Cllr Melanie Davis responds to Christmas lights criticism

Dear Editor,

Now the Christmas lights are up and on and hopefully everyone is enjoying the run-up to Christmas I thought I would write to clear up some mis-understandings. There are always glitches with some lights being on or off at the wrong times and we try and deal with these as they occur but we have to bear in mind that the lights are plugged into time switches within the street lights and these are subject to fluctuations in power and can be greatly affected by bad weather. We know from a recent survey of the street lights which we own that the estimated cost of replacing and maintaining these over the next few years is more than £44,000 – a sobering sum.

The Christmas lighting scheme was significantly reduced this year following a reduction in our precept which is collected on our behalf by Selby District Council who in turn had received a reduction from Central Government.  The District Council did receive a grant which temporarily compensated for some of the loss but since this was announced as a one-off or possibly only available for a few years, the Town Council felt it should adjust its budget now to ensure that we could set a balanced budget for subsequent years.  Once the budget cut had been agreed then we sought to find a solution for this year and took the decision to just light Gowthorpe.  However, we did agree to seek other ways in the future of putting back some of the lights which had been removed from the side streets by working with local traders to find affordable solutions for the future.

The statements made to the press about why they were reduced were ALL true and part of why the decision was made.  We have over the past few years suffered vandalism with the tree outside the Griffin and that power supply has needed some repair over the years and when that information was confirmed at our Finance & Staffing meeting and knowing that we had to reduce our total costs, then we decided to just put lights up on Gowthorpe this year.  I know from many years direct experience how hard we have tried to get traders to contribute to the Christmas lights and to get sponsorship but all to no avail.

Over the years the cost of providing the lights has risen considerably so we have also moved from purchasing lights outright to hiring these to provide some changes year on year. The Town Council receives NOTHING from the business rates paid by town traders and businesses – these go to the District Council who have never contributed one penny to the Christmas light costs. The Christmas lights costs are accordingly borne by the council tax payers within the Town via the Town Council.

I understand there have been some suggestions that we should not have put a tree at the Town Hall but this has always been provided by the Town Council for Yorkshire Cancer to fundraise via sponsorship for the lights and hold an annual carol concert at the Town Hall on the afternoon of the switch-on. We have also for some years provided the tree for the Rotary Club near the Abbey.

It is impossible to please all of the people all of the time – we may have got some things wrong this year but we will learn from the experience and improve communication about changes in the future. However, one thing I would like to emphasise – the Town Council has a public participation period at part of its regular meetings and we would encourage more people who live within Selby Town to come along and listen to the discussions which take place, bring forward their own ideas and participate more fully in the democratic process.

So I wish everyone a happy Christmas however you vote and remember there is an election next year when we can all fully participate in the democratic process at town, district and national level and make some changes if we really want to.

Melanie Davis
Labour Councillor for Selby North Ward.