SHIREBROOK 2030

Today, I invite you to explore my ideas on how to make Shirebrook better, more modern, more welcoming, and friendlier for both residents and visitors.

I’m not hiding my ambition to rejoin STC in 2027, but until then, I want to show readers and residents that I’m not only a man with ideals and a strong work ethic, but I’m also a man with ideas. I’m not planning to win a seat just to sit there. I’m planning to win a seat to make our town better than any other in the region. No buts. No ifs.

MY IDEAS, CRAZY IDEAS…
Some of these ideas are ambitious—big, bold, and difficult to imagine under the current council. Others are small and simple. But all of them come from my experience as a councillor and a clear understanding of what the Town Council could do, if its members were more than just 80-year-old geezers nodding off during meetings.

If you’re only here for the list of ideas—scroll straight down to the chapter titled THE LIST. As usual, before I get to the point, I need to paint the background for those who like details and a fully fleshed-out picture of the situation.

STRUCTURE
Some ideas require only a small shift in the political culture of Shirebrook Town Council. No funding, no thick binders of paperwork—just a change in attitude, one resolution, and a positive vote. Done! Town improved.

Other proposals need more: collaboration of stakeholders, funding bids, proper planning, and long-term quality control. These bigger ideas will be published as individual articles in the months leading up to the 2027 elections. Each will follow a clear structure:

• SHIREBROOK 2030 Part X: [Title]
• Description – How the project works, in plain English
• Potential stakeholders – Who needs to be involved
• Funding sources – How we’d pay for it
• Key benefits – Who benefits if it goes ahead
• Exit strategy – What happens if we stop the project

I’M FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS!
Since my brain’s not the easiest thing to switch off… I keep adding new ideas to the list. So what you’ll see below is still a work in progress. Not all of those ideas will be easy—but I’ve always believed in dreaming big, and more importantly, in doing the work to change those dreams into reality. The idea of winning a seat in STC was easy. Achieving it in 2021—that was a completely different pair of shoes! But I did the job, I bent over backwards, and I did it! I’m sure I can do it again.

This time, I’ll be experienced and prepared. Plus, I now have an AI legal assistant subscription with access to the full dataset of British local government legislation. So no one can lie to me about what I can and can’t do. I’ll check all legal issues myself.

FUNDING
This is the key to everything. Right now, Shirebrook is the second highest-taxed town in all of Derbyshire. As a councillor, I voted against every single tax rise—and if I ever return to Shirebrook Town Council (STC), I will keep voting NO. No more tax hikes. Full stop. So where will the money come from?

CUTTING THE FAT. HARD!
After decades of Labour’s byzantine administration, STC has become bloated beyond belief. The ‘old guard’s’ usual MO is: ‘We’re running out of money? Raise taxes!’ That created an environment of nepotism, corruption, and zero scrutiny. Jobs handed out to mates and family. Bad, overpriced contracts. Eye-watering spending on celebrations and parties. That’s where we start. I’ll propose trimming it back. A little bit here and there can create a substantial budget to do new, innovative things.

I’d cut nepotism (simple new rule: no family members hired by STC—your sister can’t be your boss. That’s obvious nepotism and a recipe for corruption). I’d push to cancel or renegotiate dodgy contracts (yes, I’m looking at you: solar panel, grass cutting, The Post, and insane “net-zero” pellet deal), and trim the bloated ‘leisure’ budget. Just a 10% cut there would save us £25,000 per year. Right now, leisure is the single biggest expense of the council. Imagine that: leisure—not safety, not youth support, not clean streets… but leisure!

Those savings won’t change the town overnight, but they’ll give us room to manoeuvre. A foundation to build from. That’s the first step.

OUTSIDE FUNDING
Here’s where things get serious. At the moment, the so-called Finance & Growth Committee meets once a year (they recently changed the name to ‘Finance Committee’. I assume they’d had enough of my jokes that the only thing they grow is taxes). And what do they do? They raise your taxes. That’s it. In my vision, the Finance & Growth Committee—I mean Finance Committee (let’s just call it F-Comm, right?)—would meet every month (even remotely), tasked with one job: find suitable grants and apply for them.

There are dozens of funding opportunities out there every single week. But STC doesn’t even bother looking. From what I can gather, the last successful grant application was in 2021—and that was a £5,000 crime prevention grant I personally brought to the council when I was a councillor. That’s three years without a single successful bid. Three years of missed opportunities.

So here’s the bottom line: the F-Comm’s main job should be to bring money in, not take more out of residents’ pockets. They should be hunting for grants, drafting applications, and presenting them to Full Council for a vote. It’s not glamorous work—but it’s how you get results.

