Last weekend was full of events in our town. We Love Tamworth, The Alternative Market, Tamworth 30th Annual Beer Festival, and concluding with the service to celebrate Mayor’s Sunday at St Editha’s Church. The weather may not have been as kind as wanted, but I’m sure everyone managed to enjoy themselves.

During Reverend Lythall’s sermon on Sunday, I was moved by the words he used and the meaning of them, especially for our Councillors.

He told the story of the stranded starfish – There are thousands of starfish stranded on the shore. A man comes across a little girl who is throwing the stranded starfish back into the water one by one and he says to her, ‘Why are you doing that, you can’t make a difference?’. The little girl picks up another starfish and returns it to the water, turns to the man, and says ‘I made a difference to that one’.

That story really touched me, especially as this week we have faced some opposition to our proposal to re-open the front desk at Marmion House, with the argument that there are not enough people who will use it. But, we recognise that we have a responsibility as a council to ensure that all of our residents have the right access to council services in an appropriate way. And even in the digital age, an effective face-to-face option to talk to us is an important part of that.

So, on Thursday the Labour group took forward a proposal to scrutiny to have face-to-face services again at Marmion House, including a front desk reception. We have taken this step after listening to residents over the past few years who want face-to-face accessible services in Marmion House. The plans include IT stations for those who feel confident using them, but other stations with customer service staff to assist. There will also be spaces for people who need to have private conversations with officers, and a room for small meetings which we will offer to other partners.

We’re really proud that we’ve been able to get these services back so quickly after taking control in May. Our Tory opposition is opposed to the proposals, saying it’s a waste of money and not needed. We disagree. Many of you have repeatedly told us on the doorsteps and in other conversations that you want to see Marmion House re-opened and have a fully functioning, fully accessible front desk.

Other parts of our plans include proposing the relocation of Council meetings back into Marmion House’s Council Chamber. We feel this would open up the opportunity of using our historic Town Hall for more appropriate activities. As we always want to do, before we take these proposals forward, we want to test them and get a variety of views by consulting residents and local organisations, on how we can use this valuable facility, including improving our heritage offer for residents and also for attracting visitors to the town.

Cllr. Carol Dean
Leader, Tamworth Borough Council
carol-dean@tamworth.gov.uk