Come On, Help Out. Skegness Needs You!!



SKEGNESS CARNIVAL



CHURCH FARM MUSEUM

Two of Skegness's most famous institutions have put out a call for people to come forward to volunteer to help take them into the future.

Skegness Carnival is looking for people to take on positions on the organising committee. Without new blood there is a distinct possibility that the Carnival could fold. Skegness without a Carnival? Can that be imagined? This really is an institution in Skegness and has been running for more than 100 years. If you are interested please contact Brian Chapman on 01754 761617 or email brianchpman@hotmail.co.uk (Please note that this is the correct spelling of the email address there is no a in the first part of chapman).

The second of our institutions looking for help is Church Farm Museum. The Museum Chairman, Steve Kirk, has called for people to volunteer to help out in many different roles at the museum. The museum is going to be entirely run by volunteers, to the best of my knowledge, and really needs your help. There is to be an event at the Embassy Theatre Arts Room on Friday 25th March from 10.00 a.m. to 6.30 p.m. You can pop in during these times for a chat and get more information.

I would be more than happy to hear directly from anybody and pass your details onto the relevant people.

These calls for help give people an ideal opportunity to get involved in the local community for the good of both the residents and visitors alike. If you have any spare time please do consider getting involved. These are very worthwhile institutions and really do deserve your support.

Help these organisations, help the town of Skegness and help yourselves!!!!

Expectations of Our Town Council - Not Met!!!



Need a referendum? - Don't need a Referendum?
20% Increase last year? Yes and imposed -
20% Increase this year, better ask the residents.


What should we be expecting from our Town Council when they are making decisions, or not in the case of the Church Farm Museum funding, on our behalf. How about logic, consistency and leadership? All of those things would appear to be pre-requisites to me but in the case of Church Farm Museum funding none appear to be present.

Let's look at them individually. Logic first. How can it be logical for the Town Council to go to the population of Skegness with a referendum when the council themselves have not satisfied themselves that the business plan they are working to, provided by the Church Farm Organisation, is sufficient for them to make a decision. They are going to spend thousands of pounds on a referendum when they may not wish to accept the outcome of it. If the residents say yes and then the council say no because of their worries about the business plan it will have been a total waste of time and more importantly, money. Is not having a referendum based on a business plan that concerns the council so much that they cannot make a decision on it putting the cart before the horse?

Next consistency. Where is there any in this decision? Not too long ago the council spent circa £80,000, I am informed that was the cost, on the Sunshine Play Area, an attraction for Skegness. Did they ask the residents if they should do that through a referendum? The plain answer is no, they did not. They went ahead and did it. Not a bad decision in my opinion but one that, given their lack of decisiveness over the Church Far Museum spending, would lead me to say that a referendum should have been put in place for it? After all it was twice as much of tax-payers money being spent? Why the ability to make the decision on one and not the other? Why no referendum required in that instance? Perhaps there is not the will to spend the money on Church Farm Museum that there was on the Play Area. Is that the case?

Again when we think of consistency, where is there any in the statement in the Skegness Standard by one of our Labour Town Councillors. Talking about our council tax he asked, "Will the ordinary residents agree to a hike of nearly 20 per cent?" Why on earth ask that question now? The councillors, he was one of them, who voted for a bigger increase last year did not ask the question. They just went ahead and made the decision that they would impose the increase. You can check your Council Tax bill from year 2010/2011 to see how much the increase was for you in percentage terms. Again this was as a result of the spend on the Sunshine Play Area.

Finally we come to the issue of leadership. Quite simply the councillors have not shown any. To not make a decision on this or to not put themselves in the position to be able to do so really is a "cop out". To ask the residents of the town to make the decision, when the councillors are in a much better position to do so, with the facts and figures at hand is the easy way out, the wrong way out. That is not to lead the community they represent but to stand behind it. Yes, no, or "we need more information" as decisions would be acceptable, a referendum with all the cost and delay that will bring is not, especially when the decision of the residents cannot be viewed as binding on the council who have yet to accept that the business plan is viable.

