Sandy Town Council: Annual Town Meeting, Town Mayor's Awards and Honorary Freeman of the Town Award
Date Added: 17/05/2023
The Mayor's Annual Town Meeting for the Parish of Sandy was held on Monday 24 April in the Theatre Hall of Sandy Secondary School. The meeting was very well attended. The Mayor, Cllr. Martin Pettitt thanked those present for attending and for showing such interest in the affairs of the town.
He then proceeded to present his report touching on a wide range of topics including the setting of the Town Council's share of the Council Tax or precept, budgeting, upgrading of equipment, community grants, the signing of the Civility and Respect pledge and the ongoing search for land to establish new allotments. A complete copy of the report can be downloaded from the Sandy Town Council web site.
• The new skatepark at Sunderland Road Recreation Ground was completed in 2022 and an opening event attracted a large number of competitors. We are planning an anniversary event in September 2023 to build on that success.
• Just one week into the new civic year and it was all hands to the pump in staging Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee celebrations held in the grounds of the former Sandye Place School on 2nd June. A truly phenomenal amount of work and effort went into organising and making this event happen and required support and co-operation from a myriad of organisations and individuals far too many to list here.
• The official proclamation was read by the Master of Ceremonies and the Sandy Community Choir sang the specially commissioned song “Rise up and Serve” followed by the lighting of the beacon.
• Little did we know at the time that only 3 months later we would be mourning her death and on 19 September watching and witnessing the State Funeral. Reading the Royal Proclamation of the succession of our new monarch 3 days after Her Majesty's passing was the Mayor stated a privilege and honour which, “I will never forget”
• The Sandy Carnival procession which was equally well supported by the community and also culminated in Sandye Place grounds; a clear pointer to the critical importance residents attach to the area which is strategically located close to Sandy Town Centre and should serve as a reminder of how crucial it is that this valuable and unique site must so far as possible be preserved and form a part of future Sandy.
• In November, Town Council took delivery of the new all Electric Etesia Utility Vehicle which replaced one of the two diesel trucks which will soon be, “retired”. We are currently working with CBC Sustainable Transport team to install EV charging points in the Market Square in 2023/24.
The Mayor concluded by commenting that the nominations for the upcoming local elections had just been published and it was in his view hugely disappointing that only 11 candidates put their names forward for 15 seats in the 4 Sandy wards meaning that all 11 would be returned, uncontested but leaving 4 vacancies. A great shame and a missed opportunity for more members of our community to put themselves forward to try to help to make a contribution towards the ongoing and necessary work which it remains the responsibility of the incoming Town Council to deliver over the next 4 years.
Sandy Town Council's Annual Report detailing the years activities is available via email together along with the full text of the Mayors Report to the Annual Town Meeting from [email protected] or call into the council offices for a paper copy.
Town Mayors Awards 2020 – 2023
The mayor was pleased to report that unlike in some previous years there had been a good number of nominations in all three categories and selecting the eventual winners had been far from easy.
1. Citizen’s Award
William Stewart was awarded the Citizens Award recognising his 3 tireless years of volunteering at Sandy Secondary School while studying to be a sports teacher at Bedford University. Adding to his original nomination the Principal Head of Sandy Secondary School, Karen Hayward had written, “William is an asset to the school and to his local community. I have had the pleasure to see him grow and become the young man he is today. I have no hesitation in endorsing this nomination”.
2. Community Group Award
Sandy Good Neighbours were announced as winners. They are a group of community volunteers who provide a whole host of “good neighbour” services to members of the community who need and greatly benefit from support in their everyday lives. The Award was received on behalf of the Sandy Good Neighbours by their Chairman and Secretary Mr Stephen Ralph.
3. Young Persons Award
This was awarded to Keown Seldon, Fire Cadet Watch Manager with Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service and a member of Sandy Fire Cadets. Keown had shown great commitment to Sandy Fire Cadets from the day he began and fully deserved his recent promotion to Watch Manager. Keown represented Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue Service as a Lord Lieutenants Cadet supporting HM former Lord Lieutenant Helen Nellis at numerous events across the County. At the memorial service for Officer Chris Page held at Sandy Fire Station in 2022 Keown took on the role of reading the citation in front of Chris's family, fellow cadets, Principal Senior Officers, local dignitaries and others. More recently Keown attended the Town Mayor's Civic Service where he read one of the lessons and has become a fine ambassador for the Fire Cadets maintaining at all times a mature and professional attitude. In recent years Keown has also volunteered at Wood Green Animal shelter shop is pursuance of his Duke of Edinburgh Award. Currently Keown is considering a longer term connection with the Fire Service by becoming an On Call Firefighter in Sandy helping to protect the community in which he lives.
Presentation of Honorary Freeman of the Town
The Mayor then made a special award to Mr Paul Barrows. He read from the citation, “The Mayor and Members of the Council in sincere appreciation of the distinguished public service rendered by Paul Barrows to the Town of Sandy over a period of thirty eight years. His untiring commitment to the role of Retained Firefighter and wider achievements perfectly typify his ceaseless dedication and spirit and mark him out as a worthy recipient of this award. The people of this community hereby admit Mr Paul Barrows to be an Honorary Freeman of the Town of Sandy which is the highest mantle of esteem and honour that the Council can bestow”.
In adding to these words Cllr Pettitt said that Paul had volunteered throughout the pandemic as Mass Vaccination Center Manager while continuing his retained duties for Sandy. Paul's dedication combined with his leadership qualities in providing unstinting support for community events including Sandy Carnival, Band Contests, Christmas Lights, Remembrance Parades and many others have marked Paul out as the most worthy of recipients for this special award and the Town Council was delighted to have this opportunity of expressing it's sincere appreciation in this way.
Paul received his Scroll and Insignia and then spoke to thank not only the Council for the award but especially his wife and children for all their support and encouragement over very many years acknowledging the sacrifices that had been made by them and also to his colleagues and senior officers who were present to witness the presentation.