Charles Burrell Mayor Making Report - May 2015

CHARLES BURRELL CENTRE COMMITTEE

Report for Mayor Making / Annual Town Meeting – May 2015

By Terry Jermy

The Charles Burrell Committee met frequently over the past year as the plan to re-open the Centre materalised and things quickly took off. This time last year our first tenants had moved in and began delivering their activities. Word quickly spread that the Centre was open for business and several new organisations came forward. 2 became 4, which became 8, which became 16 quite quickly – as of today there’s 27 permanent tenants and up to 30 regular sessional hirers. The project received a significant boost in September last year when a new manager came onboard in the form of Mark Snowdon, a former Charles Burrell pupil himself who had 9 years experience as the Deputy Manager at the Leisure Centre. Marks first week of work was dominated by the Centres Open Day that took place on the 6^th September which turned out to be a huge success, organized by one the centres regular volunteers – Sharon Nash. The event gave groups that use the Centre the opportunity to showcase themselves; recruiting new volunteers and members and raising funds in some cases. The open day also gave former pupils, some from the 1960’s and 70’s the chance to walk around the school and see how it had changed over time. Several former teachers also attended. Pupils and teachers alike were so pleased that the school had been saved from demolition. It was pleasing to be able to offer former pupils and teachers with a venue to hold a memorable service to notable former headmaster Derek Briggs who sadly passed away – a memorial bench dedicated to Mr Briggs now also stands in the middle courtyard section of the site.

Moving forward, new tenants continued to confirm throughout the Autumn and into the Winter months – the most significant of which was West Suffolk College who committed to six classrooms and two offices, not just boosting the Centre financially, but also improving the education and training offer in Thetford – a win win for the town. The most recent tenant to confirm has been Hertz, the car rental business, highlighting that the Centre is a home for a broad range of organisations ranging from Thetford Foodbank through to commercial businesses – all benefitting from usage of the centre and additionally benefiting from increased networking opportunities and enhanced ability to work together; sharing ideas and resources wherever possible.

This rush of interest at the start of this year led to the Town Council agreeing an injection of cash to bring forward the recruitment of a new full-time administration assistant to help with the rapidly increasing enquiries and admin related tasks. We were pleased to be able to offer the position to Karen Robinson, a resident of the Barnham Cross area and herself a former user of the site through her daughters involvement with roller skating. Karen was one of the people that attended the public meeting way back in July 2013 to discuss keeping the site open, fitting therefore that Karen was now joining the staff team to make the project a success.

From the 1^st April this year the Centre has been run by a newly created organization – Charles Burrell Centre Ltd – which has taken on the management and development of the site from Thetford Town Council. This saw the completion of the Committees work and our last meeting took place during March of this year. From the 1^st April a new management committee was formed for Charles Burrell Centre Ltd, consisting of 11 members. There are 3 Town Council representatives, elected by the Town Council, 3 tenant representatives elected by tenants at the Centre, 1 Norfolk County Council representative, elected by the NCC Communities Committee and 1 community representative, the current Chairman of the Barnham residents group. In addition to this there are 3 co-opted members of the board, chosen for specific skills and experience which they can offer. This new board, democratically chosen in an open and transparent way as it should be and reflecting the various stakeholders that exist.

It is early days but the new board are already making fantastic progress and they are optimistic for the year ahead. Anyone can become a member of the new organization and have a say in the future of the Centre, shares can be purchased for just £1 and as you might expect, I have share forms here if anyone would like one. In addition, there’s numerous volunteering opportunities at the Centre so please do enquire if you are interested. Applications forms also available!

We were incredibly fortunate to safeguard Charles Burrell for the town, a rare window of opportunity, and rarer still, one that was grasped. Now it’s everyone’s job to keep it available and to enable it to thrive. Throughout our research stage we travelled to both Barnsley and Leeds to view examples of good community projects and to learn from what they had done. Our discussion on the train journey home on those occasions about how it would be great for people to visit Thetford to learn from our community, may just be that little bit more realistic now. Thank-you.

