Swaffham Newsletter

In Touch With Your Town
'In Touch with your Town' is put
together by the Town Clerk Richard
Bishop or occasionally by the Deputy
Town Clerk Claire Smith. It deals with
some of the most topical items of
the day and the odd item where the Council want to
share information with the Town.
COVID thoughts and gradually coming out of
lockdown…
Just the mere thought of coming out of lockdown, fills
most people with hope, a hope for some normality
and the chance to meet up just for a cup of coffee
with friends and family, safely of course. There is
Covid or lockdown fatigue evident amongst us all,
that differs from person to person, depending on their
own experience. The roll out of the vaccine has been
nothing short of extraordinary and we have a lot to
thank our scientists for, and thank you, will never be
enough to our NHS and key workers. On a local level,
we have seen some great examples of selfless acts of
kindness and there are too many people to mention
here, and we will be forever in their debt.
From a Town Council perspective, what does coming
out of lockdown mean? First of all, we will get to see
all of the Councillors in the one room and not just on
a screen, at the very latest, it does look like this will
be possible for the Full Council meeting in July, if all
goes well with the roadmap targets that are now set
by government. Whilst we have managed to get by
with virtual meetings, the Council as a whole have
missed the dynamic of meeting face-to-face. Like
everything in life, it is a question of balance, and there
will still be a time and a place for virtual meetings,
but Councillors will relish the chance of getting back
to the Council Chamber, for the first time since March
last year.
For Council admin staff, it has been a case of just
getting on with the job in hand. Whether working
from home or at the Town Hall, an e-mail looks exactly
the same, the staff sound the same on a phone call
wherever they are, and the back-office admin has
been deliverable, even if the volume of work has
increased slightly during the pandemic period. So
much has been organised in the form of events, only
to be postponed, delayed, then cancelled, very time
consuming for a zero result. Again though, there is a
loss of the dynamic of working in the same office and
communication between colleagues and delegating
tasks, can be more challenging from a distance. It is
a different way of working, and as things come out
of lockdown it will be a case of getting the balance
right to maximise our output and presents us with an
opportunity of cutting some costs.
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For Council outside staff, other than the first
lockdown where facilities were all closed, things have
only changed in working practices, where staff have
been requested to work alone, instead of in a team.
Services like our Market have had various stages to
manage, with total closure, gradual re-opening as a
food and essential goods Market, then a full phased
return, and partial closure back to limited stalls
remaining opening. All Covid safe measures were
put in place and remain in place. Managing more
burials than usual, again with the limited numbers in
attendance, it hasn’t been an easy period for anyone.
Keeping play areas and open spaces open, also
allotments and public toilets. Attending to the floral
displays around the Town, cutting grass and checking
play equipment all part of the routine on a daily basis.
If we can summarise what it means for the Town
Council to come out of lockdown, it gives us all a
chance for the person-to-person interaction again. In
general, the Town Council are no different to anyone
else, they have missed the human contact, even the
face-to-face complaints! Everyone has had their own
personal difficult issues and concerns to deal with,
so Councillors and Council staff are no different in
that respect. So, we’ll end back where we started, as
‘hope’ is what coming out of lockdown means, hope
for our local business to survive and thrive, hope for
everyone to keep healthy, to put a smile on the Town
and for Covid to be under control, hope that those
who have suffered loss can find some peace and
most of all is hope for some normality – stay safe…
Zoom Town Council Meeting – Adjourned In March…
Your Town Council have been holding all of their
meetings virtually since the 4th May 2020, this
followed the Covid-19 law being rushed through
parliament in April last year. On 10th March, due
to adverse weather conditions the Mayor had to
call a halt to proceedings, as the situation became
extremely difficult. We had sometimes three or four
Councillors dropping out of the meeting with no
signal, others you could see on screen and either
they couldn’t hear everyone else, or they couldn’t
hear them, and some did not have enough signal
to generate a video screen. So, the meeting was
adjourned first of all for 24-hours, then for a week,
as the shorter period became difficult for some
Councillors to re-arrange previous commitments. The
first meeting of its type that we have had to abandon.
So, the highlights will have to wait another month, as
the newsletter deadline has arrived too soon…
So, maybe this month we are not as exciting or as viral
as Jackie Weaver and Handforth Parish Council, but
we have had our moments… In general, all Parish and
Town Council’s have done well to adapt to a new way
of working, to keep things ticking over and address