New Chairman and Responsibilities at the Annual Council

The annual Council meeting at South Holland saw myself and other Councillors gain some additional responsibilities.

Councillor Mick Seymour replaces Councillor Francis Biggadyke as Chairman of the Council with Councillor Rodney Growcock remaining as Vice Charman for this civic year.  Councillor Jack McLean and Councillor Andrew Woolf are Vice Chairman and Chairman of the Policy Developement Panel, Councillor Tracy Carter is Vice Chairman of Licencing and I am now Vice Chairman of the Governance and Audit Comittee.  Councillor Colin Johnson is now a Junior Portfolio Holder.

Congratulations to all involved!

First Year Complete / Ward Budget

As we prepare for the annual council meeting on 11th May 2016, it marks the fact that all new councillors in South Holland have been elected for a year.

During the past year I’ve been able to help a number of local organisations in my ward and the wider district to the value of £1564.17.  Those that have benefited are: Crowland Show, Abbey 345 Playgroup, Crowland Methodist Chapel, Spalding Marching Ambassadors Band, Crowland in Bloom, Air Cadets, Crowland Community Hub, Spalding High School Netball Team and Improvements to the WWII Memorial at Ayscoughee Gardens.

I look forward to year 2, and the opportunity to help local people and to support local organisations through my ward budget.

News re Crowland Library…

Crowland Library is set to become a community hub and to enable this to take place, there will be a brief change-over period, with 1pm on Saturday 5th September 2015 being the last day of LCC operation. During this time, services can be accessed by Crowland Cares who will continue to provide access to the library during:

Monday to Friday 09:30 to 12:30

Discussions continue with Crowland Community Hub around preparations for re-opening the site as a Community Hub.

This approach will give local people greater control over their services, and we are confident the new facilities will be of benefit to the local community.

Councillors Donation helps Crowland Show

Councillors were approached by Crowland Show organisers after the organisation providing medial cover for the show had to withdraw at short notice.  The only alternative was for organisers to hire a private medial firm to provide the cover, as without this in place the show could not go on.

Councillors Bryan Alcock, Jim Astill and Angela Harrison collectively have donated £500 from their designated ward budgets towards the additional costs involved.

Another example of Councillor ward budgets being used for what they were intended for, helping local organsiations and community groups.

Councillor Ward Budgets – £185k Budget Saving

At the SHDC full council meeting on Wednesday 24th June, councillors voted in a proposal to reduce ward member budgets by £5k to £15k total over the 4 year term.  Which across all 37 councillors will delivere a saving equivalent to £185k per annum to the overall council budget.

As part of this proposal, it was also agreed that this reduced £15k budget would be available immediately, enabling members to support larger projects as required.  One benefit of this larger pot is that a higher member contribution could increase chances of higher levels of 3rd party funding from other grants/organisations.

I am looking forward to using this budget to help support local projects or groups in the Crowland and Deeping St Nicholas ward.

Please drop me a line on jastill@sholland.gov.uk if you have an idea of a local group or project I could support.

Caravans in Crowland

Over the late May bank holiday, 3 caravans arrived on the green of Millfield Gardens in Crowland.  A number of residents complained directly to the council and also to me as one of their ward members.

Issue was brought to the attention of the SHDC housing team, who attended the site with the help of our local PCSO.  Following a discussion, they agreed to move on within a few days and did just that, clearing up after themselves as well.

We will continue to investigate what measures can be taken to prevent them accessing the site again in the future.

Busy first week….

Since the election count was announced on 8th May, its been a busy first week.  All the new Councillors along with some of the established ones attended an induction day at the South Holland District Council offices in Spalding.  It was good to get an overview and also meet some of the staff during a whistlestop tour of the offices.

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