I enjoyed an unexpected night in last night because of the cancellation of the  district council’s Cabinet meeting. The decision to abandon the meeting waas understandable given the state of Epping High Street at 5 pm and congestion on the local roads. I hope no-one turned up to watch the meeting from  the public gallery and was disappointed that there was nothing to see. (The advantage of watching the meeting via webcast on the computer is there is no need to venture out in the cold!)

However the postponement means some important decisions have not been made, including some relating to the Gypsy and Traveller Development Plan Document, the council’s key objectives for 2010/11, and the potential move of some council services from the Langston Road Depot in Debden to Oakwood Hill. So I am pleased the cabinet will reconvene on 4 January to work its way through the 180-page agenda.

I was particularly pleased to see that the agenda included a recommendation to provide temporary cover for the council’s Town Centre Officer [PDF report here] post. This is a direct result of a motion put forward by the Liberal Democrat Group and proposed by my colleague Cllr Peter Spencer at November’s council meeting. I’m pleased to say the motion was supported by all parties. Our Town Centre Partnerships do their best to support traders and local businesses in the face of some tough economic conditions and they deserve the council’s support.

At the moment it looks as if tonight’s full council meeting will go ahead. The Gypsy and Traveller item will not be discussed (because the Cabinet needs to agree its recommendations first), but the Liberal Democrats have a motion on the agenda calling for action to respond to the poor Audit Commision report [PDF] published earlier in the month (which I referred to in passing here).