Councillors need to be watched!

Well last night the papers arrived for the next full Council meeting which will be taking place next Wednesday. As many will probably be aware there is a public gallery in the Town Hall so members of the public can come and view what happens at the Council meetings. What a sham! Anybody I know that have come to view the proceedings have all left with nothing more than utter disgust.

The Public Gallery only as a small number of seats and whilst they may not be full ever meeting there are times when there is not enough seats. Take the Mere Oaks Campaign. There was a queue outside for if and when anyone left the next one could go in. I put a motion to Full Council that the Council should have installed CCTV and then the footage put on the Council website so that members of the public could view from the comfort of their homes and view part or all of the meeting. Labour voted down the motion.

With next week meeting I have put the motion in again as this needs to happen. Labour keep saying that this Council is a 4 star Council and outstanding. Well if anyone that gave these stars out viewed the proceeding they would quickly retract them and slap a hazard warning on the Council.

Whilst Politicians will be Politicians they is no need to be rude or insulting. Let me give you a couple of examples. At the last Council meeting the Leader of Wigan Council Lord Peter Smith, (Sounds Posh) referred an opposition Councillor to being like a Chimpanzee at a zoo throwing paper out. And another Opposition Councillor, who had just left the Labour Party, as only fit to make bacon butties for bus drivers. I believe that he used to work in a burger van or cafe or something like that. Does this really sound like a Four Star Council are simply a place where 5 year old would be able to debate things better? The Council is in a mess and the actions of some need questioning and whilst they think they can hide behind closed doors it is time for all to see how their Councillor acts, votes and also what they speak about, if at all, in the Council.

Cllr Gareth Fairhurst recently said,

" It cost about £50 000 to feed and water the Councillors for their free drink
and it would cost about £20 000 to have CCTV installed and uploaded on the
website for the members of Wigan to view their Councillors and what they do."