Creeting St Peter: keeping the finances on an even keel

As my reign of terror glorious leadership of Creeting St Peter Parish Council nears its end, I am beginning to reflect on what I’ve achieved during the nearly eight years that I’ve been its Chair.

It would be self-indulgent to take too much credit - I’ve been lucky enough to have had the support of two good Parish Clerks whom I could trust to handle the administrative stuff and keep the show on the road, and fellow councillors who have both placed their trust in me and shared the load in terms of tasks performed.

But there are some things that have been successful over the years.

I’m still proud of the efforts we put in (and still put in) on the Gateway 14 development. We wrote a serious, credible response to the initial hybrid planning application - much of which turned out to be entirely prescient - and continue to lobby the District Council to fulfil their commitments as owner of the site.

We got new street lighting for the village - taking advantage of a County Council offer to let us piggyback on their massive order. As a result, we have streetlights that work, cost less to maintain and power, and reduce light pollution.

The new speed indicator device has evidently reduced speeding through the village, making the effective shared space - we don’t have pavements - safer for everyone.

And the finances are healthy. I had worried about staffing costs, but the retirement of our Responsible Finance Officer has been managed in terms of expenditure, and we have been able to freeze the precept for 2026/27. Quirkily, because the number of households has increased marginally - don’t ask me how - this means a small cut in the Band D charge.

My successor as Chair will inherit some challenges, it is true. Rumoured housing development will, if it happens, encroach further towards the village, and our new County Councillor (and the replacement Unitary Councillor in due course) will be more remote and probably less generous in terms of grants. They will, however, have a solid financial and organisational base to work from.

I’d like to think that I’ve done my best, and whilst I may not have always been entirely focused, my heart has been in the right place. I’ve learned an awful lot about governance, leadership and community, and had the opportunity to play a role on the national stage for our sector.

All in all, not too bad, I guess…