When I proposed this system, do you know what Labour’s response was? ‘BDC is planning to do something like that… so we should just wait.’ Brilliant policy, right?

Just sit and wait while someone else maybe does the work for you. Allegedly, BDC was thinking about hiring a professional fundraiser to help parish councils apply for grants. Did they ever do it? No idea. But my money’s on: nope, they didn’t.

THE MATCH FUNDING STRATEGY
Now, let’s say we’ve got a leaner, smarter, younger, and more hard-working STC—with an active F-Comm to match. With savings from cutbacks, we’ll have a modest pool of money to work with. We can either spend it directly on new projects, or—we can do something smarter: use it as match funding.

Back when I volunteered with charities, I helped with grant applications—and noticed something straight away: match funding bids get approved more often. Funders love when organisations put some of their own skin in the game. It shows commitment. So I believe STC should base most of its new project proposals on this model.

Yes, getting grants is tough. Approval rates are low. But Shirebrook has three big things in our favour:

• We’re in the top 10% of the most deprived areas in the UK;
• We have a long record of not applying for funding;
• We’d be willing to co-fund, even modestly.

That’s a strong pitch.

Here’s how it should work:

• STC agrees on a list of priority projects—covering safety, health, youth, elderly, education, arts, etc.
• A designated councillor scans grant vendor websites for suitable opportunities;
• When a suitable grant is found, F-Comm meets to make a decision;
• A designated councillor prepares documentation and a description for Full Council;
• If Full Council agrees, the councillor completes the grant application—leaving only the sections that must be filled in by the Town Clerk;
• In the ‘Financing’ section, we clearly state how much STC is willing to match-fund;
• Then we send the application and… pray for a positive reply.

Some grant providers will love this. Others don’t require match funding—but we can simply remove that line and still submit a strong bid. Either way, we’re being proactive for residents. It’s not rocket science. It just takes initiative, consistency, and someone willing to do the work. And we have that—me, with my AI. Unleash me, and I’ll bring in far more money than I did in my first term. That’s a promise!

THE LIST

As I mentioned at the start of this article, some of these ideas focus purely on Shirebrook Town Council—small-scale, practical, and internal. Others are more ambitious, requiring cooperation with external partners. I added some AI generated illustrations here and there, so text doesn’t look like a wall.

FULL STC AUDIT

As an ex-councillor, I can state with certainty that an audit of STC would reveal massive nepotism, corruption, a lack of scrutiny, and waste of taxpayer funds. STC needs a proper audit—and it has to happen sooner rather than later. At this point, I can say with almost 100% certainty: we should seek legal advice on the solar panel and pellet deals. The fact that STC refused to show me those contracts when I was a councillor is the best proof to me that they’re rotten to the core. With legal support, we might not only cut future costs but even recover some of the money already wasted. In short—do the audit, and if the deals are harming taxpayers, double down. Sue for justice!

INCREASED FREQUENCY OF F-COMMITTEE MEETINGS
I want to transform the F-Comm from a once-a-year tax-setting group into an active monthly team focused on identifying grants, writing applications, and supporting local projects. This simple change could bring real money into Shirebrook—without raising our taxes.

REPLACE LEISURE COMMITTEE WITH COMMUNITY SAFETY COMMITTEE
I want to dissolve the outdated Leisure Committee and transfer its responsibilities to the Operations Committee. The time saved could be used to create a new Community Safety Committee—one that works directly with police, PCSOs, and residents to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour. Shirebrook is one of the most crime-affected towns in Derbyshire (ranked 5th), yet the council spends nearly £250,000 a year on leisure and nothing on safety. Time to change that was 5 years ago, but we still can change things around.

MONTHLY FULL COUNCIL MEETINGS
I’d love to see STC move from bi-monthly (or worse, quarterly) council meetings to monthly sessions. No buts, no ifs. Every other council in the region does this. When I was a councillor, Labour delayed meetings for months—avoiding tough questions and pushing decisions as far from residents as possible. Regular meetings mean better oversight, quicker decisions, and more accountability.

NO-NEPOTISM RESOLUTION

STC should vote on a resolution banning the hiring of relatives. Simple as that—no two members of the same family should be working at STC. The situation we have now creates an unhealthy atmosphere, opportunities for corruption, arguments, and shady behaviour.

SHIREBROOK CAR BOOT SUNDAYS
I proposed this back in my 2023 campaign: Shirebrook should host regular Sunday car boot sales in the newly paved Market Square (once it’s finally finished). It’s a great use of our central space—supporting local households, encouraging recycling, and bringing more footfall into the town centre. I’ve visited all the local car boot sales. Our location, paved surface, ample parking, and abundance of coffee shops make it a winning combo. Let’s use it! Bonus idea: a minimal entry fee for local sellers, with a slightly higher one for ‘outsiders’. Ca-chin!

