19 minutes in heaven- STC Leisure Committee meeting
It is so nice and cosy when everyone agrees with everything and everyone at the meeting. No dissent, no difficult questions, no reflection on the actual state of affairs. One thing missing at the last Leisure Committee meeting were rose petals falling off the sky and councillors singing cheerful “Kumbaya my Lord, kumbaya!”
Of course, I was there, and some of the Labour Party councillors cannot stand that, so in the end, the atmosphere went slightly sour. Someone asking about half of the million spending difference between Shirebrook and other parish councils in the region is not something they will welcome with open arms and minds. Apples and oranges, you know…
The Leisure Committee meeting is an opportunity to focus on something easy, funded by debt and taxpayer and ultimately- not that important. From my point of view: it was 19 minutes well wasted on taxpayer cost. I’m more than sure most of the Labour councillors won’t agree with that. Nerveless I must inform voters and readers what is going on in the most useless and redundant Committee of STC.
COMMITTEES, COMMITTEES, EVERYWHERE COMMITTEES
According to the town’s website, there are five different committees in STC: Estates Committee, Finance and Growth Committee, Leisure Committee, Market Committee and Personnel Committee. Sadly, the committee list’s page has not been updated because I am not on any committee. However, some people who are not councillors at all are named as members of those committees. In addition, if you look at the current meetings calendar, there isn’t a single meeting for most of the listed committees. To add even more weirdness- we have meetings for the Operations Committee which is not listed on the website at all. Can you guess which Committee I’m a member of?
I was refused an opportunity to choose which committees I want to sit on. Labour decided for me. They just chose and sent me a letter about it. Democracy Labour style! I ask to be notified about every meeting and underlined that I want complete documentation before: I was ignored. It looks like Labour Party doesn’t wish for Conservatives to look at their hands. I wonder why?
But fear not- I already book a holiday day for every committee meeting. I spoke to my boss, and he promised to show flexibility about my duties at work if I needed it. So if health and God allow me- I will be at every meeting to bring you news about Labour shenanigans.
CRIME PREVENTION? NAAAH. LEISURE TIME? YEY!
You should be aware that Leisure Committee is the biggest of them all. 8(!) councillors seats on it. 8 Labour councillors to plan parties, concerts and shows and overview Leisure Centre activities. From my point of view these issues should be sorted at the ordinary, monthly meeting.
I think it’s a big political difference between most of Labour and me at STC: I think balanced finances and residents safety are the most critical issues, so we should focus most of our time on them. Only when those two elements are under control- then we should think about leisure, car shows, brass instrument concerts, fireworks, birthday parties etc.
Labour prefer to focus on parties and leisure. That’s why we have Leisure Committee, but my idea of the Crime Prevention Committee was dismissed. It seems that such a committee can only be formed if most councillors are Conservative Party councillors. Labour is not interested…
19 MINUTES IN HEAVEN
Meeting took 19 minutes. That was all. Three votes; some discussion on extending the time for vaccine jabs place at LC; few words of thanks for STC employees at Leisure Centre; bit of complaining about some “horrible” posts about STC spending at social media websites and… that was it (more details below).
QUICK FALL FROM HEAVEN
Since the Leisure Centre supervisor was in attendance, I tried to talk to her after the meeting. I was stopped. Both the Town Clerk and Chair of the Leisure Committee shouted “NO!” when I asked the supervisor could we meet in more private circumstances. Can I meet town employees as a councillor? To be honest I don’t know- I will clarify that with regional Conservative Party officials (I know other councillors met with LC staff, so why I cant?). LC supervisor was nothing but open to it and friendly to me. When shouting started- she withdraws herself, and our conversation ended due to interference from Labour Party councillors.
As soon as I sit beside the LC supervisor, I was surrounded by Labour Party councillors. One stood behind me, another beside me, a few in front of me, and one stopped at the door when he noticed I was not leaving the chamber. It’s tough to talk to someone when your every word is countered by someone from different parts of the room. One against seven. A horrible way to have a constructive conversation.
It would be in the best interest of residents, STC, LC staff, and the Labour Party to allow me to operate free and understand the whole situation. Yet, I am blocked at every turn. Quite odd…
IF NOT THE SUPERVISOR, THEN WHO?
For weeks now, I was trying to get in front of the Town Clerk. Finally, she agreed to meet with me and answer all my questions. Originally I asked for this meeting to finish the “New councillors guide” I’m writing at the moment, but since issues piling up, she agreed to answer a few additional questions —some of them about Leisure Centre.
From what I understand now: in 2012 Labour-led Bolsover District Council decided to close down Shirebrook Leisure Centre to cut costs. Labour Party-led Shirebrook Town Council “saved the day in the eleventh hour” and moved all burden of LC maintenance… on residents of Shirebrook. Labour fixing problems created by Labour at taxpayer expanse? Where have I heard this?
WHAT WE KNOW
We don’t know how much LC take over in 2012 cost. We don’t know how many people work there. We don’t know do they run deficit or surplus. We don’t know to whom buildings and land under them belong. We don’t know how much the car show cost. We don’t know how much the “brass festival” cost. We don’t know how much fireworks display cost. We don’t know anything other than the fact that WE PAY DOUBLE tax. Yet- when I’m trying to get to the bottom of it, I’m constantly reminded by Labour not to write about it because “I don’t know all the facts”. So who knows them, and why those who pay for those things doesn’t know anything?
QUADRUPLE THE TAX!
