Parish council election on 4 May 2011

Candidates have been announced for the election on 4 May. The only contested election, as usual, will be in Winchelsea ward. We, the incumbent councillors --- Ben Chishick, Richard Comotto, Mike Terry --- will be standing against Steve and Peter Turner.
The main issues will be the proposal for a separate parish of Winchelsea (we in favour; the Turners against) and Council Tax (we against the increases; the Turners probably unwilling to oppose).
In Icklesham, Rye Harbour and Winchelsea Beach wards, there will yet again be no contested elections. Indeed, Icklesham and Winchelsea Beach cannot find enough candidates, so councillors will have to be co-opted. Rye Harbour cannot find any residents at all to stand for election, so they will continue to be represented by residents of Rye Town and Winchelsea Beach. Not a great advert for loca democracy.

Tax increase 2011/12

Council tax bills have landed on door mats. The County and District Councils, as well as the Police and Fire authorities, have frozen their tax demands, in line with government guidance. Of the 33 parish and town councils in Rother, 21 have also followed the government by freezing or reducing their tax. Another 11 parish councils in Rother have increased tax by between £145 and £2,130. Icklesham Parish Council stands out by having imposed a hike of £16,133, considerably more than the 11 other parish councils put together (the 11 other parish councils which have increased tax have done so by a total of about £11,000)! Only Winchelsea ward councillors voted against this increase but were outvoted by councillors from Icklesham, Winchelsea Beach and Rye Harbour. Since 2003, Icklesham Parish Council's tax has quadrupled. However, it has always significantly underspent its budget.