Creeting St Peter: looking plaintively at the exit door?...

Year 1 of being Chair of my Parish Council was alright. Yes, I’d been rather hijacked by my colleagues who sprang a hitherto unknown two year rule for Chair rotation on me, but the job wasn’t very onerous and it was nice to be in charge, albeit notionally. After all, how much power can you have on a council with an annual precept of just over £5,000?

Year 2 ended with the onset of the pandemic. We were having some difficulties with the local concrete products factory, although that has been something of a slow burner, impacting on everyone who has chaired the Council since I joined, but it was as much about being available and helpful as anything else. And, in a village where people are great at looking out for their vulnerable, or even potentially vulnerable, neighbours, it was about passing on information, helping people to help themselves to some extent. Again, not too difficult.

The pandemic led to year 3, as nobody seemed much minded to change things. I’ve spent the year pottering about the village, talking to residents, trying to keep their spirits up (and mine). And now, I’m in the midst of two major planning issues, attempting to balance competing expectations. It does feel a bit more stressful and there is rather more confrontation, something that I must admit to struggling with.

My third term comes to an end in April and, for the first time, I’m beginning to wonder whether or not the Council requires a change. Admittedly, given that I’d not sought the job in the first place, and suffer from a touch of imposter syndrome, I’m a touch surprised that I’ve gotten this far.

This evening’s Parish Council came with a degree of trepidation. With the Managing Director of Poundfield Products, with whom I haven’t entirely seen eye to eye inviting himself, and the ongoing debate over Gateway 14, I worried about how things would go. I’m not a gung-ho sort of Chair, and prefer a more inclusive style. The problem with that is that, if things get heated, timing your intervention becomes more challenging, and that’s when my decision making is at its most fragile.

It was a robust, but mostly courteous affair, however. Whilst I remain to be convinced that the management of Poundfield Products are anything more than tolerant of my existence, that isn’t a problem unless I lose the confidence of Council. So far, that doesn’t appear to be the case, which is reassuring.

And so, another Parish Council meeting is safely delivered. Only one more is scheduled before I sleep, so to speak, although it’s highly likely that there’ll be an Extraordinary one to deal with the Gateway 14 hybrid planning application (coming to a District Council near you later this month). Perhaps I’ll fret about that another day...