EXTENDED CCTV NETWORK
Long before I became a councillor (back in 2019), I was already pushing hard for a CCTV system in the town’s worst-hit crime areas. When I got elected, I sniffed out a funding opportunity and brought a grant application straight to the Town Clerk’s desk. It was a bumpy ride, but in the end, STC got the funding. Police later confirmed a clear drop in incidents. It worked. Now, I want to work with the police again to identify the next priority areas and expand the system. We did it once—we can do it again. The blueprint is ready.

LAND AUDIT AND POCKET PARKS (Note: I’ve been writing this article for some time. While working on it, one of the new councillors—Cllr Shaun Cheeseman—demanded (twice) a proper land registry review. With the support of a few others, the resolution passed. So this point is technically outdated, but I’m keeping it in for the record and for planning purposes.)
Most people don’t know this, but if you compare local parish council finance reports, you’ll see that STC owns a surprising amount of land and assets compared to others. The problem? Only the Labour inner circle seems to know what we actually have. They keep it that way—because it’s easier to quietly liquidate assets when the community doesn’t know they exist.

A full, transparent audit of all unused or underused council-owned land could change that. It would open the door to converting the best locations into pocket parks, community gardens, or tidy green corners with benches. These low-cost improvements reduce fly-tipping, brighten up the town, and create welcoming spaces for all ages.

LIGHTING AUDIT FOR SAFER STREETS

Maybe it’s because I’m getting older, but when I roam around town, I often come across areas that are dark, unlit, or under-lit. I want to engage the community to help identify streets, paths, and alleys that feel unsafe due to poor lighting. Then, we can put pressure on the County Council to upgrade those areas with modern lighting—especially where children, workers, or elderly residents walk at night or in the evenings.

CONVERSION OF CEMETERY JUNCTION INTO ROUNDABOUT (Note: Something changed in this area before I could finish the article. I clearly pleaded for a roundabout—but someone, behind residents’ backs, decided to go ahead with a traffic light crossing instead. What a stupid idea…)
This double T-junction near the cemetery has been on my radar since my 2019 election leaflet. Each year, the need to fix it becomes more urgent. A roundabout would reduce congestion, cut pollution, and prepare the area for the crematorium and future housing developments near the Academy.

SHIREBROOK YOUTH COUNCIL

I want to propose launching a Shirebrook Youth Council in partnership with Shirebrook Academy. Students would form mock political parties, campaign, debate, and vote on their priorities—culminating in real power to decide how their budget is spent.

Of course, this would require a small sum allocated from the STC budget to cover costs and give students real, reality-changing power: money. It’s a hands-on way to teach democracy and civic pride. Young people are incredibly creative—it’s a sin that the older generation doesn’t even try to listen to them…

STC YOUTH WORKER
Probably the most ambitious idea on this list: hire a dedicated Shirebrook youth worker to support at-risk teens, organise events, and run after-school programmes. Yes, it’s costly. Yes, the benefits will take time to show. But one skilled worker can change dozens of lives—and save society a fortune in the long run. We’ve got ten (!) people on the Leisure Centre payroll. What the hell are they doing there?

AI ASSISTANT FOR CIVIL SERVANTS
STC should partner with a UK university to create an AI assistant that helps council staff with repetitive admin tasks—like agendas, minutes, scheduling, records, and a chatbot to answer questions about council services (e.g. allotments, the cemetery, council meetings). Sounds crazy? It’s not. There are already UK councils doing this. Check it out: https://www.local.gov.uk/our-support/cyber-digital-and-technology/artificial-intelligence-hub/artificial-intelligence-case

AI could save time, reduce stress, and modernise how our council operates. All major cities around Shirebrook—Derby, Nottingham, Sheffield—have universities with strong AI programmes. Sheffield even has a special project focused on using AI in local government. And there are specific grant providers aimed at exactly this goal: using AI to streamline council services and reduce costs.

I’m not talking about firing people and replacing them with AI. That’s not how modern AI works. AI needs a human to function properly—and it can make that human unbelievably efficient. Less stress, more focus, and more job satisfaction. Trust me—I jumped on the AI bandwagon early, and my own efficiency is now through the roof!

STREET NAMING HERITAGE PROJECT
We could add small historical plaques to street signs across town, explaining who or what they’re named after—especially those with mining or civic importance.

I also believe we should honour Ken Walker by naming a street in one of the new developments after him. His death is a tragic reminder of the negative effects of mass, uncontrolled immigration—and as such, it should never be forgotten.

