Annual Town Assembly - Local Democracy

Index of Topics
To sections on this page. This page is linked from the 'Democracy' page.

• Introduction - What this page is about.
• What is an Annual Assembly - And some legal requirements.
• Killing it Off - Intentions laid bare. "PTC wants to end the Annual Assembly"
• The Agenda - The typical PTC Annual Town Assembly Agenda.
• Responsibilities of a Local Council - Topics which fall within their purview.
• Other Councils - Random samples from the internet.
• Penistone Assemblies
  • 2024 - A disorganised shambles, designed to fail, with only half of the council attending. Not advertised but the public found out and attended.
  • 2023 - Unstructured but very full meeting. Six members of public attended in spite of severe parking problems.
  • 2021 - Lockdown, no public attending. The public could not access the Zoom meeting.
  • 2020 - No meeting.
  • 2016 - One member of the Press and nine of the public attending.
  • 2015
  • 2014 - Members of the public attended but their number was not recorded in Minutes.
  • 2013 - A busy meeting. One of the Press and nine of the public attending.

This is about a mandatory annual meeting between council and community. According to a 5th May 2022 press release from the town council, regarding the 'Quality Council' award, the council 'goes above and beyond its legal obligations' and has a 'commitment to community engagement, transparency and improving the local area.' Not in 2024 it didn't!

Intro
This page takes a look at Penistone's Annual Town Assembly, a statutory annual meeting and local forum which all of the 10,000 parishes and towns in England are required to provide, and how the local ones are activgely being allowed to decline in recent years. Done properly, these meetings could reasonably be sub-titled, 'The Penistone Community Forum.'

You might enjoy the skulduggery employed by our local council in its quest to undermine these meetings and make them unviable "Through lack of public interest" mostly by not informing the community properly about them. It has been a regular comment every time: "It isn't publicised properly!" and later, "We might have come along had we heard about it." See 2024 below for the worst abuse so far.

Unlike the usual Town Council meetings, this annual meeting is the one and only public-facing community event between the local council and the public, where electors can discuss the local issues which affect them. They should be important to the community and to those involved with it.

The Annual Assembly is useful to the residents as it allows more time for local matters to be discussed and in greater depth than is possible at the usual monthly general meetings. That makes it a community event which is worth supporting.

It should be borne in mind that, as with other parish and town councils, Penistone Town Council (PTC) has only an advisory role in most matters, while Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council (BMBC) has much greater powers. Nonetheless, local PTC councillors have a wealth of experience and knowledge and can offer good guidance in resolving local issues. They will 'know the ropes' in dealing with matters that are more in the domain of Barnsley Council, the Police, public transport services or other organisations. We must always remember that town councillors are, in effect, unpaid volunteers who wish to put something back into the community and we should support their efforts, just as they are expected to support the local community.

What is an Annual Assembly?

PTC's original description of the Annual Town Assembly's purpose is as good as any, as used for several years:

'The purpose of calling this meeting is to enable the council to report on the year. Also electors are given a chance to have their say on anything which they consider is important to the people of the parish of Penistone. The meeting is open to the public, but such persons only as are registered as local government electors for the town will be entitled to vote at the meeting.'

The law requiring each parish to hold a meeting to discuss parish affairs can be found in the Local Government Act 1972. Further notes are in the 'Representation of the People Act, 1986' and clarified for the oiks in Open and Accountable Local Government 2014 Plain English Guide, without changing the basic requirements. The use of 'Parish' and 'Town' is regarded as equivalent for most purposes.

From the Local Government Act 1972:

9, 1. 'For every parish there shall be a parish meeting for the purpose of discussing parish affairs and exercising any functions conferred on such meetings by any enactment and, subject to the provisions of this Act or any instrument made thereunder, for every parish or group of parishes having a parish council before 1st April 1974 there shall continue to be a parish council.'
Part III,
14, 1. 'The parish meeting of a parish shall assemble annually on some day between 1st March and 1st June, both inclusive, in every year.'
14, 4. 'The proceedings at a parish meeting shall not commence earlier than 6 o’clock in the evening.'
15, 4. 'Public notice of a parish meeting shall be given—
    (a) by posting a notice of the meeting in some conspicuous place or places in the parish, and
    (b) in such other manner, if any, as appears to the person or persons convening the meeting to be desirable for giving publicity to the meeting.'
15, 7. 'A poll may be demanded before the conclusion of a parish meeting on any question arising at the meeting, etc.'

