Episode 2 - The Chain Gang
Well this time last week - Monday (26th April) actually - we were all sat round the council chamber looking alert, polished and some would say even statesmanlike as the meeting unfolded.
First off were the usual bits - apologies - minutes of the last meeting, which on the basis it had been held on 27th April 2009 was something only we could agree on paper, if you can remember that far back in microscopic detail you either have monumental recall or not enough going on in your life.
Then came the accounts, followed by the 'mayors report'. By heck that funny chain certainly gets an outing.
Of course this report stretches across two administrations so it was quite a list of places been, people seen, openings, gatherings and the odd church parade thrown in to liven the mix. He certainly gets about does the mayor.
At the moment our mayors are elected from within the town council and like fishing from the same pond you do tend to get the same fish taking the bait, which is a shame.
As chairman of the council it is not an easy job, it does take up a lot of time and you need to be fairly well clued up on procedures. There is an election for a new mayor coming up next meeting - on the tenth of May - we'll see who gets on the chain gang then, and good luck to them I say.
Mind you, it's not quite the high life in the fast lane of local government, its more a lot of handshaking and meetings. Showing the flag - which we haven't actually got, but if we did have they would be the ones waving it.
In ancient times it was the Mayor who was held to task if the town misbehaved, he was in fact the 'head' of the town and it was his head that came off!
Now I'm not suggesting we go back to those customs, but when a mayor takes office I do think there ought to be a bit of a civic ceremony to which the entire town is invited. Not a bun fight; that would cost ratepayers money, but an affirmation in public that by taking the office that person will do all in his, or her, power to be non-partisan, fair and available to the entire town as representative of the town council - Just a thought...
The real 'meat' of this meeting to me was the reports made by the various organisations that link to the Town Council, organisations that do so much to make our town such a good place to live.
Such as the Sports Ground, the Museum, Twinning Associations, Penn View Association, Cricket Club, Catbus, the Balsam Centre and others.
Listening to the reports of money raised, money spent, aims met or being worked on, programs for the future and the good governance of their club or association, I was amazed at the dedication and care going on all around us by people who wanted to make a difference, wanted to actually 'do' something, not sit on the sideline. What also amazed me was the number of things that go on in the town almost unnoticed except by those who are involved in them.
The Balsam Centre offers a huge variety of services to our town and surrounding areas. I knew 'in theory' about the growing spaces and the "well-being, healthy lifestyle" bits, but I never knew about the outreach programs. These target issues that to a large extent remain hidden in our society. Issues such as depression, that darkness of the soul that eats every bit of light and love in its path. Believe me, unless you've been there you will never know the loneliness and isolation it brings and the well-meaning advice to 'snap out of it' or 'count your blessings' is as much use as a chocolate kettle.
So they have trained councillors going about trying to shine light in dark places and get the sufferers back into a world of colour, of life and hope. And that and all the other fine things they do is under threat. Money – ain't it always, money drying up, funding floundering just when its needed most.
Your councillors listened - let's hope that can in some small way help, eh?
Mind you there was a lot to be cheery about. Take the Penn View Residents Association for example. Now I know there is a Penn View. Nice place and indeed a lovely view, but I didn't know it had its own residents association chaired by the redoubtable Doug Castle.
They get up to all sorts of things, including getting funding for a makeover to the play area. This is all good stuff and it goes on gently and without fuss, which seems to me is very much the 'Wincanton Way'.
I tell the many visitors who come to my place if they want to see the 'real' Wincanton walk the high street but look up above the shop windows to the architecture of the upper stories, look at the roof line, the chimneys. There you see the town as it has been for centuries, walk the back streets, the lanes, the places of quiet dignity that are homes, not the investment opportunities and weekenders' bolt holes that you find in other small towns in the West Country.
We really are very lucky to live here.
The Health Centre came up and indeed there was a meeting held last Wednesday (28th April) with representatives of the Health Centre and the entire council. It wasn't a formal one, but it was lively. Hanging over the whole discussion was the fact that the clock was ticking on the funding. Some clever soul once wrote 'Nothing concentrates the mind like the prospect of being hung'.
In a discussion that veered from the sublime to the stupid and all stations in-between, everyone there was very aware that time is running out and regardless of which party gets the poisoned chalice which is our national economy, funding for our new health centre may well vanish for years to come. And things won't stay the same as a result, a lot more of us will be making the trek to Yeovil because the facilities in the present health centre are just no longer fit for purpose – they haven't the room.
As my dear old mother used to say 'the more you stir, the worst it stinks'.
The meeting closed. Our noble and hardworking town clerk loaded up a huge box of files and papers to cart off homeward. I am going to buy her a small trolley. Not out of council funds, but mine own pocket - because she's worth it and ultimately in local government, she carries the can - so she might as well have something to carry it in eh?
Once again I must caution you not to take anything I have written as being in any way sanctioned by my colleagues on the council, the town clerk, the town crier, the town hall or the town fool. It's all mine own - take it or leave it - no trees have suffered hurt in its creation.
Bernard Pearson - 5 May 2010
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Reply #1 on : Mon May 10, 2010, 10:42:52
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