Godalming Town Council's Lib Dem leader Paul Follows has declared himself "speechless" after a meeting in which two Conservative councillors abstained from part of a vote on continued support for the town's Community Store.

The council's Policy and Management Committee had been discussing whether to continue support for the store for at least two months beyond the end of the Government's official furlough scheme.

The crunch vote saw two Conservative councillors, Steve Cosser and Peter Martin, abstain from voting on a motion to support the store for two months after the furlough scheme ends. The motion, plus two others pledging further support for the store, was passed unanimously.

Posting on Facebook after the vote, Cllr Follows wrote: "Rarely am I speechless at the end of a town council meeting - but watching the Godalming Conservatives ABSTAIN on a vote to continue the Town Council support for the Godalming and Villages Community store, during the height of a pandemic and its economic consequences is one of those times.

"Fortunately they are in the minority and so that support continues.

"The community in its generosity in food, donations and time (with support from the town council in terms of a building, staff and organisation) has helped so many over this pandemic. It is needed more than ever.

"Thank you to all the volunteers who work in the store and those who donate."

'Community asset'

Cllr Cosser had voiced concerns about committing the Wilfrid Noyce Centre, where the store is based, to be used to house the store for the forseeable future. "The Wilfrid Noyce is an asset that's relied upon by hundreds and hundreds of members of our community. If and when it's possible to use that asset again we should make sure it's available," he said. He said the activities that took place in the centre prior to the pandemic were important to the mental health of people in the town. "This commits us to a period of at least two months beyond the end of the furlough," he said. "That's another problem. Furlough has been moved and moved and moved. The council is being asked to make sure the community store remains a community store for a period that can't be precisely determined at this period of time. I think that's not wise." But Cllr Follows pointed out that support for the store didn't mean it had to be based within the Wilfrid Noyce Centre. "I would genuinely be astonished if we were able to utilise the Wilfrid Noyce for a community event prior to furlough ending," he said. "If I had a choice, my choice would be to retain the store." As of today, the store is supporting 63 families with food and other supplies, the committee heard, a sharp rise from the 41 families that were being supported on Friday. Cllr Richard Ashworth had explained that it was planned to keep the store open until the end of May. "In May, hopefully, we can close up shop, but be able to reopen if necessary," he said, adding that it was hoped that the St Mark's Foodbank could take up the slack once the store was closed. He said the store was looking for further support from the town council for a period of at least two months. Worst 'yet to come'.

Cllr Alex Adam said he feared the worst was yet to come in terms of redundancies and people needing support once the furlough system ends.

"I predict that this time next year the rubber is going to hit the road," he said. "When all the [Government] support has been taken away, that's when it's really going to be bad."

He asked whether Godalming Town Council had any longer-term plans for supporting people once the furlough scheme finishes.

"This isn't going to go away," he said. "This time next year, I think, is going to be a lot worse than this year."

Cllr Follows said that he would like to see the council provide a "successor entity to deal with not only the economic consequences of the pandemic but also deal with the latent need for a Godalming food bank that existed before the pandemic."

And Cllr Richard Ashworth added: "If we get to that situation we have to balance that with the hall being available for an event that would be good for mental health. You couldn't say 'right, we'll have them laughing instead of having food'.

"We are planning as far as we possibly can to take the burden of this away from the council, but meanwhile we have a responsibility or a duty or whatever - there are 100 people out there that we are looking after, and I feel good for that."

Cllr Steve Williams said: "No person in our community should go hungry, and that's the principle on which we are running our community store. After the furlough the problems will only just begin. We need to run this as long as it's needed, and we need to make sure no family in our area goes hungry."

Cllr Adam Duce added: "This is one of the great achievements so far of this council. I feel uncomfortable that we could remove this."

Successor group.

Cllr Cosser responded: "What I am really trying to push for is a tightening up of our processes going forward, to try and ensure that what's not really a responsibility of this council is transferred to another group, so that we don't run the risk of losing the benefit of the WIlfrid Noyce Centre. "Let's make absolutely sure that we don't have people going hungry. Let's make sure we don't prejudice that, by making sure we provide this in another way." Committee chairman Cllr Follows asked for a recorded vote on the issue: Cllrs Cosser and Martin both abstained on the first resolution, that the council would continue to support the store for at least two months after the end of the Government's furlough scheme. The other two resolutions, that the store would continue to engage with community groups in the town to ascertain levels of need for the store, and that the store organisers would liaise with the council on any further needs, were passed unanimously.

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