Oakham Town Council 'shafted' with upkeep of proposed Queen Elizabeth II statue
I was not able to attend this weeks meeting.
I found the following article on Oakham Nub News Interesting.
Interesting comments from Cllr Dave Romney.
I agree why should Oakham Town Council be responsible for possible future costs for a tribute that has clearly been described as a Rutland Tribute.
I totally disagree with Oakham Town Council spending £5000 by donating a contribution towards the cost of this Rutland tribute.
As pointed out by Cllr Paul Buxton, Oakham residents were not consulted about this donation, but when do Oakham Town Council consult residents about anything they spend our money on.
The Oakham precept is meant to be spent for the benefit of Oakham residents only.
The Lord Lieutenant originally asked for a donation of £10,000, thank goodness that was withdrawn.
The last time I checked no other parish council in Rutland has donated a penny.
I do not object to the statue tribute. I object to Oakham tax payers money being donated with no consultation.
The statue should have been funded by individual donations from members of the public who wanted to donate.
Perhaps a statue that actually looks like the late Queen would also be a good idea.
The proposed location for the statue placed in a flower bed is also awful.
Cllr Dave Romney mentions the cost of the toilets in Church as an example of Rutland County Council Shafting Oakham Town Council.
I disagree Oakham Town Council were idiots to agree the terms of that lease. Who pays for half a building to be built and then leases the whole building from the other party. Does not own the half they paid for and has to pay over £25,000 a year to keep them open Oakham Town Council does. Oakham Town Council can not do anything correctly. It leases the toilets and pays business rates to Rutland County Council. At one point Rutland County Council agreed they should not be paying business rates and then Rutland County Council changed its mind a few years later and Rutland County Council bills them and they pay.
They are also in a mess with the street lighting bill. Due Rutland County Council demanding thousands of pounds more for the electricity than originally agreed.
After many years they have not agreed a licence for the CCTV camera Rutland County Council put on the Town Councils land in Princess Avenue.
The Town Council for many years has agreed things at meetings and so many of those things have never been carried out or completed.