In the meantime, nothing happens. Church Farm Museum remains under threat and the people trying to keep it alive as a charitable company are left in limbo. Skegness needs it's attractions. Church Farm Museum is unique amongst them and should be allowed to continue into the future, bigger and better!! It will be a crying shame if the delays and uncertainties caused by Skegness Town Council not making a much needed decision on this, stops that from happening.

Yesterday Was The Day - Oh No It Wasn't - Church Farm Museum

Well last night Skegness Town Council had the chance to decide to fund Church Far Museum (CFM) to the tune of £40,000. This would match the funding from Lincolnshire County Council and from the Friends Of Church Farm Museum. Unfortunately they did not take that opportunity. Why not? I don't think I can answer that question.

It could not be because of financial constraints as there is over £120,000 in the reserves. (Remember this figure as I will return to it later). If the £40k was donated to the CFM there would still be far more in the reserves than is recommended by the National Local Government Association, £80,000 when less than £60,000 is recommended, based on the precept.

So what did they decide? Well they have decided to ask us, the rate-payer whether this money should be donated. They are going to have a public consultation to see what we, the public want. Some might say this is a good thing and perhaps it is given that we are talking about £40,000, but the council has just decided how they are going to spend over £230,000 of our money next year without asking us. So why ask us about this? This public consultation better be quick as the Museum is due to open in April and it is now nearly February!!!!!

How much is the public consultation exercise going to cost? Probably several thousand pounds if they are going to contact every council tax payer in the Skegness Town Council area for their views, which they have to do to be fair to all.

As for the reserves. Well, I most certainly hope that if the money is donated to CFM, there is no plan to repeat the shocking rise in the Town Council share of the Council Tax that we saw last year. Then there was a rise of 23.5% simply to boost the reserves to where they are at the moment. As I have already stated, there is no real need for the reserves to be that high. I will certainly do everything I can to try and ensure that does not happen.

Personally I am at a loss on this one. A decision of either yes or no to the donation was really required and that decision has not been made. All seems very strange to me. I am sure this totally unnecessary procrastination will have upset those who have been working flat out to ensure that Church Farm Museum survives.

So what happens now. Well when the consultation is made the people of this town need to say a mighty YES to this funding. To do otherwise could very easily put the whole future of Church Farm Museum in jeopardy.

Today's The Day

That the Town Council holds it's meeting to decide on the funding application for Church Farm Museum. I am aware that three of our Town Councillors, Cllr Phil Kemp, Cllr Gary Ellis and Cllr Steve Kirk have been very much involved in all of the efforts to ensure the continuation of this very important cultural and heritage institution. I hope that their colleagues on the Town Council support them in their efforts and grant the one-off funding that is being asked for.

Come on councillors - DO IT FOR SKEGNESS!!

Skegness Town Council Must Support Church Farm Museum

As you all know Church Farm Museum is under threat. Thanks to the efforts of many, there is now a very good chance that it can be saved and go on to become a real tourist attraction in it's own right. This has been done by forming a brand new local organisation to run the Museum.

The County Council have promised £35,000 to the venture and will continue to provide suppot to it. East Lindsey District have agreed to continue to allow the use of their land and the Friends of Church Farm Museum have agreed to provide financial support. One of the final pieces to the jigsaw is for Skegness Town Council to match the funding provided by the County Council and it will be full-steam ahead. The Town Council has approximately £125,000 in it's reserves and so there is no real fiscal reason why they cannot provide the much required funding.
The Council have agreed a special meeting at the Town Hall on the evening of 19th January to discuss this matter and make a decision on it.
They really need to take into account the importance of this Museum in preserving the heritage of the area, the standing it has not only as a Museum, for which it holds prestigious awards, but also as a tourist attraction in it's own right. They also need to take into account the strength of feeling amongst the local population as displayed when the possible closure was announced in the autumn of last year.

Come on Town Council. Show the right commitment to the town and provide the funding for this. I urge a yes vote from all councillors when the time comes.Not to do so would be a travesty.

DO IT FOR THE TOWN.