Interesting that the person convening the meeting can ask for more publicity than is provided by the statutory notice. No excuse to skimp on publicity.

From NALC's Legal Topic Note, LTN6, 2009, Introduction, Para 3, makes a valid point. If the public is interested enough to attend, it puts the council in a poor light if they don't make an equal effort:

'Meetings of a parish meeting are an effective forum for parish and town councils to engage with the local electorate. Even if the parish or town council disagrees with the issues raised, or related arguments, the council members’ attendance and involvement in the parish meeting would demonstrate that the council is prepared to take account of local residents’ views, which they must hold strongly if they have gone to the trouble to convene and attend a meeting of a parish meeting in the first place.'

HM Government's Open and Accountable Local Government, 2014, Plain English Guide adds some clarity to the notification requirements, Pt 4 (page 23), 'Access to meetings and documents of parish and town councils.':

'Where a parish meeting (xxiv) is called, at least seven clear days' notice must be given. Notice of the meeting specifying the business to be discussed must be placed in a central conspicuous place within the parish ...' (etc.) and - 'These councils are also encouraged to place copies of the agenda, meeting papers and notice of meetings at offices and on their website, if they have these facilities.'

PTC's Standing Orders are based upon guidance from the National Association of Local Councils' (NALC) and show the protocol used for giving public notice in advance of ordinary meetings, to work out the earliest date to publish notices:

' ... does not include the day on which notice was issued, the day of the meeting, a Sunday, a day of the Christmas break, a day of the Easter break or of a Bank Holiday or a day appointed for public thanksgiving or mourning, etc.'

NALC 'Legal Topic Note 6' repeats the above but makes the requirements more obvious:

Public notice of the meeting must be given at least seven clear days beforehand. The notice must:

• Specify the time and place of the intended meeting;
• Specify the business to be transacted at the meeting; and
• Be signed by the person or persons convening the meeting.

There is no room for manoeuvre here; the rules are plain and simple. Given that there are trillions of websites out there but only a few council noticeboards in each parish, it is unlikely that a council website would ever become the principal location for statutory notices.

Key phrases:

• 'Placed in a central, conspicuous place' - That must mean a physical location (ie. Town Centre noticeboard), although more notices are also permitted. It is also required to be posted on the council website where one exists, and presumably 'in a conspicuous place' such as the Welcome page, not buried under other news items on a separate page. A Facebook message on its own is not sufficient, especially when not shared to the community.
• 'Specifying the business' - Can only mean that the notice should explain the purpose of the meeting. It should also include the line above about who is allowed to vote.

The 'xxiv' in the box above refers to a footnote in the Plain English Guide, which is put here for completeness:

'A parish meeting is a meeting for all of the local government electors of the parish. This can be in the case of an annual meeting in an area where there is a separate parish council, or any meeting of local government electors where there is no separate parish council.' in such other manner, if any, as appears to the person or persons convening the meeting to be desirable for giving publicity to the meeting.'

Killing it Off
Unfortunately, Penistone Town Council is trying hard to make the Annual Assembly disappear. That is a fact, not conjecture. At one assembly the Chair told the meeting that, "... although it is a statutory requirement, the Council wished to stop holding the Annual Assembly 'because of the lack of public interest'." Yes, they have admitted it! Myself and others remarked at the time that there would be much more support from residents if the event was advertised properly. In 2024, not even the Statutory Notice was posted.

It highlights PTC's attitude to public engagement meetings but also begs these three questions:

• 'When was this policy decided and by whom?'
• 'Did they have the authority to decide this?
• 'In which meeting was this decided and where can we find the Minutes to understand the reasoning behind policy which works against the interests of both the community and the council?'

Given the passage of time and the turnover in staff and councillors, there can be few around who had any slightest connection with this policy to kill off the assembles. It could improve the council's reputation if it revisited its negative attitude and chose instead to actively promote a new approach to community engagement. Penrith Council (see below) is a good example of how to do the right thing and do it well.

Some have a guest speaker and representatives from community groups who are given a short time to say what they are doing. That would ensure that there would be some points of interest beyond what the council is doing, and encourage more people to attend.

The Agenda
If working to an absolute minimum standard, an Agenda is not mandatory in spite of its obvious advantages, but steps are being tyaken in 2024 to re-introduce an Agenda and a possible return to a more structured and content-rich format for the year 2025.

