A FOUNDING member of Lindford Parish Council (LPC) has resigned in frustration at the level of bureaucracy surrounding the council and its treatment by the district council. Shirley Lunt fought for the village to have its own council rather than two representatives on the former Whitehill Parish Council, and was elected a member of LPC when it was established in 1981. After 24 years of serving her community, Mrs Lunt said she had become "disillusioned" with the task, claiming regulations placed on councillors prevented them carrying out their role effectively. In particular, she argued that a duty on councillors to declare any vested interests on a subject of debate had been extended so far that it had become "ludicrous" and was an example of "bureaucracy gone mad". Mrs Lunt admitted she has for some time been disgruntled at the restrictiveness of the policy, which obliges any councillor deemed to have a "prejudicial" interest on a topic to leave the council chamber during debate and voting. But in a letter to The Daily Telegraph newspaper this week, she revealed that the situation came to a head when the council was consulted on a planning application last month. The letter read: "The declaration of interest has arisen on several occasions, the latest being the change of use of a much-needed shop to be converted into a Chinese takeaway below flats. "The objection to the change of use was offered by the residents and house owners in the vicinity. Two councillors living in the next road were not allowed to speak, as 'having an interest'. "Surely as a parish council we are obliged to put the interest of the village first. If this is not the case then all councillors would be obliged to leave the meeting and no decisions would be taken that did not agree with the government directives." Speaking to The Herald, she added: "I can visualise a situation where we (Lindford parish councillors) all end up standing outside the door and the general public make decisions." Mrs Lunt further revealed she had deep misgivings with East Hampshire District Council's planning department, which she described as a "disaster". The department has a legal duty to consult parish councils over planning applications involving land within their boundaries, although it does not have to act on this advice. "They send us applications for our comments but take no notice of what we say," she said. "We objected strongly to the applications for the Martin Grant and Chase Road estates but they went ahead with them anyway," she added.
