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WORK TO BANDSTAND
The major renovation of the Bandstand is scheduled to start
at the end of March. Councillors voted on Wednesday 3rd March 2010 to
award the contract to Mitchell and Hudson of Stamford. The company were
also responsible for the construction of the new toilet block in the
Church Street Car Park.
The £30000 project will see the roof completely stripped prior to being
felted and battened and re-tiled with cedar shingle tiles. Soffits and
fascias will also be removed and replaced with cedar and new guttering
installed. The existing ironwork will be removed and cleaned off site
and a new floor will be laid. Finally the steps will be completely
replaced and the remaining stonework and render cleaned sympathetically
and restored.
The works are expected to take 8-10 weeks which should see the Bandstand
ready for a series of performances during the summer.
TOWN COUNCIL VACANCIES
Following the resignation of three members of the Council,
Notices of the Vacancies have now been published. These are on display
on the Notice boards outside the Victoria Hall, the Library and the
Citizen's Advice Bureau.. There are two vacancies in Oakham South East
Ward and one in Oakham North East Ward.
Ten electors from each ward need to request an election.. These names
need to be with Rutland County Council by the 19th March 2010. If this
does not happen then Oakham Town Council will be given permission to
co-opt people on to the Council.
COUNCIL SETS BUDGET FOR 2010 - 2011
At the meeting of the Town Council held on 13th January 2010,
members ratified the Council's budget for the 2010 - 2011 financial
year.
Residents of Oakham will pay £52.14 per Band D household as opposed to
the £51.12 paid in both 2008 - 2009 and 2009 - 2010. This represents an
increase of 2%
The Town Council's precept is set at £209274.
Oakham Town Council will be increasing its grass cutting and litter
picking during 2010 with daily litter picks in both Royces Playing Field
and Cutts Close. In addition weekly grass cuts will take place in both
locations from April to the end of September. This will be at an
additional cost of approximately £7000.
To help fund this the Town Council will not be offering discretionary
grants in 2010 - 2011. It will, however, continue to financially support
the Oakham Festival, the Oakham Carnival. the Rutland Citizen's Advice
Bureau and Oakham in Bloom.
A copy of the approved budget for 2010 - 2011 can be viewed by
clicking on the link below. Please note that this is in a .xls format
(an Excel spreadsheet) and you will need to have the relevant software
installed on your computer. Hard copies are available free of charge
from the Town Council offices.
Approved Budget 2010 - 2011
NEW COUNCILLOR FOR OAKHAM NORTH WEST
Mr Martin Brookes of Willow Crescent, Oakham, has been
elected unopposed as the new Town Councillor for Oakham North West.
LIGHTING IN CUTTS CLOSE
Work to improve lighting in Cutts Close has now been
completed. The £10000 scheme involved the installation of an additional four street lights
alongside the footpath running to the east of All Saints Churchyard.
The scheme was funded by Oakham Town Council with the help of a 50%
grant from the Welland Challenge Fund. The grant was obtained after a
great deal of work by the Oakham Town Partnership as part of an overall
scheme to improve the Heritage Trail through Oakham.
ROYCES PLAYING FIELD
Work will start in the second week of March to install £50000 of new Play
Equipment at Royces Playing Field. The scheme is one of two in Rutland
that have to be completed by the end of March 2010 as a result of the
award of funding from the Govenment's Playbuilder Scheme to
Rutland County Council. The work will be undertaken by Kompan Ltd
following a decision made by the Council at a meeting held on December
16th 2009.
HELP WANTED
Are you a member of a group that is based in Oakham? If you
are then please contact the office and we will put your details on this
website.
ACCOUNTS 2008 - 2009
Oakham Town Council has received an unqualified opinion on
its accounts for 2008 - 2009. This means that the External Auditor found
no causes for concern in the accounts for the period. Hard
copies will be supplied free of charge. Please contact the Office if you
require a copy. You can also view the accounts by clicking on the link
below:
Accounts 2008 - 2009
ELECTION IN OAKHAM SOUTH WEST RESULT
Mr Alf Dewis of Redland Road Oakham is the new Councillor for
Oakham South West. Following the vote on Thursday 17th September Mr
Dewis was declared the winner after votes were counted at the County
Councill office.
Mr Dewis received 190 votes
Mrs Joanne Plews received 99 votes
Mr Martin Brookes received 35 votes
There were 3 rejected ballot papers.
The turnout for the election was 17.89%
NEW TOILETS OPENED
The long awaited new Public Toilets in Oakham were officially
opened on Monday 22nd June 2009 by Cllr Edward Baines, the Chairman of
Rutland County Council and Cllr Mrs Jan Fillingham, the Chairman of
Oakham Town Council.
The new £106,000 facility incorporates a number
of energy saving features including a solar heated water supply, light
tubes, lighting sensors and automatic hand wash stations.
Enhanced facilities for disabled users are also available and include
a hoist, shower and changing bench in a large room accessible 24 hours a
day with a RADAR key.
The toilets will be managed by Oakham Town Council who have
appointed a local cleaning company to maintain them. The toilets will be
cleaned 5 times a day to ensure that an exceptionally high standard of
cleanliness and hygiene can be enjoyed by all users of the facility.
The toilets are open from 8.00am to 6.00pm daily (although this may
be subject to change)
The Town Council would welcome comments from members of the Public
about the new toilets. Please contact the Council on 01572 723627 or
e-mail by clicking on the link below:
Contact us
CUTTS CLOSE
Oakham Town Council is to make further significant investment
in Cutts Close during the financial year
2009 - 2010. This will entail the renovation of the
Bandstand as well as the introduction of additional lighting to the Church Passage. The total
for the works is estimated to be in the region of £40000 and will be
funded from identified savings in the current year and earmarked funds. Cllr Woodcock
stated, "This is something that has been on the Council's Agenda for
some time. However, financial commitments towards the new Toddler's Play
Area in Cutts Close and the new toilets have meant that we have been
unable to go ahead with the work. However, the situation is now that the
Council can afford to implement these works and we look forward to
securing an important part of the heritage of the Town for many years to
come".
MAYOR'S CHARITY
Cllr Mark Woodcock announced at his Civic Reception that over
£5200 had been raised during his Mayoral Year in 2008 - 2009. The actual total is still
to be finalised but a cheque was presented to representatives from the
Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland Air Ambulance Service for
£5243.62. Cllr Woodcock paid tribute to all those who had helped raise
money throughout the year. He also said that it was not just the amount
but the raising of awareness of the work of the Air Ambulance Service
that he hoped would be just as important.
SOUTH STREET FOOTBRIDGE
Considerable concerns have been raised in the local press about the
footbridge. The vast majority of people are advocating the removal of
the bridge and the reinstatement of a level crossing. This issue was
taken up by Rutland County Council in a letter to Network Rail. The
response, however, categorically stated that this was against their own
policies which were backed by Her Majesty's Rail Inspectorate and as
such this would not be considered.
Alcohol Designation Order for Oakham
Having received the backing of both Oakham Town Council and
Rutland County Council, an Alcohol Designation
Order is now in force for the whole of Oakham. The Order gives the
Police the discretionary power to remove alcohol from adults drinking in public
places. The Town Council would like to point out that this is not an
alcohol ban and is in place to prevent misuse of alcohol in the Town.
The Town Council has funded the necessary signage required to inform
members of the public that a Designation Order is in force.
The same scheme in Uppingham has had an extremely positive effect and
all involved anticipate that similar benefits will be seen in Oakham.
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