Mayors Blog 37
Last week was the town’s Annual Parish Meeting where we received an update report from the town’s charities. Following on was Full Council when we met to discuss the events of the past month and make plans for the coming period. This is a statutory meeting that councillors are summed to attend. At the meeting, each committee chairman makes their report and proposals are made to full council. Prior to the meeting starting we receive reports from the District and County Councillors. Members of the public are also able at this time to raise issues with the council and make suggestions for the coming period. All are invited to attend and see how your town is being run.
This week we were invited to Solihull School for a visit. This is an ancient school over 500 years old and right in the middle of Solihull. It is spread over 55 acres and is an excellent centre of learning being in the top 100 schools in the country. However Alcester Grammar School is still way ahead. AGS is now well in the top ten of its type in the country.
ATC are, with Cllr Steve Payne, organising speed awareness training with the intention of reducing speeding in the town. Expect to see yellow jackets around the town with a speed gun. I am sure we all wish to see less speeding and this, along with the current speed calming measures and the coming 20 mph speed limits, will really help.
The Greig Hall. As has been mentioned recently on online social media sites, we are still awaiting news as the Greig Company wind up both their Business and Charity interests before Stratford District Council take over and we can progress out interest in the Greig Hall. There are no specific dates as yet and the process to make a smooth transition is complex. However it has started. We are hopeful that we will soon have access to assess the condition of the hall before we can open it. Naturally there will be some repairs, replacement of equipment and accessibility work, but these are minor in the grand scheme. SDC will operate the leisure centre through their leisure company SLM and ATC will hopefully operate the hall with community support – which is what we all want. We just need patience, something I admit lacking on this subject. When we get the green light then we will need volunteers. If you wish to volunteer you can get in contact via the town council website “Contact us” page www.alcester-tc.gov.uk/contact-us or email direct to info@alcester-tc.gov.uk.
Alcester Fire Station. There is a public consultation running for the next 12 weeks on the future of the Warwickshire Fire Service. This consultation is available on the WCC website and I recommend that you have a look at it. The fire service state they need to cut £2.4 million over the next 4 years as part of the £92 million WCC are aiming to save over a similar period. I am sure we all appreciate savings need to be made but the debate is over what cuts and where. It is proposed that Alcester goes from a 24/7 manned station to just 12 hours a day, 10 am to 10 pm. I would appreciate your views on this issue as I personally am in favour of retaining the fully manned station for the benefit of the town and surrounding villages. Alcester is, as we know, at the edge of the county. If Alcester fire station goes part time then the nearest fully manned station, I understand, will be Stratford, but I am aware but they have a large area to cover.
It is time to make our voices heard.
Please paste this link into your browser for the survey.
http://askwarks.files.wordpress.com/2014/03/public-consultation-respnse-model-final2-5.ppsx
Mark Cargill
Mayor of Alcester