The Candidates' Meeting

I got up to the Parish Hall by about five to seven, and the place was already pretty full.
I met Ann and her daughter Franka on the way there - Franka will be voting for the very first time in this election, and she wanted to see the candidates and make her mind up about them.
Eleven of the seventeen candidates standing for the Town Council turned up for the meeting - they were seated along one long wall of the hall, with the audience facing them.
Karen Clare and Sue Campbell-Felgate couldn't be there because of a previous engagement, and Alan Powell also sent his apologies because of previous commitments.
Steve Like, Fiona Howard and Nigel Birch, all presently on the Town Council, said they didn't want to take part.
Gareth Ratcliffe was on his way back from Ireland, where he'd been doing something for the Brecon Beacons National Park, and he had sent a letter to be read out in case he couldn't make it back in time.
Nigel Lewis the Town Clerk was also not there, but the minutes of Town Council meetings are now up to date and can be read at the Library or on the Town website.
John Stark, who organises concerts at Booths Bookshop, chaired the meeting. He and his wife hired the hall for the evening.
And Hay TV were filming proceedings from a corner. They said that, if anyone didn't want to appear on film, to let them know, and they would not broadcast those bits.
John Stark started off by thanking those members of the Council who are not standing again for all their hard work in the past - Karl Showler and Peter Lloyd were there in the audience, and the other one was Mr Gittins, who I don't know by sight (or at least, not to put a name to the face). He then invited each of the eleven candidates to speak for three minutes.
Ros Garratt said that she saw the Town Council as a team, and that she wanted to be a team player. She thought families were important, and affordable housing. She also liked the sound of Hay Together, the new umbrella group which is in the process of being set up.
Rhona Muirhead said she was standing because of the supermarket issue, and to keep the sports facilities in Hay. Up until now, she had been happy to let other people run Hay for her, but now she felt she had to take part. She was also interested in affordable housing and child poverty (how can it be higher in Hay than the rest of Powys?) - and parking is another issue. She said she wasn't sure how it all worked, but she is keen to learn.
David Penrose said he was standing because elections should be contested. At present he is a member of Clifford parish council.
Liz Singh said that she had been to the Town Council meeting where the council had discussed sending a letter to the County Council to ask that the decision on the future of the school site be delayed so that consultation could take place - and said that she was shocked when all the council except the proposer of the motion voted against it. That's why she's standing - because there was no chance for local people to discuss and decide on the issues involved.
Rodney Mace said that local elections historically get a low turnout of voters. He'd done some research, and of the 73 County Councillors in Powys, 23 of them had been returned unopposed to their seats, and 88% of councillors in Brecknock were returned unopposed. He thought that those standing for seats should have to account for themselves to the electorate - and we, the voters, should use our votes.
He also said that he supported Hay Together, which should include the Town Council. He wants a Youth Town Council, and is interested in better parking, public seating, and better public toilets.
Rob Golesworthy said that he'd been a Town councillor for seven years, and that he had been co-opted (it has been twelve years since the last elections when more candidates stood for office than there were seats on the council). But, he pointed out, there are elections every four years, and nobody has come forward to stand until now. That's not the fault of the sitting councillors - it's the fault of the electorate. As things stand, there will be a minimum of four new councillors on the town council, if all the existing councillors are re-elected - and he said that he welcomed new blood.
Richard Evans said that he's been living in Hay for three years, and he chose to come here to make his home. He said that there were two reasons that had decided him to stand for the council, after following the minutes of council meetings on the town website. One was the supermarket issue (that was the big one) but the other was very small - the fact that it took five months to get a new light for the town clock when it failed.
Mary Fellowes is the present Mayor of Hay. She was also co-opted originally, but has also gone through an election. She had an impressive list of achievements to read out - she has been working with the County Council and the National Park, so she knows how those organisations work. She's a school governor, founder member of Dial-a-Ride, involved with the Bell Bank Club for the blind and partially sighted, part of the Chamber of Commerce, involved with the Christmas Lights and the Tourist Bureau, she's been working with the County Council to improve parking, and she was involved with the re-furbishment of the Gypsy Castle playground, which re-opened last year.
Ellie Spencer is from Yorkshire, but has spent a lot of time over the years around the Hay area - she finally came to live here full time six years ago. She has three daughters, the oldest being ten years old. She has been looking for niches where she can fill a gap in provision. She started the Cubs, and they now have fifty Beavers and Cubs in the group. More recently, she re-started the WI in Hay. She's been going to Council meetings to see how they work for some time. She said that the supermarket was an important issue, but being a councillor also involved all sorts of other things, like the old people's Christmas Party, and dog mess, and litter. She wants to see a toy library in Hay, and a playgroup - and she is also concerned about parking, and getting a new wedding licence for the Council Chambers so civil weddings don't have to take place in a little office next to the filing cabinets. She said that communication was very important - why not have a phone number with a councillor on call, and a website?
Johnny Kramer started off with an impressive list of things that he wanted, ending with World Peace! "But I'm only standing for the Town Council," he went on, and town councils have limited powers. However, the powers they do have are important to local people. He is also a standing Council member, and pointed out that it is a voluntary position. He welcomed new faces, but said that local knowledge was also needed. What he wanted was for the council to work together, listen to what the community wanted, and to communicate that to the County Council and other bodies. He wanted to improve the quality of life in Hay.
As Gareth Ratcliffe was still somewhere between Hay and Bristol, John Stark then read out his letter. He had been on the town council for ten years, and had been mayor three times. He is the Chairman of the Football Club, and referees matches. He has also been involved with the Christmas lights and the old people's Christmas Party.

The floor was then opened to questions, but this post is already quite long enough, so I will continue with those tomorrow. (I think my new middle name is "Copious Notes"!)