At Monday night’s Newport Parish Council meeting, a proposal put forward by Cllr Richard Hollis (Con) to not renew their annual subscription to IWALC – the Isle of Wight Association of Local Councils – was debated and voted upon.
IWALC representatives, Gill Kennett and Dick Doran, attended the meeting to outline the benefits of membership. These include free training for clerks and councillors and access to legal services.
As you may’ve read in these pages in recent months, IWALC have also been involved with nationally lobbing for Assisted Area Status, as well as the Quality Parish Scheme.
A tight vote over “luxury” membership
Cllr Lumley (Lab) proposed that the Parish Council rejoin and this was seconded by Cllr Smart (Ind), but this was lost by five votes to six, with one abstention.
Cllr Hollis argued the £1,500 pa membership was a luxury rather than a necessity, saying he believed the expertise, if needed, could be bought in for less than the subscription.
He went on to say that he felt the Parish Council didn’t need to be part of a ‘collective’ to enhance their relationships both locally (with the IWC) and nationally.
Good value?
The clerk, Maxine Yule, explained to OnTheWight,
“The cost is usually per capita, but for the large councils it’s capped, otherwise it would be far too high, so some could argue that makes it better value.”
There are 33 local councils on the Isle of Wight. The only other one that currently does not subscribe to IWALC is Shanklin.
Image: Elvert Barnes under CC BY 2.0
