A number of issues that I raised in my last report are still not fully disclosed. However, the debate on whether there should be a new Leisure Centre situated on Bowbridge Road, although not the detailed costs involved is now more open, after I raised the matter. One main decision agreed was to pursue the most expensive option [Option C] to design stage. Option C significantly increases the range of facilities in the new Leisure Centre from the current range provided at the Grove Centre, with the associated higher revenue costs of delivering these.

Issues relating to Millgate Museum are still not allowed to be circulated, although when the Statutory Accounts are published some details will have to be released. I regret that this will be too late for the decisions taken so far to be remedied.

The East Midlands Ambulance Service [EMAS] reported to the District Council’s ERPO&S [Ecternal Relations and Partnership Overview and Scrutiny] Committee. The performance of EMAS to residents in Southwell falls significantly below standards expected. The Chief Exec of EMAS said that ‘if you live in a rural area you are at a disadvantage.’ He went on to suggest that the having defibrillators in local community facilities  ‘would provide a much greater chance of survival [of infarction] than waiting for an ambulance’ This is a matter that the Town Council ought to consider further, and I have urged the Town Council to do so.

At the Services O&S Committee, the Council suggested that it was looking to extend green waste collection, as in the scheme that I proposed some years ago. However, the scheme being proposed will be run from Mansfield by MDC and only be available, certainly initially, in the west of the District. There was significant interest in a green garden waste collection from Southwell residents previously, but it is unlikely that this will be addressed in the medium term.

The ‘soft market’ testing of Kelham Hall has proved of interest, but there is no clear way forward on its sale or the relocation of the Council at present, although a report is promised soon.

The management of the CCTV service is being widened to include looking at the cameras of other Councils including Broxtowe and Ashfield. We are assured that there should not be a decline in monitoring as all cameras remain viewable, and the operators will concentrate on issues they see or their attention is called to. However, with lower IT costs and increased productivity, the costs per camera monitoring are considerably reduced.

I did not attend all of the meeting of the last full Council at Kelham Hall, as the Southwell Safer Neighbourhood was held on the same day. I left the Council after 80 minutes of its meeting. I am disappointed to see that one Councillor has criticised this and called on me to consider my priorities. I still think that the safety of Southwell’s residents as explored at the SNG was the right matter to spend time on, rather than listen to views on decisions that had been taken by the Cabinet. You will recall that the Council has effectively no decision making powers at six weekly meetings, so continuing attendance would have no effect. This did mean, however, that I was unable to respond to some inflammatory remarks about the Town Council. I am aware that a number of residents have been disappointed, and some very angry, about the remarks made by some councillors who should have known better.

However, on a better note, whilst I was at the meeting, the same Council meeting debated the effect of the welfare reforms on residents and agreed to support services to help residents affected by the changes with guidance to be delivered locally. I hope that we can use this desire to help in a positive way in Southwell.