The council was advised many months ago by the town clerk that there was a need to review the council's constitution to bring it more up to date and in line with other authorities. Over the months, various issues regarding the constitution were discussed by representatives of all parties on the town council.  Under 'Changes for the Constitution', there has to be a "cooling off" period before any changes can be made and this directive has been strictly adhered to.

The only objection received from the Conservative group was regarding the additional appointment and election of a leader of the council.
This issue was properly debated and voted on at full council.

In view of the fact that both the Conservative-controlled Huntingdonshire District Council and Cambridgeshire County Council operate this system, as indeed do the majority of councils throughout the country, one can only assume that their only real objection is that the leader would not be a Conservative councillor.

Huntingdonshire District Council and Cambridgeshire County Council are both Conservative controlled and operate a cabinet system, neither of which has any opposition members on them.

The deliberations of these Cabinets can indeed be scrutinised by the relevant Scrutiny Panel, however these panels are always made up of a majority of the ruling group.

Readers can be assured that here in St Neots, the leader's actions will be fully scrutinised by the full council and in public. 
However, the main rationale for this appointment is to allow the mayor to remain non-political and have the freedom to represent the town in a non-political way.

It also allows the opportunity for any councillor, whether a member of the ruling group or not, to be considered for the position of mayor.
The Liberal Democrats already have a proven track record of appointing non-ruling group mayors.  
Cllr Derek A. Giles
Liberal Democrat
Eaton Socon Ward

But others are not convinced
>> Just three per cent of the St Neots electorate voted for Cllr Giles for the town council.
One year on, his support totally collapsed in the district council election.

Of the 18 Liberal Democrats who stood for our town council, Cllr Giles received less votes than most of his party's other candidates and his sidekick, Cllr Thorpe, was only one place from bottom of the pile. Cllr Collins was more popular with the electorate than other Lib Dem councillors.

In May 2007, 52 per cent of the votes cast gave the Lib Dems 13 seats, while 48 per cent of the votes cast gave the Conservatives only five seats.

I am not arguing for proportional representation, but believe there is something much worse than "first past the post" systems.
We are now one third of the way through the current town council's term of office. With such a large majority it should be easy to deliver on promises yet we have seen absolutely nothing.

The Conservatives would have supported our carnival, the Lib Dems did not. Worse still, there were no Christmas lights and we are yet to see any proposals for any of the projects described so long ago.

So where has the money gone from the big rise in town council tax?
We hear this week there is a shortfall of £350,000 plus interest on the Eatons Community Centre and at least another £500,000 will be needed for a cemetery, but there is no indication of where this will come from.
Since last year the town council has discussed the majority of things affecting us all behind closed doors and in separate committees.

Last week, a block vote of Lib Dems transferred decision making powers directly to Cllrs Giles and Thorpe and refused to establish the sort of scrutiny and checks built in at district or county councils. Creating a new role on our town council for Cllr Giles to compensate him in some way for losing his district councilI seat shows contempt for the majority of Eaton Socon electors who have just rejected him.
All Conservative and most Lib Dems will now have little say, if any, in how our town is run.
 
I once heard Liberal Democrat Baroness Williams describe how vile dictatorships are, if only others in her party thought the same way.
Cllr Barry Chapman
St Neots Town Council


>> I read with interest your article "Will new leader be good for democracy?" (St Neots Town Crier, July 10 2008), and the admission by the Liberal Democrats that "the town clerk is the decision maker". It seems to infer that democracy has little to do with the running of St Neots Town Council as it is an unelected figure who pulls all the strings.

I also find it strange that the ruling Liberal Democrat party, which has led the town for many years, has chosen this point in time to alter the constitution.

If this was a longstanding aim, why was it not in any election literature?
I and many others voted last year for a town council where all councillors would have equal rights.
This is no longer the case.
All decisions no longer have to go before full council and can be decided ad hoc between the clerk and Cllr Giles, acting on behalf of the Lib Dems.

This would appear to marginalise those of us that live in Eaton Ford where all four of our town representatives are Conservatives and are now on the periphery.
If Cllr Giles was so concerned about democracy, he would resign and call a full election based on these new circumstances but given his last encounter with the ballot box it is not surprising that he is unwilling to do so.
Simon Burton
Eaton Ford


>> After his "disappointment" in losing his seat in the district elections, Cllr Derek Giles has now risen from the ashes as leader of St Neots Town Council, giving him full power over the rest of the councillors, particularly the Lib Dems.
Now he has this power, why do we need the rest of town council?
I go to every council meeting and all they do is sit with their heads down like children being told off in school.
Get some backbone councillors and speak up – or get out.
James Clark
Broadwalk
St Neots


>> While I do not participate actively in local politics, I am very interested in what is decided for the good of the town.
The article in the St Neots Town Crier and the letter by Cllr Paul Ursell (July 10) gave me great cause for concern.
I believed that the council chamber was there to debate issues and then come to a decision after careful consideration, not for rubber stamping one party's ideas.

Sadly I can't say I am surprised.
Some years ago when the debate as to whether we should have Safeways on the Eynesbury Rovers site or Tesco by the bypass, the Lib Dems outside the chamber made the Safeways proposal their chosen one, despite opposition from Eynesbury residents.

Big Brother should not operate in the council chamber, so Cllr Giles should not be allowed to ride roughshod over others' views before they are debated in full.

Although we share a surname, we don't share politics and I do not agree with his 'leadership' plan as I feel it is a slippery slope to totalitarianism. We should remember this come the next election.
DJ Giles
Hall Road
Eynesbury

Mast row rumbles on
>> Cllr Thomas asks why objections weren't raised to the siting of another mobile phone mast in Eaton Socon (Town Crier, July 3). Well, where were hers?  
          
Despite what she claims, neither ward councillors nor the town clerk were contacted by O2 at any time.
Then, in her letter to the Town Crier (July 10) she stated that her press release went out a week before the planning committee, but Cllr Thomas made no attempt to contact the town ward councillors to discuss the petition.

She apparently did not contact the Conservative chairman of the planning committee and she made no attempt to be present at the committee meeting to put her case.

If she had felt the residents' concerns were that important, she would have been there and spoken on their behalf – or at least encouraged them to go themselves. The town council regularly has residents speak and welcomes anyone who wants to make their feelings known. One can only assume that manipulating the situation into a point-scoring exercise was more important.

Whether Cllr Thomas likes it or not, representing ones constituents means co-operating with elected representatives of all levels and all parties to get the best deal for them.
Eaton Socon deserves better than to be made into a political football.
Julia Hayward
Liberal Democrats
St Neots Town Council
Eaton Socon ward


Post Office closures are not a big deal
>> There has been much fuss about the Post Office closures (Town Crier, July 10), but the fact remains that a failing business is a bad business.
Much of the Post Office services can be easily taken on by other shops, as is the case with most of the 'closures' revealed last week.
It is not an attack on rural England, it just means you can buy your stamps in shops where they also sell potatoes and ice creams.
M Dickens
Huntingdon


Ernulf truth>>
So finally we hear the truth about St Neots Community College's white elephant that is its new arts centre (St Neots Town Crier, July 10).
I doubt anyone is surprised that the 'state-of-the-art' facility has been watered down to nothing more than a new hall.
But I don't blame the college, it's the county council who sat on their hands.

As the county clearly favours the smaller town of Huntingdon, maybe we should petition for St Neots to be moved to Bedfordshire.
Just as long as we don't become a unitary authority run by our town council, who are obsessed with point scoring rather than doing anything useful.
M Fletcher
St Neots