Town Council meeting minutes: TOP JAW-DROPPING moments (part 1)
You could think that reading minutes of Shirebrook Town Council (STC) meetings are boring and unrewarding task. Who, with a right mind, will sacrifice time to go through notes from an elected body where 100% of members represent the Labour Party? Well… me. I did it- we all do weird things in lockdown, right? I admit: it was eye-opening, jaw-dropping experience.
You could assume that everything is decided before meetings, behind closed doors, so when issues go public- Labour can present “unite” front and agree on things quickly. If you think that- you are right.
But- and this is big BUT: since Labour Party have 100% of power and 0% of town residents coming to council meetings- from time to time they do something so stupid that if you know about it- your jaw would drop on the floor. Until now they operate without any scrutiny from the public. Shirebrook247 want to change that.
As far as I know- there were only two full council meetings in 2020. I’ve been on both. Both of them delivered jaw-dropping moments (first one when I learned that town trying to take 50-year loan, the second one when I learned that town already took 450 000 loan to build new Town Hall and last one when I learned the cost of maintenance of Town Market toilets. Do you know how much it cost? No? Try to guess: think a number and then- check the real cost at the bottom of the article).
At some point, I thought to myself – if two meetings can turn upside down my perception of the town, what else I can find in the minutes from previous town council meetings? So I went to the town website, I found archives and… there was nothing since April 2019. I wrote an e-mail to the Council and after a couple of days: tadaaaaa website has been updated and I got the whole bunch of materials to go through.
I started my journey from the first meeting of STC after the local election in May 2019. Labour won 100% seats- for sure they feel comfortable, they have big plans and nothing stands in their way to implement them, right? Well- hold on to your sit, because it will be a wild ride! Remember – the town is in huge debt…
JAW-DROPPING FACT NUMBER ONE
May 2019
This fact needs more investigation because the wording of that note in minutes sounds… ambiguously. Quote:
Old building on Patchwork Row will be handed over to Derbyshire Unemployed Workers as agreed a number of years ago so that they can continue to provide support to members of public from their own facility.
First of all- “handed over”. For free? Forever? This place on Patchwork Row is a prime location and STC “handing it over” instead of selling it to fix debt problem? Secondly- there is literally no unemployment in Shirebrook. Partly due to very good management of the economy by a government led by Conservatives, partly due to SportDirect impact on the local economy ( sadly coronavirus can change that). So why this organisation need “own” place to operate? Why town (in deep debt) “handing over” estate in prime location??? So what they agreed on that years ago- years ago Shirebrook wasn’t neck-deep in debt!
I have a theory why STC “handing over” property tu EU funded organisation: but for now, I’ll keep it to myself…
As I mentioned earlier: this issue needs to be investigated. I’m on it. I will contact Labour councillors, STC and DUW in order to obtain official stand-line. I will report back as soon as I found out what is going on. If you want to be kept in the loop- you can like Shirebrook247 fan page on Facebook or drop us an e-mail asking to be kept in the loop (info@shirebrooknews.com). I will send you link with the effects of my investigation as soon as it will go public.
Link to minutes on the town website:
https://www.shirebrooktowncouncil.gov.uk/uploads/minutes-atm-2019-05-15.pdf
Of course, there are more jaw-dropping moments but this post would be huge if I decide to write about all of them. So I will make a series of articles and in some time I will create a poll to chose the worst example of Shirebrook Labour Party incompetence.
And now: toilet cost. From what I’ve noticed, the person who writes down the topics discussed at the meetings rarely notes the sums mentioned. That’s why it was so difficult for me to get any information about the fifty-year STC loan. Funny fact – if you look through the minutes of the meeting in January 2020 you will not find a single sentence about the loan, and as I was at that meeting I know that the issue was discussed for several minutes. Even more mind-boggling fact is that minutes didn’t note that there was a member of the public present at the meeting… I know- I’m nobody, but still- I was there, so why minutes don’t reflect that?
