PaulRogan

Finally and I believe reluctantly, the Tory cabinet in conjunction with it's New Labour supporters has bowed to Government pressure and agreed to set up Area Committees in Calderdale... sorry, committees everywhere else, where they have been successful for years, Forum in Calderdale.

But they wont be talking shops' says a Tory cabinet member. Oh really! A Forum is where there is only talk, a committee is where things get decided and done.

The Brighouse area has been calling for a local area committee for years. In some small way, a means of re-establishing the self-determination it used to exercise when it had a Council of its own. But, don't think for one minute that the Lower Valley Forum is the answer. Both the Brighouse area, the Elland area and other less urban parts are all lumped together. All vying for the means to achieve what each separately (and quite rightly) needs and deserves.

What does this apparent lack of sensitivity to local needs tell us? These Forums are set up more for the benefit of easy administration than to really deliver what ‘The People' are calling for and the Government is seeking to provide.

Of course, I may be wrong, please tell me that I am!

Residents to get bigger voice at http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/localnews/Residents-to-get-bigger-voice.3364466.jp

Area panels to advise the council at http://www.halifaxcourier.co.uk/news/Area-panels-to-advise-the.3362218.jp