JUST ONE WEEK AFTER Castle Point Borough Council brightened residents lives with its self-funding fireworks display on Friday, 5th November, Canvey Island Town Council (CITC) is preparing to go head-to-head with its first Citizenship Awards celebrations – funded by £10,000 from precious reserves contributed by island taxpayers.
The costly event will take place at 7.30pm, in The Paddocks, this Friday, on November 12th – and all islanders are invited. It is understood that the current Chairman, CIIP councillor John Anderson, will be there sporting the Town Council’s Chain of Office (for which islanders paid £1,000; but which is so rarely seen by the public).
The Citizenship Award Ceremony is just a taster of this winter’s entertainment, thrown on by the Town Council, which will see its other Christmas festive spending quadruple to some £20,000 this year.
It seems that money is no object when it comes to CITC raiding its increasingly sparse coffers to promote its own existence – while needy causes like the island’s Citizen Advice Bureau are forced to rely on the good intentions of one of its own bad-kneed councillors throwing herself out of a high-flying aircraft.
While other Town and Parish Councils throughout the country prepare to assist their Borough Councils in defending public services in the wake of Government cuts, Canvey Island Town Council has little left in its pot. Just £80,000 remains in its General Reserve, whilst an identical amount has been earmarked for Election Expenses (£10,000); Allotments (£10,000); Tewkes Creek (£5,000); Canvey Lake (£50,000) and Seafront Gardens (£5,000).
No provision has been made for Canvey’s Seaside Pool – or taking over any services from Castle Point Borough Council as Dave Blackwell has intimated. Any such additional expenditure will need to come from what remains of next year’s annual islander precept – after the TC deducts the £232,250 it currently spends on staff salaries, members allowances, and its overheads.
That will not leave a great deal (just some £33,000) if islanders only contribute another £265,941 precept – as they did this year. To match this year’s forecast spending, the Town Council will need to find an additional £221,000, which is equivalent to a rise of some 83% in islander TC contributions.
Canvey residents will be hoping that Friday evening’s Citizenship Awards Ceremony is truly aimed at providing a little sunlight into the lives of hard-working islanders, who deserve some respite from their current financial burdens and the hard times that lie ahead.
Let us hope that the event does not turn-out to be just another blow-out for CIIP councillors and their supporters - as their previous Nostalgia Night, held after the island’s Armed Forces Day Parade, apparently did – and that this Blog’s calculations regarding next year’s Town Council levy prove wrong. (Rumour has it that the Town Council might be preparing to drastically reduce its community expenditure next year and blame Government cuts – which will, in fact, effect it in no way at all).
… (18/11/2010, Yellow Advertiser) – Citizen Awards a success
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