Anyway: the cost of maintenance of Marketplace toilets is… 18 000 per year. I think that is a lot for a loo but STC is wealthy so… oh wait! They are in debt…
Sylwester Zwierzynski
Photo by Andrea Piacquadio from Pexels
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Follow up e-mails to STC, DUW and Councillors in my constituency:
Shirebrook Town Council
Dear Sir/Madam
My name is Sylwester Zwierzynski and I’m representing www.shirebrooknews.com – news website for people living in Shirebrook. Recently I read minutes from Shirebrook Town Council (STC) meeting held in May 2019. I found there information that caught my attention. I quote:
“Old building on Patchwork Row will be handed over to Derbyshire Unemployed Workers (DUW) as agreed a number of years ago so that they can continue to provide support to members of public from their own facility”. /end of quote
In addition I found out that Shirebrook is in debt and year after year money amount left at town bank account at the end of tax year is lower than year before. To sum it up: Shirebrook is broke and from this meeting protocol look like that STC decided to give away property for free (phrasing “their own facility” clearly indicate that estate will be owned by DUW). I wrote and published opinion piece about it but and now I need to follow trough this subject to provide my readers more information about this issue.
I’d like to invoke Freedom of Information Act in order to obtain documentation and answers (in electronic form; I’m aware and ready to cover cost if any of information could be provided only in print by post):
Has the property changed its owner in the legal sense?
If yes: I would like to receive electronic copy of agreement between STC and DUW about “handing over” the property at Patchwork Row.
If there was no written deal- on what basis property was “handed over”.
I would like to know what “handed over” exactly means: does this mean that the property has been transferred for free? Sold? Rented?
How much money did STC get from that deal (if it was sold or rented)?
Who made the decision to transfer ownership of the building? If decision was made by vote- was there anyone who opposed it?
What is market valuation of this property?
Why the residents were not informed about this? And if they were- when and where?
Why DUWC was chosen and not other charity organisation? What is so special about DUWC?
Was there any advertisement or procedure to allow other organisations to apply for this property?
Thank you for answers.
Sincerely
Sylwester Zwierzynski
DUWC
Dear Sir/Madam
My name is Sylwester Zwierzynski and Im representing www.shirebrooknews.com – news website for people living in Shirebrook. Recently I read minutes from Shirebrook Town Council (STC) meeting held in May 2019. I found there information that caught my attention. I quote:
“Old building on Patchwork Row will be handed over to Derbyshire Unemployed Workers (DUW) as agreed a number of years ago so that they can continue to provide support to members of public from their own facility”. /end of quote
In addition I found out that Shirebrook is in debt and year after year money amount left at town bank account at the end of tax year is lower than year before. To sum it up: Shirebrook is broke and from this meeting protocol look like that STC decided to give away property for free (“their own facility”). I wrote and published opinion piece about it but now I need to follow trough this subject to provide my readers more information about this issue.
I would like to ask you a few questions about this property “handing over” and I would be obliged for a quick answer from your organization.
I would like to know what “handed over” exactly means: does this mean that the property has been transferred to Your organisation for free? Sold? Rented?
If property was sold or rented: what was the price/monthly rent?
What is market valuation of this property?
Why DUWC was chosen and not other charity organisation? What is so special about DUWC?
To Your knowledge: was there any other organisation applying to take over this property?
On what basis Your organisation was chosen? By who?
Sincerely
Sylwester Zwierzynski
Councillors
Dear Sir/Madam
My name is Sylwester Zwierzynski and I’m representing www.shirebrooknews.com – news website for people living in Shirebrook as well as I’m Your constituent. Recently I read minutes from Shirebrook Town Council (STC) meeting held in May 2019. I found there information that caught my attention. I quote:
“Old building on Patchwork Row will be handed over to Derbyshire Unemployed Workers (DUW) as agreed a number of years ago so that they can continue to provide support to members of public from their own facility”. /end of quote
In addition I found out that Shirebrook is in debt and year after year money amount left at town bank account at the end of tax year is lower than year before. To sum it up: Shirebrook is broke and from this meeting protocol look like that STC decided to give away property for free (“their own facility”). I wrote and published opinion piece about it, but now I need to follow trough this subject to provide my readers more information about this issue.
Please be aware that I wrote Freedom of Information Act request to STC and this e-mail is only about political frame of this issue.
Why Labour Party didn’t inform about intention to “hand over” property in prime location on election leaflets in may 2019?
Why decision about “handing over” this property was made after election?
Why there was no information about this anywhere else than STC meeting?
Why property was offered only to DUWC? If not- what other organisation applied and on what basis politicians of Labour party chose DUWC? What is so special that only them were allowed to use that property?
How you can explain that town is plunging in debt and at the same time Labour party “handing over” real estate in prime location of town?
How you explain to Your constituents that 10% tax rise is justified while Labour Party “handing over” property worth thousands of pounds?
Sincerely
Sylwester Zwierzynski
