Wotton Town Council Meeting

16th September 2024

I attended a meeting of Wotton Town Council meeting last night along with SDC Cllr Cohen and SDC Cllr Braun, I took some informal notes.

Two apologies from Cllrs. and the Mayor questioned if the reasons were valid. One Cllr declared an interest on the Planning item. Previous minutes were approved, but one Cllr questioned how the Action Points were tracked and a discussion ensued. [Performance Management and Risk registers seem to be a hot topic at various meetings (right down to parish level) that I attend nowadays, this is a really good thing imho.]

Next we were treated to a presentation on the refurbishment of the Tolsey Clock by Mark Woolfrey. There has been a clock in this location since 1595 and has been refurbished many times. Its current persona dates from 1897 or was it 1914? Overwhelmed with info, Mark loves this subject! Anyway, I learnt that Renishaw was involved manufacturing new parts for it, using high tech laser cutters. Also, existing LED lighting was replaced. Consequently, there maybe a surprise for residents when the Blues Festival is in train. Anyway, the Town Council is going into PR mode to announce all this shortly. Cllr. Cohen thought the history of the clock is really important and should be taught to our school children.

Next was Public Forum where residents are able to talk on issues that are important to them. However, the sole speaker at this meeting had to rapidly amend a multi-page speech when told their spot was limited to three minutes.

The speech was about wanting Woman safe places in Wotton. I think they were objecting to the Town Council's support of the recent Pride event too. Maybe the ask of the Town Council was lost in the editing? The Mayor suggested sending a copy of the speech to the Clerk and he reminded that the Town Council is bound by equality legislation.

Some questions were asked of the County and District Councillors reports. Cllr. Cohen was asked if there was any further update on the 84/85 bus route? The Cllr. hadn't seen her latest speech at GCC but was told there is nothing more that she could do apart from self-immolation (maybe I misheard, but that was the gist). Cllr Braun discussed the possibility of using the StroudFunding scheme to add some more benches around the town as per recent social media activity.

Various items of Finance were approved including £630 for urgent tree works at New Road allotments. One item about the Council's VAT status caused much discussion as professional advice is clearly needed with the upcoming work on the Chipping and Town Halls. Also, a Legionella audit is required in all locations. However, one Cllr. mentioned this shouldn't include the Heritage Centre on cost/responsibility grounds. Cllr. Cohen left to attend another parish meeting at Ham and Stone.

The Budget 2024/25 was noted and during discussion a Cllr. mentioned some staffing budget under-spend in the previous financial year. The meeting then moved on to approve the Carter Jonas contract. It was clear that there was better understanding of the decisions to be taken now as the item had been deferred from the August meeting after it was decided that everyone needed to be brought up to speed. I did ask if the Council was aware of the new Procurement legislation coming into force in October. The Mayor indicated that they were.

At 8:30pm and myself and Cllr. Braun left for a 'street meet' in the car park to catch up on current Town and SDC issues.