Correct Use Of Public Money - Mayor Making In Skegness?

Some of you may be aware that each year when the Mayorship of Skegness passes from the present incumbent to the new one there is a Mayor Making event, which is normally a dinner at one of the local hotels with entertainment. You may know that the incoming Mayor invites family, friends and colleagues to the event. What you may not know is that the council tax payers of Skegness largely fund it. Is this a correct use of public money?

The sum of £2,000 of public money is now put aside to pay for the event. This is a reduction on previous years but it is still £2,000 of your money!

I know of no other community within the county that has a tax payer funded event of this sort to celebrate the change of appointment.

During my time as a councillor, during which I attended one of these "doos" on the day I first became a councillor and before I understood that the event was funded by the tax-payer, I questioned this practice and made it quite clear that I thought that it was time it ceased as, given the parlous state of the public finances, there seems no supportable reason for the event to happen.

Various arguments were put forward regarding the fact that this is a tradition and that the dinner allows the incoming Mayor to raise money for his or her Mayoral charities but I am afraid I don't find those arguments strong enough to make me believe that spending money on the event is the correct thing to do. Tradition has its place but should not over-ride the financial imperatives of the present situation and there are plenty of opportunities for Mayors to raise funds for their chosen charity. If an incoming Mayor wishes to celebrate his or her elevation to the office then the funding of the celebration should be their own responsibility.

I am aware that the photograph of the mayoral chain shown within this article is not of the Skegness chain of office but I could not find a photograph of it without it being worn by one of the recipients. I did not use any of those photos as I didn't want to give the impression that I was "having a go" at any person, present, recent or in the past who has had the honour of being elected to the office of Mayor but at the practice itself.

In my opinion it really is time for this practice to stop and for the public funds used to pay for this event, or part pay for it in some cases, to be used for the benefit of the residents of Skegness!

Lincolnshire Beaches Amongst The Best In Europe.

Fantastic news this morning that the beaches in Skegness, Mablethorpe and Sutton On Sea have again been awarded the Blue Flag.

The Blue Flag is awarded for beaches, marinas and boating tourism operators as a statement of the high environmental and quality standards they maintain. The Blue Flags are awarded on an annual basis. It is the work of the local East Lindsey District Council operators that maintain the highest of standards and they should be thoroughly congratulated for there wonderful efforts. Out in all weathers from early morning until late in the evening they fight the good fight to keep our beaches in a pristine condition.

There are miles and miles of golden, sandy beaches stretching from Skegness north to Mablethorpe and beyond which are enjoyed by millions of visitors annually. Long may this continue. 

Central beach Skegness. Blue Flag awarded!

Let's now see the flags proudly displayed above our wonderful coastline and let's use the fine achievement of the continuing award as an attraction in its own right. 

ELDC - Car Park Charges - Update

Since I last posted about this issue under the title ELDC - Completely Unfair Car Parking Charge Changes - What About The Coast, the District council have decided that they should put in place an "independent piece of research" which "will be conducted into the economic and financial impact of car parking charges in 
the district." This from Leader of the Council, Craig Leyland as reported in the Skegness Standard. 

What a pity they did not do this prior to making the recent announcement. However, there is more. Further along the following little gem was dropped: 

“Given the feedback on the overnight charge and this impending piece of work it seems sensible to defer the overnight charge until we have a full understanding of the impact of car parking charges.

“This does not affect the reintroduction of free car parking that was the outcome of a separate piece of work conducted by Overview and Scrutiny Committee.”

I struggle to understand how it can be sensible to defer the overnight charges whilst at the same time going ahead with the completely unfair decision to allow free car parking in some communities within the district whilst other communities, chiefly the ones on the coast, will still continue to pay full prices to park their cars.

Unfortunately, Cllr Sandra Harrison, who has the responsibility for the operation of the car parks tells us this in the same Skegness Standard article:

"The Council does, however, recognise that car parking arrangements, including the cost to park and tariff structures, have an impact on a significant number of people and whilst there will never be a solution that suits every circumstance, the Council will be looking at the matter over the coming months to ensure the arrangements are the 
best they can be.”

Would it not have been more sensible and more logical to have deferred the changes to car parking charges in their entirety? What will happen if the "independent piece of research" informs the council that the way the changes have been implemented is unfair? That if car parking charges need to be removed for the economic well-being of our communities that is the same for all communities? Are the council then going to make the decision to remove the charges right across the District? If the review informs them that free car parking is not a necessity or desirable, are the council then going to go to the communities who have been given free parking and take it away from them again? 

