By-election before the main event
THE chances are we will soon be going to the polls in Lyme Regis to elect a new town councillor following the recent death of Dr Spencer Hogg.
I did not know Spencer well but he was a man of great intellect who certainly had a great love and affection for his adopted town.
Spencer had a rugged determination and did not allow his disabilities caused by midlife meningitis to interfere with his public duties.
I well remember how he would struggle uncomplainingly up the Guildhall stairs on his crutches before the council had a lift installed.
He was also a man who was never afraid to speak his mind on council matters, even if it was the unpopular view.
An election to replace Spencer will be called if ten or more local electors call for one. If they don’t, then the council can fill the vacancy by co-option.
It is almost certain that there will be an election and whoever wins the contest, or is co-opted, will serve until May 2011 when the four-yearly town council elections take place.
So who is likely to put their name forward? There are a few names kicking about on Facebook and the blogs, including my own, with the writer justifying his prediction by stating that I might have plenty of time on my hands in the future. An obvious reference to our much-publicised and exaggerated demise.
My name will not be among the candidates as it is my intention to spend every waking hour rebuilding the View group to prove to our new boss Jerry Ramsdale, owner of the Mariners Hotel in Lyme, that he has made a wise investment.
There’s also a small matter of Mrs E threatening me with divorce should I ever go back on the council!
One name which keeps coming up is that of champion fundraiser and Alice’s Bear Shop founder Rikey Austin who a few weeks ago on her Facebook site recounted how she had been “verbally assaulted” by a certain town councillor (now who could that be?) over her support for the Three Cups campaign.
Whoever gets elected or co-opted can kiss goodbye to a large chunk of their leisure time.
Recently long-serving councillor Stan Williams had a moan about how many meetings they now had to attend following the creation of numerous working parties to deal with council matters.
Last week, when the Policy Committee was considering the number of groups and working parties needed to advance the council’s programme for the coming year, Councillor Owen Lovell, another long-serving member, advanced the view that the number of meetings could be cut by half.
There’s likely to be a big change in the composition of the council come next May with at least half of the present 14 strong council threatening standing down.
Many of our existing elected members are now well into their seventies, having served the town well, and will not relish serving another four-year term.
Whilst it is always good to have some fresh blood in the Guildhall, losing so many experienced councillors may not necessarily be good for the town.
The question is whether there are seven or eight people who will take their place?
New organ set for first tune
GREAT excitement at St Michael’s Parish Church in Lyme Regis where work on the new £350,000 organ is all but complete.
It looks magnificent and I think it could become a bit of a tourist attraction in itself. Organ afficionados will travel to Lyme just to see and hear it.
I’m far from qualified to comment on the quality of sound (being virtually tone deaf) but church organist Alex Davies and organ appeal organiser Andrew Nicholson tell me it’s wonderful.
As announced in this column a few months ago, I’m writing a book on the organ.
Sounds a bit of a dry subject but not at all. There’s a fascinating story on how a small town like Lyme has managed to raise such a large sum of money (there’s still a bit to go) in such short time, commissioned an organ to be made in Slovenia, shipped it over and watched fascinated as highly skilled craftsmen have put together over 300,000 different components.
A fascinating twist is that our old organ, which came to Lyme from Exeter, in 1941, has been dismantled and sent back to Slovenia where the organ builders, Anton Srabl, have lovingly restored the instrument, which in its last days at Lyme often needed a good kicking to get it going, in readiness a new home in a Bosnian church was has been rebuilt after the wars.
The new organ will be dedicated by the Bishop of Salisbury on Sunday, to be followed by a celebratory lunch at the Pilot Boat, and the first of a series of concerts will be held on February 8th when internationally renowned organised Peter Scriven, organist at Litchfield Cathedral, will be playing in the church.
My book will be called From Slovenia With Love, a bit James Bond-ish I know, but a great deal of love and attention has gone into its making and installation. It should be on sale by Easter for £5 with all profits (£4 per book) going to the organ fund.
Pat on the back for office staff
THERE’S often great frustration in Lyme over how long it takes to get things done. The street lighting on the seafront is a good example.
So here’s an example which shows that it doesn’t have to be that way.
There’s a barrier quite close to my home which is in place to stop children running into Anning Road. Several months it was damaged by a reversing vehicle.
As several local councillors pass by that spot every day I thought the barrier would soon be repaired. Several months went by and nothing happened.
So I decided to ring the town council myself. My call was take by administrative officer Vicki Stickler. She said she would get onto to it right away.
Vicki (a sticker for efficiency you might say, groan!) was back to me in a few minutes saying the county council would carry out the work the next day. And they did.
The girls in the town council officers have to take a lot of stick from time to time so it’s nice to be able to give them a pat on the back.
What amazes me is that none of the councillors did anything about it.
www.viewfrompublishing.co.uk
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