Town Council Meeting – 29th March 2017

Town Council Meeting
The public gallery of the Council meeting was packed at the start. There is a new custom of receiving grants directly from the Mayor, and about a dozen groups came to receive their grant cheque.
Town Council Meeting
After that most people left.

There followed a presentation by Ian Hudspeth from the County Council on Better Oxfordshire and the aim of replacing 6 councils with ONE council. This proposal is currently being considered by the Secretary of State and a response is expected by about June.

There was also some discussion round the subject of devolution of some powers to an area committee which could work closely with the Town Council.
Town Council Meeting
The next item on the agenda was the Community Led Plan which the Abingdon-on-Thames Town Council has been working towards. A press release has been prepared asking for people to become involved. Some people could become part of the steering committee. Others could get involved in working groups that look at different areas of life such as: environment, community, economy, planning, transport. The target is to get the plan completed before the next Town Council election in 2019. It was said by the person advising the council that such plans are usually undertaken by smaller places like villages. They had never undertaken a plan for such a large area as Abingdon and it would be a challenge.
Town Council Meeting
Some early suggestions about boundary changes had already been tabled and are being considered by the district council. It would see Abingdon’s boundary take in the housing developments north and south of Abingdon, and an area of Abingdon Common the other side of the A34.

The next discussion was on flag poles. The council is to put three flag poles on the Market Place that community groups can hire for £50 + VAT and fly their own flag. The issue of flying a rainbow flag over the County Hall was raised, and was voted down by 9 votes to 4 with 3 abstentions.
Town Council Meeting
Next was the subject of the Guildhall. This building comprises the new Abbey Hall, and the old historic rooms. The original project, that did not go ahead because of cost, was to improve the new Abbey Hall, and make it a decent civic hall for community events.

The new plan is to improve accessibility to the historic rooms by installing a lift and better walkways. The council has over £1 million, in deferred funding from the district council, that can be used on any Guildhall capital projects so it could all be used on the historic part if the council so wishes. Future plans for the Abbey Hall are not being looked at this time.
Town Council Meeting
This made a number of councillors upset since people expected the Abbey Hall to be redeveloped not the old part, which was refurbished five years ago. But all the Councillors voted in favour of employing consultants to start planning work on making the historic rooms accessible.

16 thoughts on “Town Council Meeting – 29th March 2017

  1. Chris

    re flag poles in the Market place:

    Do many local community groups have their own flags ?
    How many have a spare £50 ( + VAT) to fly them in the Market Place ?
    How many of the passing public will have any idea of the significance of or interest in said flags ?
    Who will maintain the flagpoles and ensure they don’t fall on Market Place users ?
    How long before they are vandalised ?

    If the point of the exercise is to raise interest in the community groups then I would suggest that setting out their stall once or twice a year or advertising in local papers or directories has more effect. If it is decorative then surely the money would be better spent on more flowers or trees in the town.

    I am not convinced this is a good use of council money.

    Reply
  2. hester

    Thanks Backstreeter – I was there for most of the meeting but missed the flags and Guildhall bits; having read more of the papers when I got home I wished I’d stayed a bit longer.

    I think the idea of the flags was that groups could use them to promote events they were running in the Market Place – but I agree that it is most unlikely that any small groups will be able to do that. However as Chris says there are other (free) ways in which groups can promote themselves and their activities – one of which is the Community FreeSpace at the other end of the precinct http://www.abingdon.gov.uk/community/community-freespace – although the Friends of Abingdon run it, the Town Council have been generous in their financial support. Groups who use it all seem to like it.

    It is good to hear that there is movement at last on the Community-Led Plan idea – it should give people a real chance to have their say in how we want the town to go forward and maybe, just maybe, help to avoid further repetition of the mistakes of the past.Hopefully everyone active on here will go along when it is launched…

    And finally, talking of past mistakes, the Guildhall proposals have rendered me speechless for the moment…..

    Reply
  3. Julian

    Here’s a thought…..why not use that £1 million and put it towards demolishing the ugly carbuncle of a wretched useless drain of money. (I mean the Abbey Hall….not the Councillors)

    Reply
  4. Deedee

    Ha ha, but April fool is not quite here yet! Meanwhile just along the road in England’s most “average” town Didcot announces a £100 million pound bridge over the Thames (and they’re not even on the river) and a £50 million extension to their shopping precinct, (you know, the one with the theatre and cinema?)
    One consultation, they don’t/won’t have three public flag poles !

