An Update on Parish Council Meeting on 20th December

The meeting cannot go ahead as planned
Due to the unforeseen and unavoidable absence of a councillor, tonight’s meeting will be severely curtailed, and we will not be able to follow the published agenda.

Why is this happening?
After several recent resignations, the Parish Council has only three councillors.  Standing Orders require a minimum of three councillors to form a quorum. With one of our number unavoidably absent, we are unable to make resolutions or conduct any council business.  Having announced the meeting and summoned the parish councillors, the meeting must still go ahead, as per the following advice from the Hampshire Association of Local Councils:

“You cannot simply cancel a meeting once a summons is issued, as 3 councillors may still turn up. You will need to attend the meeting place and, should only 2 councillors arrive, the meeting would then be declared inquorate and be closed.”

We know that the third councillor cannot attend so the meeting will be opened and closed as above.  Councillors will, however, be happy to answer questions and discuss matters pertaining to the village with anyone who still wishes to attend.

Bentworth Parish Council deeply regrets the situation and encourages anyone with an interest in helping our village to put themselves forward for co-option onto the committee.  If we have more councillors, we should be able to prevent this happening again.

If you have any further questions or want to make a comment, please contact clerk@bentworthparishcouncil.org