Cllr Martin Watkins has been elected as the new Chairman of Wilmslow Town Council for the new Council year.
Councillors voted unanimously for Martin Watkins, who represents the Dean Row ward, to take over as Chairman from Keith Purdom who led the Council for the past year.
After taking the Chairman's declaration, Cllr Watkins gave the following address.
"Fellow councillors, Ladies and Gentlemen
"Before I say anything else, I should like to start by paying tribute to the Chairmanship of Keith Purdom. If one was to listen to the whispers doing the rounds, we would all know that being a councillor for this town involves nothing more than turning up for an hour and a half once a month without ever having to do any homework. And I know full well that the best way to get right under Keith's skin is to observe that you cannot combine being an effective chairman whilst holding down a full time job!
This last year has seen this Council consider some very major issues be it the Local Plan, Neighbourhood Plans, Developer Plans and loads of other plans. Keith has been at the very heart of this work. Above all else, it has required him to listen to many conflicting views. It has required real leadership to meld those views into a cohesive town-wide policy, especially when considering the Adlington Road development. That we have, today, a policy statement about that development which the majority of our citizens, of whatever political persuasion or of none, have signed up to is a testament to the hard work and long hours which Keith has, is and will continue to devote to the work of this Council. So Keith, I have a hard act to follow but I do not want you to leave office today without our sincere thanks for all your hard work.
"I turn now to my election as Chairman of Wilmslow Town Council for the forthcoming civic year. It is a singular honour to be asked to do this and to have the opportunity to meet so many people, organisations and businesses whose very diversity shines as a beacon in this part of the world. But we have a reputation of being an affluent area where the troubles which afflict others do not happen here. There are some who, quite rightly, do not like the way change is proposed and who are able to shout their objections loudly. But I have heard some much quieter voices.
These are voices of fear, voices of despair and voices of desperation. These voices give the lie of the stereotype. These are the voices of a family – a Wilmslow family – who have never been on benefits before, who have always paid their taxes but who find themselves after unbelievable tragedy, living in despair that anyone in a caring society will listen to them. These are the voices of a young Wilmslow family living in fear, and I mean that word, caused by actions of others. Fear compounded by a bureaucracy which does not have a template by which to address the problem.
"I intend this year to pursue methods and means of listening to these voices. This Council cannot alone solve the problems of our community but we can facilitate contacts with bodies and organisations who, by working together, can make a real difference to the lives of our citizens. I intend to wholeheartedly support the continued work of the Citizens Advice Bureau in this town. Furthermore, I shall be looking at the development, virtual or otherwise, of a one-stop shop where free and good advice can be found in one place. This work will not be easy but it will require the goodwill of many.
"Finally, I intend to bring before Council a Civic Protocol which formalises and defines the role of the Chairman, Vice Chairman and this Council in our Civic society. This protocol will help promote the issues I have set out today. I hope to have a draft issue of this protocol issued shortly with the aim of it being adopted at our June meeting. Once accepted, I intend to implement it without delay. A copy will also be available on-line."
Cllr Gary Barton, who represents the Wilmslow West Ward is the new Vice-Chairman for 2014/15.
Comments
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Which "Civic society" (sic) would that be? From what I understand, a Civic Society is absolutely non-political- hardly what we have with Wilmslow Town Council.
Civic Protocol, on the other hand, seems to, if "the internet" and the (more-trusty) Oxford English Dictionary are to be believed, relates to the rules regarding chains of office, bearing of ceremonial maces and other such outmoded frippary; I really thought that we, as voters, had soundly put this historic nonsense to bed last year.
Please issue your protocol as soon as possible we; the people, await the next local elections with almost rabid anticipation, given the performance of WTC and CEC over the last couple of years.
But WTC's totally inability to effect town planning in any way shows it is in danger of just being a toothless debating chamber. So lots of meetings, lots of talk, but no action at all.
Therefore, I suggest Cllr Watkins also redefines the town councils responsibilities too. So it focuses all its efforts on what it can actually change - which is primarily to improve the local environment.
• Encourage new businesses to become established in Wilmslow
• Encourage existing Wilmslow businesses to expand here
• Vote to abolish Wilmslow Town Council (WTC)!
Business is the lifeblood of any community. Since April 2013 Cheshire East Council (CEC) have been able to keep a proportion of local business rates revenue and the growth of that revenue under the Business Rates Retention scheme. Growth of that revenue could be put to good use in indirectly limiting the size of our Council Tax bills. Instead of seeing the use of some land for commerce as being “the least worst option” (WTC) we should be embracing it. What is the point of a Green Belt designation when no-one (other than eg Royal London employees) can either enter or see the land? Give the proposed Wilmslow Business Park next to the A34 your full support – a good adjunct to the new Manchester Airport Enterprise Zone.
I went to WTC’s Annual Town Meeting last month, attended by a small handful of residents other than the ‘usual suspects’ and local bureaucrats. It is apparent that CEC take little notice of WTC. This is not surprising given that WTC seem to prefer talking about planting flowers, handing out grants (ie Council Tax payers money) without using a solid framework to assess merit, and keeping land development change to the bare minimum. One of the original duties of WTC is to “To support the economic vibrancy of the town”. This cannot be done with narrow-minded or short-term thinking.
In June 2010 just 2,894 or 16% of eligible voting papers were in favour of forming WTC. Their existence now costs us (through Council Tax) about £250,000 per year.
Many of the people who run or support WTC are of an age where flowers and grants today are more important than giving consideration to economic vibrancy for the future. The younger people of Wilmslow need to ‘wake up and smell the coffee’!