After a long wait, I shall attend my first committees next week as a Town Councillor. I am a member of the Economic and Tourism Committee, which plays an important role in the economic development of the town. From using Twitter, I've had some tweets from local businesses concerned about the number of empty shops in Warwick and @warwicktweeter tweeted me with her fantastic idea to utilise these empty shops to allow local businesses to showcase themselves in our town centre with a series of pop-up shops. I think this is a great idea to bring variety to our town centre and to assist local businesses, so I will raise this next week at the committee to see of this is something our Town Centre Manager can work on.
I am also a member of the Finance and Policy Committee, which scrutinises the expenditure of the Town Council. The town's allotments, crematoria, park benches, war memorial and others are controlled and maintained by the Town Council, as well as a sizeable budget for granting money to voluntary groups in Warwick.
Something that John Holland (fellow Labour Town Councillor and ex District Councillor) and I have noted is the apparent lack of a coherent vision for the Town by the controlling Conservatives, and this is again something we wish to address. We've noted the inequity, for example, in the provision of play areas; Chase Meadow is about to have 3 separate play areas for children whereas the neighbouring Forbes Estate have none. Whilst this isn't something the Town Council can control, it is something that it should certainly seek to influence.
We've already had successes in bringing community grants to Warwick West, by helping members of Racing Club's Boxing Club to access funding and by assisting Westgate School in getting money for their new community kitchen. If you are involved in a community group and would like more information on the Town Council grants, please contact me or John Holland.
