With the final Full Council meeting having taken place on Wednesday evening there is clearly a school’s out mood for many Councillors.

However, unlike our national parliament, local councils do not have a formal summer recess. Responsibilities require continuous oversight and responsiveness to local needs as Councils are tasked with delivering essential services such as waste collection, housing, social care, and emergency response — all of which must function year-round, regardless of season.

We are keeping busy in my own Ward or Eye Thorney and Newborough with regular Parish Council meetings and residents’ casework issues. Additionally, together with colleagues Cllr Ormston and Cllr Ray, we have arranged a public meeting at The Leeds Hall Eye on Thursday 7th August at 7pm, to allow residents to engage with Council officers and exchange views on how best to deal with the continuing blight of fly tipping which affects the lanes surrounding each of the 3 villages.

Social media is clearly a useful sounding board, with residents offering numerous ideas and solutions on how the problem is best dealt with, and to have Council Officers and members of the Neighbourhood Policing team together to hear residents’ views will be invaluable.

It is essential that the authorities listen to residents and agree options available to hinder those responsible for this hideous environmental crime. So please share your views and solutions on Thursday 7th August.

At Wednesday’s Full Council meeting I acknowledged the progress being made to develop proposals for a Youth Zone in Peterborough. This is a project which I am very supportive of having visited one of the original locations in Barking, a couple of years ago. I was won over by such a positive an uplifting project, witnessing so many enthusiastic young people enjoying and participating together in a fantastic range of interactive experiences; including sport, drama, fitness, media, music, arts & crafts and life skills in a safe and positive environment was life affirming.

Importantly the attendees were overseen with a light touch by youth workers offering guidance and support. It was a further revelation that the facility also offered affordable nutritious meals, no doubt acknowledging that for many of the youngsters with working parents this was an essential ingredient for their attendance.

All good, however my caveat is how the provisioning, if successfully launched in Peterborough would impact on facilities for the outlying rural areas. With rural bus services always very challenged, the access to a purpose-built City Centre facility for young people from our villages, townships and outlying locations will be difficult without the regular commitment of a Mum & Dad taxi service.

I am certainly supportive of the Youth Zone principle which is well run by the OnSide charity. However It’s essential that with the nature of Peterborough and its rural hinterland we ensure we cater for facilities that accommodate the youth of our villages; perhaps with Youth Zone satellites, or that funding is found to support stand-alone youth clubs for these locations, and the youth workers required to provide the volunteers who make the clubs possible.

Regretfully a ‘one size / one venue’ fits all option will not necessarily be appropriate for Peterborough, however much we might want it to work.

Finally, it was good to note that according to press reports, Peterborough City Council is taking action against the sale of illegal tobacco and nicotine products, with a focus on single use vapes and barber shops potentially being used as fronts for illicit activities.

Having raised the issue of these potentially illicit and illegal activities with a question to the Cabinet member at the June Council it’s rewarding that action is now in progress.