I have to agree that "there will never be a solution that suits every circumstance" but at least there should be a solution that is fair to every one of the residents of this district.

That solution is Free Car Parking For All or All Car Parks Chargeable! FAIRNESS!

Here Come The Coasters

Great to see the Stagecoach Seasiders back on the road again. They really are a fantastic addition to the scene in and around Skegness. Loved by both visitors and locals alike. Just goes to show what a little imagination and investment can achieve.

Look out for The Seasiders, Rocky, Pierre, Candy, Shelly, Sandy and the latest addition Lolly as they transport people around the local area. Grab yourself a ride on the open-topped upper deck, you won't be disappointed!

Skegness Clock Tower Going Green - UPDATE.

I have just been contacted by East Lindsey District Council Press Office who have informed me that our wonderful Clock Tower is scheduled to be cleaned. This will take place some time after Easter.

This is excellent news.

Skegness Clock Tower Going Green

Now don't get excited you eco-warriors.

This has nothing to do with The Clock Tower being powered by solar energy or a wind turbine.

Clock Tower by local photographer John Byford

No this is about The Clock Tower, or to give it the correct name The Diamond Jubilee Clock Tower, actually going green. This lovely iconic old structure, that is as famous as the Jolly Fisherman is getting covered in green algae, mould or slime. Take a walk up there and have a look.

I have tried to get a photo of it but my equipment is not good enough to show just how bad it is starting to look.

I really do think that East Lindsey District Council should be having a look at this and getting it cleaned. If we cannot look after one of the true emblems of Skegness then what hope is there?

This has stood at the top end of Lumley Road for 117 years. It needs looking after to ensure that it stands there for another 117 years!

Please sort it out ELDC!

ELDC - Completely Unfair Car Parking Charge Changes - What About The Coast?

So they have been and gone and done it!

5 months ago I highlighted the fact that East Lindsey District Council (ELDC) were planning to revert back to a car park charging scenario that was totally unfair. You can read my thoughts from back then here:

http://steveodare.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/east-lindsey-car-parking-back-to.html

So what have they done? Well they have decided to have free car parking in some amenity car parks but not in others. This is despite the last council going a long way to rid the District of the unfairness in charging in 2014 by making all car parks chargeable. This made me personally unpopular within the council as I was one of the leading proponents of the change. Cest la vie! That was a very unwelcome decision for those communities that, at the time, benefited from free car parking but at least it was fair to all residents of the District.

Now what have ELDC gone and done? Well, they have made the 10 car parks that were free prior to the changes made by the previous council free again! Honestly. Why? Gawd only knows.

Where are these car parks? Here is the list:

Cattlemarket in Horncastle
 South Street Overflow, Alford
 Millers Way, Alford
 Market Place, Burgh Le Marsh
 Sandilands, Sutton-on-Sea
 High Street/Silver Street, Coningsby
 Off Market Place, Tattershall
 Linden Walk, Louth
 Cattlemarket, Louth
 Boston Road, Spilsby

You will no doubt notice that apart from one car park in Sutton on Sea all of these are located inland and none are located in Skegness! Why is that? Is that fair? 

It is my feeling that this is totally unfair. There are communities that suffer from high levels of deprivation in our District and they are, almost exclusively, located in our coastal communities. So where is the help with parking charges for those communities? With the one exception there is none. As I have said now ad nauseum, this decision reeks of unfairness and, no doubt, some will say bias. Bias towards looking after the inland communities whilst "Devil take the hindmost" as far as the coast is concerned.

DOUBLE WHAMMY!

If that was not bad enough, pin your ears back while I impart the next little gem. Not only do the amenity car parks on the coast not have any free parking but the free parking after 6 pm in the evening that was also brought in by the last council for all car parks has now been removed. All car parks that are now chargeable, not including the 10 listed above of course, will now have a £2 overnight charge. Presumably this is to pay for the removal of the charges on the free car parks! What happened to "Supporting the night-time economy"? As they say "You could not make it up". 

I am hugely disappointed by this move which has no real logic to it. It is totally unfair and leaves a real bad taste in the mouth.

One last thought. What are our local, Skegness elected councillors doing about this? Where is their outrage. If outrage is too strong an emotion then where is their opposition to this? What have they done to fight this? Do they think this is acceptable? Looks as if they do as I haven't heard a peep from any of them. I don't think it is at all acceptable and I am sure that the majority of people in our town won't either. 