The custom and practice in Penistone for many years has been for the statutory notice to show the date, time and location of the meeting, state the business of the meeting and include the Agenda. Oddly enough, an Agenda might be sensible and efficient but it is not actually a mandatory requirement. Neither is the actual presence of councillors, although the meeting could look pointless without them to listen to the concerns of the electorate and deal with those concerns as best they can. Neither does the Chair of the meeting have to be the Mayor, or anyone from the council. The Chair can be anyone. Even more, those running the meeting do not have to be the council but the the council might be best placed to offer any solutions or help.

Coming back to the use of an Agenda, as well as the open forum, it might be sensible to allow people to submit topics in advance, giving time for them to be researched. The Agenda would normally be expected to include minutes from the previous year and to report on any actions which had taken place to address the concerns raised. Any vote taken during an Assembly would only be open to local electors. Although rare, a vote by the electorate has been known to occur in Penistone and it can direct the council to look into specific issues.

One problem with Penistone Town Council is the desire to their meetings to just one hour maximum. But for a special meeting with an open forum which engages with the public and community organisations, as it ought to, that would be a serious limitation. It is does not appear to be an actual rule as such but entirely arbitrary.

The Standard Penistone Agenda
The usual Annual Town Assembly Agenda until recent times looked much like this, before the rot set in:

• To Elect the Chair of the meeting.
• Apologies for absence.
• To approve Minutes of the previous Assembly.
• Matters arising.
• To receive Report on the year, what was done to address issues raised at the previous Assembly.
• To receive the retiring Mayor's Report on the year's mayoral activities
• To receive the Financial Officer's Report.
• To receive public questions and suggestions from the people of Penistone.
• End of Meeting.

The Town Clerk would have been Keith Coulton, later Tara Ball. The Financial Officer was Amanda Hart and she would put a summary of the year's finances on every seat.

Responsibilities of a Local Council
The list below helps us to consider topics for discussion which might be within the purview of a local council, although some of these functions might fall more within the Borough Council's domain. They are listed in the NALC document 'All about local councils,' which apply to community, village, neighbourhood, parish and town councils.

In outline, the local council has an overall responsibility for the well-being of the local community, falling into three main categories:

• Delivery of services, including:
  • allotments,
  • leisure facilities,
  • bus shelters,
  • litter bins,
  • car parks,
  • local illuminations,
  • community centres,
  • parks and open spaces,
  • public toilets,
  • street lighting,
  • festivals and celebrations,
• Improve quality of life through:
  • Local housing and infrastructure through neighbourhood plans,
  • Promoting dementia friendly communities,
  • Tackling loneliness,
  • Acting as community hubs,
  • Funding community projects and vital services that have been cut,
• Give communities a voice, through representing:
  • To the local police and health services,
  • On planning matters with principal authorities and developers,
  • To parliamentarians and government.

Other Councils
We can learn a lot from other councils. Some treat their Assembly as a special community event and invite local groups to participate, others are more controlling and really don't want people to discuss local issues, thereby subverting the main point of holding them. After all, these meetings connect historically and directly with the age-old village meetings where local problems would be resolved without resorting to weapons and threats.

A simple web search for 'Annual Town Assembly' or 'Annual Parish Meeting' will return details of meetings throughout the land, in greater or lesser degrees of enthusiasm. These examples are chosen at random and some are better than others. They might prompt our more community-based councillors to intervene in PTC's current broken, destructive and unwritten policy on Annual Town Assemblies and suggest how they could return to the status of worthwhile community events.

Penistone Annual Assemblies - A selection with the most recent at the top.

This section will be filled out from time to time with information from archived material, recordings, personal notes and previous Agendas and Minutes. With so much information on record, the public might determine why the council's one meeting when they are required to engage with the community is consistently being undermined by the current council.

2024
Penistone Annual Town Assembly was held on Thursday 18th April 2024 at 7pm, Lower Hall, Penistone Community Centre.About a dozen of the public attended. A sound recording was made. The meeting ended at 7.45pm.

This was the 'Can't be Bothered' meeting with weaker than usual advertising. The exceptionally poor effort for publicity demonstrated a continuing mindset to diminish this type of meeting. Before the event, a local councillor had described it as "Not a proper meeting."

