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Town would get a voice
Madam, The recent letter by the leader of the council on parish Council consultation does him little credit and indeed serves to illustrate what is wrong with the present Erewash Borough Council – politics before people.
Cllr Corbett seeks to undermine the whole consultation process by making outrageous claims about costs and need with no explanation whatsoever.
His figures are plucked out of thin air.
If a parish council is bad for Ilkeston – why is it so good for West Hallam, Draycott, Stanley, Breadsall etc?
Simple, the Tories rule the roost in those areas but they might not rule the roost in Ilkeston.
The assertion about the cost of a parish council is a blatant lie, a childish scare tactic designed to put people off from voting 'yes'.
The consultation leaflet sets out the costs of the present parish make-up in Erewash and the most expensive parish is Stanton-by- Dale which happens to be the most sparsely populated.
The size of Ilkeston will be an advantage in reducing costs.
Whatever the cost of a parish council, the people of Ilkeston can be assured that the money will be spent in Ilkeston and will not be used to subsidise the other parish areas as their council tax is at the moment.
Cllr Corbett is right in that a parish council in Ilkeston will not replace Erewash Borough Council – but it might in the future.
What a parish council can do is take over some of the functions of Erewash Borough Council and do them itself (few could do worse!)
We could bring back the dog wardens to tackle the piles of dog mess on our streets.
We could bring back the pest control service to tackle the rats and vermin running around the town centre.
We could even run our own leisure and community centres.
I believe there is one vacant in the town centre?
I suppose we should be grateful to Cllr Corbett for showing his political battle lines this early in the campaign but in doing so, he has shown gross contempt for the people of Ilkeston.
What he is saying in his letter is that the people of Ilkeston are not worthy of a parish council – to the back of the queue where you belong!
Cllr Frank Phillips
Ilkeston Central Ward
St John's Road
Ilkeston
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Weather for Ilkeston
Friday 25 May 2012
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