any case - parish council or not. With a parish council, you have a local say in how much money is paid each year (the annual precept); and how it is spent locally. With a Unitary Authority (such as the IW Council) there are no District Councils, and the parish councils are the only other tier of local government. Many areas of the country (especially rural areas) have three tiers of local government, each with distinct responsibilities. It has been the IW Council's declared policy that all areas of the Island should have this local, fully-democratic tier. Most areas of the Island already had parish councils, some for many, many years. Those areas that did not have recently had interim Management Committees, in preparation for parish councils. Make this new Parish Council work for you - it's your local representation, in addition to your elected ward member of the IW Council.
?	Northwood Parish Council Nominations Posted: Tuesday, April 15, 2008 6:24 AM (BST) "You would have had to pay the money in any case - parish council or not" Rubbish - there are economies of scale in having local services managed centrally. You would have to pay, but less than having another tier of bureaucracy. “you have a local say in how much money is paid each year (the annual precept)” Rubbish – was there a vote for the last precept NO, was it anywhere near the £2,000 or £3,000 stated by Roger before the council was formed NO. So do we have any say really, absolutely NOT. Parish Councils are an unnecessary waste of money, our money! “Make this new Parish Council work for you - it's your local representation; “ That last bit was a joke, right?
?	Northwood Parish Council Nominations Posted: Tuesday, April 22, 2008 4:06 PM (BST) It never cease to amaze me that after the event, on this occasion the Formation of a Parish Council for Northwood, there are plenty of folk who jump to put "pen to paper" and pass criticism or make sarcastic remarks against those who have at least had the guts to put them selves up for election; Apathy reigns again! I do have some empathy with some of the contributors because through this forum I tried, unsuccessfully to get a debate or reaction when the plans for the council were first mooted,unfortunately only the few were bothered and as a result we have another layer of "democracy" at work. Once in place it will grow and so will the precept!! Don't believe me? watch when the next Community Charge bill is delivered. Lets face it the people now serving as Councillors were falling out due to ego's being put out of joint before, when they were on the Village Management Committee;(Article in County Press) are we going to see more of the same when decisions are being taken that could have an impact on our lives? Come people of Northwood shake off the cobwebs and make an effort, turn up at open meetings make our representatives accountable to us; make sure we know that every penny from the Isle of Wight Council is spent wisely for our benefit. Failure to oversee the new parish council properly will leave us again shouting in the wind. Regards G R Cotterill Northwood.
Admin	Northwood Parish Council Nominations Posted: Saturday, April 26, 2008 3:05 AM (BST) The main concern I always had about the Parish Council was the amount of the local precept that was spent on the maintenance of the organisation appeared to far outweigh the amount being spent on community projects. I had an email exchange with Mr Fuller over this issue and he made a valid point that by having a Parish Council we could attract more funding through grants to offset this. I believe and somebody can correct me if I am wrong, that some grants from the IW Council (maybe other organisations as well) are only open to Parish Councils. I believe that it is a shame that the number of nominations was such that a local election will not be held. This would have given the nominees a chance to engage with the electorate and allow a more positive message of the Parish Council to be heard. On the same issue if Mr Mazillius stands for re-election next year I believe he would welcome some opposition, for at a minimum the sake of democracy. We should congratulate the NVMC, NCP and Roger for bringing us to this point in our local democracy, and my hope is that now the community can engage in a positive manner to make Northwood a better place for us all. Peter Gallop Northwood