RIP Matthew Percy

On Monday night of this week something tragic happened; a young 21 year-old guy that I knew called Matthew Percy from Ipswich decided to take his own life. This person was not someone that I knew very well but as a fellow member of the Labour Party we were ‘connected’ and I would regularly see him at Labour Party events where we would say hello etc. Through social media - it added a different level of ‘connectivity’ and we would ‘like’ and comment on each other’s statuses and engage in discussions about local politics and community issues. Ever since I found out that Matthew had died I have thought about him and his situation a lot. I saw so much of myself in Matthew, I became actively involved in politics at a young age and despite only being 21, Matthew was already a local Councillor and through his Facebook statuses his passion was clear – I remember thinking regularly that everything was so important for Matthew, I’m sure that was partly his age, and no doubt partly because of his autism, but also because of his passion. I saw on Monday a Facebook thread of Matthews where there was a debate about suicide, it seemed quite intense but that was not of surprise. I did not see that later on Matthew had posted a Facebook status that was in effect a suicide note. Reading as I did the following day the comments from people frantically trying to contact him and discussing who should phone the police was absolutely harrowing. To read officially that he had indeed died - I gasped out loud. To have it play out online in that way was just excruciating. Death is such a final thing, I’ve always struggled with it, there’s no returning from it – nothing you can do can make any difference once someone has gone – that’s what’s so saddening about it for me. We will never know how Matthew could have developed and what he could have achieved. That's a big part of the reason this is tragic. It’s inevitable I guess but I can’t help but think of what more could have been done, what could have prevented this? I think if we’re all honest we all have insecurities, we all have things that make us unhappy. The difference is that we all deal with this in different ways, we all tolerate things to greater or lesser extents and we all have different support structures in place, whether they be friends or family, or professional forms of support. I’ve really taken a lesson from Matthews situation that we should all be more considerate of others, we should all think about making comments that may cause somebody anxiety or distress. I guess in short we should all be more human. I think too that we should also make sure that there is support there for others. Matthew was somebody that cared deeply for others, he did this despite clearly having his own issues. Whilst I know that nothing can be done for Matthew, I hope, I so so hope that it does not need to happen to anyone else and whilst we cannot bring him back, we can try to make sure it doesn’t happen again. That’s my only crumb of comfort in what is otherwise an incredibly tragic and sad situation. RIP Matthew.

http://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/touching_tributes_paid_to_labour_campaigner_matthew_percy_following_tragic_death_on_monday_night_1_4043715

Labour Group proposal to Breckland Council Budget setting meeting

Breckland Council Budget Setting Meeting, Thurs 26^th February 2015

Views of Breckland Labour Group

"There is much detail in these reports and I thank those members and officers that have been involved in their production. I found very informative the Director of Place (Julie Kennealy) presentation at the Overview and Scrutiny Commission meeting and I thank her for that.

There was a very positive and upbeat tone at that meeting and lots of “aren’t we doing well?” – forgive me if I do not join in completely.

This is not a package of measures that should be applauded and trumpeted in totality. Whilst there are a number of aspects that I applaud, keeping car parking free for example, and recently committed to regeneration projects as well as the proposals agreed to this week in relation to support for neighbourhood plans. Many will see this is a budget that continues to provide very limited services for people in the District and offers little sign of action to address many concerns that exist. I could highlight bold measures taken by neighbouring councils and I could talk at length Mr Chairman about what aspects I have concerns with and what I would feel the other priorities of residents are – but I am restricted to my 3 minutes long response and I recognize that ultimately, the Conservative majority of this Council will pass this budget.

I do however want to offer one improvement to this budget as I would see it -

Housing continues to be the issue that is raised with me above any else Mr Chairman, and that is why I would therefore like to propose an amendment to this budget. Appendix E highlights the money due to be received in New Homes bonus income up to 2019. It’s purpose....? for ‘community projects’. 

