New year (and elections in May)

Our first Wymondham Town Council’s meetings of 2023 are tomorrow (Tuesday 3rd) kicking off with Planning at 6pm and then full Council meeting at 7pm.

And over the holiday period I was sent two emails asking me to support a proposal to use Community Infrastructure Levy (or CIL which is money paid by developers to local authorities to improve the areas where they build) to improve Wymondham Town centre.

I will keep my thoughts about the proposal to myself for now as I’d rather ‘broadcast’ how I feel about this particular proposal after discussions in the Council Chamber. But safe to say I will carefully consider the issue and whether it is in the Town’s interests ( homework to be done)

One aspect of the Council’s meetings now are that they are live streamed to YouTube (search for Wymondham Town Council) and while it may feel uncomfortable at times to know we’re ‘on camera’, it is absolutely the right thing that the public can watch what happens live. They can then draw their own conclusions to the nature of debates and decisions taken.

So if you are interested but can’t physically attend the meeting, join us on YouTube.

There is a LOT of despondency about politics and politicians in general at the moment. But engaging with each other, on issues which matter, is vital. I have said in the past that local politics are far more likely to affect you yet people seem detached from local politics.

So while social media can be a minefield of misinformation, I’m very happy to be emailed about issues or if you prefer, old skool letters, happy to receive them too (even the one I received just before Christmas criticising me for not doing enough to stop housebuilding).

So for now, a happy new year to everyone. This is going to be an important year and in May it will be your chance to elect who will represent you for the next four years.