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Are Medway Council trying to avoid a by-election in River?

By Alan W Collins on Tuesday 6th July 2010 19:33 / 3 comments

After the resignation of Dennis MacFarlane last July, Medway Council published a Notice of Vacancy at Customer Contact Points and on the website, albeit hidden down a few levels.

This year, following the resignation of Bill Esterson MP, the Notice of Vacancy has only been published at Customer Contact Points, where a low proportion of residents can view it.

Needless to say, Medway Council’s infamous customer service “Customer First” has been far from helpful, taking several hours to respond with just eleven words which could vaguely be considered useful.

Nevertheless, it begs the obvious question: are the Council deliberately trying to?suppress?the fact so that the requisite two voters do not write in and request a by-election?

Sure it would save on the costs of a by-election, and, indeed, on the allowances for one missing councillor, but such a mistake would prove costly to those who matter most – the residents.

For now the residents of River Ward are left with just one councillor to manage twice the case work. Not that Conservative Craig MacKinlay isn’t capable – far from it.

But! Geographically, the ward covers roughly the same sized area as Gillingham South and Rainham Central, and perhaps slightly more than Strood North. All of which wards are represented by three members.

Yet all ward residents would have just one port of call with a council-related issue. Hardly fair game for the residents – which is exactly why Bill Esterson had to resign as a councillor.

Covering the ward is an impressive feat – I should know, I spent all day at the last General Election campaigning in River.

That’s why I know it would be a grave mistake for there not to be a by-election in River – and why it would be deplorable if the council were deliberately attempting to avoid one at all costs.

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3 Comments

David Gutteridge says:

Tuesday 6th July 2010 at 20:02

I live in River Ward and would be delighted to write the necessary letter. I presume one petitions the Mayor? Your perception seems accurate to me. The cost of a ward by-election is no justification for halving my representation in regard to local matters.

A point you overlooked, Alan, is that a lot of the town-centre regeneration efforts for Star Hill / Sun Pier and Chatham Waterfront and for Gun Wharf / Dock Road are within this ward, and it is even more important that local residents and business owners have their views represented effectively.
Alan W Collins says:

Tuesday 6th July 2010 at 20:04

Thanks for your comment, David. And you are correct about the major redevelopments planned for the town-centre region, which the Council wishes to become (eventually) the centre of the “City of Medway”.

As for the letter, one must address the letter to the Chief Executive, Neil Davies.
John M Ward says:

Wednesday 7th July 2010 at 09:20

I do hope they aren’t trying to avoid a by-election, especially as there is every reason to believe that the Conservatives could now take that second seat.

The ever-excellent (though sometimes underestimated) Cllr Craig Mackinlay has shown in River ward what others have demonstrated elsewhere in Medway, most notably in Rainham and urban Strood: that Conservative councillors tend to be far better for an area than others.

It might not be convenient to some to have to admit that, but the evidence is overwhelming. Therefore I for one would welcome a by-election; though if it didn’t happen I’d also be pleased that the costs and disruption had been averted. It’s one of those “between two stools” scenarios, and I can see positive (and negative) aspects to either outcome.

In practice, wards have had to cope with a member out of commission for year owing to the mayoralty, so experience shows that the ward could cope for the next ten months if it had to. Allowance for such things has already been built into the equation, and there are many examples I could quote of a two-member ward coping for a year while one of its councillors was Mayor or Deputy Mayor.

This really isn’t the end of civilisation as we know it….