If we are to address our housing issues, we need to make the funds available and I would therefore propose that this money is ring-fenced for community housing projects, with a specific focus on creating one and two bedroom properties. Some of this money is needed to fill a gap in the revenue budget, but for the amount simply being transferred to reserves, which currently has not planned usage – we could be making better use of. This would serve a number of purposes; increasing the number of affordable homes that are available clearly, but also alleviating the impact of the spare room subsidy, commonly known as the bedroom tax, by providing alternative accommodation for those that have been hit by this. 

Recently published figures show that there has been a 55% increase in the number of people in Breckland that are in receipt of housing benefit, even though they are working.

Such is the demand for housing, landlords can charge rents that are unaffordable and this gets topped up by tax payers – what a waste of public funds in a time of austerity. Public funds should be spent on providing good quality, affordable homes, rather than paying off the mortgages of private landlords on an industrial scale. We need to turn that current situation on its head. We know too that there have been over 1,000 families affected by the bedroom tax in our District alone and whilst I am not sure to what extend other members here are aware of personal cases, I can could recount many to members which are very distressing. Utilising this money in this way would help to generate further income, partly from additional new homes bonus money, but also through the rents from the properties.

If there were one aspect of this budget where I would urge a re-focus, this would be it.

AMENDMENT – Proposed by Councillor Jermy

a) For the ‘New Homes bonus’ income, as outlined in Appendix B, not required to support the revenue budget and currently being proposed to be transferred to reserves for an unspecified purpose - to be ring-fenced for ‘community housing projects’. B) Officers to be asked to investigate options for utilizing this money, with a specific focus on creating 1 and 2 bedroom properties, with options to be tabled to a future Cabinet meeting.

Tales from canvassing session number 3 - 25.02.15

another enjoyable morning out talking to local residents with Brenda Canham,Mike Brindle and Gerald Bass - this time covering Gloucester Way and Hereford Close on the Abbey Estate. Some people don't like 'canvassing' and some people don't like being 'canvassed' but it's so important for local Councillors and candidates to talk with residents about issues which they are concerned about. Today I had some interesting conversations regarding street lights and lot of people raised concerns about the ones that go off near mid-night (Norfolk County Council owned lights) and also those that and permanently off through lack of maintenance (Breckland Council owned lights). I also wrote down the column numbers of several that were on during the day, presumably all day long. Some interesting discussions about fly-tipping too. The bedroom tax was raised again several times. What continues to surprise me is the amount of people who are still so angry at the bus station move decision. Several people I've spoken to over a number of weeks are completely put off the democratic process as they were "ignored" regarding the bus station but as I have explained to a number of people, that only plays into the hands of those that ignore you. It should motivate you to ensure you always vote, and get others to vote, rather than putting you off voting. The bus station move was pushed through by the Moving Thetford Forward board which was full of Breckland Council Conservatives - not voting only helps them. Nice to see today that the car park at the front of the shops on Abbey was getting a thorough clean - this is something we reported whilst out last time. Attached picture shows the garage block at the top of Gloucester Way which, like most garage blocks, is in an appalling state - they are simply not maintained properly by Flagship, this is something I will email through today along with the other issues picked up.

Tales from canvassing duties... 11.02.15

good morning today out canvassing in advance of the May 7th elections with Brenda Canham, Mike Brindle and Peter Smith - (all seats on Thetford Town Council and Breckland Council are up for election on the same day as the General Election) - today we did Chester, Coventry and Durham on the Abbey Estate. People wanted to discuss a range of things including; wanting improved play areas, pot-holes needing to be addressed, immigration concerns and general estate cleanliness. As usual many people are not interested in voting at all, which is very sad, but at least those people now cannot say that they never see their Councillors, or no-body cares etc etc. One lady explained how she is being hit by the bedroom tax on top of losing her husband and that she is now living off the money that he received from his redundancy that was thankfully received just before he died. As she said to us, "why should I be punished for living in a house which I've lived in for years and years and paid for the rent and looked after it?" The bedroom tax remains one of the most nasty policies that the Conservative-led Government has introduced in the past five years, and I am so pleased that the Labour Party has pledged to scrap it if elected in May. We also spoke with a man who was caring for his sister who had recently had a stroke and he was not registered to vote, so we were able to help with that and advise on the fact that she could vote by post if she wanted. Total of 81 people spoken to. Also whilst out between now and May I will be taking lots of photos of matters that need to be reported - including for example this mess in a garage block on Durham Way.

