News
Published on 25 September 2009
Archived on 25 October 2009
Bemused that is how Stratford District Council's Customer Services Portfolio Holder, Councillor Sue Wixey, feels as a result of Shipston-on-Stour Town Council's recent decision to block the provision of a service access point at Clark House.
"I am hugely disappointed about this decision. It means that Stratford District Council, whilst continuing to provide face to face services in Shipston, will now be able to do so only the basis of a much reduced presence in terms of our hours of opening. Clark House would have enabled us to work from a town centre base, providing advice and information about county and district council services with an opening time of around 18 hours a week," says Cllr Sue Wixey, Customer Services Portfolio Holder.
"Given the current economic landscape it is more important than ever that public services are recognised as working together for the benefit of the local community. We can no longer work in isolation, it is just not viable or feasible and it definitely doesnt make financial sense.
"This is a challenging time - budgets are stretched and we have to prioritise. Our full time office at Shipston has on average been dealing with less than six people an hour. It is simply not sustainable in its current form and we have to look at new ways of providing services. Our preferred option is to provide a daily service, perhaps even opening for the first time on Saturday mornings, but in the absence of a suitable shared central base such as Clark House this will be impossible. We can no longer justify operating on our own from Telegraph Street, but I would really like to be able to offer a service more in line with that we had in mind by sharing the Town Councils building."
In the absence of a suitable town centre base, the District Council's intention is that from December 2009 a service will be maintained from a community building in Shipston. Similar arrangements operating in Bidford-on-Avon, Studley and Wellesbourne work on the basis of the Council's team being present once every three weeks.
Stratford-on-Avon District Council
Elizabeth House, Church Street,
Stratford-on-Avon, Warwickshire,
CV37 6HX
Tel: 01789 267575
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