The Priory Church of St Mary and the Holy Cross,
Binham
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The Priory Church of St Mary and the Holy Cross,Binham |
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| Parish & Community | Building & History | Glaven Valley Parishes | northnorfolkcentral |
Binham Parish Council |
Two sets of elections acid a referendum are on their way. Referenda (I think that's the word!) are rarer than politicians' apologies — I believe that the last one was to find out if we wanted to join the European Union back in the 1970's. But the elections for the District and Parish Councils are held every four years. And it is your chance to get involved at the most local level in democracy. Few people get to meet their Member of Parliament, but almost everybody will know of their District Councillor and it is unlikely that people will not be "on speaking terms" with at least one of their Parish Councillors. Regrettably these days, District elections are fought on party political lines, although once in power there does not seem to be a great deal of division between parties at our local North Norfolk District Council. But in the Parishes we still have almost 100% of candidates standing on the basis of who they are, rather than which political party they are members of. Not every Parish will have an election, because of course, these only occur when there are more candidates than positions. Unfortunately, in many Districts including ours, there is a huge difference in the cost of contested and uncontested elections. So in Binham, for instance, we need seven Councillors. If seven or less people stand, the cost to the Parish is about £70. If eight or more people stand, the cost is about £700. So there is a strong financial disincentive for the existing Councillors not to encourage any new people to stand. Which doesn't seem very democratic — but since the Councillors see one of their main tasks as guarding your Council Tax from profligacy — it is understandable. But with a few exceptions (like being too young or having recently been locked up for more than three months) there is nothing to stop any resident of a Parish from applying to become a Member of the Council. The Council consists of all local people and they are there to represent and protect the good interests of the two parishes.
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