New year and much has changed

Apologies for the lack of postings - so much has changed since last year! I'm going to make a concerted effort to post more regularly! one of the reasons I've been so busy is that myself and my brother and sister have taken on the responsibility for the design, print and delivery of the monthly About Thetford magazine that goes to every house in the town. I'm delighted to be able to share with you the February edition which has just been uploaded online for all to read: February About Thetford magazine

Charles Burrell Centre Open Day - 7th Sept 2014

Elm Road social services site update

I've been pressing Norfolk County Council of late on the state of the former Elm Road social services / PRU depot which has been left empty for approx 2 years. The grounds have been allowed to become very messy and items have been fly-tipped there. I recently sent an email to NCC Labour Leader George Knobbs, who asked staff to address the matter and I'm pleased to share the below;

Dear George

My colleague James Sullivan met Terry Jermy on site on 8th August and agreed on a two-stage approach to tidying up the site, which had not been cut up to that stage to keep costs to a minimum and in part to seek to discourage access by children to play games etc. 

James has met with the grounds contractors on site this morning and as agreed with Terry they are going to cut back any weeds etc. growing through the railing fence and strim a metre inside the site boundary. They are going to cut and clear all the overhanging branches on the Laburnum Grove frontage and strim all the areas of grass verge adjacent to footpath. They will also remove some debris that has been dumped on the site.

He has also arranged for a grass cut across the site following the start of the next school term to make it tidier as we move into autumn.

Kind regards

David Russell

Visit by new Breckland Chief Exec to Thetford Town Council meeting

Recent letter to Thetford and Brandon Times

First Night Market of 2014 hailed a success

From Thetford and Brandon Times website:

Entertainment, bargains and community spirit were all on show in Thetford market place as the summer night markets returned.

People poured in to see live music, browse the stalls and enjoy refreshments at the event on Friday.

Started two years ago, the joint initiative between Thetford Town Council and Sort-It continues to be a success according to Terry Jermy, organiser.

“We’re delighted with the success of the first Summer night market. The crowds that attended demonstrate just how keen people in Thetford are for events such as this to occur and not only did people have a great time but a number of charities and small businesses were supported in the process,” he said.

The event was the first of three night markets to be held this summer, with more planned on August 22 and September 12.

For more about the night markets, contact Angus Dixon on 07446 876954.

Town Council asked to consider agreeing to public drinking ban

Police officers in Thetford could be given enhanced powers to tackle street drinking if plans to bring a by-law into effect are implemented.

The Safer Thetford Action Group (STAG) have called for police officers and councillors in the town to set up a working group to look at introducing a “no street-drinking” by-law, with the issue being a long-standing priority for Thetford Police.

The by-law would see the extension of Designated Public Places (DPP) which give police additional powers in relation to street drinking if there is evidence that it may lead to, or is causing, anti-social behaviour (ASB).

In a letter to Thetford mayor, Sylvia Armes, Graham Sigley, chair of STAG, wrote that it was considering following the example of other towns by enacting the by-law, but warned it raised issues.

“STAG have discussed the possibilities of such an option for Thetford across a geographical area that would need to be determined but are aware that such a by-law would need to be implemented by Breckland Council,” he said.

“Also, while such an option would seem to be quite a straightforward response to concerns about street drinking, STAG members are aware that implementing such a by-law would be complex and with costs involved, and it would need to be constantly monitored and enforced.”

He added that some towns employed their own enforcement wardens.

Dr Sigley said that the use of DPPs meant that officers were forced to make complex judgments.

“For example, factors to take into account could include the number of people involved, the exact location, the timing and the amount of alcohol.

