The revelation on Councillor John Oddy's blog that a certain County/Town Councillor seems to be doing his utmost to prevent any movement forward with the renovation/reopening of Colwyn Bay Pier seems, on the face of it, bizarre.
Councillor Chris Hughes, who represents the Glyn Ward in Colwyn Bay (one of the most deprived in Wales, as a matter of interest) is Chairman of the Friends of Colwyn Bay Pier Group. Given this fact, you'd have thought he would be constantly working to break the current impasse with the Pier, maybe even using his influence at County Council level to negotiate a way of resolving the problems? By way of comparison, see how much work the Friends of Hastings Pier down in the South of England are doing to try and save their pier. Their website is here.
But, in Colwyn Bay...nope, sorry, you're out of luck. No meetings of the Friends Group have been held for three years and when the Secretary/Treasurer, a Mrs Pat Jackson, organised a meeting herself, who turned up to close the meeting down but Councillor Hughes, who said that the meeting was 'unconstitutional'. He also allegedly said that only he had the power to call meetings and, to put the icing on the cake, refused to resign as Chairman of the Group!
This leads me to ask the question....what are his motives? Why is he apparently trying so hard to prevent the Friends of Colwyn Bay Pier Group actually mobilising public support to do something about the current state of the Pier?
Wherever his interests lie, it would appear that they are sadly not with the people of Colwyn Bay...
Councillor Chris Hughes, who represents the Glyn Ward in Colwyn Bay (one of the most deprived in Wales, as a matter of interest) is Chairman of the Friends of Colwyn Bay Pier Group. Given this fact, you'd have thought he would be constantly working to break the current impasse with the Pier, maybe even using his influence at County Council level to negotiate a way of resolving the problems? By way of comparison, see how much work the Friends of Hastings Pier down in the South of England are doing to try and save their pier. Their website is here.
But, in Colwyn Bay...nope, sorry, you're out of luck. No meetings of the Friends Group have been held for three years and when the Secretary/Treasurer, a Mrs Pat Jackson, organised a meeting herself, who turned up to close the meeting down but Councillor Hughes, who said that the meeting was 'unconstitutional'. He also allegedly said that only he had the power to call meetings and, to put the icing on the cake, refused to resign as Chairman of the Group!
This leads me to ask the question....what are his motives? Why is he apparently trying so hard to prevent the Friends of Colwyn Bay Pier Group actually mobilising public support to do something about the current state of the Pier?
Wherever his interests lie, it would appear that they are sadly not with the people of Colwyn Bay...
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13 comments:
Chameleon,
Thank you for picking-up on the posting, you are correct his behaviour throughout all of this has been extremely bizarre. One would have thought someone from the Council would have, by now, pulled him to one side and explained how corrupt it makes them appear. The Conflict of Interest is so huge that it is blindingly obvious.
I have a feeling that CCBC want's Victoria Pier 'out of the way', so they can concentrate on their proposed 'Sea Defence Strategy' and 'Promenade Improvement Project'.
Hinder Mr Hunt's plans to rennovate the pier - stall for time, so the pier decays and deteriorates, so eventually it will need demolishing, as it will be beyond repair.
Have an 'insider' like Chris 'Crunch' Hughes who conveniently is Chairman of 'Friends of Colwyn Bay Pier' who is able to help CCBC stall for time......and you never know - might just get a fat bonus when the pier gets demolished.
Thought this was interesting:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/colwyn_bay_sea_defence_strategy
I thought this was interesting also:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/councillor_chris_hughes_non_coun
The phrase 'can of worms' comes to mind!
i would like to nominate mr oddy to take over as chairman of the friends committee as he actually gives a damn about the town!
Oh, it appears Chrissy boy is a member of the Colwyn Bay Regeneration Partnership.
http://www.conwy.gov.uk/drcllrbio.asp?cat=3505&doc=17421&cllr=22
And you can find 'Mr Colwyn Bay' watching the local football team at home on Saturdays.
Very good PR Chris, but you fail to mention that for many years you went to Old Trafford on Bill Griffith's coach.
Surely as part of the constitution the group should have had an Annual General Meeting, at which they could have re-elected officers.
If this hasn't happened then the whole group is against its constitution. Those the group should be disbanded and those interested can form a new group.
It seems to me that what is going on is totally unconstitutional. The Friends must have a Constitution that would have been set up when they were formed. This would state amongst other things that an AGM must be held every year with 21 days notice being given to every Member.
A Quorum of Members should call an Emergency or Extraordinary General Meeting with the sole motion of Questioning and Deciding on the Past Actions and the Future Involvement of the Current Chairman.
At the next AGM the present Constitution should be reviewed to prevent further actions of this nature and clear the path for future progress.
The strength of the Group is in THE MEMBERS - NOT the Chairman, he is merely a figurehead to control Meetings.
As has already been mentioned there is also the question of conflict of interest.
Councillor Blog,
Of course the membership could change its officers at an AGM so why is Councillor Hughes failing to call one. Remember he is a long serving group and committee member, vice chair and even chairman of various different organisations, he must be well aware of what he is doing. Apart from the conflict of interest do you think he is being fair to the Society and the people of Colwyn Bay who he is supposed to represent?
Councillors / Council Officers DO NOT even follow the COUNCIL'S own constitution, never mind that of a society.
Even when challenged about it legally, they just refuse to answer the question as to why they break their own constitution... read about it here:
www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/councils_refusal_to_pay_court_co
and for an uncensored copy of the original FOI request, see www.victoriapier.com
What a shame Coun. Oddy clouds his opinions with the shadow of the BNP, otherwise he may have a point worth listening too.
Keep working ,great job!
Still no word from Chris Hughes after he was publicly named and shamed at the Public Meeting a few weeks back...
I hear he is now chairman of Dan's Den, and that Hazel Cleverley (Dan's mum) has resigned. I wonder if Chris Hughes will be using the same tactics to stall Dan's Den as he has to stall the pier?
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