'˜Let's make Battle better' pledge

Councillor Andrew Ratcliffe is the driving force behind Better Battle, a scheme which aims to bring various groups, working for the good of the town, together.

Presenting the idea at a meeting of Battle Town Council on Tuesday evening (February 23), Cllr Ratcliffe said: “When I first started there seemed to me to be an awful lot of groups in Battle trying to do a similar thing.

“Which is great, but they are not necessarily communicating with each other.”

He continued: “The idea behind Better Battle is to make Battle better by getting a forum where all the different people can talk together, which the town council can facilitate.”

One of the driving factors behind the Better Battle scheme is to help promote local businesses.

Cllr Ratcliffe’s presentation was well-received by his fellow councillors.

Cllr David Furness said: “I think it’s an excellent idea and it’s got legs.”

While welcoming the idea of Better Battle, council chairman Margaret Kiloh warned such a task would mean finding someone willing to take on the extra responsibility.

Cllr Kiloh said: “It means the council taking on quite a bit of extra responsibility.

“You have to be able to identify someone who is going to make this a priority as far as they’re concerned.”

Cllr Richard Jessop said: “May I suggest the first thing to do is get all the interested parties together to have a blue sky thinking session to see what they are looking for and that will help formulate the areas to concentrate on.

“Personally, I love the idea of this and I will be happy to be involved.”

The town council will now contact local traders and groups about Better Battle.

The plan is to officially launch the project at the forthcoming Annual Assembly.

n Cllr Radcliffe has also been working on a new logo for Battle Town Council.

The proposed logos incorporate the current logo, which features an arrow through a Saxon helmet on a shield, with a black or blue background.

The designs were well received by councillors, except for Cllr Glenna Favell, who likened it to a school prefect badge.

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