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To the Town Council Office! …on Monday evening for the March meeting of Wivenhoe Town Council. Have we done the Beware the Ides lame gag yet? January wasn’t exactly a trouble free ride, Comrades.

And neither is the navigation around the roads of Wivenhoe, given the Report from Cllr Julie Young of Essex County Council:

“There are ongoing issues with pothole repairs. Those that were repaired towards the tail end of 2012 have now re-opened. I fail to see what the standards are. If it is not two inches deep then it is not seen as a priority.”

No worries.

Any bicyclist around Wivenhoe can bypass the POTHOLE woes and take a detour along the University bicycle path now that the Boundary Road car park has opened.

Oh. Wait.

“We have got the money and I am cranking the wheels of development. I am putting pressure on Rosemary Wilkins [Cycling Officer at ECC.]“

You may remember how the Planning Committee of Colchester Borough Council passed the application for the multi-storey car park back in May 2012. A condition of this was that the University coughs up £250k in S106 back scratching cash for a bicycle path.

This has now been paid; the University has opened a car park, yet still there is no bicycle link between Town and Gown.

Cllr Young raised further concern when she said:

“I have been asking if £250,000 is sufficient money to build the cycle path.”

Cllr Bob Needham of WTC asked for a monthly report from ECC so residents can see how the project is progressing.

Best keep on cranking those development wheels, Comrade.

Can we have some GOOD NEWS on the Health Centre front, please?

Cllr Young said:

“I have contacted Bernard Jenkin about the reimbursement scheme. There is some uncertainty for the future.”

Oh.

As for the Fire Station site and the *possibility* of 6-8 houses ‘financing’ the site?

Cllr Young added:

“At the end of the day it is up to the community. If the community said no then we will have to think again. It is up to the people to make their voices heard.”

Or perhaps even the people with some knowledge, but aren’t quite communicating it very effectively.

Madam Mayor observed:

“I don’t think that people understand why there has to be houses. This hasn’t been explained very well to the public.”

Cllr David Henley of WTC then enquired about the shortfall in funds following the decision of Boots not to sign up to the project. This was confirmed as £30,000 by Cllr Neil Lodge.

But it’s not all about scraping around try to find some loose change down the back of the civic settee. It’s how you spend the wonga that really matters. Madam Mayor arranged to meet Cllr Young about the Wivenhoe Library refurbishment, observing:

“It looks worse now than before.”

What about On the Buses?

There’s no side stepping the issue that a well-prepared report from the esteemed Wivenhoe Public Transport Correspondent is not always SEXY. You try making the back end of a Brightlingsea bound No 78 sound seductive.

Can I park in your garage, etc?

But woh! The esteemed Wivenhoe Public Transport Correspondent was on rare form: Anarchic (ish) tales of bus stop signs subversion, and fingering Borough Cllrs for their back tracking over the new Bus Station (that isn’t really a bus station…)

There was even the grand launch of a brand new bus service, with the 61C rolling out from Colchester to the University later on in the year. Any Town folk with no Gown connections are best to avoid it though: All terminate here at Boundary Road.

And when will this new University Fun Bus be unveiled to transport lovers in the town?

June - just before the University term comes to a close.

Whoops.

Far more positive developments when it comes to Planning. Cllr Kevin Read came to the top table with three quotes for the Cook’s Canoe Rack, as well as details for the Dinghy Park and pubic Car Park charges down at the water.

The canoe rack will be built locally and have a budget of £800. It will be able to store sixteen canoes. The proposed rental charge is £75 per year - a scheme that as per the Cook’s lease, is open to Shipyard residents for the first three years.

The dingy park meanwhile will have an annual rental charge of £140 per space.

Cllr Read explained how North East Essex Parking Partnerships are in negotiations with WTC to run the car park. Suggested parking prices are 30p for up to one hour, £2 for four hours and £4 for over four hours.

WTC agreed unanimously on all these proposals.

Cllr Read also alerted any boat / photo loving locals of the arrival of a 60 foot barge in the Wivenhoe Wet Dock on Easter Sunday.

Floating health centre, anyone?

Cllr Needham then updated over the Neighbourhood Plan:

“A meeting was held on 14th March. There has since been some conjecture on how the group is to be formed. One option was for 21 local members. Colchester Borough Council has now said that this shouldn’t be the case. WTC will need to be the organising body, with inclusive public involvement.”

Dontcha just LOVE Localism, Comrades?

Cllr Needham added:

“The next meeting is on 10th April. We need more members of the public to attend and help turn it into a community plan. When this is done, it will have to go to a public referendum. This is a long haul, but we have made the first step.”

Just look at the next agenda item to see how long hauls have a tendency to play for extra time:

Health Centre Updates.

Whoops.

Cllr Lodge said:

“A member of the public asked us at the previous WTC meeting about the Millfields land. I have met with an Elmstead Market resident and put it to them. They will now go back to their Council and ask if the land is available.”

The Finance and Administration Committee reported on the passing of the precept level by Colchester Borough Council last month.

Cllr Lodge said:

“Every household in Wivenhoe has received details of this. We have had no complaints.”

Madam Mayor added:

“We are not the highest in the country.”

…but with a 25% increase, Wivenhoe is the highest in the Borough.

With one eye on balancing the books in the future, Cllr Lodge said:

“The only way to raise funds in the future is through the precept.”

Disappointing news from Cllr Fran Richards who reported:

“There was some vandalism over the weekend. A window was broken on the Pavilion. Broken glass was also laid out along the children’s slide.”

Better news from the Diamond Jubilee Gardens Working Group. The pond liner is in place and should hopefully catch the spring rain. An £850 grant has been secured, with the aim of encouraging young and more mature folk to work together on green activities.

A procedural point: do we have a Deputy Mayor for next year?

Um…

Some slight calendar contradictions have led to a NO answer. With the current Deputy, Cllr Andrea Vaughan, due to get chained down this May, an able Deputy is now called for. Madam Mayor asked for nominations.

Cllr Vaughan nominated Cllr Read, Cllr Richards seconded.

Job’s a good ‘un.

Confirmation then came that the Community Safety and Neighbourhood Watch is to be merged with the Neighbourhood Action Panel. Nick Alston, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Essex, had been invited to the next meeting.

Cllr Needham updated with news of the Wivenhoe Community Assets Forum:

“The St John Ambulance Building was originally nominated by WTC. CBC said that this needs to be submitted by a Trust. This has now been done via the Forum.”

And so a kinda reverse ferret of the Neighbourhood Plan approach, as favoured by CBC.

Um, Dontcha just LOVE Localism, Comrades?

And then finally on to Finance and FOI’s.

Madam Mayor wanted it to be known that £418.75 has been spent on servicing these.

“We are not use to this.”

Given the Department of Justice guidance of £25 per hour to service an FOI, that seems like a lot of time spent on four requests in the past year. Madam Mayor has asked the Town Clerk to record the amount of time she is spending on the legal requirement of answering FOI’s.

The reluctance of localgov to share data and work with residents on FOI’s was one of the themes at the recent #ukgc13 unconference.

@jason_cobb yup - hence, we published locality.org.uk/news/improve-l… #transparency

— Asset Transfer Unit (@asset_transfer) March 9, 2013

Of course you could always FOI WTC to find out how this figure was achieved.

Next month, Comrades.