May. The month of choice for bank holiday lovers. And with a full council meeting lasting just 36 minutes on the 7th of last month, Wymondham Town Council rewarded their favourite local democracy columnist (TCW) with a nice short meeting to cover, to thank him for all his hard work over the years. So put your feet up, light the barbie and crack open something cold, it’s a Town Council Watch: Bank Holiday Special.
But can TCW really get a full page of A4 out of a meeting that saw no new ideas discussed? Oh ye of little faith.
A Well Earned Break
The threadbare agenda for May gave everyone involved a much needed pause to gather breath, after 12 months of wall to wall excitement:
Last month saw our Town Council make the headlines in national newspapers for introducing a new system of ‘red cards’ for councillors to hold up if they were feeling too anxious and needed to excuse themselves from meetings.
The global issue of climate change was given a damn good talking to in November, when the Town Council declared a ‘climate emergency’.
Months and months of deliberating over whether to co-invest in town centre improvements finally ended in March with a ‘Yes, go on then.’
And a gate was removed at Rothbury park in April.
Phew. Pass me a sausage.
TCW’s being ungenerous of course. Sometimes the most serene swan appears to be doing nothing on the surface but unseen below the waterline, it’s kick, kick, kicking away.
Sometimes it’s doing naff all underneath too though, is the worry…
Some Formalities to get out of the way
What we did get in this meeting was sorting out the various roles and committees on the council for the year ahead.
Cllr Suzanne Nuri Nixon (Lib Dem) continues as Mayor. The tie-wearing Cllr Dave Roberts (Lib Dem), was installed as Deputy Mayor. Some various other uneventful musical chairs happened on committees.
The only faint source of amusement was the Mayor using her casting vote to appoint new(ish) councillor, Peter Broome (Con), to the town centre improvement project, only to see him replaced by Alex Perry (Lab) when Cllr Michael Rosen (Lab) pointed out the council had previously voted that a Labour representative must be included.
Hardly a comedy goldmine for the local democracy sketchwriter this month.
And that was about it. TCW’s not one for predictions but we can be confident of one thing: it'll be a quiet few months for democracy this summer. We can all enjoy some time off with no politics.
HE'S DONE WHAT? OH FFS.
Broome’s Clean Sweep
My fellow pollsters were left scratching our collective noodles on Friday 3rd May, as North Wymondham returned Conservative Peter Broome to the Town Council, in stark contrast to his party’s drubbing nationwide.
The by-election had been a chance for Liberal Democrats on the council to secure an overall majority. But with their candidate finishing last place in the contest, it looks like voters decided to reward the controlling group’s performance with something of a red card.
Never mind. When things are a mess, it might be handy having a Broome around.
Adios Amigos
TCW notes the second councillor in barely as many months has resigned from the Town Council, with Labour's Todd Baker opting to give himself a permanent red card.
The thoughtful Central Wymondham man had cut a forlorn figure in recent meetings, finding his small and simple ideas to improve things in town constantly knocked down under the weight of tedious majority partisan politics.
TCW's personal highlight was when Mr Baker's idea to allow groups like Wymondham In Bloom to use Town Council resources such as their tap was quashed on the grounds of it being ‘elitist’. Brilliant.
The 34 year old father of two now joins an elite club himself: of people who realise you can often do more for your community by not being on the council than on it.
