Tonight I had my first experience of speaking publicly at a Council Cabinet meeting and a very surreal experience it was too with one local resident being roundly rebuked by the Deputy Leader of Council and most items on a lengthy agenda being rubber-stamped by Cabinet members without discussion in approximately 10 minutes following the public input session. That's democracy for you!
Anyway, for what it's worth, this is what I had to say in the two minutes I was allocated:
"Seven Kings is the only part of the borough that does not have a static library within a one mile radius of residents. Despite this Seven Kings receives only 20% of the available mobile library time and only 0.3% of the total library service budget. I state these facts, which clearly illustrate the disadvantage endured by Seven Kings residents in relation to the rest of the borough’s residents, in order to encourage this cabinet to ensure that the deferred report, which it will receive from the Library Service at a future Cabinet meeting, and which will explore the possibility of a static library for Seven Kings is as genuinely comprehensive as possible and explores all possibilities for partnership with community organisations that could provide access to facilities and funding for a static library in Seven Kings. I call on the Cabinet to make this commitment as the only fair and equitable response to the lack of investment in library services for Seven Kings residents that has characterised the allocation of resources in previous years."
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Paul Weller - 22 Dreams.
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