Liden & Eldene Councillors, Chris Watts, Fay Howard and Derique Montaut, has called on Swindon Borough Council to reverse its decision to place Eldene and Liden in to the current Nythe Parish. Their calls have come following information being discovered about problems Nythe Parish Council has faced.
Since its inception in 2014 Nythe Parish Council have had 4 Parish Clerks and are struggling to be quorate for its meetings. Currently the Parish Council only has 2 Parish Councillors and have a quorum of 3. One Parish Councillor had been asked to be coopted on to the Parish however failed to attend the last meeting for personal reasons, leaving the parish council meeting unable to be quorate.
Currently Covingham & Dorcan Ward Councillors, Dale Heenan and Kevin Parry, sit on the Parish.
In 2013, Swindon’s Conservative administration controversially removed the community of Nythe from Stratton Parish Council, despite a petition calling for Nythe to remain in the Stratton Parish.
Liden, Eldene and Park South Councillor, Derique Montaut, said:
“We are very concerned about our communities of Liden and Eldene joining the Nythe Parish. What we have learnt about Nythe Parish Council is very concerning. They have no fixed parish building where residents can visit, they don’t seem to be able to hold down a dedicated clerk for more than 6 months and they don’t even have enough parish councillors to take decisions.
These are major clear failings in terms of their governance arrangements and you might say Nythe Parish Council is a banana republic. Should this Parish Council even exist?
We would much prefer for the services provide Eldene and Liden to remain with the Borough Council or at the very least join the new South Central Parish where they will have proper governance arrangements.
The people of Liden and Eldene don’t deserve to be thrown in to a parish, whose parish council clearly has significant issues that need resolving. That is why we are calling for a reversal of the Council’s parishes decision”