This was a risible effort by the Town Council, engineered to fail. They expected none of the public to turn up and put no effort into it. The statutory notice was not displayed, there was no Agenda, no Clerk's Report, no Mayor's Report, no Financial Report and only about half of the elected members turned up. It was saved only by the participation of about a dozen members of the public. The meeting should have been declared 'null and void' for failing to comply with the law, and should be re-run in a proper fashion.

Other councils invite community groups such as Scouts, church, etc. to give short presentations and to help make it a more significant community event. With no statutory notice posted to advertise this meeting, the public discovered it mostly by word of mouth. To their credit, Penistone FM also the message out on air. PTC ought to be ashamed of damaging their one annual event where they engage with the community. They can't always blame public apathy, this was PTC apathy. You get out what you put in.

Present: Cllrs Mandy Lowe-Flello (Mayor), Lynne Crisp, Lisa Cork, Anita Kimberley, James Kitchin, John Palmer, Frances Nixon. Also the Town Clerk Nigel Bailey and Elaine Miller from the PTC office. There were about a dozen members of public but nobody from the Press.

Only seven of the 15 councillors came to the meeting, and thanks are due to them. Even so, it was a busy meeting, as you can see from the subjects discussed below. The meeting started at 7pm and closed at about 7.45pm.

It was presided over by the Mayor who addressed the Assembly from a standing position and with no notes, there being no desk provided for her. She started by listing the matters which the meeting was not for, including the bus service and potholes, and by outlining the scope of the town council's activities.

There must have been a misunderstanding here as she explained that the meeting was not called specifically to deal with the bus service or potholes. Several members of the public said that they had come specifically to talk about the poor local bus services. It would appear that they had been deterred by the Mayor's opening remarks from which they inferred that those subjects were taboo. Consequently, public transport issues were not discussed at all.

Subjects Discussed:
These included the Principal Towns scheme, the availability of PTC grants, road speed indicators, the possibility of a Berneslai office in Penistone, objections to unisex toilets, an unrepaired and dangerous wall on Wentworth Road, lack of a Mayor's Report and inadequate publicity for this meeting, heavy lorries on High Street, trainee truck drivers on Green Road, the PTC precept, PTC's events committee plagued by a lack of volunteers, and a Vote of Thanks at the end.

What was not discussed was the public transport issue which some had come to talk about. Even so, people said at the end that it had all been worthwhile.

A Public Notice? - None, but the Public did notice!
This meeting did not at all comply with the legal requirement for a statutory notice. It was not shown on the PTC welcome page nor as an 'Upcoming meeting' on the Meetings page. Neither did it did not appear in the Barnsley Chronicle. The only reference on the PTC website was the fourth item down on their News page with other news items piled up above it.

It was explained that a message had been put on the Council's Facebook page, but residents would have needed to know about the existence of this meeting before looking for details about it. Then they might have discovered a the two-line message on the PTC News page and Facebook, which read:

'Any local issues you want to discuss? Come to the Penistone Annual Town Assembly.
For further information please contact the PTC office on 01226 370 088, admin@pentowncouncil.gov.uk.'

That was it. When questioned about the lack of statutory notice, the Clerk explained that a notice for the meeting had been put on PTC's Facebook. It was pointed out that not all residents are on Facebook but he replied that enough people seemed to have heard about it to turn up. Some would say that social media is the way to go in the modern age, but this overlooks the transient nature of messages on social media, which are pushed down the list and out of sight as new messages arrive.

The useful lifespan of a message on social media might sometimes be less than a day if a group of other topics come up. In any case, the council had failed to 'share' their Favebook message to the other community sites, again requiring any interested party to know about an event before searching for it. Catch-22.

To their credit, some community-minded people (including a local councillor) did do PTC's job for them and shared the two-line message to other Facebook accounts in the community. These were: Philip Watson, Frances Nixon, Jan Stanley, Ruth Pearson and three more including yours truly. Many thanks to them.

2023
Penistone Annual Town Assembly (Public meeting) - 7pm, Upper Hall, Penistone Community Centre. A sound recording was made. The meeting finished at 7.45pm. An unstructured meeting, inadequately publicised. Only six members of the public attended, although a severe parking problem that evening could have deterred others.

