More Question Time

I think this will bring us to the end of the candidates' meeting....

There was a question about single issue candidates, which went back to the conflict of interests question which was answered previously.
David Penrose answered this one. He works for the local authority in Herefordshire, so he has worked with single issue councillors - he said it doesn't work.
Ros Garratt said that there would be less of a conflict of interests if Rob Golesworthy or Mary Fellowes got elected as County Councillors for Gwernyfed or Bwlch than there would be for Gareth as County and Town councillor for Hay. In planning issues between the town and the National Park, for instance - Gareth also sits on the Park committee, so has to choose which body he will speak for and sit out of the other in planning matters.
Mary Fellowes said that Gareth chooses to sit out of the Town council meetings in these cases so he can argue the case at the National Park level.
There was, however, a feeling that Gareth was compromised by belonging to both - or that he could not be as effective
The next question was about the Transition Town movement - was there any interest in this from councillors?
Rodney Mace likes the idea of Transition Towns, which can energise the community to deal with local issues which are also international issues. This includes food (local food vs. food brought in from all over the world) and energy issues.
Mary Fellowes said she thought Hay had a strong Transition Town group, which she had worked with in the past. She supported the idea of a Transition Towns representative to the town council.
Tim Organ, from the audience, said that the Transition group in Hay was not strong enough, and needs a vision to move forward.

Franka Addyman, the youngest person in the room by far, said that she thought a Youth Town Council was a great idea. Teenagers in Hay have nothing to do, and there is a drug problem.
Mary Fellowes said that it had been tried before, and had just petered out, but there was no reason it couldn't be tried again.
Liz Singh and Richard Evans were also very keen on the idea. The young people of Hay should have a say in the future of their town. It's important that teenagers can get together in a comfortable place just to hang out together.
Ellie Spencer said that she had started the Cubs and Beavers - but when the children leave the Cubs at the age of ten, what's next? A Scout group could be organised, but that finishes at fourteen - and what happens after that? Anti-social behaviour is a way for teenagers to say that something is needed. They don't have another way of getting that message across.
Ros Garratt said that there is a youth club in the community centre, but it needs extra support.
The next question was about the "elephant in the room" - Plan B. Why had there been no interest in the town council before this issue came up? The questioner also asked existing councillors how they had felt about personal attacks.
Rob Golesworthy said that nobody had attacked him personally, but he knew others had been, and it had been hurtful.
Peter Lloyd was not standing for election this time because of the negative comments, and he had worked very hard for Hay over the years. He also said that he was scared at the thought of lots of new and inexperienced councillors on the town council after the election.
Mary Fellowes said that there had been hurtful comments, but nobody was perfect and everyone tries their best.
She thanked John Stark and Gwyneth for organising the meeting.
A questioner at the back said that he had been on Talgarth Council for eight years, and he had started out knowing very little. It hadn't been a problem, because of the support of the Town Clerk, and so it shouldn't be a problem for new councillors in Hay either.

The final question of the evening was - what do the candidates say "Yes" to? (in a sentence!)
Rhona Muirhead said community spirit
Rodney Mace said to listen to the people of Hay.
Richard Evans said the shopkeepers and the market
Johnny Kramer said the community rising to challenges
Liz Singh said listening - and having surgeries for councillors like MPs do.
David Penrose said a Community Plan
Rob Golesworthy said a new community centre and school, but he was anti an out of town supermarket.
Ros Garratt said creativity and a sense of pride
Mary Fellowes agreed with Johnny Kramer, and doesn't want to lose Hay's uniqueness
Ellie Spencer said communication.

With that, the meeting broke up, and quite a few stopped to chat in small groups. I met the lady who had been the last President of the old WI - she said that when they wound up the group, all the members of the committee had been doing it for years, and nobody else had wanted to take it over, so they stopped. She was pleased to see a new generation starting it up again though.