What a time to choose to go to the Cotswalds. However I got home before the total deluge – and straight into a row about hall booking fees.
Someone who shall be nameless ( literally as no one is admitting responsibility) sent out a letter to Maybole community groups saying that their charges for using the Town Hall were going to rocket.In some cases this meant going from paying nothing to £8 an hour.
Understandably uproar followed. Groups from pensioners who play carpet bowls to the Brownies could see a bleak future ahead; Cathie Jamieson MSP visited the town giving them her support; a meeting was called for last Monday night.
In the role of Daniel was Pat Whelan – the council officer in charge of the department which sent out the offending letter. The `lions` were representatives of all the local groups who use the hall and understandable they were raring for a fight.
Pat Whelan had to admit that the letter should never have been sent out – and told everyone there to ignore what they had been told . It was back to square one.
He explained that different halls are charged at different rates throughout South Ayrshire and they were trying to get a system in place where all are treated equally. And hall charges will in fact come before the Leadership Panel of the council at the end of August.
From there, any decisions they make will go before the Community Services Scrutiny Panel – which will do `as it says on the tin` - scrutinise the decision and decide if it`s fair. The good news for Maybole is that three of the four members of that panel are local councillors, Brian Connelly, Sandra Goldie and myself and if we weren`t aware of it before, after last week`s meeting we certainly know now how important a role the Town Hall plays in local life.
And we know it must be affordable.
The main thing for now is that the price hike as been put on hold, autumn classes and groups can put their programmes in place – they are not going to be priced out at the end of August.
What about the future? We need to wait and see, but be assured the local councillors will be fighting to keep the hall open and accessible to everyone.
Saturday, 28 July 2007
Holidays over
What a time to choose to go to the Cotswalds. However I got home before the total deluge – and straight into a row about hall booking fees.
Someone who shall be nameless ( literally as no one is admitting responsibility) sent out a letter to Maybole community groups saying that their charges for using the Town Hall were going to rocket.In some cases this meant going from paying nothing to £8 an hour.
Understandably uproar followed. Groups from pensioners who play carpet bowls to the Brownies could see a bleak future ahead; Cathie Jamieson MSP visited the town giving them her support; a meeting was called for last Monday night.
In the role of Daniel was Pat Whelan – he council officer in charge of the department which sent out the offending letter. The `lions` were representatives of all the local groups who use the hall and understandable they were raring for a fight.
Pat Whelan had to admit that the letter should never have been sent out – and told everyone there to ignore what they had been told . It was back to square one.
He explained that different halls are charged at different rates throughout South Ayrshire and they were trying to get a system in place where all are treated equally. And hall charges will in fact come before the Leadership Panel of the council at the end of August.
From there, any decisions they make will go before the Community Services Scrutiny Panel – which will do `as it says on the tin` - scrutinise the decision and decide if it`s fair. The good news for Maybole is that three of the four members of that panel are local councillors, Brian Connelly, Sandra Goldie and myself and if we weren`t aware of it before, after last week`s meeting we certainly know now how important a role the Town Hall plays in local life.
And we know it must be affordable.
The main thing for now is that the price hike as been put on hold, autumn classes and groups can put their programmes in place – they are not going to be priced out at the end of August.
What about the future? We need to wait and see, but be assured the local councillors will be fighting to keep the hall open and accessible to everyone.
Someone who shall be nameless ( literally as no one is admitting responsibility) sent out a letter to Maybole community groups saying that their charges for using the Town Hall were going to rocket.In some cases this meant going from paying nothing to £8 an hour.
Understandably uproar followed. Groups from pensioners who play carpet bowls to the Brownies could see a bleak future ahead; Cathie Jamieson MSP visited the town giving them her support; a meeting was called for last Monday night.
In the role of Daniel was Pat Whelan – he council officer in charge of the department which sent out the offending letter. The `lions` were representatives of all the local groups who use the hall and understandable they were raring for a fight.
Pat Whelan had to admit that the letter should never have been sent out – and told everyone there to ignore what they had been told . It was back to square one.
He explained that different halls are charged at different rates throughout South Ayrshire and they were trying to get a system in place where all are treated equally. And hall charges will in fact come before the Leadership Panel of the council at the end of August.
