Easingwold Market Place Improvement!

Monday 1st September 2008 marked a watershed in local politics and provided the kind of entertainment not usually on offer without an entrance fee. Pure theatre greeted those in attendance, with the highs and lows of the evening climaxing in the inevitable rubber-stamping of the Easingwold Market Place Improvement Scheme.Young and old alike from all sections of Easingwold and District descended upon the Galtres Centre causing the Town Council meeting to be held downstairs with over 300 in attendance (standing room only). The meeting started at 7pm with the Chairman (John Tanner-Smith) outlining the case for approval before allowing 30 minutes of input from the floor. The result of the meeting was unfortunately a foregone conclusion with the decision already made, and the high handed attitude of the Town Councillors who approved the scheme did not go down well with those in attendance. In fact the atmosphere from the Council bench was one of hostility to those in opposition, expressed via sarcasm and patronising put downs and peppered with dull and dubious statistics to try and justify their position. The majority of those present wanted a rejection of the scheme but all the arguments put forward by the attending public were dismissed out of hand.After a busy public debate we had NYCC councillor Peter Sowray put forward NYCC views on the whole project proclaiming it would answer the community’s problems and saying the traffic engineers could see no problem. (These are probably the same traffic engineers who have ruined Thirsk Market Place and created tailbacks in rush hour when previously there weren’t any. And the same engineers who leave gaping potholes in the County’s roads.) Then we had the Deputy Chairman Brian Taylor, after rubbishing the views of those who had taken the trouble to voice their objections via letter, proclaiming a divine right on the project.Each Councillor then proceeded to give their view on the matter before the vote.The motion was carried four votes to three (For: Dianne Gallon, Francis Readman, Brian Taylor, John Harrison. Against: Geoff Ellis, Shirley Shepherd, Neil Madden). Chairman John Tanner-Smith declined to vote. After the vote heckling from the floor resulted in the Chairman resigning his post with his deputy closing the meeting. (The drama, the excitement, better than the pub or the telly!)I was extremely pleased to see so many people from all parts of the community in attendance to try to persuade those with the power to recant from their moment of madness. The rest of us will have to live with the consequences of their actions for the next 20 or 30 years. First, the Scheme will be implemented and after a year or so will be upgraded to include Disc Parking for the whole of the Market Place and most of Long Street (this was in the original proposals from 2004-2005) resulting in chaos, with residents unable to park in front of their own homes. Finally, Paid Parking will come, to keep us in line with the rest of the County and as we all know will have a serious impact on goods and services available in Easingwold (as I have said before Tesco don’t charge for parking and as one of the most successful businesses in the UK they should know!). On a personal note: Here at the Town Hall (Advertiser Office) the plans have put a Taxi Rank right in front of our office, blocking access. They have also blocked two fire exits. To the rear of the building, where we take deliveries and despatch goods, whilst car parking has been extended right next door to the Nat West Bank, resulting in loss of access. We have been operating from this building since 1962 and in the Market Place in Easingwold since 1866. However, none of this was taken into account by the planners (the planner who drafted this scheme has never been to Easingwold and is unsure where Easingwold is). After hearing the rubbish put forward by some members of the Town Council and the representative of NYCC who all said careful consideration had been given and months of preparation had been undertaken, these are blindingly obvious oversights (or perhaps they were a deliberate attempt to force our business to relocate). As one of the last large employers left in the town you would think that somebody would have noticed these mistakes. I was somewhat amazed to hear the Town Council say nobody cared about the disabled but here at G H Smith & Son one of our employees of over 30 years is disabled and says the only major concern is presented by the cobbles which are difficult for him to negotiate when it is wet (the real problem for the disabled is the lack of smooth surface across the cobbles and the high road height down to the cobbles at the southern part of the Town Hall).Let us all try to keep the pressure on the Town Council and perhaps get them to change their decision before they ultimately (intentionally or otherwise) rip the very heart out of this fine Market Town.Editor


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