Free Car Parking For All or All Car Parks Chargable! FAIRNESS!

Travelodge For Skegness - Best Location For It?

With the fairly recent news that Travelodge is following hot on the heels of Premier Inn with a strong interest in opening a new hotel in Skegness it has set me thinking where would the best location for it to be built.

In my view it would be on North Parade where the recently defunct Dinosaur attraction, The Lost World Adenture Park, was located.

The now closed Lost World Adventure Park.

There are two reasons for this in my view. Firstly, it would bring extra life and footfall to the northern end of the promenade, something that has needed to be done for several years. This land, owned by local businessman Dave Scott of the Jewellers fame, which I believe is up for sale, already has outline planning permission for a hotel that was granted some time ago by East Lindsey District Council. If the permission has lapsed it should be very easy to have it reinstated or for a new planning application to go through the system.

In my view that would be an ideal location. I am sure that there are other locations that people can think of, the planned business park on the A52 for one but in my view, if I was to build a hotel here, I would want to be in the town itself.

I have no idea if Travelodge will make an appearance any time soon but if they do then that is where the hotel would best be placed in my view! Wherever it finally goes, if it does, another national chain should be welcomed with open arms.

Skegness Is A Product

Now that may seem like a strange thing to say but that is how I view our town. It is a product. Something like a tin of beans or a car. It is, of course, the place where we all live and that is just as important but for now I am talking about the economic side of our town, the side that provides the jobs and pays the wages.

What is this about? Why does the statement "Skegness is a product" need to be made? Simply because that product is under threat, understandably, but under threat none-the-less.

East Lindsey District Council is under severe financial pressure. Nothing unusual there. All councils at a district level or above are. The noises coming out of Manby are that there have to be cuts, which is the case, but that they will give some priority to Economic Development, ensuring that the economy of the district moves forward. I think that outlook has a lot of merit. As a result of this outlook the council have created a councillor who has the responsibility for Coastal Economy and another that has the responsibility for Market Towns and Rural Economy which should be seen as a positive move.

Having said that, I cannot understand how, going back to "Skegness is a product", planning to reduce the attractiveness of the town to the very people that support the economy, our visitors, is going to help to develop the economy. If you are trying to sell a product, do you remove the ingredients? If you make beef stew that is selling very well, do you then reduce the beef content? Would that make the product more or less attractive to the buyer? Logic tells me it would be less attractive.

From what I understand the following ingredients that make up the product that is Skegness are in danger of being removed. The Fairy Dell Paddling Pool, the public toilets and the bowling greens.

Now there may be others that I have not heard about as well.

The much loved Fairy Dell Paddling Pool. 

I really cannot understand how removing those three facilities from the town will not have a long term detrimental effect on the tourists going forward. Can you imagine coming to a seaside resort for a day, day-tripping is the bread and butter of our resort, and not being able to find a toilet for either yourself or the kids when you need one? That to me is something that would be a huge detriment. The Fairy Dell is hugely popular with both tourists and local alike. It is very unusual for a resort to have such a lovely, free to use, attraction. Again it would be detrimental to lose it. As for the bowling greens. Well they are slightly different. They do not get the use that the other two do but they are very important to the hoteliers due to the large bowls competitions that are held at intervals during the summer. These include a national competition that is run and organised by the English Bowling Federation. What would it say about our town and the economic development of it if these greens were taken out of commission. Not a lot.

I believe that, given recent events elsewhere, the district council will place the onus on keeping these resources open on Skegness Town Council. Would they be able to take them on, could they take them on. That is a whole different issue given recent decisions. That will make a blog of its own.

We have seen some excellent inward investment from the private sector recently with the probability that there could be more to come. Our local district council should look at that as a huge positive and do their utmost to back that investment up, not remove the ingredients of our beef stew. Final thought. What are our local District Councillors doing about this? They are all very quiet.

2016 - Build The New & Preserve The Old In Skegness

Build the new and preserve the old, that should be the mantra for 2016. Build the new, The Premier Inn and Brewers Fayre Restaurant on Pier Field and preserve the old, The Pavilion in Tower Gardens. Both of these projects have been rumbling on long enough and should now be resolved. Lot's of people have had their say in lots of ways and it is now time to put that behind us.