From there, any decisions they make will go before the Community Services Scrutiny Panel – which will do `as it says on the tin` - scrutinise the decision and decide if it`s fair. The good news for Maybole is that three of the four members of that panel are local councillors, Brian Connelly, Sandra Goldie and myself and if we weren`t aware of it before, after last week`s meeting we certainly know now how important a role the Town Hall plays in local life.
And we know it must be affordable.
The main thing for now is that the price hike as been put on hold, autumn classes and groups can put their programmes in place – they are not going to be priced out at the end of August.
What about the future? We need to wait and see, but be assured the local councillors will be fighting to keep the hall open and accessible to everyone.
Saturday, 14 July 2007
mid summer update
I think the stouche over the lapdancing/pole dancing club application is finally beginning to subside – but it certainly was the talk of the steamie for a couple of weeks and livened up the usually rather dry and dusty corridors at the County Buildings . Everyone was talking about it. Of course it could all be stirred up again in October at the next Licensing Board meeting when Forbes Robertson will be able to re-apply for his entertainment licence. By that time board members will have been able to do their homework and we will have caught up with the Scottish Executive`s latest recommendations regarding `adult entertainment`.
The responses to my blog were interesting – particularly the young woman who pointed out that it wasn`t women who were exploited at such clubs – but it was more a case of the women exploiting the men who came to watch. Interesting point.
The thorny subject of community and town hall rents raised its head briefly this week when a letter went out to the users of Maybole Town Hall telling them that the hourly rent was to increase to £8. Consternation – even panic - naturally followed with clubs and groups thinking they were facing shutdown. However that decision has been put on hold until the whole question of hall rents in South Ayrshire is discussed by the leadership panel at the end of August. Will the panel recommend that the rents go up? We will need to wait and see. – and be ready for a fight.
The council is now going into recess for a few weeks – which has come as a relief particularly to we new councillors who have been running round like headless chickens (at least that`s what it sometimes felt like) trying to learn everything at once. It is now time to take stock and get ready for a busy decision-making time ahead.
We are of course still in contact – recess just means there are no official meetings – so don`t hesitate to get in touch via the blog, email or phone if you have any problems or concerns.
The council never really closes.
The responses to my blog were interesting – particularly the young woman who pointed out that it wasn`t women who were exploited at such clubs – but it was more a case of the women exploiting the men who came to watch. Interesting point.
The thorny subject of community and town hall rents raised its head briefly this week when a letter went out to the users of Maybole Town Hall telling them that the hourly rent was to increase to £8. Consternation – even panic - naturally followed with clubs and groups thinking they were facing shutdown. However that decision has been put on hold until the whole question of hall rents in South Ayrshire is discussed by the leadership panel at the end of August. Will the panel recommend that the rents go up? We will need to wait and see. – and be ready for a fight.
The council is now going into recess for a few weeks – which has come as a relief particularly to we new councillors who have been running round like headless chickens (at least that`s what it sometimes felt like) trying to learn everything at once. It is now time to take stock and get ready for a busy decision-making time ahead.
We are of course still in contact – recess just means there are no official meetings – so don`t hesitate to get in touch via the blog, email or phone if you have any problems or concerns.
The council never really closes.
Sunday, 1 July 2007
Busy, busy, busy
YOU have a lot of calls on your time as a councillor.
The past month has been particularly busy with galas, school events not to mention the one-to-one problems raised by constituents which have to be dealt with. There have been community council meetings – we have five in Maybole, North Carrick and Coylton – and panel meetings and training sessions within the County Buildings.
This may sound like the build- up- to a moan, but the reverse is true. It has been a fascinating, if hectic two months since the election – nobody told me it would be this busy.
One of the most interesting meetings was the first get-together of the new Licensing Board. To explain to those who don`t know, the Board, deals with applications from all licensed premises, from hotels and pubs to private clubs. We determine how long they can open, what can happen inside the buildings and while ensuring the licensee can earn a living we also take care of the needs of the public making sure there is little or no disturbance from rowdy drunks, no loud music upsetting the peace of neighbours. It can be a delicate balancing act.
