THE GREENBELT IN BURY
On March 20th Bury Independents attended the Council meeting at Bury Town Hall where one of the main items on the agenda was the adoption of the Places for Everyone Plan; a plan which will concrete over vast swathes of the greenbelt in Bury.
Bury Independents supports the campaign of Bury Folk Keep It Green to Save The Greenbelt in Bury, and we also support open respectful debate to maintain a healthy local democracy, which better serves the communities of Bury.
The role of any elected Councillor is: “To represent their ward or division and the people who live in it.” – that means everyone, even those who didn’t vote for them. There are over 11,000 members of the Bury Folk Keep It Green campaign group, and over 6,000 people in Bury signed an independent petition against the Places for Everyone plan, a petition which was handed to the current leadership in Bury Council, which was then summarily ignored. Clearly the current elected leadership in Bury Council do not listen to the people of Bury!
What the voters of Bury witnessed at the Council meeting on March 20th was nothing more than the ruling Labour Party in Bury Council circumnavigating the democratic process by way of pre-engineered ‘filibuster’ tactics, for their own political gain. Important public questions, which were submitted prior to the Council meeting and in accordance with rules, were not asked, or answered, as the time allocated to public questions ran out due to the long and protracted answers given by Councillors to other public questions. The refusal of the Mayor to extend the time allocated to public questions when it was pointed out by a Councillor it was in her power to do so, and the manner in which the Mayor addressed the Councillor and this very important point, was simply reprehensible and undemocratic. The public of Bury has the right to question the Council and they should have been accommodated. This is not how democracy is supposed to work!
The campaign to Save The Greenbelt in Bury is not over. You can find out how to support the campaign going forward by visiting https://www.facebook.com/groups/keepitgreenbelt/ and Bury Independents would like to gratefully thank every elected Councillor in Bury who have maintained their integrity, and have continued to vote against the Places for Everyone.
Bury Independents will continue to support the campaign to Save the Greenbelt and actually listen to, and hear what the people of Bury are saying through open and respectful debate via the democratic process, and all without resorting to the various undemocratic political tactics employed to date by some Labour Councillors, to cling onto power in Bury Council.
for and on behalf of
Bury Independents.
