No Trim boundary extension by elections

Town councillors in Trim have expressed their frustrations that the electoral boundary for the town has not been extended and that many of those living in housing estates in Trim will not be able to vote for their local councillors in June"s local elections. Meath County Council spokesperson, Bill Sweeney, who will be the returning officer for the five county electoral areas, gave a presentation to councillors on the local elections at the monthly meeting of Trim Town Council last week. He told councillors that the date prescribed for the European Elections is between the 4th and 7th June and the local elections would be held the same date. He said the indications are that the election will be held on Friday 5th June but that this has not yet been confirmed. Mr Sweeney said that a boundary extension is a long and complicated process and that work is ongoing on it. The council is currently working on a boundary extension for Navan but Mr Sweeney said this process would not be completed in advance of the local elections. He added that the final register of electors would be published on 15th February and asked councillors to look at the register and see that it corresponds with the boundary. Mr Sweeney added that there are 130,000 people registered to vote in the county and just one staff member to look after it. He advised members of the public to make sure they are registered. Talbot Court, The Belfry, The Gallops, Manorlands, Effernock and the housing estates in the Knightsbrook area are all outside the town boundary as it presently stands. Cllr Ray Butler asked what timeframe was for these estates to be included and said they had been promised before the last elections that it would be sorted out in five years. 'I feel sorry for the candidates that are going to come up from these areas. They can"t vote for themselves and the people they represent can"t vote for them,' said Cllr Butler. Cllr Vincent McHugh said that, 15 years ago, they had filled out the application form for a boundary extension and went through the process, sent it to Meath County Council but that unless the county councillors agreed, they weren"t getting any boundary extension and theirs had been 'shelved'. He said it should have been sent on to the Department of the Environment for the minister to make the decision and not Meath County Council. 'The real crux for us was Meath County Council did not want the boundary extension because they would be losing revenue,' he said. Cllr Phil Cantwell said there is also a lot of anger in Kells and Navan that it has not yet been done. Mr Sweeney said he rejected any suggestion that nothing was being done and said substantial progress had been made in the last three years. 'Once Navan is dealt with, the template is in place to deal with Trim and Kells. Unfortunately, it will not be completed by the election,' said Mr Sweeney. He added that under the 2001 Act, the electoral commission that was to be put in place to adjudicate between councils never actually happened. 'The way forward is by agreement, where both councils work out a programme together and that can go to minister for approval,' said Mr Sweeney. Cllr Jimmy Peppard said the fact that the situation is not going to be altered this side of the election was 'scandalous'. He said: 'Trim has needed an extension for the 15 years ago. We were aware five years ago yet the work only started three and a half years ago. The public has the right to be angry and frustrated.' Town Clerk Brian Murphy told councillors that, on two separate occasions, he had written to the last two environment ministers requesting a boundary extension and both said they would not be entertaining any reviews ahead of the 2009 elections. Cllr Danny O"Brien said: 'I think it is unbelievable that, three years on, we have no application to make. I wouldn"t like to be the person doing the job and say to the boss that, three years on, there is no application yet.' He added that there was no 'purpose for the town council' and they had 'no jurisdiction for 95 per cent of what is on the map'. Cllr O"Brien went on: 'If the Government is talking about saving money, they could save money by getting rid of town councils. If the theory follows for derelict sites (now centralised and looked after by Meath County Council), it follows for the whole shebang. There are a couple of councils like Ennis and Killarney who make a difference. All it is at the moment is a talking shop.' Cllr Trevor Golden asked could they say that, by 2014, the estates will be inside the boundary. He said it was 'extremely unfair' that people approach the nine town councillors about issues but they have 'no powers whatsover'.