Annual Town Meeting
The annual town meeting took place on Wednesday 26th May at 7.00pm with six members of the public in attendance. Councillor Howard Midgely gave his report for 2009/2010 with the aid of powerpoint illustrations linked to items in the report. He commenced by saying he had been privileged to serve as the Chairman over the last year and because he was working full-time had sometimes found it difficult to attend all events and so thanked Councillors K. Pacey and J. Branston for standing in when he couldn’t attend, in their role as vice-chairmen.
Following the retirement of Ian McDonald, Allan Clarke had been appointed as Town Manager and had settled in well. He was in the process of restructuring the staff due to the loss of the part-time Deputy Town Manager post but he has recruited a full-time Office Manager. He also praised the work that Barry Bedford had done as Estates Manager, giving a long period of faithful service and that he was sorry to lose him. He went on to say that he had tried to be more embracing with the community by encouraging the public to use their right of 15 minutes at the beginning of the full council meeting each month. He had also been active in meeting with local groups as he believes that the council is there to serve the people and not dictate to them. He has worked closely with the Chamber of Trade, Syston in Bloom and the Syston Twinning and had purchased a small gift which they took to Deville at the beginning of May in celebration of 30 years of Twinning. He recalled the events that he had attended throughout the year including the Remembrance Sunday parade, armed Forces Day service, Civic service and the ATC annual parade. The civic reception had been well attended with a general feeling that this should be an annual event. The Carnival and Christmas events were well supported by the residents of Syston and Councillors alike. He thanked the Syston Town News for the positive press it gives to the Town Council and its activities. He felt that they needed to promote themselves more and help improve the town further. He finished by thanking all the staff and councillors as without them none of the above would have been achieved. He said that it was down to their hard work, time given and care for the town that had enabled such a lot to have been achieved in the last year. He finished by saying how proud and privileged he felt for having worked with all of them.
The reports from the committees were given and all reviewed the year which showed how hard the councillors work for our town and perhaps we residents do not fully appreciate the time some of the councillors give to their roles. Each Chairman thanked their committee members and staff and voluntary groups for their help and loyalty.
Town Council Meeting
This followed the annual town meeting at 7.30pm and commenced with the nominations and election of Chairman. Councillor Howard Midgley having stated that he would be willing to offer himself for a further term of office was re-elected by a large majority in favour.
He then began the formal meeting by asking for councillors and public to stand for the bidding and then the election of the vice -chairman when Councillor Josie Branston was
re-elected.
Chairman’s announcements and communications
Syston Twinning had written to thank the council for the engraved bowl which was presented on behalf of the council by Keith Gregory and received a Jug from the Mayor of Deville to Syston Twinning, which is now on display in the reception area. They also said that the Deville twinning association were looking forward to their visit to Syston next May.
Leicestershire County Council had written to say that they would be switching off lights on the A607 bypass between 12midnight and 5.00am from 28th May as part of their cost saving activities.
Police report for April 2010
PC Carly Adams reported that there had been two burglaries of dwellings, the same as the previous month. There was also two burglaries of non-residential properties, reduction on the previous month. There had been 10 thefts in the town which showed a doubling of the the previous month. One suspect had been arrested and three were still under investigation. Thefts from motor vehicles were four, down slightly on the previous month. Two of these thefts where from vehicles parked at the train station and so extra patrols will be put in this area. Store thefts reported was one and it is still under investigation. Criminal damage both to property and vehicles had reduced by over 50% on the previous month, which is excellent. Some of the crimes are still under investigation. Anti-social behaviour calls also down on the previous month to 33. The Friday and Saturday nights the
Anti-social van will continue to be around the town.
Public adjournment
Two points were raised. Firstly a request for an update on the car parking issue raised in January on central park, as the notice boards have as yet not been updated and also the codicil with the bowling club. The town manager said he was currently looking at the law before completing any amendments. The second related to the fact that Syston had not been suffering from any flood over the winter and no one had mentioned the Levelling lake that had been created by the construction companies as part of their planning for erected the houses on Barkby Road. The lake is situated behind Ruskin Avenue and although not accessible to the public, it can be viewed by the residents from their gardens and provides an excellent protection for properties in the town.
Community Speed Watch
It was hoped to bring this to the town and anyone who would like leaflets should contact the council office.
County and Borough Councillors report
Councillor Mike Preston said that he had been on Radio Leicester about the reflective bollards at the Hobby Horse roundabout. Changes to lighting levels will produce a saving of nearly £1 million. The change in government will bring about radical changes to local development building and so the proposed 5,000 houses may not proceed.
Councillor Dave Houseman gave congratulations to both Howard and Jose for their re-election and then gave a brief account of his annual report, see supplement with the July Syston Town News.
Councillor Tom Barkley related the results of the turn out of the election with over 70% in Charnwood voting and 94% returning their postal votes. Their is a new Mayor of Charnwood, Jill Vincent and Steve Hampson added that she is available to attend any voluntary group events. Tom continued that the waste survey showed that over 90% gave a positive response to the collection of garden waste, and 86% satisfied with household waste collection. He also reported about the Active together events over the summer, including the cycling featured in the What’s on.
Councillor Steve Hampson reported that the work near the police station is now completed and time restricting the parking could take another two years to gain approval.
Councillor Ken Pacey reported that an investigation panel had been set up to determine the effectiveness of ASBO’s. He also asked that the street patrols checked cars parked at 9.00am in the main car park on Melton Road in order to enforce the two hour restriction more effectively, as they can only monitor from the time they check and if they only check at 11.00am then there can be an abuse of the restriction.
