LI elections

LI president Neil Williamson has contacted members to remind them to use their votes in the forthcoming elections.

In an open letter, he stressed how important it is that members cast their votes, particularly in the wake of the revisions to the Insititute's Royal Charter. The full text is below.

Dear Landscape Institute Member

You will shortly be receiving your postal ballot papers for this year’s elections (you will notice that they are printed on special paper to prevent duplication).

It is important that you use your vote.

We are a democratic organisation. In the past, voting turnout has often been low, and finding sufficient volunteers amongst our members willing to offer their services to the Institute and put in the considerable time and effort necessary to fulfil the essential roles is a continuing challenge.

Significant responsibilities are involved, especially at a time like this in the Institute’s history. I am therefore pleased that this year we have more than enough candidates to fill the available positions and that members have the opportunity to consider the candidates’ manifesto statements, viewable on the members’ section of the LI website, and make their choices accordingly.

The more members use their votes, the more confidence we can have that the candidates elected reflect the choice of the organisation as a whole.

The LI is changing the way it is governed. These changes, which are enshrined in our revised Royal Charter, were introduced following a vote by the whole membership. You can read more about them on the website, again in the members’ area.

I am well aware that many of you find it hard to get excited about such matters, but there is one aspect in particular I’d like to draw attention to.

One of the comments I’ve heard as I’ve been visiting the regional branches is that it is somehow undemocratic that some of the candidates for this year’s elections are being elected unopposed. This is certainly not the case.

With the exception of the position of President, which is mid-way through a two-year term of office, all positions on the Board and on Council were open to contest by new candidates, and nominations were invited accordingly.

It is only for positions where no new candidates offered themselves for consideration that the existing names go forward unopposed.

Some have commented that the rules for eligibility for candidates may be too restrictive and make it hard for new candidates to come forward. In fact, the process does not preclude newcomers from seeking elections to Council since no restrictions apply to this. Equally it does not preclude newcomers from joining the Board of Trustees since there are no restrictions on the majority of the places on that either. Particular eligibility criteria do apply to the Honorary Officer positions.

Such restrictions are common in professional bodies and are intended to ensure that those seeking election to the highest offices have a sufficient grounding in the reasonably recent work of Council and are not coming in ‘cold’ to key positions that carry very substantial responsibilities. The eligibility criteria are set out in our By-Laws, and were the subject of full consultation with members before being adopted.

However, as with all of our processes, changes can be made if they are not fulfilling the purpose for which they were designed.

This is your Institute.
Do use your vote.

Neil Williamson

President

All postal ballot papers must reach the Landscape Institute by 5pm on Friday 5 June.

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