Community champions wanted

St Neots is an amazing town, and it’s going to change a lot in the next decade. It will get significantly bigger, with more residents looking for things to do, ways to travel, places to learn, shop, eat and drink, find support and to connect with each other.

St Neots Town Council has an important role in shaping that change. While the district and county councils have various fixed responsibilities such as housing, waste collection, schools and roads, the Town Council is freer in how it uses its funds to respond to the needs of residents.

The Town Council is currently responsible for events such as the Christmas Lights Switch-on, the Farm & Craft market, flower beds around the town and the smaller parks. It runs the Priory and Eatons Centres, funds local community groups and is involved in lots of other initiatives.

It’s also responsible for spending some of the money that housing developers have to pay to support the growth of the town. Previously this has been a few thousand pounds a year, but now that Wintringham (and soon Love’s Farm Phase 2) are being built, this runs into hundreds of thousands per year. It’s an amazing opportunity to build some new facilities that everyone in the town can benefit from.

The Town Council has been made up almost entirely of independent councillors for the last four years, and we think that’s right. There is no party political posturing, everyone has an equal say and there’s a recognition that we’re all on the same side, working to a common goal.

All 21 Town Council seats are up for election on 5 May, and with various councillors planning to retire, we want to encourage a new generation of independent councillors to join us. We really want the council to reflect the diversity and demographic of the town. Councils can be stuffy and intimidating, but we want to continue to build a council that is welcoming, open, pragmatic and ambitious.

It shouldn’t be about who you know – it’s about finding the best people to represent our town, which is why we’re making this public call for candidates. If you care about St Neots, if you can spare a couple of evenings a month to attend meetings, you have a positive attitude, are patient and respectful of others’ opinions, willing to listen to residents and want to make a difference, please get in touch by emailing ben.pitt@stneots-tc.gov.uk.

Please share this with anyone who might not see it but might like to be involved.

Ben Pitt, chair of the Finance & Governance and Operations & Amenities Committees
Caroline Gregson, chair of the Strategy Committee
Nicola Presland, chair of the Promotion & Events Committee
Rob Simonis, Deputy Mayor of St Neots
Stephen Ferguson, Mayor of St Neots
(posted on behalf of the above, all acting in personal capacities)