The central part of the meeting was the Mayor's Report for the municipal year ending March 2023, presented by the retiring Mayor, Cllr Neville Shiggins. It was a very full report, enthusiastically presented by the Mayor. The Financial Report and other parts of the expected Agenda were omitted. This was followed by public questions and comments from the Penistone Electorate to which the council responded well and in depth.

Matters Arising
The notes below have been taken from a recording but are not a direct transcript. They are paraphrased or summarised and slightly re-ordered. Section numbers are arbitrary.

1. (Public) Thank you to the council for the good work, from 'a self-appointed representative of the public' (applause).
2. (Public, Q) How supportive are BMBC to PTC, given what we pay in Council Tax? PTC: Lines of communication are open to certain sections, especially Planning; Sub-committee for roads communicates well with Highways; BMBC Cllrs help when asked but don't always attend PTC meetings; unusually there are no BMBC sitting on PTC; the Principal Town Scheme spreadsheet has become available and such as Town Hall schemes are out to tender in about four months, with that money locked in; repeated vandalism to public toilet costs more than insurance; PGS art installation arranged for the bus station; BMBC takes notice of PTC; Remembrance Day is now taken over by PTC from BMBC in association with other participants (Church, RBL, Scouts, etc.) and PTC now controls the road closures for the service and parade.
3. (Public, Q) BMBC had a Parish and Towns Charter which included recommendations for street naming, can PTC look into this? And, in connection with street names, can PTC look into the possibility to use our own coat-of-arms on signage? PTC: Will look into what is involved with doing this; it's a piece of history. On entering Ingbirchworth, signage implies people are entering Barnsley but Penistone has its own identity.
4. (Public, Re C Tax) All items in Council Tax went up this year except PTC's Precept; PTC is commended for not asking for extra. PTC - Good point.
5a. (Public, Q) What is borough spending from residential C Tax? PTC: Tried for 25 years to get an answer but was impossible to discover. As Pen was classed as affluent, we did not appear to get our fair share. Our houses have more Band B than the rest, which are more Band A.
5b. (Public) "Not saying we should get more back but we that we would be entitled to get more and (given a knowledge about finance) it would be possible to get it." PTC: We can ask via the BMBC Cllrs.
6. PTC: Regarding 'Community,' a lot happens un-noticed by the public with all sorts of activities in clubs and groups which are facilitated through the work of unpaid volunteers. Also, when a young lad went missing, hundreds of people turned out to search, aged from 8 to 82. More than 400 of their cars were parked at PGS. Most would not have known the lad but they came together to help; "One of ours was in trouble; and they came." People did not stop coming until perhaps 10.30pm. A Police leader said he had never seen anything like it. Returning searchers would ask where to go next. "If anything represents Penistone pulling together as a community, this was it."
7a. (Public, Q, Re Section 106 funds from the big development): How much is it and what will it to be used for? PTC: It is £3.2 million but not yet defined how it will be spent on infrastructure. Details will not be fully released until the development is finished. There is a known allocation for schools. The BMBC contacts will provide information as it comes out.
7b. (Public, Supp Q) When Planning applications pass through PTC, is there a process for making Section 106 recommendations? PTC: No, but they can lobby for their preferences. As an example, a strip of land adjacent to the Showground could be purchased in order to extend the field, as one possible idea to spend some of the funding.
7c. (Public, further comment, Re Sec. 106) A suggestion to improve Bridge End junction using Sec. 106 funds, to include Hudds Rd. by adding traffic lights or making a Box Junction. PTC: Working with the school, they are in touch with BMBC and looking into changing the junction by putting in proper crossing points. This is a work in progress and there is already a scheme to improve the road from Hoylandswaine to Flouch. Not clear whether the new estate will access Wellhouse Lane but one suggestion is to put a new roundabout on the top road to slow down the traffic where the blending of traffic might be a problem, especially for slow-moving HGVs.
8. (Public, Q) Probably mentioned about two years ago, is anything being done to improve the car parking situation at Penistone Railway Station (as BMBC had bought land off Yorkshire Land)? PTC: There's a legal challenge going on at the moment by Yorkshire Land about a Compulsory Purchase Order. Plans for up to 60 spaces on Laird's Way (for Park and Ride) are up in the air. A footbridge from the station was also being considered costing around £1m, but for which the member failed to see a need. It looks like 'a slow burner' which might take a few years.

PTC Minutes (pdf).

