Funny how you get used to things.

Funny how you get used to things.

When I was first elected I remember going into the council chamber and thinking it was a musty and drab affair. It also had a pomposity that I guessed was meant to intimidate those who entered. The semi circular rows of pews that were lorded over by the raised platform of the Mayors throne. The chairs we sat on had been re-upholstered, cheaply, and showed their age, all in all it needed a make over.

When the public attend our meetings they are allocated the back row of this semi circle and have to address the back of the heads of the Councillors. What's that all about? Well I can see in days of yore that you would be addressing the mayor but these days I think it a bit antiquated, if they've come to address the council, then surely we should be facing each other.

The room itself, with its oak paneled walls and ornate skylight has a certain grandeur but the furniture is a throwback to Ulverston Urban District Council which ceased to be back in the 70's.

There are far too many seats which make it look as though there's only half of us there, except when there's a contentious issue on the agenda. Then and only then will these extra seats be filled, which is once in a blue moon.

Now that we have a refurbished one stop shop, now called the link, downstairs, which is very nice and welcoming I think it's time to modernise the Council chamber. I don't really like the word chamber, do you?

Since the downstairs has been done up it's thrown up another silly problem. That is that we no longer have a room that the councillors can use for sub-committee meetings. Oh, there are still meeting rooms but we have to pay SLDC rent for using these, so we now meet in the council chamber. When there's only half a dozen of us meeting this strange arrangement of the semi circle just doesn't work, but it's the only space in OUR town hall that is free of charge. How daft is that.

I did actually voice this need for a new set up, getting rid of the old furniture when I first joined the council back in 2004. I only casually mentioned it to a couple of long serving members who were horrified that I wanted to ditch a part of the towns heritage, and since then I seem to have grown used to it, now I don't see it any longer.

Funny how you get used to things, but now that we have a nice new and welcoming building on the ground floor I think it's time to consider a new set up for the Council chamber. I'm not sure what that layout should be but the one we have has passed its sell by date.
What do you think?