However one important move we made last week at our first meeting was to restrict the hours of Beer Gardens – which have sprung up since smoking was banned last year. Beer Gardens may be good for the nicotine addict, but can be particularly annoying for neighbours if they get too noisy – you can`t exactly shut the doors to keep the sound in . From now they will need to close at 10pm. This applies right now to new applications but will gradually cover all licensed premises in South Ayrshire.
As you will see from the Ayrshire post one unusual application at this meeting was for an entertainments licence for lap/pole dancing in a local club. This opened up a moral dilemma for me. I see this as opening up a whole new spectrum in `leisure entertainment` in Ayr. Do we want what I see as the sex industry in our towns; and how do you protect the women so employed from exploitation? The argument was put that it would bring more `tourists` to Ayr. Is this the sort of tourism we want?
However we were saved from making a decision as the licensing laws are about to undergo major changes and we will have to investigate how the Scottish Executive looks on such `adult entertainment before coming to a decision`. The application has been delayed to the next Board meeting in October.
On the brighter side, with my Licensing Board hat on I met Ayr`s superstars the McDonald brothers who are supporting a Board initiative in clubs and pubs this summer aimed particularly at girls- Who`s Keeping an Eye on Your Drink?` I had my picture taken with them – definitely one for the album.
Two comments have been made anonymously to me by email about this blog
1. Lighten up Ann, you are living in the past. Women being exploited? it's us that are exploiting the men by giving them a little thrill in return for hard cash. A local job here in Ayr will save me having to travel to Glasgow to do this work.
Shirley
I am glad you are fighting this move to bring the sex industry into our town.
How about setting up an on line petition against this sex club which will show the Council how normal people feel about a sex club in .
I publish these to show just how widely diverse views on this subject are likely to be.
The past month has been particularly busy with galas, school events not to mention the one-to-one problems raised by constituents which have to be dealt with. There have been community council meetings – we have five in Maybole, North Carrick and Coylton – and panel meetings and training sessions within the County Buildings.
This may sound like the build- up- to a moan, but the reverse is true. It has been a fascinating, if hectic two months since the election – nobody told me it would be this busy.
One of the most interesting meetings was the first get-together of the new Licensing Board. To explain to those who don`t know, the Board, deals with applications from all licensed premises, from hotels and pubs to private clubs. We determine how long they can open, what can happen inside the buildings and while ensuring the licensee can earn a living we also take care of the needs of the public making sure there is little or no disturbance from rowdy drunks, no loud music upsetting the peace of neighbours. It can be a delicate balancing act.
However one important move we made last week at our first meeting was to restrict the hours of Beer Gardens – which have sprung up since smoking was banned last year. Beer Gardens may be good for the nicotine addict, but can be particularly annoying for neighbours if they get too noisy – you can`t exactly shut the doors to keep the sound in . From now they will need to close at 10pm. This applies right now to new applications but will gradually cover all licensed premises in South Ayrshire.
As you will see from the Ayrshire post one unusual application at this meeting was for an entertainments licence for lap/pole dancing in a local club. This opened up a moral dilemma for me. I see this as opening up a whole new spectrum in `leisure entertainment` in Ayr. Do we want what I see as the sex industry in our towns; and how do you protect the women so employed from exploitation? The argument was put that it would bring more `tourists` to Ayr. Is this the sort of tourism we want?
However we were saved from making a decision as the licensing laws are about to undergo major changes and we will have to investigate how the Scottish Executive looks on such `adult entertainment before coming to a decision`. The application has been delayed to the next Board meeting in October.
On the brighter side, with my Licensing Board hat on I met Ayr`s superstars the McDonald brothers who are supporting a Board initiative in clubs and pubs this summer aimed particularly at girls- Who`s Keeping an Eye on Your Drink?` I had my picture taken with them – definitely one for the album.
Two comments have been made anonymously to me by email about this blog
1. Lighten up Ann, you are living in the past. Women being exploited? it's us that are exploiting the men by giving them a little thrill in return for hard cash. A local job here in Ayr will save me having to travel to Glasgow to do this work.
Shirley
I am glad you are fighting this move to bring the sex industry into our town.
How about setting up an on line petition against this sex club which will show the Council how normal people feel about a sex club in .
I publish these to show just how widely diverse views on this subject are likely to be.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)