Labour Party calls for local tax freeze in… Clowne![+funny EDIT]

A Labour Party leaflet from the Clowne by-election on the 24th of March has come into my hands. According to audit reports, Shirebrook residents paid £625,000 in council tax in the 2020/2021 tax year, while at the same time, Clowne residents paid £355,000 in council tax. So if there is one place where Labour should freeze taxes- it is Shirebrook. They can do it-they have a majority here. But they’re not just calling for it where they’re in opposition; they’re calling for it where taxes are already half what they are in Shirebrook, which is Labour-run.

Given the above, the Labour Party sees nothing wrong with calling for a tax freeze on Clowne. This is sheer rudeness and a complete detachment from the reality of the Labour Party activists in Shirebrook and Clowne alike. In Shirebrook, because despite the highest taxes in the District of Bolsover, they raised taxes this year by another 4%, and Clowne because they have the audacity to use this type of demand in the elections.

If 355k is too much for the Labour Party, why are they raising taxes where the 625k is collected? Helloooo! Shirebrook Labour! Even Clowne Labour backs my call for a Council Tax Freeze!

[EDIT: thanks to a reader’s Facebook post I’ve just learned that Clowne Parish Council, by Conservative Party vote, has frozen the council tax rate. So it looks like the Labour Party have based their election campaign on something the Tories have already introduced. What will the Labour Party propose next? Brexit?]
LABOUR IS LOSING GROUND UNDER THEIR FEET
Shirebrook residents may not notice it, but Labour is starting to lose in every field. In 2019 they lost their MP. In 2021 they lost HALF of the County Councillors in one election, plus they let a Conservatives representative into the STC for the first time in the history of this town. In 2022, the by-election in Pinxton was also won by Conservatives for the first time. The size of that victory can be described by the phrase: “Corbyn style landslide”. A few weeks ago, Conservatives also won the Clowne by-election. This one was a close win, but at the time of increased media barrage, so for me, it counts double!

Every time I read news like that, my hopes for Shirebrook’s awakening grows.

LET’S COME BACK TO SHIREBROOK
This week, I planned to present the STC Operations Committee meeting report, but it was one of those meetings where not much happened (sometimes it does). However, I must mention a few things.

CCTV VS TREES AT MARKET SQUARE
I wrote about it a while ago, but as the Chair of Operations Committee mentioned it again, I thought I’d write about it again. Well, the tree in Market Square will be removed soon. This will happen for two equally important reasons. The first is the destruction that the tree makes in the underground infrastructure. The roots damaged the surface of the square and even disturbed the structure of the wall surrounding Market Square, which poses a danger to passers-by. Hence, a decision was made some time ago to hire a professional company to remove this tree. The second reason is CCTV. One of the cameras will be installed on the Town Hall building, and the tree would obstruct the view from the camera – hence the second reason to remove it.

I know some residents may not like it. Personally, I am in favour of environmental protection, and I strongly protested when the Labour Party decided to cut down the oldest trees in the District just so that a wealthy investor could build a road to his investment. However, I believe that the tree causes more problems than good in this case. Therefore, I support the STC’s decision on this matter.

O/22/001 TO RECEIVE APOLOGIES AND REASONS FOR ABSENCE.
Two councillors were missing.

O/22/002 TO RECEIVE DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST.
No interest was declared.

O/22/003 TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE OPERATIONS COMMITTEE OF THE TOWN COUNCIL HAVING BEEN HELD 17TH NOVEMBER 2021.
Minutes approved.

O/22/004 TO RECEIVE UPDATE ON MATTERS PREVIOUSLY RAISED BY THE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN.
Here was a CCTV update with the Market tree issue. In addition, Chair mentioned a recent attack of 50+ kids on a fireman crew trying to contain fire somewhere near the SportDirect site. This issue was widely discussed on the internet and in local news. What is most troubling is that among those young people was a group from Warsop and Langwith- like we don’t have problems with our youth…

O/22/005 TO CONSIDER RESPONSES AS NECESSARY TO LISTED CORRESPONDENCE;
a. CLLR. DAVID DOWNES – REQUEST TO APPROACH BUS OPERATORS TO ADD BUS STOP ON MEADOW LANE.
Years ago, SportDirect agreed to cover the cost of building three bus stops to ease the hardships of commuting to work for its employees. At that time, this proposal was rejected by bus operators due to low passenger interest. Today, however, interest has increased due to the newly built Meadow View estate and the expansion of SportDirect. The new stop would be of particular use to the residents of Meadow View. Hence, STC decided to contact the companies operating the bus line to try again to create additional stops, the creation of which could be covered by SportDirect (if the offer is still valid).

b. CLLR. MARIAN STOCKDALE – ISSUES WITH ALLEY LEADING FROM MARKET TO REAR OF PATCHWORK ROW.
I wrote about this issue before, but it came back like a boomerang. It is about a closed passage that has become a point of contention between many parties. There are people who use this place as a toilet, a warehouse of empty crates or even a place where you can use drugs and leave syringes. I suspect that the vast majority of residents do not even know about this problem. As this matter concerns a place in the northern part of the town, I personally do not know how to solve this problem, so I did not speak about it.

LANGWITH BOWLS CLUB
I also raised the controversial issue of the closure of the Langwith Junction Bowls Club. There was a big discussion about this on the internet. Unfortunately, the problem was not solved by STC for one simple reason: the building is located in the STC area, but Langwith Parish Council owns it. Hence, the STC has no jurisdiction over it.

I am not an experienced councillor, so I did not know Langwith Junction was part of Langwith Parish Council some time ago. After the borders of the electoral areas were moved, part of the LPC electoral area was transferred to the STC. This has led to a situation where the owner of the land lying on the STC ward is, in fact, LPC. Bit of strange curiosity. I instructed the resident who contacted me on this matter to ask LPC councillors for help. Unfortunately, there is nothing STC councillors can do about it.

O/22/006 TO APPROVE THE DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING OF THE OPERATIONS COMMITTEE. (TO BE SET AT ANNUAL MEETING ON 18TH MAY 2022 AS PER THE APPROVED MEETING SCHEDULE)

END