In November 2008, I requested an agenda item for the Full Town Council meeting at the end of that month. For weeks leading up to Bonfire Night in November, many local residents asked me why there was no organised display in Thetford and to be honest, there was no answer that could be given. I therefore proposed at the November meeting that Thetford Town Council should take the lead on organising such an event in 2009. The reason being that other towns and small villages organise their own displays for their residents so why could Thetford not have a display? Also, much work has taken place over many years primarily by the Fire and Police Services locally tackling illegal and dangerous bonfires and fireworks. Without an organised event, it is difficult for these organisations to address this issue. Many members of the Town Council supported the concept of having a display but were sceptical of the practicalities, cost, noise, location etc. The Town Manager - Susan Glossop, was asked to produce a report looking at the options available which she did, and this was presented to full council at the end of January. The report indicated a lot of support from agencies and residents groups around the town and Serjeant Steve Burke from Thetford Police was at the meeting to confirm their support. Some councillors still had issues with the project and were reluctant to 'underwrite' the cost and wanted other groups/organisations locally to financially commit to the project. The Town Council have no money available this year as it is heavily supporting the Thomas Paine events. The council agreed to defer making a decision on the idea until more information was gathered. In the meantime, to address the question posed by some councillors that there may not be support for this idea amongst people in the town, I decided to set-up a group on Facebook to see how many people from Thetford would join to show their support. Amazingly, over 350 have joined in just 48 hours!!! I am not sure what my fellow Town Councillors will make of this but I am greatly encouraged by this and firmly believe that involving the people of this town is vitally important for all organisations and all community projects. The next few weeks will be interesting!
Monday 9 February 2009
Thetford Bonfire & Fireworks Event
In November 2008, I requested an agenda item for the Full Town Council meeting at the end of that month. For weeks leading up to Bonfire Night in November, many local residents asked me why there was no organised display in Thetford and to be honest, there was no answer that could be given. I therefore proposed at the November meeting that Thetford Town Council should take the lead on organising such an event in 2009. The reason being that other towns and small villages organise their own displays for their residents so why could Thetford not have a display? Also, much work has taken place over many years primarily by the Fire and Police Services locally tackling illegal and dangerous bonfires and fireworks. Without an organised event, it is difficult for these organisations to address this issue. Many members of the Town Council supported the concept of having a display but were sceptical of the practicalities, cost, noise, location etc. The Town Manager - Susan Glossop, was asked to produce a report looking at the options available which she did, and this was presented to full council at the end of January. The report indicated a lot of support from agencies and residents groups around the town and Serjeant Steve Burke from Thetford Police was at the meeting to confirm their support. Some councillors still had issues with the project and were reluctant to 'underwrite' the cost and wanted other groups/organisations locally to financially commit to the project. The Town Council have no money available this year as it is heavily supporting the Thomas Paine events. The council agreed to defer making a decision on the idea until more information was gathered. In the meantime, to address the question posed by some councillors that there may not be support for this idea amongst people in the town, I decided to set-up a group on Facebook to see how many people from Thetford would join to show their support. Amazingly, over 350 have joined in just 48 hours!!! I am not sure what my fellow Town Councillors will make of this but I am greatly encouraged by this and firmly believe that involving the people of this town is vitally important for all organisations and all community projects. The next few weeks will be interesting!
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1 comment:
Hi Terry
I hope you are well. I'm glad to see that I'm not the only blogger in town.
Thanks for all your help and support with the Thomas Paine Friendship Quilt - much appreciated!
Kind Regards
~ Colin
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