At a ‘parish meeting’ on 15 December on the subject of King’s Pond, local residents asked for a ‘parish poll’ to be held with eight questions. The meeting was a meeting of local electors called under legislation going back to 1894, not a Council meeting, but – by law – had to be chaired by the Town Mayor if she was present and so Cllr Annette Eyre chaired, and Town Clerk Tom Horwood was present to advise on the legal process. Residents who are on the Electoral Register proposed and voted on a series of questions and then they decided which questions to put to the wider electorate of Alton and Holybourne.
East Hampshire District Council (EHDC) will run the poll in January and charge the cost to Alton Town Council, estimated by EHDC at £10,000. The law says that the results of the Parish Poll are not binding but must be considered by the town council. Polling stations will be open on a date chosen by EHDC from 4pm to 9pm. The law does not allow polling cards, postal votes or proxy votes for a parish poll.
Residents proposed and voted on questions in the meeting and then called for eight questions to go into the parish poll. This was then immediately sent to EHDC, as the council that runs elections and polls. The eight questions (and their results at the meeting) are:
1. Should Alton Town Council tamper with water levels jeopardising tree health and wellbeing? (In the meeting, 8 voted Yes, 33 No)
2. Do you believe that Alton Town Council is listening to residents concerning King’s Pond? (24 Yes, 23 No)
3. Should Alton Town Council commit to following and implementing the results of any parish poll? (33 Yes, 10 No)
4. Do you trust Alton Town Council to spend council taxpayers’ money wisely? (18 Yes, 21 No)
5. Should Alton residents be consulted on any further spending on King’s Pond? (30 Yes, 9 No)
6. Do you want to remove Don Hammond from any further King’s Pond focus groups? (24 Yes, 21 No)
7. Do you want Alton Town Council to recommence Stage 1 so that the people can take an informed decision? (18 Yes, 29 No)
8. Should Alton Town Council stop investigating alternatives and instead proceed only with making plans and finding costs for the dredging of King’s Pond at its current size and adding improvements such as silt traps? (30 Yes, 18 No)
There was also a request for the Town Council to approach South East Water regarding silt traps. This was agreed (44 Yes, 0 No), and is being taken forward by the Town Clerk. This question will not be in the parish poll.
Further information on the King’s Pond project can be found at https://www.alton.gov.uk/kings-pond-project/.