Town Council By-Elections

Following this weeks’ resignations of Cllr Donna Caley and Cllr David Foster from Nelson Town Council, we are likely to have by elections in both the Bradley and Clover Hill wards in early April.

In my view, the holding of by-elections is the only fair way of appointing councillors to fill the seats vacated by Cllrs Caley and Foster.  Filling those seats by any other means would be both undemocratic and unfair, and the public must be given their say through by elections.   It will certainly be very interesting to see what happens in the contests in those areas, and I’m sure a good number of excellent prospective councillors who have a real desire to serve their communities will put their names forward for election.

New Buses Hit The Streets

This week Transdev Burnley & Pendle has launched its new “Mainline” buses, 19 brand new Volvo single deckers with possibly the highest level of specification we have ever seen in a bus in our area.

I had the good fortune to be able to travel aboard two of these on my journeys to and from work on Friday, 13th February, and was very impressed indeed.  The thing that impresses me most is not just the increased leg-room and comfortable seats, but the fact that the company has been able to introduce an interior design which doesn’t just consist of choice materials such as light grey plastic and dark grey plastic with predominantly grey seats.  Instead, Transdev have selected two-tone red mocquette for the seats, which are finished with cream headrests, dark-red laminate interior side panels, and a very nice two-tone grey and red floor.

As a daily commuter on Transdev services, it is very pleasing to note that we are now travelling aboard one of the youngest and highest quality transport fleets anywhere in the country.

Budget Set At Marsden Heights

I attended a meeting of the Governors’ Finance Committee at Marsden Heights Community College on Monday, 9th February.  The Finance Committee is charged with performing due dilligence on the financial management and budgetary requirements of the college, and we had to undertake this on the budget for the next academic year.

What has become increasingly apparent is the immense skill of the College’s Business Manager Mrs. Green and Bursar Mrs. Mellor in managing a budget which is becoming increasingly tight as time progresses.  The increases in fuel and other utility costs are becoming real concerns, as is the true cost of continuing to maintain and operate two increasingly worn out 70-year old buildings whilst heading  toward the move to the new college next year.

Cost controls are applied rigorously within the College, and there is minimal room for error on the many areas we must budget for in order to continue to provide a first rate level of education to our students.

Nelson Town Council – 11th February

Nelson Town Council met on 11th February to consider a number of issues related to committee meetings which had taken place on 28th January.

A proposal had been placed before the Finance and General Purposes Committee which would have permitted Town Councillors to have business cards printed at public expense.  The quotation received from a local printing company for each member to have 200 cards each was for a total of £445.00 (including VAT).  As chairman of the Finance and General Purposes committee,  I personally viewed this as a frivolous waste of public funds, and felt that £445 out of a budgetary total of £69,000 was something I simply could not support.  Thankfully, when the issue went before the full council, it was rejected, and your Town Councillors will not be receiving business cards paid for by the public purse.  The meeting agreed that  the only person who will receive business cards is our sole paid employee, our Town Clerk Mr. Martin Harrison.

At the same meeting, councillors discussed the continued employment of our clerk, Mr. Martin Harrison, who had hitherto been employed on a temporary contract.  Mr. Harrison’s continued employment was discussed by the council, and we decided to retain his services on a permanent basis.  We decided to provide Mr. Harrison with a permanent contract of employment for the reasons that he is an excellent business manager for the Town Council, he provides councillors with invaluable advice on planning and financial issues and continues to provide members with the highest possible level of support.