(1) CLEARING THE CONFUSION ABOUT SANTA
This has been a very confusing week for Santa, and the Town Council Recreation meeting last Wednesday did not entirely manage to clear things up.
One thing has been established – Chief Inspector Barton has written to the Town Council saying that Santa can ride on the back of his sleigh (provided he only goes slowly).
Cllr Bob Fleming started the meeting by insisting that the Council would never cancel Santa, that the claims in the press had been misleading, and that the Council was merely “looking at the finer detail”. As the meeting went on, however, it became clear that by this he meant replacing the existing system of a tour rounds the streets with a limited number of stopping places where people would go to meet Santa.
A packed meeting made it clear that they wanted the traditional Santa Tours. Forcefully, but never abusively, residents held the Councillors to account, asking many telling questions.
In the end, it was decided to hold an emergency meeting of the Events Sub-Committee, which will report back to Full Council on 31 October.
(2) OTHER ISSUES
Other important matters were agreed:
– the draft Environment and Recreation Budgets were agreed
– the Senior Citizens trips for next year were finalised
– the Aycliffe Festival was cancelled, and the funds made available for events throughout the year
– a proposal for a Scranimals Fun Dog Show was approved.
