Cllr Roy Gerstner – Community Activist

So after a ‘good’ flogging on StreetLife© (Don’t ‘we’ just love them), ‘they’ again have only got part of the story.
Lets go back to the (2) previous Cycle events which passed by our town…I was there!!!!

The facts are that both events were on the whole very well and professionally put together, they have to be. All safety measures are in place and all agencies concerned were present.
At the first event, many people turned out to see the start of the race, then all but a ‘few’ left, as there was nothing else to do?
At the second event, WTC along with ‘some’ businesses decided to have it more ‘family friendly’, this included things for children too do and some stalls selling goods.
However – again, by and large after the ‘riders’ passed through the town, most people cleared off.
It was very disappointing that the few local businesses that made a brave attempt, found it was not that successful, however the feedback was they had ‘networked’ a great deal – this did not turn into £££££.
The (Third) event was cancelled due to various reasons, one being financial.

As far as ‘complainers’ (I read SL©) about rubbish – on both occasions Whittlesea Street Pride did a fantastic job of clearing up
most of the rubbish, FACT – SP had a team at Oil Mills Road, where the riders took drink and refreshment, the SP team were there most of the day and cleared up as needed and at the end of the event as well.
The SP Group were/are all volunteers and received no payment what-so-ever, as they/I do at many events if they are asked by the organisers.
Everyone on this occasion can register if they are in favour or not on the Whittlesey Town Council Website. http://www.whittleseytc.com/
Now…. will the council reveal the numbers in favour and those not in favour – I do not know, will any weight be given to the views of those who registered – I do not know.

There is also the ‘question’ of ‘cost’, considering how you ‘rate’ the ‘success’ of the previous two events, we/I ask is there any costs and if so how much – we the rate payer may well be asked to ‘contribute’ to the event…(this has happened before)
Finally for the time being, like ALL outside events (Strawbear© included) the amount of public participation depends on the good old British Weather……come rain or shine.

Read ALL of the story on the Cambs Times©, Street Lifers getting all worked up again. The campaign to stop this happening has for a time been successful. Will the electorate remember who was in favour of Parking Charges when the next election comes about, I very much doubt it. Please read the whole story before turning into a euphoric frenzy over this issue.

Continue reading →

Fifteen of us plus two friends turned out on a cold but dry Saturday morning February 13^th
We were requested by Friends of the Cemetery to remove fallen leaves dead twigs and rubbish from the perimeter of the Cemetery

The group collected thirty-one bags of re-cyclable material from the perimeter and eight bags of rubbish from the area surrounding the Cemetery.
Once again a superb turnout. A big thank you to all who attended what turned out to be an unusual experience kind regards Fred

Next Event; – 17^th February Bi-Monthly Meeting.

At Whittlesey Town Council Offices on Grosvenor Road 18:00 (6:00pm)

Letter for Meeting 170216

Picture W&D BF©

Much more to see at:
http://www.whittleseynhw.org.uk/

From Whittlesey Police Team.
There was also a burglary reported on New Road (12th).

Since the last report there have been a few changes at Whittlesey.  Some of the reactive Police officers from Whittlesey now book on at March or Wisbech. The local Policing team remains at 1 Sgt 1 Pc and 2 PCSOs along with our Special Constable. Sgt Di-Meo has and is covering for another Sergeant at the moment so his time is spread between here and the other Fenland towns.
We no longer cover Wimblington and Doddington.
We have had 43 crimes this month. Recorded crime is down though compared to the 57 for this period last.  Half of these crimes are assaults and a large proportion at one address.  As a local team we are investing a lot of time at this address to try to ensure every ones safety.
I’m sorry but as you can appreciate I can’t say where. 

Straw Bear did result in an arrest, Sgt Di-Meo was assaulted. The person was arrested and charged.

There have been a number of reports about loose horses on North Bank. This area is not part of our beat but as we are nearest frequently get sent. We have been speaking with the RSPCA and other agencies to try to get a resolution but ultimately  this is something that needs to be carried on by Peterborough officers and Peterborough council. The problem we have as a Police service is what to do if we catch the horse, and chasing it to try and catch it usually scares the horse so the safest thing we can do, and what we do do, is  to be patient and wait until said horse returns to a field either itself or with the help of the public. I would stress that we do not know who these horses belong to.
Pc Kajzer has checked the rubbish bin on Yarwells Headland several times as requested, no sign of any drugs.

Two burglaries have been reported, one last night (Thursday 4^th) , neither of which have been to residential properties. We have dedicated patrols in place to deter and catch offenders.

Reader sends Land ownership issues, which could have further ramifications.
See Stories Page.

Our correspondent was one of only 4 members of the public in attendance.
There was 2 councillors who gave apologies for none attendance.
This is not a full report of the meeting:

I did make the meeting but did not absorb much of the information being talked about. It’s only my third council meeting I’ve ever attended and am not yet up to speed on understanding what they are talking about. Consequently I’m a little concerned that I’d give you a misguided report on what was said at the meeting.
However, I can report on the presentation by Cllr. Mark Buckton who gave a very good presentation on Cambridgeshire Fenland Tourism www.cambridgeshire.org
You probably know all about this but the intention is to promote tourism across Cambridgeshire by getting an input from all towns, villages etc. into this website to promote their towns i.e. such as accommodation, things of interest. For example for Whittlesey we have, accommodation, Straw Bear, local history, Flag Fen, course fishing etc. ‘Must Farm’ was mentioned by one of our councillors and then a short discussion on would it be possible to get some items from ‘Must Farm’ to be displayed in Whittlesey.
The six wooden boats which were found at ‘Must Farm’ will be displayed at various locations but not in Whittlesey.
KC

Two Councillors were missing from the meeting for reasons which were explained and accepted. Four members of the public attended.

I am planning to attend in person for the March meeting which will be on March 09th and when the agenda is available this will be posted up beforehand.
RG

Latest update from the PCC

Increase in funding goes up by 0:99% on council tax/rates.
PCC promotes Speed Watch + much more…..
Short link here

Sir Graham Bright being ‘Lobbied’ by Roy Gerstner.

I am trying to keep my postings serious, occasionally need to lighten up, however I am trying to promote a serious debate most of the time – I get the ‘implication’  – however I wish to be ‘family friendly’ and don’t want to be offensive to anyone.
Good manners cost nothing, and this applies to internet etiquette.
I suggest the writer contact Cllr E Dorling and ask him the question – What is a Short time!.

With respect Cllr Dorling your ‘post’ on StreetLife© is a tad misleading to say the least.

“If it helps, the Clerk will provide full minutes within a fairly short time after the meeting – these will be displayed on the whittleseyTC.com web site. “

Council minutes of meetings, do not ‘normally’ get placed into the public domain until they have been signed off, this ‘normally’ happens at the next full council meeting, which is one month from the previous meeting. To say ‘within a fairly short time’ is rather a disingenuous to us who have been keeping the public who can not make council meetings well informed of what has been happening at council for many years!
I appreciate your comment on SL© however it would have been more appropriate to have told the group the actual time scale, instead of them daily waiting for the minutes to arrive.
One month it will take, to get the factual minutes.
Here I/we report within a day or two…..that’s the difference.

ps there is NO council meeting in August, so the minutes from July will not appear until mid-September at the earliest, that is unless WTC have changed their governance.