When writing this column I try very hard to focus on issues of wide relevance to district councils and not just about my two councils.

So forgive me if I make an exception on this occasion and write about the recent fire that destroyed most of the councils’ headquarters building over a month ago.

These things are simply not supposed to happen. However good your emergency planning and business continuity procedures are, nothing can quite prepare you for an early morning telephone call that your office is ablaze.