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Dear Ed,

Re: District Auditor - Hawkinge Parish Council 

Cllr P Hogben’s request to his `old friend` the District Auditor to attend the parish council’s next meeting, presumably as a precursor to investigating some alleged wrong-doings is somewhat puzzling to me. 

Firstly at the end of the day, this Auditor will be investigating him as well as other councillors because the council is the councillors, no-one else 

The second question and something that is singularly lacking in our council is one of collective responsibility. Unlike Shepway for example where 95% of decision making is in the hands of the executive or cabinet, here at Hawkinge the whole council is the `cabinet`. So to publicly disassociate oneself from decisions made, is to totally undermine the council itself, destroys it credibility, and contributes to making for an inefficient council, which in turn puts up its costs, because the `infighting` we have been witness to for the last three years wastes so much energy that should be directed elsewhere. 

There are numerous examples of this I could use here, but those councillors who are the main perpetrators of this divisive practice know who they are.

I do not say that councillors should not be able to argue against or disagree with any proposals brought before the parish council, but that the place for debate is in the council itself, and once a decision is made they should accept it, and not actively campaign to undermine a corporate decision and council policy 

Finally let me repeat myself;  the council it not some amorphous body that operates in total isolation, councillors are the council, nothing or no-one else is.

Cllr Dave Callahan

Chairman
Hawkinge Parish Council