Planning tonight!
Tonight was the quasi-judicial “Planning” Committee. This means we don’t act like party political people, but responsible members of the Community!
There was not too much controversial stuff on the list tonight, but it was heartening at the end to see that our Enforcement Officers have been out working very hard to make sure people (and businesses) only do what is agreed by Planning Officers & Councillors.
The Planning Committee is made up of a real mix of people, and it’s nice to see a couple of younger Councillors getting onto it this year. When I started in 2006, it was the one thing I really wanted to be involved with, and I found most of the Councillors were “relatively” old. This concerned me, I was worried that they would all hark on about “good old days” etc., but in most cases I needn’t have worried - most are fairly progressive.
It’s one of the few Council meetings that the public turn up to. This makes it more lively, and I enjoy it because I feel knowledgeable about most areas of the borough, but when areas that I don’t know about come up, and I learn about them!
When I got home I watched Shameless on C4. I think it’s brilliantly written, about a family of “scallies” on a housing estate in Manchester. The father’s a drunk, the mother is unsure of her sexual preference, the wild kids range from 7 to early 20’s, and the pub is often the centre of the attention.
One of the actresses went to St Monica’s, where I’m a Governor and where I went to school (although back then it was called St Peter’s). It’s good to hear talented locals doing well!
Ok, enough for tonight, I have work, holidays, running and a gazillion other things to think about before sleeping.
Donal
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