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Parish council meeting tonight - Chris S (23rd Dec 2010 - 20:28:54) I have just returned from my first every council meeting and I have to say I was disgusted. Everything was about process and what could be discussed when and what could or couldn’t be discussed in public and whether the items that could or couldn’t be discussed in public could be named. There were points of order here there and everywhere and legal this and legal that. Very little if anything seemed to be about makings things better for Liphook. Maybe my expectations were unrealistic but honestly it was shameful.

Re: Parish council meeting tonight - Paul Robinson (4th Jan 2011 - 20:14:41) I fully concur with Chrs S's assessment of the last Bramshott and Liphook Parish council meeting on Thursday 23rd December. I was also in attendance to witness the time wasting vacillation purporting to be due process and the barely disguised hostility that exists between the two major factors of the Council. My opinion of the Council's ability to carry out the wishes of the community reached a low water mark when, during the Public Participation Session (item 8), the Chairman recognised Mrs pledger who, at great personal risk, had ventured out on one of the coldest nights of the year, to request that the Parish Council make a public statement of support to the G.M.C. in the case of the suspended G.P. Doctor Sangita Judge. The silence that followed was deafening. Save for a few muffled coughs and much avoidance of eye contact I felt the Council collectively shrugged its shoulders. They did however graciously accept a petition form which they agreed to sign individually. Most of us who care about this matter have already done this. Thankfully Doctor Judge, who is also a Parish Councillor, was not on hand to suffer the ignominy of this apalling and shameful behhaviour. Let us not forget that Doctor Judge recorded a substantial percentage of the vote when she was elected which is a measure of the respect in which she is held by those who bothered to register their vote. I am sure that not all of them were her patients. Let me now make a declaration of interest. Doctor Judge is my doctor and I have always been given the best of medical and pastoral care whenever I have consulted her. We confidently await her reinstatement and only wish that the Parish Coucil shared the concern and intentions of the action group that has been formed to support her. The Parish Council would do well to remember that at the very foundation of the English legal system is the presumption of innocence. Paul Robinson

Re: Parish council meeting tonight - Nigel Newman (6th Jan 2011 - 20:19:19) Dear Paul Thank you for your continued valuable contributions and comments on life in Liphook, and also the fact that you are prepared to brave the cold to attend our meetings. I only wish that more parishioners shared your enthusiasm. I am sorry that you thought that the council was unenthusiastic about the petition to support our colleague Dr Sangita Judge who has been suspended from the Village Surgery pending an inquiry by the General Medical Council. Far from it, the majority of us fully support Dr Judge and are sure that she will be totally vindicated when the inquiry is complete. To that end, I have tabled a proposal for the next full meeting on Monday January 31 when the council will be asked to formally approve a strong message of support to the GMC on behalf of Dr Judge. For the record, I can inform you that when the petition was passed around the table at the December meeting, most councillors signed it. As you are a keen and astute observer of our local politics, I invite you to draw your own conclusions about those who did not. With best wishes for 2011 and your continued attendance at our meetings. Nigel Newman.

Re: Parish council meeting tonight - liz (7th Jan 2011 - 09:51:13) Nigel There is no lack of enthusiasm for what goes on in the village. May I suggest it is the "time wasting vacillation purporting to be due process and barely disguised hostility" that Paul mentions which puts people off attending meetings or becoming otherwise involved. I might also mention that the PC seems out of touch i.e. your and Cllr James support for the proposed Gospel Hall with no clear reasons given.

Re: Parish council meeting tonight - helen (9th Jan 2011 - 13:40:49) I have no axe to grind either way, but I do not think that we should prejudge those who did not sign petitions for dr judge- if the matter for her suspension is medical then I would wait for the outcome of an enquiry. Dr Judge does not attend many Parish Council meetins at all- if you check the records she has only attended about 2 full meetings since May. perhaps we should consider that also Nigel? The records are easily looked up on line! Speaks volumes!

Re: Parish council meeting tonight - Dawn Hoskins (21st Jan 2011 - 17:51:17) Just to let all parishioners who have had threatening letters about posting on this site. I have requested that this matter be raised at the next full meeting. I think it is disgraceful that certain members of the council are trying to stifle free speech in this manner. I am also disgusted that tax payers are paying for the services of solicitors to threaten their own parishioners! As a number of councillors I have spoken to do not know about it and would never have condoned such actions, it is a mystery as to how this state of affairs has come about and I very much hope to get some answers at the next full meeting.

Re: Parish council meeting tonight - Richard Scott (22nd Jan 2011 - 16:14:31) Dawn comments ' Just to let all parishioners who have had threatening letters about posting on this site. I have requested that this matter be raised at the next full meeting. I think it is disgraceful that certain members of the council are trying to stifle free speech in this manner.' This has all the hallmarks of the Exclusive Brethren. Seemingly unable to engage with the general public in a genuine debate, this is the way they deal with opposition. Even members of the cult themselves are intimidated into submission by 'visits' from EB bully boys. It's what happens when you withdraw from the general public and develop a standard of behaviour that is both foreign and unacceptable to the rest of us. Last year they attempted to close down www.peebs.net.( a support network for ex-Exclusive Brethren ) because they simply cannot accept the principal of freedom of speech. Thankfully they were unsuccessful, as we all hope that their unsuitable planning application will also be.

Re: Parish council meeting tonight - Dawn Hoskins (8th Feb 2011 - 20:52:01) I just wanted to add. If any of you read the account of this meeting in the Liphook Herald......... It's like history has been wiped clean. When are we going to get a newspaper that covers reality and not a figment of 'somebody's' imagination. I would like to know who give this 'copy' to Ms Pike. I did notice that she was waiting in the car for her fiends to come out of the meeting. Maybe she has to have the words given to her in order to know what particular line she is going to take. If reality was a barn door - she couldn't hit it. The people that actually attended that meeting must think she was writing about a different venue entirely!

Re: Parish council meeting tonight - David (8th Feb 2011 - 21:05:08) And so say all of us !

Re: Parish council meeting tonight - liz (9th Feb 2011 - 10:25:33) I think Ms Pike is quite a close friend of Mr Newman but I could be wrong. Loved your Freudian slip Dawn, at least I assume that's what it was!!

Re: Parish council meeting tonight - Eneida (9th Feb 2011 - 11:28:14) Well...I must admit a Parish Council meeting sounds like an event best avoided...what with 'heavies' and 'fiends'!!!

Re: Parish council meeting tonight - Debbie (9th Feb 2011 - 12:18:07) I beg to differ Eneida! Sounds like it might be worth going along just for the entertainment value!!!

Re: Parish council meeting tonight - Robin (9th Feb 2011 - 13:57:17) Re Dawns comment, I left the meeting and spoke to Gabrielle re the Parish Plan, but she could not stay long as she needed to get into her car to phone a Hospital in London where her daughter had been rushed to with a viral infection. I also believe that the Parish meeting went on for another hour, so I doubt she waited for it to finish in the cold night.

Re: Parish council meeting tonight - Eneida (9th Feb 2011 - 19:22:53) Each to their own Debbie :) Personally, I don't expect the Parish Council to provide us with entertainment...but I DO expect them to do their best for the people of Liphook in a fair and transparent way and from everything I've read over the last year or so, I really don't think they're doing this....

Re: Parish council meeting tonight - David (9th Feb 2011 - 20:38:00) Perhaps in future meetings should be held only on warm evenings. Do the Herald have only one reporter?

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