The best and worst of... Small market town... Big issues...
(And no that is not the real council's crest, this one even has 3 roast chickens on it)
The best and worst of... Small market town... Big issues...
(And no that is not the real council's crest, this one even has 3 roast chickens on it)
What's this website all about?
INTRODUCTION
Town Councils are funny things.
Most people would expect Town Councils to be rather dull and mundane, after all who would want to be a Town Councillor? What’s in it for them? There is no simple answer.
Across the country some people might aspire to become town councillors for the ego, the status (don’t laugh). Perhaps in some ways it could feed a sense of self-importance? Who knows, people are all different.
Of course many others might want to become a town councillor out of a hunger to help others, or to help support a town so that it can improve. They might be driven purely by wanting it to be a better place for its people and its visitors.
Remember Town Councils do actually perform an essential role. Town Councillors themselves don’t get paid unlike County Councillors, and many of them do put in the hours to better a town for no reward. A noble pursuit and pretty much thankless task.
Now let’s throw in the word that turns many people off - politics. Politics has a place in goverment (duh!), but at a town or parish council level it really is irrelevant. Anyone who has sat in a village hall waiting to be enthralled with political debate will be hugely disappointed when all that is discussed is ‘the gravel that keeps washing out onto the road where Doris lives’ or ‘the estate agent sign that obscures the one about the upcoming village fete’.
Town councils are the same as parish councils that villages have across the country. This isn’t Westminster, but for some very odd reason some councillors might see it as a political battleground, one worthy of a plethora of pre-election political party plaquards and a desperation to see as many councillors as possible wear the same political colours. All a bit odd! Could there be an agenda of tribal control, only this time with a backdrop of a saturday town market instead of a village fete? Any screenwriters reading? Exciting stuff!
Do things ever get heated? Oh, don’t be silly, how could they and why would they? Whoahhh, hold on horsey, never forget what a good dollop of pettiness and pretentiousness can end up igniting. Remember a few years ago when a town council meeting in Cheshire went viral after it descended into chaos? Councillors puffing out their chests in their shirt-and-jumper-combos, nerdily lashing out with outrage whilst a school teacher-esque chair of the meeting tried her best to keep a sense of order. That video became teatime news entertainment, possibly one of the greatest inadvertent joyful gifts Zoom has given to the British public. If you’d like a little laughter and to reminisce, click here to watch.
So what can we expect from this website going forward?
Well, sex, drugs and rock’n’roll are unlikely, but heh, you can never rule something out completely (but it’s probably not a case of watch this space).
Coming soon though, let's take a look at the best of Ross-on-Wye Town Council, the worst of Ross-on-Wye Town Council, celebrate the achievements and delve into the big issues faced by a small market town.
So here we go, a 'case study' you might say, of what happens when big time players meet gargantuan issues head on in the cauldron of a small market town’s Town Council.
Strap in!