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PARISH COUNCIL MEETING - marian (1st Feb 2011 - 12:02:21) I went to my first Parish Council meeting last night. I came home with the impression that not one question was answered satisfactorily. Is this normal for our Parish Council?

Re: PARISH COUNCIL MEETING - Michael Tanner (1st Feb 2011 - 14:12:14) I attended the parish meeting last night 31/1 and it was like a tennis match with talk going backwards and forwards like a tennis ball but unfortunately by the end of the evening nothing that I could see came to any conclusion and I feel that there was a lot off substance to all the questions and we were not getting any answers.As this was my first time of attending a Parish meeting I came away in state delusion and disappointment,and placing 2 volatile items on the agenda and still hold the meeting in your offices took some believing surely someone on the Parish Council should have realized that it would call for a large attendance.

Re: PARISH COUNCIL MEETING - David (1st Feb 2011 - 14:51:10) Last evening I, together with an estimated 100 other village residents, attended the Parish Council Meeting to hear what was happening with regard to the suspension of Dr Sangita Judge. What a fiasco. The council were unaware of,or had obviously failed to acknowledge, the depth of feeling in this matter and made no provision for those attending. Such that the not only the committee room and entrance lobby were full but others were forced to stand out in the car park on a bitterly cold evening unable to hear what was being discussed. Not that much, if any, progress was made as councillors seemed to be prepared to say very little unless it was to give them a quiet life. Might I suggest that our elected representatives take more notice of those who put them in their position and in future be better prepared.

Re: PARISH COUNCIL MEETING - Dawn Hoskins (2nd Feb 2011 - 14:44:17) The Solicitors Regulation Authority Ipsley Court Berrington Close Redditch B98 0TD. Fax: (0)1527 510213 Formal Complaint about Hedleys Solicitors I have recently been the recipient of threatening letters from Hedleys Solicitors of 6 Bishopsmead Parade, East Horsley, Surrey KT24 6SR. These have caused great distress, particularly to my husband, who thought that we were going to be sued for thousands of pounds in damages. Hedleys were allegedly instructed by the Parish Council and have been threatening parishioners with damages for defamation. The Liphook.co.uk website is a great tool for the village and is widely used and widely read. It has nothing to do with the Parish Council and they have no control over it. The Parish Council are, in my opinion, dysfunctional and have acted inappropriately, the village is talking about it, it is all common knowledge; it has all been in the local press and is very much in the public domain. Having investigated the ‘alleged’ instruction of Hedleys, I am extremely concerned as to the legality of their actions. I asked Parish Councillors why they had retained Hedleys to write to parishioners (and the website) and threaten them. They were shocked. To their knowledge, there had been no meeting about it, no approval of any retainer, no actual instruction on the matter, no information about the basis of charging for this course of action, there was no indication of the work to be done and no estimation of the estimated total costs involved. There was no client care letter and no report as to the likelihood of [failure / success] of this course of action. Hedleys had apparently been instructed about an internal employment matter some years ago, but apart from that, the councillors I spoke to knew nothing about sending letters to members of the public about defamation. The councillors I spoke to were so infuriated that they said they would write or phone Hedleys to demand to know who had instructed them. I do not know if this happened. On 31st January, Hedleys came to the Parish Meeting to explain themselves. I spoke at length to their representative, Mr Roger Taylor. I asked him if at anytime had told his ‘alleged’ client that ‘the truth’ was a bar to any successful defamation action. He said he had not. I asked him if he had advised that, apart from being truthful, matters of public interest and matters of opinion were also defendable. He had not. I asked him how he thought this was acting in the clients best interest – he declined to answer. He was not acting with integrity and neither was he acting in the best interests of his ‘alleged’ client. This is even more scandalous as the local taxpayers are funding these futile and threatening activities. He was completely indifferent and unapologetic about his actions and the actions of his firm. Myself, and others, have been eye witnesses to terrible behaviour and we have every right to state what we have seen. Certain members of the Parish Council are trying to get us to shut up. The person[s] at the council who have pressed for these letters to be sent must answer for this and their behaviour will of course be challenged. However, asking a Solicitor to act is one thing – but for the Solicitor to accept an instruction to, in my opinion, put the frighteners on people when they have not been formally instructed is another thing entirely. It is certainly no way to uphold the rule of law and does nothing but bring Solicitors as a whole into disrepute. As a result of Hedleys actions, they have made profit, from the tax payer, on the back of ignorance. I believe that they have taken unfair advantage of their ‘alleged’ client’s lack of knowledge for either their own benefit or the benefit of others. Had the ‘alleged’ client known that this would cost the local village tax payers a lot of money but would be a complete waste of time due to the elements required for defamation being nonexistent - I do not believe they would have agreed. I think that Hedleys expected the recipients of their letters to have no knowledge of the law and consequently be petrified of the consequences of speaking out. I think they expected the balance of power to weigh the outcome in their favour – that we would agree to shut-up without a fight. They could therefore achieve the desired outcome by taking advantage of their position in relation to those ignorant to ways of the law and how it should be correctly administered. This is a huge matter of public interest for our village and consequently there were lots of people there to quiz Hedleys at the Parish Meeting. He was evasive and did not answer anything adequately. People were laughing at him. He could, in my opinion, not have done more to diminish trust in his firm, himself, public interest in the administration of justice or indeed the profession as a whole if he had tried. It was a disgrace. It transpires that his due diligence was not only ineffective but seemingly completely lacking. He did not have authority to act in the matter - but did not seem to know this. He displayed no competence, skill or diligence with regard to his actions in attempting to bring defamation actions against parishioners that I could see, and it would seem he had no idea what was really going on at all. I believe that he saw the Parish Council as ‘easy money’ and that this compromised his independence and that of his firm. Although I understand that the Parish Council have also misbehaved, I write to formally complain to you about the actions of this firm of solicitors for being complicit in such underhanded behaviour which has caused such distress to my family. Please confirm receipt of this letter and if possible, keep me updated on the outcome of your investigations. Yours faithfully Dawn Hoskins LLB

Re: PARISH COUNCIL MEETING - Helen M (7th Feb 2011 - 22:58:09) someone needs to tell the parish council that the co-op offers free legal advise.... that would have saved us all a pretty penny......

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