Some Labour Party councillor at the meeting mentioned that my article about the financial crisis in Shirebrook made some of Leisure centre employees really scared. It looks like they are quite smart- they looked at spending charts and saw what I see: there is a spending problem, and this situation is unsustainable in long run. Especially when we didn’t even started to pay back half a million loan for new Town Hall and we already have 7000 interest to pay extra…
Yet- Labour councillors assured LC supervisor that their workplaces are safe. 2008 much? Remember when Labour bragged about how well are things going under Tony Blair? And when things went south, they left the country in ruin and this infamous little note in Exchequers Office- “There is no money left. Good luck!” It looks like LC employees had a flashback. That’s why they are scared…
When I was about to leave at the end of the meeting, one of the Labour Councillors said that he is ready to pay twice as much tax to “save” Leisure Centre (quadruple what South Normanton residents pay). I think that is a perfect summary to the modern-day Labour Party: incresed taxation as a solution for everything.
I understand that LC is essential but should we be forced to pay double tax to provide birthday parties venue and car shows for handful of residents? Labour suggested that I’m advocating to close LC down- this is not true! I want transparency: if residents of Shirebrook wish to pay double or even quadruple tax to provide “party place” for themselves- they need to be assured that LC is run efficiently and under strict scrutiny. No more secrets, no more FOI requests to get basic financial info! Residents have a right to know the facts. At the moment only a handful of Labour Party councillors and few STC employees knows all the facts about LC operations. This must be changed.
WHY ARE THEY NOT WORRIED?
You could ask- why Labour is not worried when those financial charts look that bad? This is a good question, and I finally have an answer to it. Why are they not concerned? Because they know something, you don’t. Luckily, one Conservative councillor has access to (more or less) the same information that they have. Before May 6th of 2021, I would never get that knowledge. Now I have it.
I analyzed shreds of info I already gathered, and I know now: there is an undeniable reason why they are not scared about the financial situation. It’s right in our faces, yet no one is aware of it. I already started to write an article about it, and I will name it “Why are they not worried?”
They are not worried. But if 2008 has taught us anything about Labor’s ways of behaving in crisis, we should be concerned. I know I am.
Sylwester Zwierzynski
Lead picture: cottonbro from Pexels.com
The boring part in my notes from STC Leisure Committee meeting at 30th of July 2021
L/21/001 TO RECEIVE APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE AND NOTE THE REASONS FOR THOSE ABSENCES
Only one councillor was absent- Cllr Steve Fritchley.
L/21/002 TO RECEIVE DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST.
L/21/003 TO ELECT COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN FOR ENSUING YEAR.
Cllr Sandra Peake elected to the Chair committee.
L/21/004 TO ELECT COMMITTEE VICE CHAIRMAN FOR ENSUING YEAR.
Cllr Pauline Chapman elected to vice-Chair Committee.
L/21/005 TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE LEISURE COMMITTEE OF THE TOWN COUNCIL HAVING BEEN HELD 4TH MARCH 2020.
Minutes were approved.
L/21/006 TO REVIEW AND NOTE THE CONTENTS OF THE LEISURE SUPERVISOR’S REPORT.
a.TO REVIEW AND DECIDE EXPENDITURE IN RELATION TO FLOOR AREAS.
I didn’t receive any documentation, so I couldn’t review anything. As far as I understand- floors need to be redone at STC expanse. Partly due to tear and wear, partly due to Covis vaccination centre operations at the floor not adapted to that purpose. Cost? There were two or three quotes, but no figures were mentioned, and since I had no access to documentation, I had no idea how much it would cost taxpayers. So a decision was made to wait with a re-flooring vote until after the vaccination centre finishes its work.
After that LC supervisor
informed Committee about forthcoming events. 26 September- classic car show, followed by “brass festival” followed by New Year fireworks show. Not a word about the cost (!?!) of any of these events.
There was extensive discussion about “silent” fireworks due to complaints from dog owners and residents that don’t like loud bangs.
After that, some councillor proposed to “thank” staff of Leisure Centre for their work in Pandemic. The same councillor mentioned that staff of LC was very concerned about some reports on social media about the spending of STC and “about them losing the jobs”.
Councillor proposed to “go through it” to find out what was exactly being said. Another councillor chipped in and said that he talked with LC (so councillors CAN talk with LC staff without the supervision of the Town Clerk?) and assured them that there is no fear of losing jobs and there isn’t the problem (?!?). He added that when these revelations about Leisure Centre came out the phone was red hot.
The chair said it is disgraceful (I assume they don’t want residents to know audit reports?).
I interjected that I don’t know which social media councillors talking about, but no one knows how much we spend on LC, how many people we hire there, and what the cost are.
The chair replied that if anyone has any concerns, he can ask through the Freedom of Information Act (really- taxpayer HAVe to write FOI request to know where his taxes are going?). I insisted with question why Shirebrook residents are FORCED to pay twice as much as residents of other towns.
The discussion was interrupted by another Labour councillor who said that it is the Leisure Committee meeting, not the Council tax meeting. Nothing was explained above the fact that we “should not compare apples to oranges”. This argument is getting a bit tired…
Councillors decided to “write the letter” to LC staff to thank them for their work in pandemic times.
L/21/007 TO CONSIDER RESPONSES AS NECESSARY TO LISTED CORRESPONDENCE.
a.ANNA PARKIN –HIRE OF VILLAGE HALL
I didn’t see correspondence, so I have no idea what it was all about. Some decision was made, but I can’t inform you what changed. From what I have inferred issue was solved.
L/21/008 TO APPROVE THE DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING OF THE LEISURE COMMITTEE.
Date was approved for 1st of September.
END
Sylwester Zwierzynski info@shirebrook247.com
