Community Council Elections

[Ghostrider]

It was also the case that certain SIC officers saw the CC's as direct opposition and never really liked working with them.

 

This is very believable. Flicking through the most recent several sets of minutes (the newest available being for April!) for our local CC the over-riding theme throughout for the majority of the 'business' on the agenda seems to be that its been ongoing for years, and each month that passes only brings yet one more note of 'Nothing to report - still awaiting response from xxxx'. With 'xxxx' more often than not being some SIC department or 'official'.

 

While the items in question at this time are to me, irrelevant, inconsequencial and of no interest whatsoever, I can see how they're not being helped in the slighest, and often hindered from achieving anything, by lack of cooperation from those the next step up the totem.

[peeriebryan]

> Sandwick Community Council and the work they do for our community.

 

Any examples there ?

 

Things like raising funds and providing grants for local groups and old folks' social activities, grants toward the new Hoswick to Stove cycle path and flower planting, providing official notifications of support for other community schemes such as Hoswick Playpark and Hoswick Visitor Centre developments, and campaigning on road safety matters.

 

Another very useful thing they do is post all their minutes on the noticeboard outside the shop and the Social Club which contains handy summaries of SIC, police, transport etc news affecting the community. Their recent minutes are here https://www.shetland.gov.uk/communitycouncils/Sandwick.asp

[Ghostrider]

^ You've picked up a bit of excess code to your link.

 

The %C2%A0 bit on the end that it somehow acquires between bing clicked on, and what displays when it takes you through to the SIC site, causes it to give a 404 and needs removing to make it work right.

Edited September 16, 2018 by Ghostrider

[peeriebryan]

Oops! Cheers pal. Now fixed

[Colin]

 

A (not) fairly radical suggestion is;

Why not allow the Charitable Trust to offer a small annual grant to each CC ?  It is OUR money after all.

This could be "ring-fenced" for cummunity "assets" such as benches, small flower gardens, newsletters, whatever...  Just so long as it reminds the community that the CC's exist

The SIC already has a small grant scheme that allows community councils to request money for small local improvements. Currently the Scalloway Community Council is planning to provide cycle racks around the village. You can see what the Scalloway Community Council is up to by reading the reports in the Scalloway Notes or by subscribing to its Facebook page.

 

Fair enough but, I don't "do" Facebook and never buy the paper. 

 

Why not put up a few posters around the village where everyone can see them?

[George.]

The SIC already has a small grant scheme that allows community councils to request money for small local improvements. Currently the Scalloway Community Council is planning to provide cycle racks around the village. You can see what the Scalloway Community Council is up to by reading the reports in the Scalloway Notes or by subscribing to its Facebook page.

The Scalloway Community Council may well be planning just where you can put your bike. Unfortunately, at the end of the day it's paid for by every person that pays council tax. That's where the S. I. C. gets the money that can be used to fund the place you can keep your wheels upright. Next time I'm in Scalloway I'll stand and look proudly at their bike racks, while wondering if they'll get put up anywhere near me.

 

I do wonder how many people can manage to peddle their pedals these days?

[Nigel Bridgman-Elliot]

_
> I can see how they're not being helped in the slighest, and often hindered from achieving anything, by lack of cooperation from those the next step up the totem.

Reminds me of my time in the civil service.

 

It was very difficult to get anything done.

 

I notice when I looked here:

https://www.shetland.gov.uk/communitycouncils/Links.asp

I was expecting to find links like this:


https://www.facebook.com/ScallowayCC
> Scalloway Community Council

https://www.facebook.com/Unst-Community-Council-466849940162061/
> Unst Community Council

Does anyone have links to all the other ones up here ?

It's a shame they aren't all prefixed like "Shetland - Scalloway Community Council' for example, as that would make them easier to find.


I notice from the council website it says:

> Community Development Fund
>
> Please note that the budget for this scheme is limited and the application process is competitive.

I wonder what the actual development fund amount is then ?


> grants toward the new Hoswick to Stove cycle path

Oh good, some meat and potato content, excellent to see. (How much did that cost out of interest ?)

I wonder, has anyone ever used grant money to have carparks or roads to carparks built ?

Just I notice as I travel around, few places to park to enjoy the countryside. (Or shops..)

 

[MuckleJoannie]

 

 

A (not) fairly radical suggestion is;

Why not allow the Charitable Trust to offer a small annual grant to each CC ?  It is OUR money after all.

This could be "ring-fenced" for cummunity "assets" such as benches, small flower gardens, newsletters, whatever...  Just so long as it reminds the community that the CC's exist

The SIC already has a small grant scheme that allows community councils to request money for small local improvements. Currently the Scalloway Community Council is planning to provide cycle racks around the village. You can see what the Scalloway Community Council is up to by reading the reports in the Scalloway Notes or by subscribing to its Facebook page.

 

Fair enough but, I don't "do" Facebook and never buy the paper. 

 

Why not put up a few posters around the village where everyone can see them?

 

Look out for the ReCreate Scalloway posters that were distributed to various businesses in Scalloway today by the Community Council.

[Ghostrider]

_

> I can see how they're not being helped in the slighest, and often hindered from achieving anything, by lack of cooperation from those the next step up the totem.

 

Reminds me of my time in the civil service.

 

It was very difficult to get anything done.

 

I notice when I looked here:

 

https://www.shetland.gov.uk/communitycouncils/Links.asp

 

I was expecting to find links like this:

 

 

https://www.facebook.com/ScallowayCC

> Scalloway Community Council

 

https://www.facebook.com/Unst-Community-Council-466849940162061/

> Unst Community Council

 

Does anyone have links to all the other ones up here ?

