Rethink on plan to splurge £8,000 on new mayoral chain for Bicester

7:00am Thursday 21st February 2013 in News

Les Sibley, left, and Nick Cotter in the council chamber with the board showing previous mayors Les Sibley, left, and Nick Cotter in the council chamber with the board showing previous mayors

A DECISION to spend £8,000 to buy a new mayoral chain for Bicester will be looked at again.

Three town councillors have called in the decision by the ruling Conservative party.

Opposition councillors Les Sibley and Nick Cotter along with Conservative councillor Debbie Pickford have forced last week’s decision to be suspended.

The group will now put forward a new alternative motion setting out their proposal.

Conservative councillors voted in favour of replacing the current gold mayoral chain with a silver gilt replica costing £8,636.52, including VAT, which can be reclaimed.

It would be paid for using £5,453 in the council’s Othello Fund – cash from the sale of an Othello bust by Italian sculptor Antonio Canova which was sold in the 1980s – and general reserves.

But the issue has infuriated some councillors who say the new chain is only about civic leaders getting their names engraved on it.

Debbie Pickford, who was not at last week’s meeting, but is opposed to replacing the chain, says her Conservative colleagues were “wrong on this occasion”.

She said: “We were given this chain as a gift, it’s not the sort of thing you put into retirement. It has been going for 50 years, we have got enough names on it. It’s our history, it was a gift to the town.”

She said the cash should be used for another capital project to benefit the town.

But mayor Dan Sames, who supports replacing the chain, said residents he spoke to were “generally supportive” of buying a new one.

It is unclear when the matter will be discussed again.

The 18ct gold mayoral chain was donated to the town by Albert Taylor in 1960 after he won £147,000 on the Littlewood football pools.

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Comments(11)

paleblueone says...
7:49am Thu 21 Feb 13

Once again, having lived in this town for 35 years, all I hear is vanity, vanity, vanity! There are so many other things to be worrying about rather than how Mayor Dan Sames looks when out and about! I'm with Cr Pickford, the current chain was a gift and should not be mothballed! Come on everyone lets concentrate on the important things of debate!

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Quentin Walker says...
8:18am Thu 21 Feb 13

It would appear ego-boosting is more important than trying to balance the books in these austere times.

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Cathena says...
8:44am Thu 21 Feb 13

Add the new names, in small lettering, to the existing links. By the time you have finished you will be able to afford a new chain - if not start again under the existing names. Smaller lettering does not mean smaller credit to the mayors.

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Myron Blatz says...
9:09am Thu 21 Feb 13

At a time of massive recession, people oout of work, ever-increasing costs for private-sector electricity,gas, rail fares, food costs, council-tax increases looming and MPs trying to get themselves an obscenely masssive public-sector payrise, isn't it time to 'pull the chain' and dump civic regalia?

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interested123 says...
9:10am Thu 21 Feb 13

Good to see these councillors putting the community before vanity, but let's see the money put to good use rather than just sitting in an account.

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adeshere says...
9:14am Thu 21 Feb 13

What a disgrace, lots more important things to spend OUR money on.

I really don't see why we need a Mayor

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bart-on simpson says...
9:31am Thu 21 Feb 13

No, no, you are all quite wrong - it is relaly important to know who the mayor is - without the limo and personalised number plates, you really can't spot them in the queue waiting to get into Bicester Village, innit?

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andyq7 says...
9:44am Thu 21 Feb 13

Debbie Pickford Has a good argument.
But in theses hard times, Don't you think They should get your priorities in order?

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steve1955 says...
11:28am Thu 21 Feb 13

If the conservatives want this so much put their hands in their own pockets especially the ones claiming allowances fron cherwell and bicester councils its too easy for some people to spend other peoples money spend their own

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Severian says...
12:56pm Thu 21 Feb 13

Cllr Dan Sames says people are "generally supportive". Well he hasn't asked me - I'll certainly tell him what I think if he does!

I rarely agree with anything that Debbie Pickford says, but this is twice now that I've agreed with her! Bizarre. (The other time was when our great Councillors wanted to pay £10,000+ for a piece of art to nail to the gates of Garth Park).

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Myron Blatz says...
11:52pm Thu 21 Feb 13

Maybe the solution is to get Sainsbury's or Tesco to pay for the bloomin thing - after all it could then be written-off as part of 'money back to the community' (in Oxford it's called 'Section 106 Money') from the building construction work on new stores for these two supermarket chains. So, fickle local politicians and civic dignitaries would get their stupid toy bage, and the supermarket would also gain - its name embossed on the medallion forever - or until ASDA or Morrisons move into Bicester!

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