Taxpayers to foot bill for Euro poll?
A WEST Norfolk community is preparing to add its voice to a national debate on the European Union – and the borough council may be forced to foot the bill.
Terrington St Clement will today hold a special meeting where residents are expected to call for a parish poll on whether the Government should hold a national referendum on the new European Union Reform Treaty.
Parish council chairman Sheila Young started the ball rolling at the request of a parishioner after polls in other parts of the country hit the headlines.
Referendum campaigners, including some affiliated with the UK Independence Party (UKip) have used the Local Government Act 1972 to call for mini referendums.
The act states that if ten members of the parish call for a poll on any subject the district council, or in this case West Norfolk Council, must comply within 14 to 25 days.
Mrs Young organised the meeting with the support of councillors David Shepperson and George Girdlestone, but she said the parish council as a whole supported the move.
"We are not taking a stance on whether the Reform Treaty is right or wrong, but we think people should be given more information and a chance to have their say.
"If we have a referendum in the village, I think there will be a good turnout because I have had a very good response to the notices placed in the village so far," Mrs Young added.
Parish polls have been organised across the country to pressurise the Government into holding a nationwide referendum on the European Reform Treaty, drafted to replace the European Constitution.
The constitution was rejected by some members of the European Union, including Britain, which believed it would remove power from individual countries and transfer it to European bodies.
But the Reform Treaty has come under fire for being too similar to the document it could replace.
Britain's first official poll on the issue was held in the Dorset village of East Stoke in September and the event attracted journalists and television crews from across Europe.
Ten people or one third of those present at tomorrow's meeting must be in favour of a poll for it to go ahead and Mrs Young is confident these numbers will be met.
It will be held at Terrington St Clement Village Hall from 7pm.
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Weather for King's Lynn
Sunday 27 May 2012
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