“Are two shift workers having a can of lager after work on a park bench at 7am causing or likely to cause ASB? Similarly with a family having a large picnic with a bottle of wine alongside the river,” he said.

The issue will be discussed by Thetford Town Council at a meeting on Tuesday night from 7pm.

Councillors will be asked if they want to convene a working group which will include STAG representatives, Breckland Council, Norfolk County Council and Norfolk Police.

Anti-social behaviour issues in Thetford

Letter regarding affordable housing

Housing debate at Breckland Council - 29.05.14

PRESS RELEASE

BRECKLAND LABOUR GROUP FIGHTS FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING

THURSDAY 29TH MAY 2014

Members of the Breckland Council Labour Group pressed the authority on Thursday to do more to address the housing problems that exist in the District.

At the Full Council meeting on Thursday, Labour Group Leader Councillor Terry Jermy tabled an amendment that would have resulted in £320,000 being put towards affordable housing projects in the District. This amendment was lost, with all Conservative Councillors voting against, and all members of the opposition voting for it.

That £320,000 was received by Breckland Council in the last financial year from the sale of former Council houses in the district through the 'right to buy' scheme introduced many years ago by former Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.

Despite Breckland Council no longer owning any Council houses in the District as they sold the stock in 1993 to Peddars Way Housing Association, the authority still receives a share of the money each time a house is sold.

Labour Councillors argued that this money should be ring-fenced for re-investment back into affordable housing or, there will be a decreasing availability of social housing as more and more units are sold via 'right to buy'.

Speaking at the meeting, Councillor Jermy said; "We know that there are many, many housing issues in this District. There's a growing number of people sat on the housing waiting list - many thousands strong and growing all the time and there's 3,000 people living in private rented accommodation but in receipt of housing benefit. That's 3,000 private owned houses where the tax-payer is paying off those mortgages. Further, there's over 1,000 families in our District affected by the so called 'bedroom tax'. This £320k was not anticipated so it is not needed for anything else and it should be reinvested back into the social housing market".

Councillor Brenda Canham, Labour, Thetford-Abbey Ward said; "In the last two weeks I have been trying to help a young man from the Abbey Estate who suffers from epilepsy and is currently sleeping on a sofa as he has no-where to live. There's simply not the houses available and Breckland are not even in a position to help him with a loan for the deposit for a private rented property. I've also come across a man who's living in a garage as he has no-where else to go. This money would not solve all these problems, but it would be a start in the right direction".

Councillors ultimately backed the Conservative proposal to put the money into the General Reserve pot.

Charles Burrell Committee report for Mayor Making 2014

CHARLES BURRELL COMMITTEE REPORT (For Mayor Making May 2014)

Thank-you Madam Chairman, normally when I say a few words at the Annual Town meeting I look back at what was said the year before. But the Charles Burrell Committee did not exist then, indeed the site was still fully functioning as a High School. And that in itself shows just how rapidly things have progressed in the last 12 months! It was around about this time last year that the Town Council resolved to hold a public meeting at the site to give local residents and groups that used the site the chance to have their say about its impending closure. As those present at that meeting will recall, it was a well attended meeting with strong passions expressed for keeping as much of the site available as possible. Following this, the Town Council agreed to establish the Charles Burrell Committee to explore the feasibility of preserving the site and at this point we engaged Robert Ashton to help co-ordinate a feasibility study into this. Several open days were held for groups interested in using parts of the building and as best possible costs were identified by the Committee.

Fortunately, thanks to a change in administration at County Hall we were able to safeguard the site whilst we considered all of the options available. 