Of the two projects, the easiest one to bring to fruition will be The Premier Inn development. It will bring new investment into the town to the tune of £7.5 million and will bring much needed all year round employment. In addition, I believe that it will attract a new clientele to the town and the very fact that an international company such as Whitbreads, the owners of Premier Inn, are showing such faith in Skegness will encourage more large companies to do the same. The recently announced Travelodge interest is testament to that. In my view the case has been made and this should now go smoothly forward to allow the construction of the development to begin so that the new businesses can open in 2018. 

The Pavilion in Tower Gardens is a whole different proposition. Although the present effort to save this building has been running for nearly two years, the end of the saga appears to still be some way off. Two things need to be achieved to allow this project to go forward. Firstly, there needs to be a professional, solid, workable and viable business plan that will ensure that the building will be a real proposition going forward for many years. The £50,000 of funding that has been achieved via the

The Pavilion as it stands now.

Coastal Revival Fund should allow that to happen and should be a huge boost in driving the project forward. It is hoped that the subsequent business plan will be acceptable to East Lindsey District Council and that it will allow them to release the building to the community. Once that has happened then the next challenge, a huge one in my opinion, will be to access funds for the renovation of the building to allow occupation and use of it. Various, wildly differing, sums have been put forward regarding the cost of doing that but whatever the actual confirmed cost, raising the monies required will be exceptionally difficult, not impossible, but exceptionally difficult. Hats off to the community group that is battling away to bring The Pavilion back to life. I hope that 2016 will finally bring this to fruition. 

So 2016 could bring new life to the town and resurrect old life. Would that not be a great outcome?

Superb New Lidl Store In Skegness Now Open

The long awaited opening of the new Lidl Store took place this morning 17th December 2015.

The new store looks absolutely fantastic. It is the second store in the country to be opened under the "store for the future" banner and it has not disappointed. It is bright, open, spacious and very modern.

By the look of the crowds that have flocked to it today it is going to be a roaring success and I am sure that the free bacon baps being doled out were not all that the customers were there for. Doubt that will be a regular feature of the store! There were long queues getting into the car park at 11.30 am and the store itself was extremely busy. The tills seemed to be coping very well with the amount of customers.

My only slight concern is the reduced number of car parking spaces being provided in relation to those available previously. Hopefully they have done their calculations correctly and there will be a sufficient number on a normal day!

All in all I think this will be the expected boon to the shoppers of Skegness and the surrounding area.

Skegness Lidl - Reopening Date Confirmed

I have contacted Lidl with a query as to when the new store in Skegness is to open. Their reply was 17th December 2015. This is slippage of a week from their original estimate of the 10th December but, given the close proximity to the latest opening date, I would expect no further delay.

Excellent news. From the statistics provided for this blog I know just how much interest there has been in the refurbishment of Lidl, Richmond Drive, Skegness. Like me, it would appear that many, many people have been missing shopping there. 

Well it won't be long now folks!

The Coastal Highway - Really?

Heard today that there is a plan to rename or rather give a name to the road leading from Lincoln to Skegness, the infamous A158. It is planned to call it "The Coastal Highway". Really?

What does the term "coastal highway" conjure up in your mind?

Something like this perhaps?

That is what I would term a coastal highway, a highway that runs along the coast.

The A158 certainly does not meet my expectations of the name. It does not run along the coast and it most certainly is not a highway.

Apparently the county council has a plan that the signs will be installed near Newark to highlight the route to our coast with further signs appearing along the route. I would contend that it is easy enough to find that route without a name being given to it to highlight it.

What a let-down it would be for a first time visitor that had been led to believe that the A158 from Lincoln to Skegness was some kind of highway, some kind of quick route to the coast. What a disappointment! It is not going to draw people to our coast!

I love the idea of the A158 being turned into a highway that would allow for a swift journey along the 41 miles from our county city to Skegness but I know that is not going to happen. The A158 needs major investment to rid it of the bottle-necks that have been known about for decades, namely Horncastle and Wragby, which would make the trip to the coast quicker and much more pleasant. That would go some way to encouraging more people to come to our coast. A cheap option of a few signs giving it a name, a somewhat misleading name at that, is definitely not what is needed.

For further thoughts on the road infrastructure in this area please see http://steveodare.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/a52a158-they-are-our-arteries-east.html

East Lindsey Car Parking - Back To Unfairness

I am sure that a lot of you will have heard about or seen that a recommendation is to be made by a Scrutiny Committee to the District Council with regard to removing car parking charges in some car parks. On the face of it this appears to be all good news and something to be welcomed but it is a return to unfairness.