2022
Annual Town Assembly, Wednesday 20th April 2022, 7pm, Council Chamber. Minutes for this meeting are not available on the PTC website. The PTC link for Minutes goes to the Annual Meeting, not the Town Assembly.

The Agenda

• To elect the Chair of the meeting.
• To receive apologies for absence.
• To approve Minutes of the last Annual Town Assembly, 28th April 2021 (a virtual meeting which the public could not 'attend').
• Matters arising.
• To receive the retiring Mayor's Report for the municipal year ending March 2022, Cllr Andrew Millner.
• To receive public questions and suggestions from the Electorate of the Penistone.

2021 - Lockdown
In April 2021, because of the Covid-19 Lockdown, the Annual Town Assembly had to be an online event. The statutory notice appeared as required on the noticeboard but those wishing to 'attend' the meeting needed a code to be received from the council by emailing them first. The email address on the statutory notice was wrong and did not work. People could not contact the office in order to join the meeting as the staff were not accessible at the time and only the council members and staff could join the meeting. This would have been obvious to the staff.

As expected, the Annual Assembly took place with no public 'attending' at all, just one press representative. This was not due to lack of interest by the public but because of the wrong information on the notice and website, which ought to easily have been picked up by the staff. They were told about it and the usual apologies followed. Now, this could have been a genuine mistake the first time it happened but when the same thing happened a month later for the Annual Meeting (effectively the AGM, May 2021), it looked rather more deliberate.

From PTC Minutes:

Meeting held by Zoom, Wednesday, 28th April 2021, 7pm.
Present: The Town Mayor Cllr A Millner, Deputy Mayor Cllr Gilll Millner, and Cllrs Cutts, Perkins, Rusby, Shiggins, Walker and Wood. Also present were the Town Clerk T Ball and one member of the Press.
Election of Chairperson: Town Mayor chosen as acting Chair.
Apologies for Absence: Cllrs Kimberley, Unsworth and MP Miriam Vates.
Minutes of 2019 Assembly: dated 17th April 2019 presented to the meeting and accepted. (No meeting in 2020 due to Covid restrictions)
Matters Arising: None.
Mayor's Report: This had been previously circulated. (Attached to the Minutes published later).
Public Session: There being no members of public, no questions or suggestions were proposed.

There was no mention of the reason why the public could not join the meeting, even though that might have been obvious, and certainly to those who had arranged the Zoom Meeting. It is important to remember this sort of escapade when it is suggested once again that 'the public are not interested' in attending meetings. It's always a sham.

2016
Annual Town Assembly, 6th April 2016, 7pm, Lower Hall, Community Centre. Finished at 7.35pm.

Agenda (slightly condensed here):

• 1. To elect a Chairperson,
• 2. To receive apologies for absence,
• 3. To approve Minutes of the last Assembly, read by the Clerk,
• 4. To receive the Mayor's Report for the year ending 31st March 2016, read by Cllr Millner,
• 5. To note the Audited Statement of Accounts (ending on the same date),
• 6. To receive questions, comments and suggestions from the electorate.

The Agenda was displayed on the Town centre noticeboard but not on the Community Centre noticeboard.

From Minutes

Present: The Town Mayor, Cllr. Cllr. Millner, Cutts, Hand-Davis, Hinchliff, Mrs. Hinchliff, Hayler, Mrs. Millner, Marsh, Ogle and Kimberley. Also present the Town Clerk K. Coulton, press and members of the public.

Apologies for Absence: from Cllrs. Webber, Chadburn, Mrs. Rusby and Unsworth.

Mayor's Report - Read out and included in Minutes

Financial Statement - Accounts explained

Public Questions - About Litter, fly tipping and bins.

2015
This was held in the Community Centre on Wednesday 8th April 2015. A sound recording was made. Researching the details.

2014
Annual Assembly, Tuesday 15th April, 7pm, Lower Hall, Community Centre. Finished 8.15pm.

Present: The Town Mayor, Cllr. Cutts, Cllrs. Barron, Marsh, Millner, Mrs. Hinchliff, Pilkington, Mrs Rusby, Starling, Unsworth and Webber and Mrs. Webber.
Also present the Town Clerk K. Coulton, press and members of the public (number not recorded).

Apologies for Absence: Cllrs. Beever, Chapman, Hand - Davis and Cllr Hinchliff.

Statement of Accounts: And in printed form.

Mayor's Report: Read out and included in Minutes.

