Here is an update on what I’ve been doing in the last two months since my previous blog.
I would love to hear from you. What should I and the Council be prioritising? What particular challenges are you facing, if any? Do you have ideas for how we can improve things in Congleton? Please get in touch with me and let me know your thoughts:
Email cllrkay.wesley@congleton-tc.gov.uk Call or text 07711 459740
Or you can come to one of my surgeries – check out my Facebook page to find one the next one is.
Equal Access Congleton
The group spent some time looking at the results of the survey of disabled residents of Congleton. There are a great many things we can work on and we discussed them at length. The main areas highlighted where there were challenges included:
- Shops, public buildings and businesses
- Transport – buses, dropped kerbs, access for visually-impaired pedestrians
- Events, especially large public occasions
- Attitudes of other people – some positive but, sadly, a lot of negative
The survey included good feedback from respondents about the fact that we are doing this and considering all the ways that we can make Congleton more accessible.
There is a great deal of work to do in all areas, so the team decided to focus on one topic for each of the future meetings. The April meeting concentrated on making large events more accessible and the team has come up with a set of ‘quick wins’ and longer term ideas to make events like the Christmas Lights Switch On and Maker’s Market more accessible.
We were delighted to learn that the Chair of our Equal Access Group, Deborah Lawson, won the Person with Purpose Award at the Northern Power Women Awards. Very well-deserved!
Working with the Police
I attended a meeting of the Cheshire Police EDEI (External Diversity, Equality and Inclusion) board, in which we discussed the legitimacy framework for Cheshire Police. The team took an action to read the Casey report (into the Met Police) and consider how we should respond to it with respect to Cheshire.
I attended the Police Community Cohesion group which scrutinises the work of the local team from the public’s point of view. The topics in April were hate crime and stop-and-search.
White Ribbon
White Ribbon is an international organisation engaging men to stand up against men’s violence towards women, and the behaviours and attitudes that lead to it. Congleton Town Council is a White Ribbon Accredited organisation and our goal is to ‘eradicate men’s violence against women and all gender-based violence and abuse from Congleton’.
I helped put together a presentation that two of our Ambassadors took to Astbury St Mary Primary school Years 5 and 6. The talk was age-appropriate and focused on gender stereotypes, why they can be harmful and what we can all do to help challenge them.
In addition Ambassador Jonathan Dakin took some of our materials to the Buglawton St John’s Breakfast Club and gave a talk to them, which was very well-received.
The wonderful Prickly Peach Films are working with the White Ribbon team to make a short film for White Ribbon Day 2024, and I attended the briefing meeting for this.
Congleton Green
I have continued to work with officers on our green communications including the ‘green calendar’ of initiatives and updates to our website content.
As part of this I helped with a Town Centre stall in March to celebrate Global Recycling Day. We had very interesting conversations with lots of people about their home recycling and reuse ideas.
I also worked with Cllr Firkin (Chair of Environment Committee) on a suggested set of requirements for the Congleton Planning Committee to consider to ensure planning applications consider carbon, biodiversity and inclusivity.
Cllr Firkin has worked with officers to secure a significant grant from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Fund towards decarbonising the Town Hall. I was delighted to attend an emergency Council meeting to approve acceptance of this grant, and look forward to the next steps in this exciting project.
I attended a meeting of Congleton Climate Action Group that was discussing activities for summer 2024.
Tree Planting
I have continued to help with Trees for Congleton and my Kanga colleagues had a ‘planting day’ in which we planted an orchard at Havannah.
Domestic Abuse
Some of the DA Services have been cut back by Cheshire East Council as a result of budget cuts and several survivors have asked me for help. I am supporting a number of individuals to access the right service, and working on trying to find additional funding to support Congleton families affected by domestic abuse.
The Cheshire East Domestic Abuse Hub, which supports everyone affected, can be reached at 0300 123 5101.
Roads and Bins
I went to meet residents of Bailey Crescent to discuss the problems with school parking for Buglawton Primary School. Many people park right outside residents’ houses, sometimes with engines idling. The school has tried really hard to change behaviours and set up a ‘park and stride’ arrangement with the Church House Inn up the road, but some people still insist on blocking residents’ drives. We are considering some options.
I have been working with the residents of Sheldon Avenue for some time to try to get the bins belonging to businesses moved off the avenue. We now have Cheshire East officers involved.