Let me explain.

Prior to the last major change to car parking there were 14 car parks within the district that were free to park in. The rest of the approximately 58 car parks were charged. To my knowledge, there was no real basis for the fact that these 14 car parks were free. This was just an historical anomaly.

None of these original free car parks were in Skegness and that point had long been a matter of discontent amongst the local population and the local councillors alike, both District and Town councillors. When the car parking charges were revised and all car parks were charged then there were still no free car parks in Skegness but at least all other communities were being treated in the same way. An element of fairness had been achieved, although there were still one or two anomalies.

This fairness issue was considered when, subsequently, the charging at some car parks was changed to allow for 2 hours of free car parking. Every community benefited from the changes as every community had a non-centrally located car park with 2 hours free parking. Fairness!

It is now proposed that car parking charges will be removed but unfortunately only in those 14 car parks that were once free to park in! Why? Why only those car parks? Why will only some of the communities within the District benefit from this? Why are some of the most deprived communities in the District not going to benefit from free parking whilst some of the most affluent are? Where is the fairness in that? Why will some town and village centres and the businesses in them benefit whilst other town centres won't? This is truly a retrograde recommendation.

I sincerely hope that the District Councillors that represent Skegness, of all parties, will oppose this recommendation unless the fairness issue is addressed and I hope they will be joined by their colleagues who represent other communities who will also be treated unfairly if this recommendation is accepted and then sanctioned by the Executive Committee. Time to stand up for your communities ladies and gentlemen!

2015 An Excellent Season

Now that we are nearly into October it is a good time to look back over the last few months and see how it has gone.Well. From all the reports in the local press and from conversations I have had it would appear that 2015 has been an excellent season here in Skegness.

The hotels have been very busy and the local holiday businesses have reported having had good takings.

Great to see the new Skegness Aquarium up and running and from reports it would appear that they have made a good start. It is really good to see an attraction that is truly 12 months of the year on our seafront. I hope that there will be more of this excellent type of development in the future. Add this to the established attractions in the town and it is easy to see why the resort remains so popular.

Talking about our seafront it is undergoing and has undergone a lot of changes over the last few years. Some would say it is for the better and some would say that it is not. Whatever your view the town cannot stand still or it will fall behind and the seasons will go into decline. The town and the businesses in it need to be creating more job opportunities for the local people. I know that in years gone by there were lots of open green spaces and few neon lights etc., but, as has been said many times in different quarters, the town needs to develop to keep attracting the business.  You cannot have development and change and expect everything to stay the same. It doesn't work that way.

As a town and a local population, we need to be welcoming to new businesses that wish to come to us. It is external investment that is needed as well as local business expansion, such as the very welcome Aquarium.

A good season then and lets look forward to the next one, not forgetting of course the out of season offerings between now and then. That is for next time!

A52/A158 They Are Our Arteries - East Lindsey Coast

It is normal perhaps for coastal areas to have poor roads leading to them, unless of course they are close to a motorway network such as Blackpool but that is an exception. On this coast we do not have the benefits of motorways, or even for that matter dual-carriageways. We rely on the "A" roads to bring in the business. Are the "A" roads we rely on a help or a hindrance in that regard?

My view is that they are a hindrance.

Every summer, every busy weekend, every Bank Holiday and throughout the main holiday season this coast is let down by the two main roads leading to it.

For instance. Last Saturday I travelled up to Lincoln at about 1 o'clock in the afternoon. The traffic heading west, away from the coast was running smoothly but travelling in the opposite direction the traffic was horrendous. Slow moving traffic and stationary traffic for miles. The worst section was that section heading into Horncastle. The traffic was backed up and stationary all the way to the Caistor turn-off, several miles in length. The reports on the radio told me that Wragby was just as bad but as I turned off the A158 on the Bardney road I will have to take their word for it.  Radio Lincolnshire were also reporting the "normal problems" on the A52 as well.

This issue has been known about for decades and very little has been done about it. A bypass was provided for Burgh-Le-Marsh some 8 years ago. Whilst roads have been improved in the west of the county, with a lot more to come, specifically to deal with bottlenecks and known problems, little has been done in our area. It is not good enough.

