Good morning,

Thank you to everyone who has signed so far.

The petition name has been changed to “Make the Town Deal Better”.

Yesterday, I encountered a gentleman in Dunhill Rd who seemed to be measuring the road surface up with a colleague. He explained he is assessing the street for road repairs from Marcus Street to the council depot end of Dunhill Road if I understood correctly. If the road is put back into good repair (it has potholes that are evolving into craters and chasms and the water doesn’t drain effectively at the road signs creating lakes in bad weather) then that will be a positive development.

Out of other conversations (I don’t raise the issues in the petition myself when I meet people, I leave them to do that if they wish) the general impression I get is that the Town Deal Fund was an opportunity to bring a lot of joy in the town. What it has actually done because of the way things have been handled is create division, antagonism and bad feeling - triumphant “winners” with others “losing” and given the message “shut up, get over it, be positive.” 

Satisfying perhaps for those who feel they have “won”. Not good though for community spirit and unity.

If you have other perceptions, do feel free to get in touch and share them (please  state if you are happy for me to put then in future updates and in the FB group).

Please keep discussing and sharing, wishing you a great day.

Richard