Harmony Train gathers steam at St Albans
There was a great turn out for this important day. Residents gathered in the Square opposite St Albans Station to enjoy performances from local musicians and express their support for our community which comes from a diverse range of backgrounds.
50th Anniversary for Sunshine Football Club
Congratulations to Sunshine Football Club for achieving their 50th anniversary. The Club has a proud history of supporting families through tough times and fostering a healthy, caring environment for young people.
Conflict of interest
As a new councillor elected at the last election, it has taken some time for me to process the full effect of the difficulties associated with the new Conflict of Interest provisions.
Overall, I welcome the new provisions because they are clearly intended to prevent Councillors from making personal gain from their role as a councillor and providing a clear set of guidelines about what is a conflict. The new rules are important to help ensure councillors’ act in a transparent way at all times about any associations they have with developers, real estate and other interests that could mean they profit from a particular council decision or have a bias when it comes to making a decision about an issue on a particular development. The guidelines also protect councillors by ensuring that in general they do not accept gifts that could later be used by a group or company to influence a decision about an issue.
I am concerned though that like many dedicated country Councillors I was elected because of my connections to my community and those connections are not about developers or real estate. My involvement is with many community not-for-profit groups working to improve their local area and support their neighbours. Because of my continued involvement as an active local person on my school council, breastfeeding group, playground group etc, those groups have suffered from my association, and are not being able to apply for grants because of a perceived conflict of interest. I believe there is also potential for conflicts to arise on making decisions about issues that might be remotely associated with these groups and that is not necessarily fair.
There was a great turn out for this important day. Residents gathered in the Square opposite St Albans Station to enjoy performances from local musicians and express their support for our community which comes from a diverse range of backgrounds.
50th Anniversary for Sunshine Football Club
Congratulations to Sunshine Football Club for achieving their 50th anniversary. The Club has a proud history of supporting families through tough times and fostering a healthy, caring environment for young people.
Conflict of interest
As a new councillor elected at the last election, it has taken some time for me to process the full effect of the difficulties associated with the new Conflict of Interest provisions.
Overall, I welcome the new provisions because they are clearly intended to prevent Councillors from making personal gain from their role as a councillor and providing a clear set of guidelines about what is a conflict. The new rules are important to help ensure councillors’ act in a transparent way at all times about any associations they have with developers, real estate and other interests that could mean they profit from a particular council decision or have a bias when it comes to making a decision about an issue on a particular development. The guidelines also protect councillors by ensuring that in general they do not accept gifts that could later be used by a group or company to influence a decision about an issue.
I am concerned though that like many dedicated country Councillors I was elected because of my connections to my community and those connections are not about developers or real estate. My involvement is with many community not-for-profit groups working to improve their local area and support their neighbours. Because of my continued involvement as an active local person on my school council, breastfeeding group, playground group etc, those groups have suffered from my association, and are not being able to apply for grants because of a perceived conflict of interest. I believe there is also potential for conflicts to arise on making decisions about issues that might be remotely associated with these groups and that is not necessarily fair.
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