    Reply
  5. davidofLuton

    I suspect the community flagpoles in the market square is a way of deflecting future requests to fly (rainbow) flags from the top of the County Hall.

    Reply
  6. Lesley

    I am very worried that this Council is planning on getting rid of the Abbey Hall, why is it being allowed to deteriorate with no plans for bringing back into use? 6 years ago work would have started on bringing the Abbey Hall and its facilities up to 21st century standards for community use with the £1.25million which came with the Guildhall from the District Council. Improved access would have happened as funds became available.
    The Town needs this large assembly space for lectures, meetings, formal dinners, dances, parties etc available for the community. At present there is no venue that is not dependent on commercial businesses or fitting in with school timetables.

    Reply
  7. hester

    I agree Lesley – the money is now going on upgrading the other (small) rooms and providing “back-office” space for TC activities and possessions. Given the amount of public consultation that took place on earlier schemes i am bemused as to how this one can be going through on the nod.

    Reply
  8. Iain

    This is one of those articles where it’s difficult to know which particular paragraph to comment on. Do we get more annoyed by their commercial incompetence and neglect around the abbey hall, their ploughing money into the wring half of the building (there must be an election looming so desperate to do something!),the lack of mention of the heritage lottery fund who give money to schemes that generate increased access, the waste of money they dont have on flagpoles or the institutional homophobia.

    I’d rather hoped it was an early April fool, but sadly the only fools are us for voting in this council.

    Reply
  9. Deedee

    Now this is a real April fool

    The next discussion was on flag poles. The council is to put three flag poles on the Market Place that community groups can hire for £50 + VAT and fly their own flag. The issue of flying a rainbow flag over the County Hall was raised, and was voted down by 9 votes to 4 with 3 abstentions.
    Town Council Meeting
    Next was the subject of the Guildhall. This building comprises the new Abbey Hall, and the old historic rooms. The original project, that did not go ahead because of cost, was to improve the new Abbey Hall, and make it a decent civic hall for community events.
    The new plan is to improve accessibility to the historic rooms by installing a lift and better walkways. The council has over £1 million, in deferred funding from the district council, that can be used on any Guildhall capital projects so it could all be used on the historic part if the council so wishes. Future plans for the Abbey Hall are not being looked at this time.

    Reply
  10. Dave

    All that hot air and consultation, and now they are going to install walkways and a lift in the historic Guildhall, and still we are left with the useless eyesore attached to it.

    Reply
  11. Houdini

    Knock down the ‘white elephant’ Guildhall extension eyesore and build houses there instead. 2 problems sorted.

    Next……

    Reply
  12. Oh dear.

    Ear Fires And Anti-Gravity Pads Hit Abingdon.
    Neck soot levels highest since records began. Turkish barbers quizzed.

    The practice of setting fire to customer’s ears in Turkish barbers is thought to be behind the recent series of ear fires.

    Spike Goodknob, leader of the Abingdon Town Joke (TJ) said, “I was walking through amenity heavy Abingdon one day, not quite sure which, and I saw one of these fires. I leapt into action, which is new for me, and threw £113,000 at it in £50 and £20 notes, to try to stop it. The money immediately went up in flames. But it wasn’t wasted, it gave me enough time to run away.”

    A spokesman for the Turkish Barber Quartet (TBQ) denied all knowledge of the fires. “We only set fire to halal ears, so it can’t have been us”
    It has been revealed that before any of the Ear Fires took place, a meeting between the TBQ and Mr. Goodknob had been held to discuss how the Guildhall could be a great site for more Turkish Barbers.

    “What could possibly go wrong?” said Mr Goodknob. “I know the people of Abingdon trust me to do the right thing.

    Explaining further Mr Goodknob said, “While we’re on, we’re going to rip out the beautiful 18th century Guildhall staircase and replace it with a 21st century anti-gravity pad – not previously thought possible, but analysis by a newly-enlisted architect (Magic Alex Associates), who will be worth every penny of their £113,000 fee (of course), had shed new light on the situation.

    Mr G said: “Our view on this has totally and utterly changed. I saw the new architect in a dream and he has found a way to defy gravity within budget and has drawn up a scheme. I’m so pleased.”

    On other matters, we see the TJ has captured the Abingdon zeitgeist and are trying to attract flag flyers/lovers from all over the world. First to take advantage of this great liberal minded and very useful enterprise, are Geoffrey, George, Bungle and Zippy, otherwise known as Rainbow. Well done Mr Goodknob AND all his pals!

    Reply

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