But the impression the world will get when it visits the site is that nothing is going on the Street during the whole of 2005 except the June Fun Day.
Which is obviously a false impression.
This site has been supplied to Street by Mendip Council, and is a sophisticated bit of programming. The visually impaired need only click the 'text only' button to get a range of background colours, print colours and font sizes to choose from. You can have any one of 24 different combinations, including small black text on pink background, and large yellow text on black background (the most useful if you can scarcely see at all).
The site has a neat layout, with very many pages, all linked logically and easy to find. One can post photographs on it. One can add links to other sites. One can put every event that is planned for Street onto a calendar. One can write descriptions, reports, essays, even jokes. The possibilities are all there.
Websites like this take a lot of time (and very little expertise) to maintain. I feel frustration that this potentially useful site has no one with the time to maintain it.
What work needs to be done to make it a worthy shop window for our community? I list just a few jobs that would give it a good start.
- Ensure that no pages are completely without text, even if it is only 'Page under construction'.
- Add links to organisations that have web sites, e.g. the Tourist Information Centre, Millfield School, the Street Society, Clarks International, the churches. There are already links to e.g. Crispin School, Strode College and the Vine Surgery.
- Don't re-invent the wheel, but link to pages on other Street sites for e.g. accommodation. Some relevant sites are listed on this blog (see right).
- Post the most recent Council and Committee minutes. The latest minutes of full Council, finance, and planning committes are March, February and April respectively.
- Keep the front page changing at least monthly, if only to report the most interesting news from the latest Council meeting and provide a link to the minutes. (What do you mean, there's no interesting news? There must be!)
- Enter at least the Council and Committee meeting dates on the Calendar.
- Add more photos. In the age of digital cameras this is dead easy, and virtually free.
I add here the dates of Council meetings for the rest of the year, gleaned from the site:
DATES OF COUNCIL MEETINGS IN 2005
Public Question Time begins at 7.10 p.m.
Council Meeting begins at 7.15 p.m. - 7.25 p.m. (depending on length of Question Time)
Meetings are normally held in the Methodist Church Hall, Leigh Road, Street
21ST JULY, 2005
WEDNESDAY, 17TH AUGUST, 2005
15TH SEPTEMBER, 2005
20TH OCTOBER, 2005
17TH NOVEMBER, 2005
15TH DECEMBER, 2005
MEETINGS OF FINANCE COMMITTEE IN 2005 (Note - arrangements may be altered by Council as necessary)
THURSDAY, 7TH JULY AT 8 P.M. - INTEREST RATES
THURSDAY, 8TH SEPTEMBER AT 8 P.M. - GRANT APPLICATIONS
THURSDAY, 3RD NOVEMBER AT 8 P.M. - ESTIMATED EXPENDITURE AND PRECEPT FOR NEXT YEAR
MEETINGS OF PLANNING COMMITTEE IN 2005
Meetings are normally held on the 1st Thursday in each month and before each Council meeting. The time of meetings is dependant upon the number of planning applications to be considered but generally -
On 1st Thursday of month - Public Question Time begins at 6.40 p.m.
Planning Committee begins at 6.45 p.m.
Before Council meeting - Public Question Time begins at 6.25 p.m.
Planning Committee begins at 6.30 p.m.
THURSDAY, 7TH AND 21ST JULY
THURSDAY, 4TH AND WEDNESDAY, 17TH AUGUST
THURSDAY, 8TH AND 15TH SEPTEMBER
THURSDAY, 6TH AND 20TH OCTOBER
THURSDAY, 3RD AND 17TH NOVEMBER
THURSDAY, 1ST AND 15TH DECEMBER, 2005
DETAILS OF MEETINGS CAN ALSO BE FOUND AT THE WEBSITE www.mendip.org.uk/streetpc TOGETHER WITH MINUTES AND AGENDAS FOR RECENT/FORTHCOMING MEETINGS
