The focus this week of course was the food festival. This was a bit of an experiment being in October but was designed to kick start the Christmas season. You know my views on starting Christmas too early! However this was an opportunity for our shopkeepers to start promoting themselves for return visitors nearer to December. I spent a couple of excellent hours there sampling food and drink and of course talking (honestly, its part of the job). The feedback so far is that it was a success and certainly the streets were thronged. Even the weather, a bit of a risk at this time of the year, held good until 4pm when the heavens opened.
The next day was of course the Court Leet church service. The weather again held off literally until the parade was dismissed! The service this year was moved back to October which apparently was the traditional time. I wondered if the late afternoon slot was a little risky but in the end we had an excellent parade and the church was full. Again a very good turnout and full of the tradition that defines Alcester.
Updates:
Core strategy. This was due to be discussed at a district council meeting this week for acceptance, prior to submission to the inspector. However as significant portions of it were not in a fit enough state, it was withdrawn for additional work. This is another blow to us as we were hoping that it would have got past the next hurdle before the inspection in November. We now may very well miss that deadline.
WCC cuts. The second round of cuts has been announced (£92million) and the leader of WCC, Izy Secombe, is going around the region meeting the people to explain WCC’s reasoning behind the cuts. However unfortunately Alcester is NOT included in the roadshow. Perhaps we are too far out away for them to bother coming. I think this is one to be raised directly with WCC.