Mayor’s blog 40
This is my final blog of my Mayoral year. I hope you have enjoyed reading it as much as I have writing it.
One of the many things I love about our town is the community spirit. I was told a lovely story yesterday about a pensioner who was in Waitrose who accidentally dropped a £10 note. The staff recognised the person, put the money into an envelope with the details on it and then informed the pensioner’s granddaughter who returned the money. That takes local knowledge and is what defines Alcester to me. Long may it last.
We are rapidly approaching the end of the civic year. On the 6th May there will be the annual council meeting at Globe House where the new Mayor and Deputy Mayor are sworn in. If you can make it please do come.
Coming up on May 22nd are the local district council elections, on the 13th of May a senior fire office will attending the Full Council meeting and if anyone has any questions the Fire Service are holding a roadshow on Saturday the 17th in Bull Head Yard car park. Please put those in your diaries as well.
I will mention at my final council meeting as Mayor how we, as a council, work so well together. I am sure it could be improved upon but reality is that in comparison to many other councils we do work very efficiently. This is due to an apolitical stance adopted many years ago and carried on today. This spirit of putting the community first has paid dividends over the years.
I am now aware that the draft Core Strategy is being presented to SDC cabinet for approval. This is a highly contentious document as it means, for one community at least, significant building will occur. The good news for Alcester is that we are not in that frame. Yes, of course, we will have our developments and those will be contentious enough, but we are being spared the large scale developments proposed for Gaydon and Wellesbourne. Although I am not yet fully convinced of the overall national figures, it is a fact that we need more housing in the UK. A growing number of households are single occupancy and this inevitably means more building is needed to keep up with demand. We also have an ageing population and suitable accommodation is needed for them as well. This is a sign of changing times and we have to adapt to it like it or not.
Finally, thank you very much for your support over the past year. Kathryn, Lyndsey and I have thoroughly enjoyed our time. I feel proud to have represented our town this year and have learnt a tremendous amount about our town in the process. I wish the incoming Mayor all the best for the coming year.
Mark Cargill, Mayor of Alcester