Godshill Parish Council continues to hide from the Godshill Community. The most visible presence of the Parish Council is its notice board in the centre of the village, pictured here. As you can see, it displays only useless and vastly out of date information. The notice on the left is the agenda for a meeting held nearly 3 months ago (there have been two monthly meetings since this one) and the notice on the right has to be posted legally and tells residents nothing. The notice board displays NONE of the information is should display. There is no attempt to communicate with residents – why should we put up with this?
So, who MUST take the blame for this total and abject failure to communicate the most basic information required by residents and visitors to Godshill? The blame surely must lie squarely on the Chair of the Parish Council, Alison Child and the Parish Clerk, Gareth Hughes. In that the parish clerk lives in Newchurch and the chair has publicly stated that she uses the post office in Rookley in preference to the post office in Godshill, it is unlikely either go anywhere near their notice board from one month to the next. Both Child and Hughes have been at this game for very many years, some say far too many years, and really should know what is required.
This is what Child and Hughes really should know. Anyone can Google and find the well-documented advice to Parish Councils which states the following:
The Parish Notice Board
The notice board is a traditional means of communication although it is sometimes abused and often neglected. With modern materials and careful location, notice boards provide an effective mouthpiece and updated image for the council.
The notice board should display:
- The full title of the parish council
- The name, address, telephone number and email address of the clerk
- The council’s website address
- A list of Members of the council with contact details (address, telephone number, email)
- Venues, dates and times of meetings for the year
- Agenda for forthcoming meetings
- If practicable, minutes of meetings or a summary of recent decisions and
- Where the minutes, the code of conduct and other public documents may be inspected.
So, is it about time for the Chair of the Parish Council and the Parish Clerk to recognise that they are now not up to the job and should step aside so that others can rebuild the reputation of the Parish Council and create a tier 1 council, fit for purpose, and ready to serve the parish of Godshill?