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SOHAM TOWN FORUM |
Soham Town Forum
has begun its tenth anniversary year by installing a new committee. An
extraordinary meeting which took place on Thursday 17th January 2008 saw
Town Forum member Donna Martin elected as Chairman, Robert Peacock elected
as Vice-Chairman, Rosemary Aitchison enrolled as Minutes Secretary with
Maureen Hardingham as Assistant Secretary and Chris Scurrah as Press
Officer. Representatives to act as liaison between
Soham Town Council
and the Forum are yet to be named, and the committee is still seeking a
Treasurer and Events Co-ordinator.
Twenty councillors and residents attended the meeting, which was held in
place of the Annual General Meeting, due to
East Cambridgeshire
District Council announcing the withdrawal of their administrative
support in November 2007.
After previous discussions, it had been decided prior to the meeting, that
the format of the Forum should be changed to bring it in line with its
original aims. Donna Martin, incoming Chairman and one of the founding
members, said that the Forum had originally been set up as an open meeting
and a regular opportunity for Soham residents to discuss local matters with
their Town, District and County Councillor’s. She said that the relationship
with Soham Town
Council,
East Cambridgeshire
District Council and
Cambridgeshire
County Council had been set up to be reciprocal and that the Forum
should also provide an opportunity for Councillor’s to discuss local matters
with residents and gauge local opinion. It was time she said, to get back to
grass roots.
Proposals for the new agenda were discussed at length with all present being
invited to contribute. It was unanimously agreed that the agenda should
focus on current issues but that there remained a need for projects to
report back to the community through the Forum. The key change to the agenda
is the inclusion of
Soham Association of Commerce & Trade (SACT), as an active partner,
who approached the Forum for their support. The Forum agreed that the
survival of trade and commerce in the town was vital to a thriving
community. The Forum offered to support a local business event in the near
future and proposed to help to make Late Night Christmas Shopping 2008 a
success after SACT
Chairman Robert Peacock declared that 2007 might be the last one.
SACT will be
reporting back to the next meeting to be held on Thursday 13th March 2008.
Other agenda items are to include,
Soham Railway Station Campaign,
Soham
Community Hall, Local Car Parking, a Soham Magazine and Soham Vision
- a project looking towards the future of Soham led by Town and District
Councillors. All future meetings will take place in Hall 1, The Walter
Gidney Pavilion, Fountain Lane, Soham, and all local residents have an open
invitation to attend. It is hoped that local community groups will continue
to feed into the Forum via a slot for Community Project Updates, with all
local community groups being invited to submit a report for the AGM. The
Forum maintains an 'Any Other Business’ heading on the agenda, which allows
for new items and issues to be raised. Residents wishing to attend for the
first time will be assured of a friendly welcome and an interesting evening
of debate, discussion and action plans.
