2017 Frinton by-election

 2017 Frinton by-election

Website	http://www.essexinfo.net/frinton-and-walton-town-council/your-council/

The date of the Frinton by-election for the seat vacated by Councillor Mark Brown on Frinton and Walton Town Council (F&WTC) is set for Thursday, 19 January 2017. The elected Town Councillor will join three others from Frinton Ward:

1. Cllr E T Allen
2. Cllr N W Turner
3. Cllr Mrs V J Watling

Candidates

At close of nominations on 20 December 2016, there were five candidates:

1. Susan Clutterbuck - Green Party
2. Richard Everett - Frinton-on-Sea Resident
3. Patrick Haseldine - Labour Party
4. Fiona Knowles - Tendring First
5. Pamela Walford - Conservative Party

Frinton's "iconic gates"

Frinton's old manually operated gates were replaced with automatic ones in 2009

In 2009 Rachel Baldwin, of the Frinton and Walton Heritage Trust (FWHT), described the railway crossing gates as effectively marking the entrance to the town, and dividing Frinton from the rest of the world:

"The gates are iconic. Frinton's had gates for virtually as long as it's been a town.

"Frinton is effectively a triangular town and is bordered on three sides by the sea, the railway line and the marshes.

"So going through the gates is the main way to get into Frinton. The whole town revolves around trains."

Mrs Baldwin added as a result, an "inside the gates, outside the gates" attitude had developed.

EU Referendum in microcosm

Frinton's 3,402 voters are a microcosm

The 3,402 electors in F&WTC's Frinton ward are a microcosm of the 46.5 million voters in the UK political system. In last June’s unnecessary and divisive EU Referendum – the product of a weak Conservative government goaded by the UK Independence Party – the United Kingdom was split asunder.

Although 28% abstained from voting, communities, families and friends who did vote became divided: the young overwhelmingly wanting to Remain while the old tended towards Leave. Of the 72% who voted, 52% were Brexiteers and 48% Remainers. A majority of those who backed the Conservatives in 2015 voted to Leave the EU (58%), as did more than 19 out of 20 UKIP supporters. Nearly two thirds of Labour and SNP voters (63% and 64%), seven in ten Liberal Democrats and three quarters of Greens, voted to Remain. The Leave campaign won in large northern cities including Sheffield, the Welsh valleys, across the Midlands including Birmingham, and the south and east of England. The Remain campaign, by contrast, dominated in London, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Tory donor Lord Ashcroft produced a table of “How Britain Voted”. There are no reliable figures on how the 3,402 Frinton voters actually cast their votes, but based on Lord Ashcroft’s statistics, there would have been 952 Abstentions in Frinton ward, 1,274 votes to Leave and 1,176 votes to Remain. Thus, if only 99 Frinton voters had voted differently, there might have been a majority for Remain, but the division between the two camps would still have been there (Source: Lord Ashcroft).

Message from Jeremy Corbyn

On 22 December 2016, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn addressed a Christmas message to each Labour Party member, including Frinton by-election candidate Patrick Haseldine, which concluded:

"Brexit is a huge challenge for our country. We have to heal the divides in our country — and speak for both those who voted Leave and Remain, to stop the Tory vision for Brexit — of a country where workers are easier to exploit and taxes easier to avoid. We will not obstruct the democratic decision to Leave, but we will oppose policies that harm our people.

"It is our party, our movement, that will unite people to change Britain for the better, and give us the chance to bring more humanity and peace to a troubled world.

"Let us work together — and enjoy the common endeavour we are embarked on.

"Thank you for all that you do for our party, and I hope you have the opportunity to spend some time with loved ones over the Christmas period."

Jeremy Corbyn

F&WTC responsibilities

Labour's Patrick Haseldine at the Witton Wood Lane allotments on Christmas Day 2016

Frinton and Walton Town Council (F&WTC) has a major leisure facility, the Columbine Centre at Princes Esplanade, Walton-on-the-Naze, which is licensed for Civil Ceremonies. F&WTC maintains three allotment sites. All are productive, well maintained and sociable.

F&WTC comments on all planning applications affecting the Town. Its other responsibilities include tree planting, bus shelters, seafront shelters, village greens and commons, play areas, a skateboard park, the Town Hard and public seats.

PCSOs

In 2004 F&WTC, in partnership with Essex Police, saw the recruitment of six Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs) with a further two recruited in 2006. Following the election of the Police and Crime Commissioner and reorganisations within the Police Authority, PCSO part-funding was withdrawn. The Town Council made the decision to fully fund six PCSOs w.e.f. April 2015 in order to continue with the good work they had done in this area. It is hoped that they will continue to have a significant impact on nuisance, crime and disorder to help keep crime low in our towns and villages.

Financing local organisations

The Town Council gives financial assistance to many local organisations each year. For further information please telephone: (01255) 676666.

2016/17 precept

F&WTC precept in 2016/17 is £387,895 (also in receipt of £43,293 Local Council Tax Support scheme grant from Tendring District Council) and the effect on an average Band D Council tax bill is £52.39.

Fire Service "cuts"

Fire Service "cuts": only one fire engine is to remain at Frinton, despite the £200,000 "profit"

On 21 October 2016, the Daily Gazette reported that Essex County Fire and Rescue Service was making a £200,000 “profit” every year in delivering a service to Frinton and Walton it was planning to reduce. Figures released by the service to F&WTC revealed that Frinton & Walton paid £501,000 a year in Council Tax for its fire service, which in turn cost just £300,000 to deliver.

The admission stemmed from a letter F&WTC sent to acting chief executive and acting chief fire officer Adam Eckley following a recent meeting he held with Town Councillors on the planned removal of one of Frinton’s two fire engines. Town Clerk Myrna Liles wrote:

“I am sorry that it ended so abruptly but the strong feelings of our members has been fed up from our residents and I believe they all feel really frustrated that our service is diminishing and we are unable to do anything about it.”

Mrs Liles further told Essex Fire and Rescue residents and councillors felt “out on a limb” and she sought reassurance they wouldn’t suffer from “this ill informed decision” to remove the fire engine. She also asked how much it cost to provide the service from Frinton, saying residents should not have to pay for improvements elsewhere if their own service was being cut.

Adam Eckley replied that despite Frinton’s impending loss of one engine, there would be “no change to the resources mobilised to incidents” in Frinton and Walton as residents would have access to services from elsewhere. Mr Eckley confirmed Frinton and Walton residents pay £501,000 of Council Tax to the fire authority, while “we estimate the current cost of providing and supporting the fire station in Frinton is around £300,000 per annum.”

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