Congleton Pride
I support Congleton Pride although I have now left the Board of Trustees. I set up the MailChimp account so that Pride can keep in touch with people by email, and handed this over to the new Membership Officer.
My business, Kanga, is running a pro bono project with Pride to refresh the brand, and some of the initial design concepts have been shared with the team.
I also attended the Congleton Pride St Patrick’s Day event, which was enormous fun.
Health and Wellbeing
I helped at the Health and Wellbeing Fayre in the Town Hall. It was very successful with very good attendance throughout the day. I spent time talking to visitors about accessibility and completing the Equal Access Survey. It was very insightful to hear about people’s personal experiences.
I also helped with a town centre stall for National No Smoking Day. Did you know that we have over 3000 smokers in Congleton? There are lots of resources available to help people stop, and we spent a few hours promoting these.
Bromley Farm Hub
The Bromley Farm Hub Group is going from strength to strength and I continue to help at the Tuesday lunch club as well as being Secretary for the group.
The lunch club will continue through to the end of 2024.
Boundary Review
I attended a briefing meeting about upcoming electoral boundary reviews in Cheshire. Many Congleton people do not realise that some of the new housing estates to the north and west of the town are not part of Congleton, they are in fact part of the neighbouring parishes. This means that people living in those houses, who often consider themselves to be Congleton residents and use Congleton facilities, are not paying the Congleton precept as part of their council tax.
New Council Website
The town council had a very good response to our request for proposal for a new council website. Initial screening whittled almost 30 responses down to 12, and I read the 12 submissions and attended a meeting of the project team to discuss which bidders to bring in to present to us. Happily, there were some excellent proposals and I look forward to the next stage of the process.
Deputy Mayor
I have attended some events in my role as Deputy Mayor, deputising for Cllr Rob Moreton. I’ve also been working with council officers to organise the recruitment of a mayor’s cadet and the mayor parade and civic service, on the expectation (and hope!) that colleagues will vote to confirm me as mayor in May.
Elizabeth’s Group
We had a fantastic event on 8th March, International Women’s Day, to launch the new book by Elizabeth’s Group called Still She Rises. Several contributors read their poems or readings from the book, and we live-streamed the event. It was a sell-out and the readings were moving, funny and inspiring in equal measure.
Some members of Elizabeth’s Group, myself included, have signed up to a mentoring programme which supports young people who are leaving care. We are particularly keen to mentor young women, in order to continue the work that Elizabeth Wolstenholme Elmy did. I have just completed the 10-week training course for this.
Endometriosis UK
I have been Acting Deputy Leader of the Women’s Equality Party since November (until May) and in this capacity I was invited to attend an event at the House of Commons organised by Endometriosis UK and chaired by Bell Ribeiro-Addy MP. Women’s Health Ambassasor Dame Lesley Regan also spoke at the event, which highlighted the almost 9-year wait for an endometriosis diagnosis in the UK. At the event, Menstrual Cycle Support also launched a new educational programme about menstrual cycles, aimed at young people.
Also in my role of WEP Deputy Leader I have appeared on Times Radio, been quoted in the national press and supported local election campaigns around in the country.
Other Activities
I attended Crewe Women’s Day event as part of International Women’s Day. The WEP had a stall on which we had the theme of #WomenofWords and asked people to write down their thoughts about equality and inclusion. The results were truly inspiring.
I attended the Congleton Neighbourhood Partnership meeting organised by Cheshire East Officers and bringing together a number of groups who work for our community. These meetings are always useful for joining the dots between these groups and ensuring good signposting for people from one service to another.
My Council Meeting Attendance
For March and April, my Council meeting attendance was 88% for all council meetings and working/other groups, either face-to-face or virtually (22 out of 25). For my principal council committees my rate is 100% – just 1 Council meeting. All other Committees are ‘ex-officio’ for me as Deputy Mayor, although I attend them when I can, and I’ve been to 5 out of 6 of these Committee meetings.
I am now a member of 23 other Groups as well as the Council Committees, some of which are council-related, some are other local charities and community groups. I am trying to to reduce the number of meetings and activities I’m involved with (with an eye on probably taking over as Mayor in May) and looking to recruit my replacement, so let me know if you’re interested in any of the above! Thank you.
The Town Council’s remit does not include things such as Social Services, Health, Transport, Waste, Recycling – these are the domain of Cheshire East, but we can lobby in these areas.
Women's Equality Party Cheshire East 