A visit to Ault Hucknall

Ault Hucknall Parish Councils (AHPC) is one of the smallest in Bolsover District. While going there, I thought that I would not learn anything interesting, but I must admit that this visit was informative. In the previous episode of this series, I compared South Normanton stats with Shirebrook. This time, however, it makes no sense to do it precisely because of the smaller size of this authority. Therefore, I will focus on technical matters and the course of the meeting itself.

MAP IS USELESS
According to the information on the AHPC website, meetings of this Parish Council are held at Doe Lea Resources Center (DLRC). The website even has a Google map, according to which … a private house was indicated as the meeting place. The map below is a false start of AHPC.

This tip will be entirely misleading for someone who has never been to DLRC. I indicated the correct place with the red arrow. As always, as in every meeting I have been, the building lacked clues about where to go. As I have deep experience in wandering around buildings searching for the right place, I found the Chamber on my own.

As I write these words, I have already visited two more meetings, and I can say: it is common. Every council I have seen so far has the same problem. Maybe I’m clinging to it unnecessarily because you can almost always ask someone where the Chamber is.

MODERN TECHNOLOGY
Humanity keeps inventing new things to make its life more effortless. Wise people know how to use technology. Those stuck in the past ignore and continue to follow the old, “proven” path. Right after entering the Chamber, what caught my attention was the big TV showing Agenda.

What’s more – the image on this TV was changed all the time to reflect what was just mentioned. For example, when there was talk of some new bike path – Google Maps was turned on so that everyone knew what the conversation was about. When one of the residents expressed her concerns about the zoning plan, a council employee immediately found the plan and put it on TV. This made it easier for the residents to explain their fears and for the councillors to specify what they could do for her. It made a very positive impression on me. Although I do not live in this place, I knew what the problem was and what solution was proposed. When the expenses for programs and activities for residents were discussed, the person responsible for it turned on tables with financial data on the screen.

STC has a modern, barely built building. We have lots of modern equipment in it, but councillors seem to be stuck in the 20th century when it comes to meetings. I’m the only one using the laptop. No one uses an installed projector, we don’t use the internet, and the recordings from CCTV installed inside the Chamber gets “overwritten” when it suits the Labour Party.

When I tried to find out who was responsible for trimming the bushes that had grown into the pavement and were obstructing pedestrians’ walks – I had to explain step by step which pavement I was talking about instead of showing it on a map.

Of course, I have to give credit here to the AHPC – they use the tools that modern society provides them with.

THERE IS A GUEST!
Until the last STC meeting, I had never seen a single resident on “Full Council”. This is a typical symptom of the discouragement of the Shirebrook community- everyone complains, but very few do anything. Thanks to what Labour has been doing here for decades- residents seem resigned to the fact that nothing will ever or ever change here; therefore, nobody even bothers to listen to what councillors are saying. Since I started walking around Bolsover District, I can see how disaffected and distant from town affairs Shirebrook residents are. Why? Because at almost every meeting I visit, residents watch the proceedings and usually, they are not afraid to ask the tough questions.

Point for AHPC.

CHAIR IS A… WOMAN!
Another thing that sets the AHPC apart from all the others I have visited so far is that a woman chairs them. Generally, it seems that women are a significant minority among councillors, and it is a rarity among chairpersons.

To date, I have seen the proceedings of 6 of the 16 Parish Councils in Bolsover District. So far, each Chair has had their style of chairing proceedings – and the same was true this time. For long moments the Chair of AHPC was the only speaking person in the room. This was mainly because most of the items on the agenda were informative. Hence, almost the entire speaking load fell on the Chair.

Generally speaking, this was the first meeting of a foreign parish that I have been to, where voting and debate did not form a large part of the proceedings. I know this is a coincidence, and the proceedings probably look a bit different on other days. However, I knew this would happen sooner or later-it happens at STC from time to time. By the fact that the meeting was so full of informative elements- one can immediately conclude that it lacked “wow” moments, emotions, political or worldview arguments (of course, on a small “parish” scale). I don’t know if it was the Chair’s influence or just good relations between the councillors, but the whole meeting passed in a very warm atmosphere. There was only any emotion when Glapwell was mentioned, but more on that in a moment.