If you don’t know who Ken Walker is and why I’m including him in this article, shame on you…

DOG PARK

Designate and fence off a secure area for dogs to run off-lead. I even have a location in mind—far from residential areas, but with easy access and space for parking. Even if that dream site doesn’t work, Shirebrook has plenty of suitable land. This would be a big win for local pet owners, and a step toward a more welcoming town for all residents—even the non-human ones.

It sounds like a simple project—but in reality, setup costs are around £20,000 to £30,000, depending on several key factors. It’s much more complicated than it sounds. That’s why it needs careful consideration and likely some grant support. And setup costs are only half the challenge—there’s also maintenance, security, cleaning, and so on. So if you look at it realistically, this might be too big a project for our town right now. Still, I believe it’s the kind of thing that would truly set us apart from the crowd.

UPGRADE TO STINTING LANE BETWEEN BRACKEN ROAD/LEEN VALLEY LANE AND MEADOW VIEW

Turn this muddy, narrow path into a proper paved walkway—with street lights and CCTV. Safer, cleaner, and more accessible—especially for dog walkers, joggers, and commuters heading to work or school.

ANNUAL TOLKIEN FESTIVAL (Instead or in addition to the Town Show)

Shirebrook deserves a unique identity—and our name sounds like something straight out of The Lord of the Rings by beloved English author J.R.R. Tolkien.

Let’s embrace our heritage with a Tolkien Festival: knights in armour, film night, medieval craft fair, costume contest, fantasy market, and more. The blueprint is already there—I visited a similar event in Cardiff, and it was one of the most fantastic festivals I’ve ever attended.

It would boost tourism, bring joy, and put us on the map. Most residents enjoy the Town Shows organised by STC—but what most don’t know is that the council has long struggled to keep them fresh and exciting. When I was a councillor, there were constant discussions about how to make the shows more unique and appealing to visitors. Hence my idea: why not turn it into something with real gravitas and marketing power—something that could attract people from miles away?

SHIREBROOK IN BLOOM – YOUTH TAKEOVER
Let the new Youth Council lead summer projects to brighten up neglected corners of town: planting flowers, painting murals, and running litter picks. It’s low-cost, high-impact, and gives young people a visible sense of ownership. These could be organised as half-term events for the kids who stay local.

“PITCH A PROJECT” DAY
Once a year, let any resident or group pitch a small local project. The best ideas—voted on by the public or Youth Council—receive modest funding and council support. Think of it as Shirebrook’s Dragon’s Den… but friendlier.

WOMEN’S SELF-DEFENCE CLASSES
Secure funding to run weekly self-defence classes for women at the Leisure Centre. With growing immigration from countries where women’s rights are not respected, we need to prioritise women’s safety more than ever. BDC keeps dumping people on us—God knows who.
I don’t want to sound alarmist, but I fear we may pay dearly for it… I hope I’m wrong.

YOUTH FILM PROJECT ON CRIME PREVENTION

STC could support a student-led film group at Shirebrook Academy to create videos about online bullying, drugs, consent, and more. Funded through arts and crime prevention grants, these YouTube videos could make a real impact—peer-to-peer education that actually works.

Making a film is a complex and challenging task. I know—I tried to make one myself when I was young. I always failed. But today, with modern tools, it’s so much easier. A project like this could put Shirebrook on the map—and give our youngsters something to dream about. A future in film. A career like Jason Statham.

FINAL THOUGHT
None of these ideas are magic. None of them are especially unique. They don’t require Westminster, million-pound consultants, or waiting around for Bolsover to finally do something.

They just need a council that actually works—a council that thinks beyond clinging to power until the bitter end. Maybe I’ll sound harsh, but from my point of view, most of the Labour Party councillors have chosen to die in office—doing nothing until the very last day… out of spite, I assume.

Shirebrook deserves better than the bare minimum. We deserve ambition. We deserve a plan. We deserve to be the leader of this District. Sadly- councillors like Fred Gobey, Christine Dale, Marian Stockdale, Steve Fritchley, Terry Champan do absolutely nothing or next to nothing. You can win if half of your team gives a damn about the result and sits there just to… I have no idea why.

Even if just one or two of these projects get off the ground, we’ll have a safer, smarter, more hopeful town by 2030. Than I could bring two more projects and work on them with councillors who want to work. And if you’re reading this thinking, ‘Well, that sounds like a lot of work’—you’re right. But I’m not afraid of hard work. I’m afraid of wasting another decade doing nothing.

Let’s stop waiting. Let’s start building.

Shirebrook 2030 starts now.

Sylwester Zwierzynski info@shirebrook247.com
All illustrations made with Chat GPT