LMPC Newsletter September 2024

Councillor Andrew Huggins: 10 Years and Counting:

In July 2024 I completed 10 years as a Parish Councillor in Lytchett Matravers, so this month I am taking over the column from the Chairman to share some thoughts on my time in this role.

Whilst some may be cynical about Councils and Governments, the Parish Council is non-political: councillors do not represent parties: the councillors live (or work) in the local community and they try to make improvements to the very locality they, and you, live in. They don’t create nebulous policies that barely can be seen at a local level. Being a Parish Councillor, we go around the village looking at what is broken, what can be improved, what isn’t working well. We listen to people and social media, and we then come together twice each month in public meetings, to consider what we can do to maintain and improve our local environment and action things if within our power to do so or use our collective weight to try to exert pressure on external organisations to achieve the local results we wish for.

Being a Parish Councillor is a hugely rewarding volunteer activity. We welcome public input and ideas, and from time to time vacancies arise on the council, which can be filled by people just like you. It is satisfying to walk around the village to see things that we have achieved as a council, and to see people enjoying the facilities we have created.

As we are accountable to the public and spending public money, we must be very open about how we operate – and sometimes this process can mean things take longer that one might hope, but understanding the reason for this makes it more palatable. I sometimes joke that if I were to write a book about being a Parish Councillor, the title would be “In It For The Long Game”.

Over the years I have learned about many things outside from my normal life – drainage, grit bins, floodlights, play equipment, road signage, defibrillators to name a few.

The role of each parish councillor is to represent the people of the village. Clearly the adage “you can please some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot please all of the people all of the time” applies, but we always welcome suggestions and input from the public, even if we can’t always fulfil people’s requests.

As councillors we don’t always agree with each other – but we have discussions and explore different points of view and end with democratic decisions. Over the years many councillors have come and gone and each brings different viewpoints and facets to the decision-making process.

The Parish Council’s scope of responsibility is limited as are its funds and I think there is public misconception surrounding who is responsible for what, but if you approach us about something outside our remit we can often suggest where you can direct your enquiry to. The Dorset Council website is a useful resource for reporting things such as potholes, or streetlights not working or fly tipping. They have limited resources to proactively check the condition of our amenities and facilities and are reliant on the public to report defects, but they do generally respond quickly to reported issues.

If you have ideas or suggestions for the village, please contact the Parish Clerk or come to the Public Participation sessions at the start of all our meetings and raise your points – whilst the format might seem formal, you will be very welcome, and indeed you will be welcome to stay for as much of the meeting as you wish.

September Parish Council Meetings:

Our next meetings are on September 11th and 25th in the Village Hall as usual and starting at 7 p.m. Agendas are published online and the report pack is available on request from the Parish Clerk. Meetings always start with a public participation session, so please come along if you have suggestions or questions that you would like to discuss with the Parish Council or just want to hear what is going on. Stay and listen to our discussions because it’s all about your village.