Wednesday 3rd July – Oswaldtwistle Area Council Day! I went to the Ossy Civic at 10 a.m. for our briefing – going through the Agenda with Chairman Councillor Peter Britcliffe to prepare for the evening meeting. Home for lunch and then off with the Mayoress to Clitheroe where we were each going to buy ourselves a new hat! A friend had recommended the Hospice Charity Shop so we decided to try that! Charity shops in Clitheroe sell high-class stuff! The shop is just up the main street from Sainsbury’s, on the right-hand side. When we went in I told the man we were Mayor and Mayoress of Hyndburn and were looking for a new hat each. They had a nice display of red and black hats downstairs but he said the other colours were upstairs. Some hats were brand-new and others nearly-new. When we went upstairs there was also evening wear and mother-of-the-bride type outfits. There were quite a lot of hats of all colours, some with matching bags or shoes – again, to go with wedding outfits, I think! There was a big mirror so you could try them on and see what suited you. No sales assistant came up and there was no pressure to buy! The Mayoress chose a hat in a pale pink/peachy colour. I tried on a big turquoise one, similar to the red hat I’ve been wearing. It really suited me and fitted well so I decided to buy it. Of course it was a brand-new one and when I looked at the price ticket inside it said £54-99! But unfortunately that’s the price of hats these days! The red one was £59-99 at Ossy Mills! Still, Madam Mayor has to look the part when she goes out on her engagements – the Mayoress also! We thought we’d spent enough and decided to go back home, but first of all we took a look at a new Charity Shop set up by the Town Mayor of Clitheroe, Kevin Horkin, who is trying to raise £100,000 for charity in his year of office. It’s in Swan Court, off Castle Street. The shop isn’t yet fully stocked but Kath found a big pot for £6 that would do nicely for her house. She managed to get it home without breaking it! At 7 p.m. I went to the Ossy Civic for the Area Council Meeting. Councillor Peter Britcliffe was re-elected Chair and Councillor Marlene Haworth became Vice-Chair. Peter asked me to do a five-minute talk about being Mayor. I said that the focus of my role was communication with local people and I ended up by mentioning my Facebook page and a compliment posted by a resident a couple of weeks ago. Chair highlighted the Family Fun Day to be held in Rhyddings Park on Sunday 14th July when the bowling green will be dedicated in memory of our late M.P. and former Councillor Ken Hargreaves. Lisa from the Area Council Office has had some lovely posters printed advertising the Fun Day – I’ve put mine up in my window already. David Reid, aged 13, updated us on the West End Play Area project which the Area Council is going to support with a grant. Sue Sinclair from Hyndburn Homewise gave a presentation on the services her organisation is able to provide, particularly to elderly and disabled people. Highways issues were dealt with and then Ward Councillors gave their reports. I focussed on the Jackhouse Nature Reserve and the residents’ action group that’s recently formed. I explained that Immanuel Ward has a big rural component and that this issue has brought me into contact with residents from the Cockerley Fold, Hoyle Bottom and Jackhouse areas. I think it’s important that I don’t neglect residents who live on the rural fringes of my Ward. I haven’t visited them all yet but once I’ve finished as Mayor I must make that a priority. I visited all my other residents from September 2010 to March 2011, knocking on every door with my Council business card, introducing myself and seeing whether I could be of any help. I was prevented from doing it again because my elderly mother’s health became worse and she didn’t like me leaving her on her own. Since she passed away just over a year ago I don’t have that restriction on my life now. Kat Stokes, Community Beat Manager for Oswaldtwistle, updated us on policing in the town. The monthly PACT (Police & Communities Together) meeting is going to move to a more central venue at the Ossy Civic – I hope more people will attend – last Wednesday of each month at 6.30 p.m. Neil Mooney, Chair of Friends of Rhyddings Park, updated us on developments there. Unfortunately two bids for the proposed kitchen garden area and education centre (old tennis court and adjoining building) have failed but another bid is in the offing. The Friends are having their Annual General Meeting next Monday 8th July, 7 p.m. at the Ossy Civic – please go along if you’d like to support work in our local park. Paul Trickett, Head Teacher of our local Rhyddings High School, gave an encouraging report – Rhyddings is only round the corner from me – I must contact Mr. Trickett and see whether I could visit the School or attend a special event as Mayor. Budget spending decisions were made and the date of the next meeting was fixed for Wednesday 6th November. The meeting finished at 9 p.m. and residents stayed on for a cup of tea and to chat with their Ward Councillors, Police Officers, etc. I stressed to Immanuel Ward residents at the meeting that I’m still their Councillor whilst Mayor and that if they couldn’t catch me in very easily then can always leave a voicemail or send me an e-mail!
Posted on: Thu, 04 Jul 2013 08:54:00 +0000
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