 

It's a shame they aren't all prefixed like "Shetland - Scalloway Community Council' for example, as that would make them easier to find.

 

On the page that comes up from your first link, the details for all Community Councils are cunningly hidden under the 'Minutes' link at the left side.......... Don't ask........its the SIC's website. 'Nuff said.....

 

It would appear the page has been created for links to CC minutes when that was all there was, and when some established websites of their own and F/B pages, instead of adding to a 'Links' page for them, they've just tagged them on to the links for the minutes. 'Clear signposting' policy obviously failed this one.

Edited September 17, 2018 by Ghostrider

[Suffererof1crankymofo]

I loathe with a passion the competitiveness of funds whereby some bright spark decided it would be a good idea to hold an event on one day whereby 'locals' were meant to go along and vote for a 'local' project.  Now that might work fine in town, not so much down here.  Haven't the last two been held in Sandwick?  Who got the bulk of the funding?  (It's not hard to guess).  So that one day when some might be working or unable to get a lift to travel 10 miles, can't get a bus there and back in time, etc., or so to a venue where you know you're already at a disadvantage if you don't live in or close to said location where event is being held.  I'm not blaming the folk who live in that particular place, I'm not blaming the community council concerned.  I am, however, blaming whosoever dreamt up such a scheme in the first place and all community councils who agreed to participate in such a biased and unfair scheme instead of collectively telling the SIC/Scot. Gov. where to shove it.  It's wrong to have people compete for what should already be provided and then state that the local community voted for it.

Another initiative involved online voting ... only it wasn't working properly (that one included Grutness toilets).

Nigel, a lot of what the community councils do now is administer small grants to say those participating in sports and wanting help with travel costs.  The meetings themselves are attended by 3 local councillors and the police plus community councillors (and not all of them attend).  It's really annoying to read about someone being arrested or how police were called to an address in X location when you live in a small area - since when does an arrest amount to being guilty of an offence?

[Nigel Bridgman-Elliot]

> the £53,000 project.

I have a vague memory somewhere of people commenting about how expensive that appeared for some tarmac.


> ReCreate Scalloway

What's that about ?


FX [ Wonders if someone will do a ReCreate Unst posters that involve rebuilding the railway network on the island..]


> details for all Community Councils are cunningly hidden under the 'Minutes' link at the left side

Ah ha !

It's like an adventure game isn't it, click on and explore all the links to find the hidden easter eggs..



> hold an event on one day whereby 'locals' were meant to go along and vote for a 'local' project.

Ah, so that is how the voting is decided then !?


> Another initiative involved online voting ... only it wasn't working properly

Quite difficult to get things like that to work well I've noticed.


I would have thought postal votes would be a a simple uncomplicated way for all folk to vote.

I wonder, can you proxy vote, eg. someone else can vote on your behalf ?


Reminds me of voting for a strike, 1,000 workers, 3 turn up to vote, 2 vote for a strike, majoriy vote wins !


> a biased and unfair scheme

What would be a better way to do things ?

I guess it was done to stop the first come first served approach.



 

[Colin]

I loathe with a passion the competitiveness of funds whereby some bright spark decided it would be a good idea to hold an event on one day whereby 'locals' were meant to go along and vote for a 'local' project.

 

Not very happy about it either.  It's about 'control'.

 

In times past, CC's were given funds to spend on whatever they wanted to and,in the main, used them well by supporting local projects and groups.

 

Nowadays, they have a very limited "float" and have to go "cap in hand"  to some official within the SIC for access to another limited pool of cash in order to finance a project and, if it doesn't meet with "guidelines", is considered to "expensive" etc., it can be refused.

 

A pretty neat way of removing some of the limited power and worth that CC's had which, imho, should never have been allowed to happen and our democratically elected councillors should have been on it "like a ton of bricks". 

After all, SIC officials have to "answer to" elected councillors whilst, they DO NOT have to "answer to" elected (by the same people) Community Councillors. 

Anyone else see something wrong here ?

 

Another point worth considering is that it now takes longer (sometimes MUCH longer) to bring any project to fruition.

 

The old(?) way of doings things was that the CC made a decision, and the clerk wrote out the cheque.  Job done !  Today, the CC makes a decision and then has to seek "approval" from an un-elected official in a different organisation.  Job (maybe) done (eventually) ? .

 

I'm not opposed to elected Community Councils.  In fact, I think that they are a "good thing" as, by definition, they are much closer to the communities they represent.  It's just that they need more "autonomy" (and cash!) and should be allowed to play a much stronger (?) part in governance.

[shetlander]

 

The SIC already has a small grant scheme that allows community councils to request money for small local improvements. Currently the Scalloway Community Council is planning to provide cycle racks around the village. You can see what the Scalloway Community Council is up to by reading the reports in the Scalloway Notes or by subscribing to its Facebook page.

The Scalloway Community Council may well be planning just where you can put your bike. Unfortunately, at the end of the day it's paid for by every person that pays council tax. That's where the S. I. C. gets the money that can be used to fund the place you can keep your wheels upright. Next time I'm in Scalloway I'll stand and look proudly at their bike racks, while wondering if they'll get put up anywhere near me.

 

I do wonder how many people can manage to peddle their pedals these days?

 

If you’re keen to see bike racks in and around Northmaven why not put yourself forward to serve on the Community Council there George? Or are you convinced that membership of it is a big SIC conspiracy too?

[George.]

Or are you convinced that membership of it is a big SIC conspiracy too?

I'm not convinced that membership of the Scalloway Community Council indicates any conspiracy regarding the S. I. C. Some community councils do seem to do better than others, though. I wonder why that is?

[Rasmie]

Could be down to the amount of work and time put into it by community councillors, as well as good negotiation skills and the ability to get on with officials.