Public Questions: Possibility of PTC achieving Quality Parish Status? (the scheme was 'wallowing dead in the water'), What is happening at Lairds Way?
Discussions have taken place with the SYPTE Barnsley MBC regarding parking, a park and ride and managed work space units on the site, however part of the land has now been approved for housing. There being no further questions the members of the public expressed their customary vote of thanks to the Town Council for the work that they carry out.

2013
This was held in the Community Centre, 7pm, Tuesday 23rd April 2013.

From Minutes:
PTC Minutes showed that the meeting had a proper Agenda, Reports and the Minutes from 2012.

Present: The Town Mayor, Cllr. Barron, Cllrs. Chapman, Cutts, Green, Marsh, Millner, Hinchliff, Mrs. Hinchliff, Pilkington, Mrs Rusby, Starling, Unsworth and Webber. Also present were the Town Clerk, Keith Coulton. Also one member of the press and nine members of the public.

Absent: Apologies from Cllr Hand-Davis and Mrs Webber.

Mayor's Report: Cllr Unsworth was Mayor at the time and gave a Mayor's Report for his year of office, including his Mayoral engagements.

Financial Report: A statement of accounts was presented and a copy could be found on each seat.

Public Questions:
These included bus timetables, what was happening to community grants from the wind farms (£1,000 given to a model aircraft club), the cancellation of a Folk Festival planned for the Market Barn and how to improve communications with BMBC the failure of which had caused the cancellation, a question whether the Road Safety Committee still existed (A - 'No'), whether a Stop sign could be fitted to Station Drive on to Sheffield Road (this would have been Network Rail's responsibility but enquiries would be made), inadequacies of the Squareabout road system (the No Entry sign to be re-sited and road markings renewed), vehicles using a pedestrian access to the Market area, and finally whether play equipment might be put on a field following the completion of allotments.

The meeting closed at 8.15pm. Publicity for the meeting had as always very weak but nine local people and a news reporter had found out about it and attended. The local community radio station Penistone FM had refused to announce it on their Community News.

Personal Notes from the Meeting - These were in plain text form and might have previously been posted on a webpage or on Facebook. Only slightly edited here for readability and layout.

It was quite entertaining in patches. The Millhouse Green Community Group very expertly cross-examined the council to find out what had happened to two pots of money that had been screwed out of windfarm developers. One was a lump of £100,000 which nobody knew where it had gone. It was suggested that it might have gone to the other side of Barnsley towards affordable housing. The other income was an annual £10,000, of which £1,000 was earmarked for the Dunford model aircraft club (* which used to meet near Royd Moor).

After positive-sounding noises and much slipping and sliding about by one councillor, he conceded to pressure and had to admit that he did not have the slightest idea about the money. He had only heard about it on the night. I won't name names but this particular councillor often appears to have just two modes of operation: a) Credible Deniability, and, b) Damage Limitation.

The Chairman said that Dunford Parish council would have the answers. I remarked that, given that five PTC councillors are on BMBC and two of them are in Planning, there must have been a breakdown in communication, which could addressed on the PTC website. Then I ruined it by remarking that I would not hold my breath, given their usual very poor publicity for the Annual Assembly.

I ruined it because they did not pursue my point after a melee of excuses, and how one Peniston FM board member had 'done his utmost' to promote the meeting on the local radio, to which I bogged myself laughing. (Penistone FM had refused to announce the meeting details).

I went on to explain that I had listened all day to the radio and it had never been mentioned, neither had it been on their 'This is Penistone' website which was supposed to include community news. I could have gone further and told Penistone FM that I had sent messages via three routes to remind them, but I made my point well enough. The Millhouse gang had found out through facebook about this meeting and it was me who told them!

I raised the matter of how the Folk Festival had been cancelled because of a double-booking in the Market Barn with the Artisan Fayre. I said it was a poor do that their efforts were wasted as they had aimed to hold it as an annual event around St John's Day (24th June), like the old 'Penistone Sing'. A slightly shifty reply suggested that it might have worked for them to hold both events at the same time but I said that the Market Barn was not big enough to accommodate both. They said that PTC had no control over the Market Barn. Then it was suggested that marquees could have been arranged to accommodate one or t' other.

Actually a lot more was discussed at the meeting but I am running out of room on this page. So, all things considered, I learnt a bit more - but mostly about how certain councillors treat the public like idiots.