Topic ID 3431
Following his forced resignation as Town Centre Projects Manager, I would like to thank John Barber for all his hard work trying to improve the town. I'm sure it must have felt like a thankless task at times but I for one appreciate his efforts.
Reply ID 49714
I'll second that [:)]
Reply ID 49717
Hear Hear!
Reply ID 49719
Whats the story here then, will he be replaced? Who will do this role?
Reply ID 49720
quote:Funding has been withdrawn by the District Council.
Originally posted by codek2
Whats the story here then, will he be replaced? Who will do this role?
Reply ID 49726
oh dear, thats terrible news for the town. seems unnecessary penny pinching. what else is being cut?
Reply ID 49728
I saw this in The Mercury last week and was wondering when a thread would appear. This is bad news.
Reply ID 49729
From The Mercury: John Barber, who has spent the last seven years organising community events and helping out traders in the town, will step down at the end of March. The move comes in the same week East Herts District Council axed £25,000 from the town centre partnership budget... They also slashed £100,000 from the Citizen's Advice Bureaux funding and ALL funding for local playschemes.
Reply ID 49735
This is a terrible shame. John worked so hard for the town with seemingly little support from the Council and now they have evidently managed to withdraw all support entirely. It will be a loss for Hertford, for the town's promotional capabilities and for the community. Very sorry to see your role go, John.
Reply ID 49738
quote:So if we are now saving all this money by not funding these projects will my council tax go down? (note tongue firmly in cheek here)
Originally posted by Steve
From The Mercury: John Barber, who has spent the last seven years organising community events and helping out traders in the town, will step down at the end of March. The move comes in the same week East Herts District Council axed £25,000 from the town centre partnership budget... They also slashed £100,000 from the Citizen's Advice Bureaux funding and ALL funding for local playschemes.
Reply ID 49740
quote:A sad and pointless cutback, this will be much to Hertford's detriment. Someone will have 20 million to fritter away somewhere from the police station sale................
Originally posted by jez_pquote:So if we are now saving all this money by not funding these projects will my council tax go down? (note tongue firmly in cheek here)
Originally posted by Steve
From The Mercury: John Barber, who has spent the last seven years organising community events and helping out traders in the town, will step down at the end of March. The move comes in the same week East Herts District Council axed £25,000 from the town centre partnership budget... They also slashed £100,000 from the Citizen's Advice Bureaux funding and ALL funding for local playschemes.
Reply ID 49750
Perhaps a long term guarentee of a salary with independence could be extracted as planning gain from certain supermarket chains. Or would there be too much potential conflict of interest in funding that way?
Reply ID 49772
Good Luck to John in the future. This move was clearly made by someone who knows the cost of everything but the value of nothing.
Reply ID 49779
Thank you all very much for your kind comments. Much appreciated; I have been stopped by complete strangers who have also passed on their support. As you might expect this did not come as a complete surprise to myself. I have written a letter to the Mercury correcting the impression that the Partnership grant was £25,000. It has always been £10,000 and has been since 1998 - so no increase even in line with inflation. The sum of £25000 was accross the whole district. These forums have been of great use to put information in the public domain that might not otherwise get there. See thread on Bircherley Green bollards as a mild example. I have also been able to point to these forums as a yardstick on public opinion - this has not gone down too well with certain people so they shot the messenger! Often. In all those years I hope I have forged a good relationship with all the traders in town and many of the town centre residents (and publicans!); usually I've been the only person who they could turn to as a link to a faceless Council - on all levels. I don't often know the answers or a solution, but it is absolutely necessary for there to be a link between all the many agencies that operate in the town. I think it is unlikely that I will be replaced or funding found for an alternative candidiate with no Council ties. One of the problems I suppose is that I was not actually employed by any of them; the Partnership and the Town Centre Manager remained totally independent. On the positive side together with Carole Skidmore we have levered in over £32000 from external sources for the Hidden Hertford project. The results of this will be evident quite shortly and I hope to continue to post here as things develop.
Reply ID 49799
There is a bigger issue than just the loss of the admirable John's cheerful and enthusiastic character as the voice of Hertford's town center. John's role has had a far wider effect than it's remit. As someone who tours Hertford with an eye on improvement and the ear of traders, publicans and public alike, John has probably been more responsible for crime and social disorder prevention than our PCO's, though indirectly. Good communication, management and design of town center strategy is key to crime prevention. By the time it requires police attention, it has already happened, rather than a being retailers concern about a possibility, or something which makes a member of the public uneasy. John's is also not the only budget to be cut. The CAB has also lost it's funding. As advisors to the most vulnerable members of society, CAB divert many social ills before they happen. Of course there will always be the homeless, the evicted, the drunk, the drug addicts, the jobless, and the socially unstable, but CAB prevents many, many more ordinary people from ever reaching that stage. The cost of these two services? About the same as installing and policing the "No Right Turn" at Cross Road. I'll leave it to you to decide which is better value.