It's all go in Trelawnyd. Tomorrow is Election Day where the population of the village has the opportunity to vote in a new Community Councillor. The two candidates have canvassed their CV's and quite clearly both men would be an asset to the council as they seem level headed, community orientated and very much their own 'men' so to speak.
I wish them both well,
A few weeks ago, I embarked on a very rough straw poll of locals and their general knowledge of what the community council was all about. Out of around fifty people I asked, only four knew the name of just one community councellor from the village, a fact that really does speak for itself .
In these days of ' insular living' and community apathy, many dont see the relevance of such a small and local strata of local government, so I think that the fact that two local and popular men are presently making the effort to engage the village is a laudable and timely ' kick up the arse' for many.
I have just drafted a brief newsletter on behalf of the council, outlining whose who and what's what.... on the council and what's happening in both villages .It's a simple PR exercise, nothing more, but hopefully it may spark a bit of community involvement that has been hiding away in more recent times.
Who knows....
Anyhow... I will leave you with a community based observation. Yesterday I visited with Eirlys,a friend who has a chicken farm a mile or so out of the village. She mentioned that she had just bought a load of Flower Show raffle tickets from a " sprightly old lady" who in her summer dress, had walked the few miles around country lanes to buttonhole the houses and farms on the periphery of the village.
I had to smile to myself..... auntie Glad had been at work again....I bet she has sold most of her allocation of several hundred tickets whereas we the younger members of the Flower Show committee have not even started selling our own bundles.....The community Councillor to be, take note........ You
should have employed the old gal as your PA. ........
'Auntie Gladys for Prime Minister!'
ReplyDeleteLLX
John Gray for Councillor!
ReplyDeleteI am one already xxx
DeleteIf more people were like Auntie Glad what changes could be made! Most sit back and whine about all that is wrong locally but don't get out to vote for a change. Our last local election only 8% of those registered voted. Sad...
ReplyDeleteNigel ( below) makes some valid points....
DeleteI suspect the existing council could be a little more proactive in getting people involved
aunt glady knows how to do it!
ReplyDeleteSome quick thoughts.
ReplyDeleteOf course John we have discussed this before on a number of occasions. Perhaps there’s a difference between rural and suburban. I think it is easy to blame “insular living' and community apathy”, and that might be true where you live. But where I live, there is a community ‘spirit’, despite the self-serving attitude of local councillors.
Another truth is that local governance has failed to keep pace with how many folk are obliged to live their lives today. Work and workplaces are far more intensive than they used to be. The ‘9 to 5’ has gone for many, not only in ‘the professions’. Someone has to work in the 24-hour supermarket, and the ‘housewife’ (or husband) has largely disappeared.
As a consequence, those elected do not often credibly ‘represent’ those they 'serve’. Young people and ‘couples’ are very poorly represented, as are single working professionals. In suburbia, ‘old school’ practices of local government are irrelevant and often ‘serve’ a narrow range of interests. Yes, there are “insular” people, but there is more to it than that.
So, if it works – and is truly representative- in your area, good luck to them. However, here, local councillors (except when elections are coming up) seem quite happy to retain a status-quo that excludes swathes of people from ‘democracy’, whatever that means.
But an interesting debate nonetheless.
Nx
Oh, I thought you were talking about some other (Chinese?) fever for a minute. Carry on.
ReplyDeletePriapisms?
DeleteYou guessed, you scallywag. Pliapisms.
DeleteA Community Counsellor sounds much better than a Community Councillor, John. I am joking.
ReplyDeleteSeriously. I think many people feel disenfranchised with main stream politics today. Wish we even had a community centre near us. No political party seems to represent rural dwellers. Think you would make a great councillor.
I am a sloppy speller dave
DeleteIt's like an episode of the West Wing up there John. I see you as in the Bradley Whitford role. x
ReplyDeleteHasn't he got BIG HAIR em?
DeleteDear old soul is not afraid of a little hike in the country....no wonder she sells so many tickets...she walks the road less travelled.
ReplyDeleteThey must do things differently down your neck of the woods...here in London, the politicians are neither popular nor caring; many are corrupt and the rest are self-serving....
ReplyDeleteWhat is Aunt Gladys' secret? If she bottled it, she'd be a multi millionaire.
ReplyDeleteJane x
Auntie Glad is awesome, in every sense of the meaning. Give her a hug from me!
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately a lot of people have lost interest in their local councillors as they don't think they do very much for the local community and in some cases think they are just out to feather their own nests. That may be an inaccurate perception but it won't be reversed until councillors can convince the public they're indispensable and doing important work on their behalf.
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ReplyDeletehey john! i have something i want to send to you but can't find your email anywhere to ask for your address? should i leave my email address in your comment section and then you can email me your snail mail address? joyce
ReplyDeletejgsheffield@hotmail.com
DeleteI think you have hit on two very important points as regards country living John. Firstly old ladies tend to be sprightly, wiry and go on fot ever. Secondly communities tend to be insular and do not take kindly to changes - I am sure that most of the villagers do not think there is any need for a community councillor. Still I wouldn't change village living for anything and i am sure you wouldn't either.
ReplyDeleteOh, my comment vanished... I wished you well for selling the tickets for the Flower Show, and said I like smaller shows even more than the very big Chelsea show I saw these days. It was impressing, but not as personal as the smaller ones - most outstanding a flower show very ! ! many years ago in Salisbury, were even the then Bishop was present. He offered my sister and me to kiss his ring - but we rather prefered not to - then he showed us his collection of beautiful garments he had exchanged with clerics all over the world. (Oh, the times have changed so very much: an innocent tale like this, an innocent hobby like that: today a possible starting point for many funny remarks to come - but it was innocent! (Or I?)
ReplyDeleteJohn would have jumped at the chance. (Pope Innocent the 1st).
DeleteInnocentia of Rimini?
DeleteOur village is run by an 86 year old. Until the Welsh Assembly Gopvernment create a level playing field for new candidates Flintshire and Welsh villages will continue to be run by Dad's Army.
ReplyDeleteColin..we do have a couple of younger members.......perhaps our affable jason is the equivalent of private Pike
DeleteAunt Glady is a trooper ! If I lived near you I would have bought her whole allotment of tickets and baked a cake !
ReplyDeleteOur politics are awful, my vote never counts and my party has no use for me after over 45 yeas... le sigh
cheers, parsnip
Perhaps at the next general election you'll put yourself forward to be the local MP on behalf of the Monster Raving Loonies. You would either win by a landslide or there'd be a landslide of poultry poop. Your election slogan could be either "Put Some Colour in Your Life - Vote Gray!" or..."I'm Seeking the Gray Vote!"
ReplyDeleteGo Auntie Glad!
ReplyDeleteSure there's plenty of straw to make a pole where you live.
ReplyDeleteLet me know if the Councillor needs a counsellor.
We have an Auntie Glad named Freda ! She's in her nineties and still delivers the poppies to shops for Rememberance day.
ReplyDeleteSomething about this post makes me wish you would write a James-Herriotesque novel. Would you even consider it? I'm thinking it would be one for the twenty-first century, freely dishing about dog snot, turkey arses, eruptive flatulence and the occasional ogling of virile young men.
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