Chance for Wem area residents to have a say

People living in Wem and the surrounding area will be able to say how they think the area could be improved when the new ‘Action: Wem and Wem Rural’ local joint committee meets for the first time on Thursday 22 May at Edinburgh House in Wem. The meeting starts at 7.00pm, and all people living in the area are invited to attend.

Items due to be discussed at the meeting are community transport and a youth opportunities fund.

'Action: Wem and Wem Rural’ is a pilot series of meetings to be held four times over the next year. Each meeting will give people in the area a chance to meet with local councillors, and get involved in decisions affecting their community.

It covers the villages and parishes of Wem, Whixall, Loppington, Myddle and Broughton, Clive, Grinshill and Hadnall.

The committee has a delegated budget of £40,000 that can be spent on local issues over the next 12 months. People attending each meeting will be able to help decide what the money is spent on.

Chris Mellings, Shropshire County Councillor for Wem, said: “This new series of meetings will give people living in the Wem area a real chance to improve the local area. It will help to ensure that important decisions about the area are made at a local level, and that local people have a real opportunity to influence these decisions. We hope that local people will come along and get involved.”

Brian Williams, Shropshire County Councillor for Wem Rural, said: ”Action: Wem and Wem Rural will give local people a chance to tell their local councillors how they think the local area could or should be improved, and how the committee should spend its budget. It will also enable us to keep local people up-to-date about the issues that are important to them.”

'Action: Wem and Wem Rural’ is one of six new local committees set up by the Shropshire Council Implementation Executive, following the success of five local committee pilots that have been meeting in Shropshire for the past year.

The 'Action: Wem and Wem Rural’ committee includes local councillors from Shropshire County Council, North Shropshire District Council and local parish and town councils.

9 May 2008