Cllr Mrs Di Keal, the new Vice-Chairman of Ryedale District Council, together with the new Chairman of the Council, Cllr John Raper.
Link to the Castle Garden/BBC Springwatch 'stuff'
Contact Details:
Cllr Di Keal
19 St Nicholas Street
Norton
Malton
YO17 9AQ
cllr.dinah.keal@ryedale.gov.uk
Tel: 01653 694546
Heritage Champion on Ryedale District Council, Di Keal, a town and district councillor, here fires a full broadside over what she sees as a failure to look to the future as well as preserve the best of the past.
OK – so lets do nothing again shall we?
The front page of last week’s Gazette and Herald announced that the developer Northminster Properties is pulling out of the Technology and Enterprise Centre planned for the outskirts of Malton, a success for some members of local councils who seem determined to see the town stagnate.
This development was pulling in huge grants from Europe and Yorkshire Forward – a major economic boost to our area - and looked to provide up to 800 jobs. But a vocal minority didn’t want it ‘in their back yard’.
Whilst some people are dancing on the grave of this lost opportunity maybe we should consider what has been kicked to death - the possibility of keeping our young people in Ryedale and offering them good quality local jobs.
What we have also lost is the future knock on beneficial impact on the local economy. The let’s do nothing brigade have yet again scuppered a scheme that would have brought massive benefits to Ryedale.
When district councillors debated putting funding into the Enterprise Centre and the Sports Centre we were told that it would be difficult to fund all the schemes on the council wish list, most of which have now bitten the dust.
A cheaper Sports Centre option is making the scheme a reality due to the hard work of Malton School, the local community and battling Liberal Democrats, who refused to let it die.
Then hey presto the Enterprise Centre proposal is wiped out – by which time Ryedale District Council has committed to spending a pitiful £1.5 million on a grant to the school for a much reduced sports hall development. Can someone tell me what rainy day we are keeping the council’s £8million reserves for? It certainly doesn’t seem to be going in to projects that benefit our community.
Alleged ‘secret meetings’ are now taking place to discuss the future shape of Malton as proposed in the recently published Malton Town Centre Strategy document, which covers everything from the livestock market to pedestrianisation.
The usual people are being invited to share views that have been well rehearsed through the pages of this paper and at endless other meetings dominated by the same old subjects – cheap car parking and whether the town needs another supermarket.
Some councillors can talk for hours on these subjects – but in the end achieve very little.
I for one am fed up with an attitude that seems to permeate some factions in our local councils that want to preserve Malton and Norton in aspic. Why are they so afraid of change?
We need to move forward as a town – to welcome new developments, new opportunities and job prospects. Malton has a lot to offer its residents and tourists to the area – but we have to become a 21st century town that caters for peoples’ needs.
And no, I don’t want the town swamped by chain stores and turning into a mini Leeds – Malton’s independent shops are great and I do and will continue to use them for much of my family’s shopping.
But ‘variety is the spice of life’ and increasing options for shoppers will benefit, not damage, existing trade. Putting another supermarket in the town will not sound the death knell for all other traders – we are not talking about a hypermarket – just a medium sized quality store.
Most people, me included, will shop in supermarkets for many food needs but remain faithful to smaller independent retailers and the market for purchases ranging from fruit and veg through to great coffee and big ticket buys like cookers.
Malton’s farmers market is a huge asset to the town and hopefully, under its new lease, the Saturday Market will also be revitalised – these are not taking away trade from the shops but enhancing it by bringing people into town.
Also in this obsession with parking and supermarkets we are in danger of losing sight of the other positive proposals in the Town Centre Strategy like pedestrianisation of part of the market place and making more use of our historic buildings such as York House.
St Michael’s Church is a beautiful building situated in the middle of a car park. Pedestrianising the Market Place would transform the centre of our town into somewhere for residents and visitors to enjoy shopping in Malton without having to spend half their time dodging traffic.
York House is one of Malton’s treasures and we should be encouraging the Fitzwilliam Estate to do something positive with it for the community as a whole. It is already moving in this direction with plans to restore the garden and I hope they will look favourably at opening up the house itself.
Castle Garden is due to open its gates later this year revealing a hidden gem in the heart of Malton to provide a public park – it would be fantastic to see the community and the council backing the proposals to relocate Malton Museum to a site next to it.
The move would revitalise the whole Orchard Fields area as an attraction for Malton. A big project – but sometimes we need to take a leap of faith to make things happen that will benefit the whole community.
Malton is a fantastic town but it can’t be allowed to wallow in the past. We need to face progress and development head on for the benefit of the people who live here and generations to come.
Let’s make even more of Malton – it’s time to stop the moaners and groaners and grab the opportunities.