Pershore Town Council s3

09.08.10 PERSHORE TOWN COUNCIL TOURISM AND TWINNING COMMITTEE

Monday 9th August 2010

Minutes of the meeting of the Tourism and Twinning Committee of Pershore Town Council, held at Pershore Town Hall, 34, High Street, Pershore, Commencing at 7.30pm.

Present:

Cllr Mrs V Wood (Chairman) Pershore Town Council Mr A Braddock Pershore Midsummer Brass Mrs M Ferris Twinning Mrs M Freeman Pershore Heritage Centre Ms E Gunhouse Pershore Abbey Cllr D Hughes . Pershore Town Council Cllr J Palfrey Pershore Town Council Mrs M Payne Chamber of Trade

Items referred by members of the public

A member of the public asked for clarification as to how visits to Pershore from specific groups within the twin towns would be organized as in her opinion the committee should be responsible for all twinning groups.

245. Appointment of Committee Chairman

Cllr Wood was nominated as Chairman of the Committee by Mrs Payne and seconded by Cllr Hughes. There being no further nominations Cllr Wood was duly elected as Chairman of the committee for the ensuing year.

246. Appointment of Committee Vice Chairman

Mrs Payne was nominated as Vice Chairman of the Committee by Cllr Wood and seconded by Cllr Hughes. There being no further nominations Mrs Payne was duly elected as Vice Chairman of the committee for the ensuing year.

247. Apologies

Apologies were accepted from Mr I Crouchley, Cllr J Daniels, Mrs J Hemming, Mr C O’Loghlin, Cllr C Parsons and Cllr D Shaw.

248. Declarations of Interest

There were none Chairmans Initials

71 09.08.10 249. Minutes

It was proposed by Mrs Payne, seconded by Cllr Shaw and RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held 8th March 2010 be signed as a true and accurate record of the proceedings.

250 . Matters of Report

Cllr Wood advised that the first Town Guided Walk would take place on 11th August with 14 visitors from Worcester and the fees being put towards future training of guides.

251. Twinning a. Mrs Payne asked whether the Mayor and the Clerk were hosting and the Clerk replied that this had not been possible for either of them on this occasion due to personal reasons. Following further questioning of the Clerk, Cllr Wood called Mrs Payne to order as the discussion was a personal matter and not for discussion by the committee.

Cllr Wood explained the programme for the two groups visiting Pershore for the Jazz Festival and outlined why the group coming by coach would not be able to fit in to the twinning programme. The Civic Reception would be a bring and share affair and this had been coordinated by some of the hosts. The Clerk thanked those who had helped find hosts and the Jazz Festival organizers for their assistance with tickets for the festival. b. Members considered the difficulties of the Town Council organizing hosts for visit from the twin towns that were linked to specific events or groups in the town. It was proposed by Cllr Hughes, seconded by Cllr Wood and RESOLVED to recommend to Council that in future the Town Council would be responsible for official twinning visits and accommodation for any group coming for a specific event would need to be organized by the event committee. c. Cllr Wood advised that a visit from Plouay would take place in April 2011 and this would be an item for consideration at the next meeting.

252. Visitor Information Centre a. Members considered the report from the Visitor Information Centre, including the visitor numbers and web statistics which were accepted. b. Cllr Wood updated members on improvements being made to the Visitor Information Centre and asked the Clerk to see if a way could be found to lower the LED screen so that it was nearer eye level and therefore more noticeable. c. Cllr Wood explained the reorganization in the front office and that the two new members of staff would also cover the Visitor Information Centre when necessary..

253. Public Transport a. Cllr Palfrey advised members that the future of the Wychavon Hopper scheme Chairmans was now uncertain due to budget constraints although more information would be Initials available in September when a meeting of the forum would be held.

72 09.08.10 b. Cllr Palfrey updated members on progress with the Railway Station improvements and hoped that two shelters would be installed shortly. He also advised that agreement for the land swap was nearing completion and Network Rail were in discussion with various car park operators regarding the management of the car park.

254. Abbey Park

The Clerk advised that it was anticipated that the bandstand would be installed in the middle of September and that it was hoped an inaugural concert would take place towards the end of the month. It was also noted that it was hoped the Town Council would agree to put small amount of money into the budget to enable bands in the park to play in the summer months, possibly on Sunday afternoons. It was also noted that the area could be used as a small theatre but that the actual construction of the bandstand would need to be taken into account to see whether this was feasible.

255. Pershore in Bloom

Cllr Wood advised members that the judging had taken place and results would be known on 16th September. A grant from Wychavon of £500 had been agreed towards the substantial cost of providing the baskets at the entrances to the town.

256. Christmas 2010

Members considered the switch on of the Christmas Lights which was to be organized by the Youth Council again in 2010. Members felt the 2009 event had been very good and hoped to see a similar event in 2010 although asked the Clerk to remind the Youth Council of the importance of having lights in the gazebos. This item will be debated by the new Youth Council in September.

257. Reports on Events

Plum Festival

This event is operating on Saturdays in Chapman Court and the Race Day on 6th August was most successful. The main event on August Bank Holiday was looked forward to.

Jazz Festival

Cllr Wood advised that this would take place the following weekend and visitors were coming from all over the world. All accommodation was booked including the camp site and visitors would start arriving on Thursday so bringing more trade to the town prior to the event opening on the Saturday.

Pershore Flower Festival

In the absence of Cllr Parsons the committee commented on how wonderful the Abbey had looked and what a marvelous event it had been. Cllr Wood commented that many people had asked for it to be an annual event but she was not sure if this year’s organizer wished to do it again so soon. Chairmans Festival of Brass Initials

This will take place in Pershore in 2011 73 09.08.10

Art & Photography Exhibition

Cllr Wood advised members that this had been a very successful event and had been well attended. Mrs Payne commented that she had not seen much advertising and would have hoped to see the event publicized on the boards at the entrances to the town.

Carnival

Cllr Hughes advised that this had been a most successful event and the reintroduced dog show had brought additional people to the event. The AGM had taken place and the first meeting of the new committee would be in early September.

Midsummer Brass

Mr Braddock advised members that the event had been very successful and plans were already in hand for 2011 which would take place on 9th July 2011. He noted that all events may find themselves short of money as with budget cuts grants would be restricted.

258. Items for Information a. It was noted the date of the next meeting was 8th November 2010 b. Mrs Freeman advised that all surplus items from the Heritage Centre had been stored or disposed of and more volunteers were needed to help keep the Centre open longer if at all possible. It was anticipated that the Centre would close at the end of October this year.

Mrs Freeman was also pleased to report that she had shown a group of visitors from Truro around the town and the Heritage Centre which had been very successful.

259. Items for future agenda

There were none.

There being no further business the meeting closed at 20:30

Signed……………………………. Chairman Date……………………

Chairmans Initials