Overall Chair made a very positive impression on me. Nothing to complain about, except that it should be noted that she had a fairly easy task due to the lack of controversial topics.

Point for AHPC.

CHAMBER
Like the whole Parish Council, the room where the proceedings are held is small. So small that all the chairs for the public and councillors were occupied, and people sat shoulder to shoulder. Despite this, there was a helpful silence in the room to help focus. So far, on this point, STC has always won; however, this time, I am ordering a draw. There are no problems with working and watching the proceedings in both places.

THE OTHER THING, YOU KNOW…OTHER THING
In the previous article of this series, I wrote that I learned two things at AHPC. The first was to use modern technology to improve communication at meetings. When I started writing that article, I had forgotten what the second thing was. I don’t record these meetings- I need to save disk space for STC meetings. I do, however, have notes! A quick read of them reminded me of the “other thing”.

I learned that the County Councillor, who is responsible for Ault Hucknall, also visits Parish Councils meetings. He wasn’t at this meeting, but in the minutes of the previous meeting (the minutes were displayed on the screen), there was a brief stop at what CC had mentioned at the previous meeting he had attended. What party does CC James Barron represent? You can probably guess that it is not the Labour Party. You are right: CC James Barron represents the Conservative Party.

I was tempted to give a point here to the AHPC, but I think you have to give a point here to the Conservative Party – for the fact that their councillors work. Interestingly, the next day I visited the Glapwell Parish Council meeting and found that it was also in the CC James Barron area. This time the councillor turned up in person and, like the CC councillor in South Normanton- gave a brief report of activities. I sat ten months in the STC chamber- “our” CC didn’t provide a single report…

NOTES, NOTES, SO MANY NOTES…
Since I started visiting other parishes, I very often hear the phrase “Code of Conduct”. I don’t know where this wave of discussion came from, but I suspect that someone somewhere caught one of the councillors getting his hands dirty. This has not escaped the attention of BDC. Hence many of the Parish Councils visited are discussing the new Code of Conduct for councillors.

DOE LEA CENTRE
DLRC activities were raised during the meeting. Like our Leisure Centre, they organise various events for local residents. Interestingly, they always try to raise external funds for these events rather than going straight into the taxpayer’s pocket. Holiday Action Fund, Youth Investment Fund was mentioned. The financial report on the Centre’s activities looked like… a financial report. They were presented openly, for all to see, with detailed calculations.

There is a huge difference on the plus side compared to the reports I’ve seen of LC’s operation at Shirebrook. (Author’s note: at the last STC meeting, LC managed to snatch a report with residual financial data).

COLD WAR WITH… GLAPWELL
I mention this only as a ‘comic relief moment’. Of course, there is no war between Ault Hucknall PC and Glapwell PC. However, when the supervisor of the Centre mentioned that Glapwell had “stolen” an idea from them (yoga I think) and was holding meetings on the same day as AHPC- there was a “war murmur” in the room. Someone even suggested “retaliation”. He was joking, of course. Anyway- you can clearly feel that the bordering towns are in competition with each other. I was extremely interested in this, as I had planned to visit Glapwell PC the next day. As it turned out, it was the most informative meeting of all I have been to so far.

JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS
Everything is prepared by DLRC staff. It took a few minutes to discuss. I’m writing these words a few days after the STC Leisure Committee meeting was discussing the celebration of the Queen’s Jubilee took…. eh never mind. To know more, read the previous article.

END OF REPORT
AHPC is a small council. So the report is also smaller. What have I learned from this visit?

That STC doesn’t use the technology available, wastes too much time discussing leisure, and the supervisor of DLRC should do some training for someone at Shirebrook on how to produce and introduce financial reports.

In the next episode Elmton with Creswell and immediately after that Glapwell. Unfortunately, it seems that a large proportion of Parish Councils meet on days when I can’t spare the time, so after Glapwell, there may be a long break in this series.

Sylwester Zwierzynski info@shirebrook247.com