Tories ‘keep changing the rules to suit themselves’

I read the summary of the disturbingly undemocratic RBWM Council meeting in last week’s Express.

In much of Windsor we, the electorate, had the courage and foresight to vote in a sizeable majority for opposition councillors, mainly because we were dissatisfied with the performance of the Tory-controlled council.

I am a natural Conservative voter but never vote for them locally because of their lack of understanding of what democracy stands for.

I have been writing to the Express raising my serious concerns for over 10 years out of shear frustration about how our council is run.

I therefore understand how local opposition councillors must be feeling but, more so, because of the time and effort they are putting in for us and the brick wall they keep running into. The Tories are clever, presumably with officer advice to hand, to keep changing the rules to suit themselves.

Clever but totally immoral in my opinion.

Out of interest I repeat something I wrote to the Express in about 2011 concerning the following quote from the council’s webpage about consultation:

“In all our work we strive to ensure that our consultation activities:

■ Are a fundamental part of the council’s work

■ Are based on openness, trust, integrity and mutual respect for all participants

■ Are used to seek the public’s view before decisions are made

■ Seek to involve all parties who can contribute to or are affected by the outcome of consultation

■ Make specific efforts to identify and target people who are less able to participate.”

Instead the controlling party want to stifle public scrutiny by limiting how questions from the public are dealt with, limiting how long items are discussed, cutting off a sensible request to reduce the number of signatures on a petition and the item on changing the constitution was voted on without any real discussion.

Furthermore, to ignore a local councillor’s wish to comment on his own area’s Neighbourhood Plan before the vote should not happen in a true democracy. Reading the constitution, I believe the mayor has failed in her duties by not allowing non-cabinet members to discuss issues that affect their constituents.

Also, by allowing the vote about questions to the council she has failed in her duty to promote public participation.

The leader of the council is quoted as saying that documents like the constitution are constantly evolving. Previous changes have included items like severely limiting how we can complain about our councillors.

None of these changes are in the public’s interest. They are just there to protect proper scrutiny of those in charge. Changes in power have failed to address the underlying problems.

How many of these words from a decade ago can be true of today’s ruling members?

OPENNESS, TRUST, INTEGRITY AND MUTUAL RESPECT.

BARRY GIGGINS Greenacre

Windsor