The feasibility report was concluded and presented to a Special Council in November and Councillors accepted that the project had a great deal of potential and agreed to take it to the next level which was to discuss options with Norfolk County Council. After considerably lobbying we were naturally very pleased when NCC agreed to our requests for a 30-year lease with no break-clauses exercisable on their part. We were of course nervous about investing time and money into the project only for NCC to take the site back when they felt like it or when they had figured out what they may want to do with it. Crucially for the Town Council however was the fact that the lease allows us to hand back to site to NCC at anytime in the first five years with just 3 months notice and then allows break-points for us every 5 years, if we choose to exercise it. Also, the lease allows TTC to transfer the lease to a charitable trust of its choice – something the Council has been exploring in recent weeks. The fact that there was such strong demand and that the lease was so advantageous for TTC resulted in members of the Council agreeing to sign it and become fully-committed to keeping the site open.

A new Project Co-ordinator has been recruited and additional sessional staff will be recruited in the near future. We currently have around 50 different organisations that have expressed an interest in using the site – some on a sessional basis of just a few hours a week and others wanting a more permanent base. What’s been particularly nice so far is learning about how many groups are now able to increase the activities that they provide, or what services they are able to locate locally thanks to this venue now being available. 

Finally, to close, I would like to thank the members of the Charles Burrell Committee for their work and support in recent months – but not just in meetings but also for the hard graft that Councillors have put in cleaning the site and moving furniture etc and I’d also like to thank the very many people that have signed up as volunteers and supported the project so far. I’m hopeful that support will continue and this will become a thriving, and sustainable Centre for all residents of Thetford.

Charles Burrell Centre - Update

UPDATE – CHARLES BURRELL CENTRE

For Thetford Town Council - Full Council – 29.04.14

INITIAL TASKS

The month of April has seen volunteers signed up to support the project - approximately 20 different volunteers to date, and much work has taken place on site to get it ready. This has included moving furniture around the building to appropriate locations, cleaning the whole site and sifting through rubbish and generally getting to grips with operational issues – such as locating and labelling keys! Norfolk County Council has provided at cost to them two large skips for general rubbish and one paper / cardboard recycling bin which have been made use of. In addition, we have recycled where possible including glass, textiles and metal. A fire warden course has been provided to the volunteers and prospective tenants. There are numerous health and safety considerations and these are currently being prioritised and worked through by the Project Co-ordinator, liaising with the Health and Safety Consultant and H&S Committee as necessary. Quotes for the supply of necessary services have also been sought.

USERS

The first phase of users will begin officially utilising the Charles Burrell Centre from Thursday 1^st May 2014. The initial users are; Thundercat Cheerleaders, Thetford & District Model Railway Club, Red Hot Catering, Thetford Players, Well Made Theatre Group and Zumba. Thundercats have been sessionally hiring space through April and are clearly a popular activity locally. In the near future, these organisations will be joined by; Thetford Athletics, Living for Life and Thetford Toy Library. Other ad hoc hirers will also be occurring including West Suffolk College and Adult Education.

Collectively, these organisations will be contributing approximately £6,000 per month towards the running costs of the Centre which goes a long way towards addressing the approximate £100k per annum in running costs that will be incurred. The ‘Company Shop’ i.e. social supermarket, will be visiting the site on Friday 7^th May 2014 to progress plans. The CB Centre Committee will be meeting with Sarah Dunwell from Company Shop and Robert Ashton.

ADDITIONAL FUNDING

The funding application to Moving Thetford Forward for £75,000 in funding to support the installation of solar panels and to replace some of the windows is currently being assessed and we hope that this is successful. Robert Ashton is progressing our main funding application to SIB. Additional funding opportunities have also been identified.

LEASE

The main lease between Thetford Town Council and Norfolk County Council is as of yet not finalised and it is imperative that this is completed as soon as possible. Because of this, we are currently only able to offer to our first phase users a tenancy at will. This situation will hopefully be resolved by the end of this week. Additional terms and conditions for sessional hirers have been established, utilising the very thorough T&Cs for the Guildhall complex as a foundation.

MOVING FORWARD…

There are currently around 50 different organisations that have expressed an interest in using the Charles Burrell Centre. This presents a number of different issues and we have much work to do to make the building a well-run, successful and sustainable centre, but this is a positive challenge to be faced with and it’s encouraging that there are so many organisations expressing an interest and there is clearly a need for the centre.