Page 20
News & Views
A View from the Gallery
The Greatest Show on Earth.
Roll up! Roll up and see The Greatest Show on Earth! – well no it isn’t but
please read on...
There are a number of things I felt I should do as a citizen of this village and
one, probably fairly low on the list, is to sit through a parish council meeting. After all we apparently elect the councillors every 4 years to look after
our interests, manage the precept and trust them to do their very best for
us. So I did it and came away with more questions than answers. To explain, I quite enjoy people watching and sitting back in silence, as one must
at these meetings, means the councillors may forget that you are there.
However it also means that as an onlooker you can get very angry and not have the vehicle to explode. I
talk with experience.
I worked out very early in the proceedings that the ‘Chairman’ is just as described, when the very busy
clerk ran off to get him a glass of water. I also noted that the councillors do not get any refreshments
which is a bit tough on a group of volunteers tasked to talk for the next few hours. Anyway, to move on.
Your councillors hurriedly got through the usual stuff i.e. street lights and dog poo and I could see on the
agenda ‘THE SPAR' coming up. Hurray I thought this should be good. Well reader, we’re not likely to see
it open before Christmas but the Post Office is in talks with both the Spar and SCALT so there is at least
some hope on the horizon. Oh and SCALT stands for Stradbroke Court House and Library Trust.
Anyway, I promised the almost greatest show on earth and November being a month of fireworks I wasn’t disappointed. On the agenda and almost passed over was the issue of the car park resurfacing and
who will pay for it. So here goes as I understand it: The cost is shared between Mid Suffolk District
Council, Stradbroke Charitable Trust and us through the Parish Council. The cost has been £45,000’ish of
which 50% has been paid by MSDC. It was suggested that this was a random but fair amount covering the
usage by the community clubs swimming etc. and the task before the Parish council was to estimate the
usage by the medical centre as we the villagers would pick up the tab for the rest it. Two of the councillors were on both the Parish council and the Stradbroke Charitable Trust which would suggest to me that
they leave the room or at the very least take no part, declaring an interest. Well they did leave but only
after an invitation from the Chairman to give a presentation of the situation as they saw it.
Reader, I nearly fell off my chair.
I barely metaphorically got off the floor when planning came along. Always subjective and an area for great
care. Both planning submissions were quickly accepted when the issue of 40 or is it to be 56 houses was
discussed. A plan was shown to councillors even though there has been no request for permission to
build on what sounds to me as farmland and closed discussions (“to stop gossip and rumour”) are taking
place with external agencies about the potential plans. Reference was also made as to the high cost that
the developer has already paid out so far. Sigh!
The meeting came to an end with a number of issues hanging in the air and that is as it should be because
I now need to return next month and watch democracy in action again and enjoy the privilege of open
government.
Ann Readman