Sad to say that there is little that is going to be done in the foreseeable future as there is no mention of our area in the Lincolnshire 4th Local Transport Plan 2013/14 - 2022/23 a link to which I have attached at the bottom of this article. In brief the projects that will be/are being implemented over the next 10 years are:

• Lincoln Eastern Bypass
• Grantham Southern Relief Road
• Spalding Western Relief Road

The Transport Strategies for individual towns are:

• Boston Transport Strategy
• Grantham Transport Strategy
• Lincoln Transport Strategy
• Gainsborough Transport Strategy.

What does that mean for this area? Simply that there are no plans whatsoever in this area for the next 8 years and if there is a 5th Local Transport Plan and this area was lucky enough (sic) to be considered then it could be 10 years after that before anything is done and then there is no guarantee!

When I have raised this issue previously I have been told that the problem we have is that our issues are seasonal and therefore not as high a priority as other areas! With that in mind it is difficult to see any hope for the improvements we desperately need is there?

It was also pointed out that we would be getting a Western Relief Road for Skegness which will link the A52 and the A158. This would relieve the congestion is Skegness Town Centre. Perhaps it would but at what cost? The A158 is already nose to tail for miles out of Skegness at busy times so pushing the traffic from the A52 to the A158 is only going to make things worse in that area! Indeed with Roman Bank (A52) heading north being an absolute nightmare already, it makes even less sense. Without a road running north from the A158 towards Ingoldmells and beyond, extending the relief road, there will be little if any improvement to the overall traffic congestion.

I think folks that we are the forgotten area when it comes to road infrastructure. A decent road from Boston to the coast and a decent road from Lincoln to the coast would open up the whole of East Lindsey as well as the coast. Decent roads would encourage more inward investment, creating businesses and jobs for this area.

In addition it would make the journey far more pleasant for the hundreds of thousands of people that come to the coast for a break. That would surely encourage more to come? Given that one of the priorities of the County Council is to double the worth of tourism to the county, then surely money spent on making the primary tourist area in the county more accessible should be viewed as a priority? I live in hope rather than expectation!

As I referred to in the title of this piece. The A52/A158 are our arteries. We all know what happens when arteries become blocked don't we?

Skegness Lidl Reopening Date

I have been amazed by the amount of interest that there has been in my article from earlier in the year entitled Skegness Lidl Closing For Refurbishment which has become the third most viewed article on my blog.

The article can be viewed here:

 http://steveodare.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/skegness-lidl-closing-for-refurbishment.html

The interest prompted me to contact Lidl to enquire as to how the new store is coming along and when it will be reopening. The answer I have been given is that the store will reopen for business in the brand new and much enlarged store on 10th December this year. There was a caveat to this statement which was that this information is correct at the time of sending and could be subject to change.

I for one will be very pleased to see the store back in business. If I get any other information I will post it on here.

Regards.

Amazing What The National Media Picks Up On!

I had a chat with William Wright about this story yesterday afternoon on his show on BBC Radio Lincolnshire. Was really not expecting this story to go national though!

http://www.itv.com/news/2015-08-25/search-for-dog-owner-after-girl-4-is-attacked-on-beach/

What is it that makes something as mundane as this, in perspective terms of course, it was obviously not mundane for the family involved or the dog owner, go national?

I will never fathom out the national media!

Skegness Has A Cathedral

Yes indeed it does and here it is in all it's glory!

Skegness Cathedral

Well if Lincoln can claim to have a beach then why can Skegness not claim to have a cathedral? Both are pale imitations of the real thing!

Skegness Town Crier - Do We Have One?

I am seeing more and more references to the Skegness Town Crier. I was not aware that we actually have one. Do we?

Here is a picture of the "Mablethorpe Town Crier" that I picked up from the internet that was originally posted by the Louth Leader newspaper.

This is the gentleman who now appears to be described as the Skegness Town Crier.

If this gentleman is being good enough to give his time for free (I imagine) and is being mentioned on the Town Council's website as attending functions then perhaps it is time that he was officially invited to be the Skegness Town Crier perhaps in an Honorary capacity which is something that has been done by numerous councils throughout the country. If not then, perhaps, it is not appropriate to term this gentleman as the Skegness Town Crier as it should be an official position.

I personally believe that to have an official Town Crier would be very beneficial to Skegness.

So I say "Oyez, Oyez. Would a Town Councillor please propose that this gentleman, if he so wishes, becomes the official Town Crier for the town of Skegness. Oyez, Oyez"? I hope that this can be done, possibly by way of a motion to council?

Here is a link to The Ancient and Honourable guild of Town Criers, an organisation for Official Town Criers! http://www.ahgtc.org.uk/