Oswestry21

Cool evening turned to a September night as an expectant hush descended over town. The lights were on in the Memorial Hall. Three candidates, a handful of officials and ooooh, there must have been almost two members of the public present, all to witness the arcane ritual of the opening of the ballot boxes and the tedium of the count.

The eagle eyed leader of Shropshire Council stalked the room as the tension became palpable. The figures counting at the table, and the others, trying to lean nonchalantly against the meagre fittings of the tea bar in the ante chamber, all flourescent lit and resembling characters in an Edward Hopper tableau, silently anticipating a defining moment in political history -  the arrival of an elected representative to Oswestry Town Council who is a) under retirement age, or b) hasn’t served on it for several millennia previously.

Finally, after the chaos of piles of loose ballot papers became neatly paper clipped sheaves and were then counted and checked - the result! By a considerable margin, young whipper snapper Saffron Rainey stands as a beacon of local aspiration, straddling the century between the patrician but engaged Conservatism of the past, and what one can rather desperately hope, in the light of the current national administration,  might be the enlightened and forward thinking Conservatism for the 21st century.

As the round of applause grew to a deafening crescendo, lights in the soon to be felled cherry trees in the Red Square suddenly beamed out, and street lights from Morda to Gledrid roundabout flashed on and off in time to the beat of “Things - can only get better………” by D-ream pulsing out through a massive sound system temporarily installed on the roof of the Memorial Hall.

Throughout town, bedroom windows were flung open and bleary eyed citizens shouted “What the @*$*???!!! If that’s Gibbos or the Ironworks again, I’m phoning the bloody Council in the morning and getting the bastards shut down……………”

Good luck Mr Rainey, may you blaze a trail for a new, younger generation of non partisan and contemporary thinking councillors that is so desperately required.

It’s been known for a while that someone has created a fake oswestry21 website which is “vehemently opposed to the activities of oswestry21″, and thus, presumably,  is vehemently opposed to discussion of any kind of sustainability issues. But it’s mention on Radio Shropshire yesterday morning bought it to public notice.

The site was registerd by an I. Packington, and displays a delightfully inappropriate photograph of what seems to be a small continental harbour drenched in sunlight. It has a couple of links to pro supermarket articles, and appears to be collecting names and post codes which are claimed to be being sent to Oswestry Town Council.  OTC must be baffled as to what to do with this limited information, as it’s hands are tied in any planning decision regarding the supermarkets as they are interested parties on two counts - as landowners of both the Smithfield and the Central Car Park. Nice photo though.

Meet your councillors at their drop in session. Why not make the most of the opportunity and get your views across? Democracy in action!

Cllr Hunt, Cllr Benyon and Cllr Bennett

Saturday 13th February 2010

Oswestry Library

From www.communities.gov.uk 12/10/09

“For the first time the Government is taking on the role of protecting the traditional market in the face of increasing pressures threatening its long term survival”. announced Local Government Minister Rosie Winterton today. (12/10/09)

She said:

“Lots of us enjoy a trip to the local market - almost every community has one. They are part of our heritage and bring communities together. Some traditional markets even date back to medieval times and are the reason why many of our towns exist. For example my market in Doncaster is one of the biggest and finest markets in the North and has been around since the thirteenth century.

“Markets also play a vital economic role in the local community from providing jobs and business start-up opportunities, to often offering cheaper produce and attracting shoppers into the town centre.”

Graham Wilson, Chief Executive of The National Association of British Market Authorities (NABMA) (Which is hosted at the Guildhall, Oswestry) and spokesperson for The Retail Markets Alliance, added:

“The Retail Markets Alliance is delighted with the Government’s response to the CLG Select Committee’s recommendations and we look forward to working with Rosie Winterton, Jim Fitzpatrick and the inter-departmental working group to raise the profile and quality of markets. The Government’s support will enable us to enhance the contribution that markets already make to a number of important policy areas.”

Worth a read in the light of current events up the Bailey.

 Cae Glas Park  - fantastic open space and social amenity to have in a town of Oswestrys size. Well visited and used, great to walk across, meet people, play tennis or bowls. Wonderful sense of space, and a terrific asset.

