Town Mayor Cllr June Malcolm

Welcome to the monthly column by Pocklington's Town Mayor Cllr. June Malcolm.

It would be pointness to pretend that Pocklington Town Council has a very powerful role in the town.  While we deal with the cemetery, litter bins, the buildings we own including the Arts Centre, mowing the grass around the town etc. our deliberations on many other matters are merely recommendations to the East Riding of Yorkshire Council.  This includes speed limits, road mending and street lights.

Our requests and comments are often taken into consideration, but ours is not the deciding voice.  Take the proposed development on the old East Riding depot site.  Pocklington Town Council planning committee commented on three occasions that, among other things it felt that three storey houses would be too high the the surrounding area.  it also objected to high density housing on the site.  That committee also listened to the comments of residents of Cemetery Lane and suggested different schemes to avoid traffic problems between the roundabout and West Green.  After a public enquiry which took place in Goole, so that few Pocklington people could attend, the development has been given the go-ahead.

The more that Pocklington Town Council can plan ahead, has a vision for what the future development of the town should be, the better the case the town and its council will have for resisting decisions made on their behalf.

So we need a plan - whats called a parish plan or a Town Plan in our case.  There is a process we have to go through to put this into operation and it is not just the job of the Town Councillors, but of everyone in the community to have their say.  We need consultation meetings and townspeople who are prepared not just to complain that they don't like whats happening, but to come forward and help to make things happen the way that they want.  Open discussion and concensus is the way forward.

There will be an election next May and a new town Council will be formed.  If you feel strongly about matters in the town - why not stand for election?