OPINION
Flat Pack Democracy
There’s always criticism of local councils and this is reflected in the low turnout in local elections. Quoted in a BBC article in 2019, Rachael Farrington, founder of Voting Counts says: “Many of the people we speak to feel there is a disconnect between politics and their everyday lives. Everyone has issues they care about, from local planning and leisure facilities to bin collections and schools, but it can be difficult to identify how local councils operate and affect these issues.”
And here in Hastings, it’s also clear from talking to people – as well as following comments on social media – that there is a deep distrust of how the council makes decisions. This is often the case in matters related to planning, such as the use of the Old Bathing Pool site. And during the pandemic, many have felt a particular lack of transparency. This came to a head when the first full council meeting was reduced to 18 minutes “to minimise the time that so many of us are in this room together,” according to Managing Director of the council, Jane Hartnell.
Perhaps a complete shakeup is needed as took place in Frome in Somerset in 1995 when Independent Councillors triumphed over the party system. Although the movement has yet to take off in other parts of the country, it is gaining ground in a post-Covid world where people are thinking local and losing faith in central government.
Activist Peter MacFadyen, ex-Mayor of Frome and former leader of Frome Town Council has this to say on the subject: “Now is the time when these newly engaged and empowered people, who have come to know where they live and what is needed, can step forward. Not just to prop up the creaking structures and systems of local government, but to get elected and to fundamentally change them to bring about a truly participative democracy.
And that’s exactly what happened with our neighbours in Bexhill. When their campaign to reinstate Bexhill Town Council was refused (merged with Battle Rural District Council in 1974 to become Rother District Council), they simply took over the Rother Council as an alliance of parties working together. And one of their first acts was to pass a motion supporting the creation of a Bexhill Town Council – finally voted on in December 2020.
• For more information on flat pack democracy go to civic-revival.org.uk/flatpack
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