 But………….. what is this massive waste of money, time, labour, transport, effort and resources spent on buying plants in, planting hundreds of them, digging them all up a few months later, and throwing them all away? How on earth is this “best value”? How on earth is it “sustainable”?  We have had an e mail sent to us about this:

 “As a past employee in Cae Glas Park I am somewhat confused as to the priorities adhered to by the council with regards to the flowerbeds and the children’s play area. It is a well known fact that the flowers in the park used to be rotated on a seasonal basis with the use of ‘in park’ nurseries in days gone by. Nowadays not only is the park looked after by contractors but the flowers in the flowerbeds are bought in from an outside supplier. This means that yet again the (massive) task of clearing the beds has begun for the second time this year and all the discarded (and largely still blooming) flowers are slung on the compost enclosure. Whilst I can see that the compost may have recyclable credibility in the future, how can such a waste of blooms and expenditure on replacement on a biannual basis be justified, especially in the present financial climate? “

 Planting hundreds of plants and digging them up and throwing them away is not gardening. It teaches nothing about nurture and maintenance,  and in this time of public finance cuts, it is surely a prime example of waste. Why not instead develop a strategy for herbacious borders, wild flower areas, long term planting schemes that would attract gardeners and those interested in plants and planting? Why not train people to tend and prune and see a planting scheme develop over a number of years instead of paying for people to throw plants away?

In some ways it’s a small thing, but in other ways, for a council that says in its mission statement  that it aims  ”To endeavour to promote sustainability within service delivery” and ““To provide civic leadership in all aspects of promoting a locally sustainable community……..”  it really doesn’t look good to see this very public display of wastage when gardening in particular could, and should, be used as an exemplar of sustainability.

Cae Glas Park is a great asset, to the town and visitors alike. But the days of buying in plants to throw them away by the ton are over, and there’s no reason why real gardening shouldn’t make it a better asset and even more of an attraction.

Well, while the Statutory Regulatory Committee deliberate, it all has the sense of the lull before the storm. Some news to report:

J Ross have finally got their statutory assessments, including traffic, in their application -

http://planning1.shropshire.gov.uk/WAM/showCaseFile.do?appType=planning&appNumber=09/02082/FUL  More to come in due course.

With regard to the Smithfield -

http://planning1.shropshire.gov.uk/WAM/showCaseFile.do?appType=planning&appNumber=OS/08/15788/OUT  

The green grocer in Ellesmere is already deciding to close following the opening of Tesco there. Tenants of shop units at the Smithfield were, apparently, given notice to quit in July/August.

Burbidges -

http://planning1.shropshire.gov.uk/WAM/showCaseFile.do?appType=planning&appNumber=OS/09/15869/OUT  

have bought Canal Wood Industrial Estate, adjacent to their Chirk premises “because of the rental income it produces”.

J T Hughes and Guttercrest -

http://planning1.shropshire.gov.uk/WAM/showCaseFile.do?appType=planning&appNumber=OS/09/15868/OUT characteristically quiet and awaiting, like the rest of us, the deliberation of the Strategic Regulatory Committee.

The (again) downwardly revised Nathaniel Lichfield figures for current retail need in Oswestry stand at around 20,000 sq, ft. gross. These figures have been revised partly due to the economic climate, and additionally with regard to the new retail outlets in Wrexham, Ruabon, Welshpool and Ellesmere locally, and Morrisons, M & S and new budget shops retailing food and comparison goods in Oswestry. The four current applications are between approx. 45,000 sq. ft. and 70,000 sq. ft.

Meanwhile life in town goes on as normal - rowdy scenes in the council chamber at a public meeting about the Middleton Road traffic lights. The fact that there have been no injury accidents in the last 5 years, and 6 in the previous 5 years (no more than if there had been traffic lights according to Martin Allard, Head of Strategic Highways and Traffic, Shropshire Council), did not avert apoplexy from certain councillors vowing to find Town Council funding for the seemingly unnecessary traffic lights before a review of town traffic flow as a result of any of the current supermarket applications being granted permission.

And murmurings of speculation about the Powis Hall market makeover coming to nought as a result of lack of clarification as to who’s task it is to seek additional funding, and what seems to be a lack of alacrity and initiative to seize the opportunity that was presented.

So, signing off for the moment. Usual fiver in a brown envelope handed over in the bandstand in Cae Glas to anyone with any relevant news or information. No names, no pack drill.

Don’t forget the Jo Lo Co in the Memorial Hall on Tuesday.