I have often pondered on the concept of democracy, what it is and can it exist in today's society. The dictionary defines democracy as "government by all the people, direct or representative; form of society ignoring class distinction and tolerating minority views" but I must confess that leaves me somewhat confused. Nevertheless I believe the formation of Area Committees to be a step on the road to "local democracy" giving residents the opportunity to air their views in public on matters that are of concern to them. Many people will not want or will be unable to speak in public so in a "democracy" it is important that these people should have representatives to speak for them. The Council considered the issue of who should represent the people and suggested guidelines to be followed, which were not mandatory, in the appointment of "Advisory Members". Two of these guidelines are worthy of note:
(ii)
"it will be for each Area Committee to decide who its Advisory Members will be and the method of selection, but they should have regard to these guidelines in making decisions."
(iv)
"that of these five Members two will be drawn from the representatives of the Joint Estate Management Committees (JEM) within the Area Committees boundaries."
Our elected Councillors, who sit on the Area Committee by right, in considering which organisations should be represented on the Committee decided that the JEM should have only one nominee thus giving other groups within the area a chance to be represented. Thus the Committee considered that the Advisory Members for the Billericay Area Committee should be:
1 Representative from the JEM
At its meeting on 4 December 1996 the Policy Executive Committee considered these recommendations and resolved :
"That this Council is concerned at the apparent lack of understanding of the vital link between JEM and the Area Committees that seems to exist within the Billericay and Wickford Area Committees and resolves that at least two of the Advisory Members on all Area Committees be drawn from the JEM Repesentatives in the area."
Considering that the number of council properties represented by the JEM in Billericay is only 842 whilst in the remaining areas of Basildon they represent 15224 it seems to me that the allocation of seats by the Area Committee is eminently sensible, fair and "democratic". Ah but then I forget Billericay has Liberal Democrat Councillors whilst the Administration is overwhelmingly Labour. Funny thing this democracy isn't it.
For the seventh successive year the Association provided the decorative lights on the High Street for the Christmas festivities and whilst we had our problems (it took the contractor half a dozen attempts to determine the reason for persistent failure of the lights next to the church on the east side of the street) we have received many congratulations on the display. So it is with some satisfaction that I reproduce below a letter from a grateful resident:
"My wife, family and I moved to Billericay in July 1995. Since moving to the town we have been amazed at the community spirit, the friendliness of the townsfolk and the genuine concern which people seem to have about the future and well-being of Billericay - all this is epitomised by the Residents' Association. I must confess that until the recent Christmas Fun Night we weren't fully aware that the Residents' Association was behind the wonderful Christmas Lights we have in Billericay. This year the lights were magnificent putting many other towns to shame. The publicity in "Billericay Life" recently was well deserved and does you credit. As a result we are pleased to enclose a cheque which we hope will be some contribution - in a small way - to this year's Christmas Lights. Thank you for all your efforts and hard work - we think you are a credit to our wonderful town".
What more can I say except to thank the businesses and traders listed who gave so generously to our Christmas Lights Appeal, to the residents who supported our flag day and to those who wrote and made individual donations
The Association has registered under the Data Protection Act with the intention of creating a database of its membership. The information held on members will be the minimum necessary to print the membership cards and keep a record of current subscriptions. Due to the size of the task there will be a rolling introduction of the new membership cards during 1997 and the Road Representatives will be kept fully informed of any changes to the method of recording the subscriptions collected. All information on the database will be kept solely for the use of the Association. No details of members will be released to third parties.
Editor - Trevor Stansfield, 174 Perry Sreet, Billericay, Essex CM12 0NX. Tel: 623519 E-mail:tremar@aol.com
Printed by New Realm Design, Fortune Works, Wash Road, Laindon, Basildon, Essex
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