Hill Camborne Town Council Newsletter JANUARY TO MARCH 2013

Work on the Fountain will soon be completed

The fountain in Commercial Square was presented to the people of Camborne in 1890 by John Holman. It was designed to provide refreshment for man and beast as originally there was a chained water cup hung from the upper bowl for people’s consumption while the middle bowl was for horses and the water troughs at the bottom were for dogs.

Ownership of the fountain was transferred in 1994 from Kerrier District Council to the Town Council which undertook to keep the fountain in repair, cleaned and in full working order. It was discovered last year, when electrical work was being carried out on the lights and pump, that there were severe problems with the chamber underneath the fountain. Following investigation by structural engineers, the Council contracted a local builder to carry out the much needed repairs. A new retaining wall has been built and access to the plumbing and pump improved. The work is due to be completed by the middle of April 2013. Camborne Town Council is proud to be the custodian of such an important landmark and hopes the recent work will ensure that this iconic piece of Camborne’s heritage will be enjoyed by many generations to come.

CAMBORNE TOWN COUNCIL, THE BASSET CENTRE, BASSET ROAD, CAMBORNE, TR14 8SL TEL: 01209 612406

2013/2014 Budget

Camborne Town Council set its budget and precept for the financial year 2013/14 at an extraordinary meeting of the Full Council on 5 th February 2013 in Camborne. The Town Council voted for a Precept of £316,104.14 which, although less than the current pre- cept of £334,014.00, represents an increase of £9.21 a year for Band D Council Tax payers.

Councillors were faced with difficult decisions as the impact of the new localised scheme for Council Tax support on local Council Tax payers was fully understood. The new scheme means that the tax base from which Council Tax is collected is smaller so the amount of tax charged to tax payers would have to increase to collect the same amount of money. This year the government has provided grant funding to fill the gap and protect council tax payers from the change but it is not known if any funding will be available in the future. Potentially this could leave Town and Parish Councils in a precari- ous financial situation in future years. The Council, therefore, decided to split the grant so that two thirds could be held in reserves. This action was taken to prevent future large increases in case the government stops the funding.

Mayor, Councillor Jean Charman said “Camborne Town Council's Budget and Develop- ment Committee worked extremely hard to keep the inevitable precept increase to a minimum. The Committee did the best it could in a very difficult situation to protect residents against large increases in the future bearing in mind the possibility that the government could withdraw its funding at any time”.

The Council has worked hard to make savings so that it can continue to provide important funding to community groups and local events while building capacity to be able to respond to cuts in services being made by Council. A new policy for circulating agendas and meeting papers has been implemented and it is estimated that approximately £55 a month will be saved as a result. The Council will continue to explore more efficient ways of working in order to make the most of tax payers’ money.

Supporting Community Groups and events

Camborne Town Council continued its commitment to support Community groups and events by awarding numerous grants from January to March 2013 for projects of all sizes. These were as follows:

Camborne Bowls Club £2,000 towards renovation of the toilets and changing rooms; Camborne Show Society £1,000 towards Camborne Show to be held on 20th July 2013; Camborne RFC £700 towards renovation of the toilets and changing rooms; King Edward Mine £600 towards the Annual Open Day to be held on 28th April 2013; Cornwall International Male £150 towards the festival to be held from 2nd to 6th Voice Choir Festival May 2013; Centenary Floral Arts Club £50 towards the flower festival to be held on Trevithick Day (27th April 2013).

A donation of £200 was made to Cornwall Air Ambulance Trust pending receipt of a information detailing how last year’s grant funding was spent and a donation of £100 made to Arthritis Research .

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Assets of Community Value

The Community Right to Bid is a new initiative which came into force under the Localism Act 2011. The Community Right to Bid allows communities and parish councils to nominate buildings or land to be listed by their local authority as an Asset of Community Value. A building or land can be identified as an asset of community value if its main use is to further the ‘social wellbeing’ or ‘social interests’ of the local community and could do so in the future. Social interests include cultural, recreational and sporting interests.

The Community Right to Bid does not give first refusal to community organisations to buy an asset but does give them time to put together the funding necessary to bid to buy an asset on the open market.

Camborne Town Council has applied to to register the Recreation Ground, Camborne, the Recreation Ground, Beacon, the Recreation Ground, Troon, the Cricket Ground, Troon and the Play Area at Boilerworks Road as Assets of Community Value. The Council believes it is important that these assets are retained for their current use and not sold by Cornwall Council for development. The Amenities Committee is working on drawing up a list of other areas of land and buildings in the Parish to be nominated in an effort to protect these assets for the community. Camborne Town Council is currently waiting to find out if it has been successful in its first attempt to register assets in this way. We will keep you informed of progress. Local elections 2013

Elections for Cornwall Council and Camborne Town Council will take place on 2nd May 2013 . The wards and polling districts in Camborne have changed from previous years and the parish now has five wards; Pendarves, Roskear, Trelowarren, Treslothan and Treswithian.

The first meeting of the new Council will take place on 16th May 2013 at the One Stop Shop, Dolcoath Avenue and will be followed by the Annual Town Assembly. Both meetings are open to the public and will be followed by refreshments. We hope you will come and join us and meet your local Councillors. 3

Plants and flowers

The Environment Sub Committee was delighted to award the contract for this year’s floral displays to Kehelland Horticul- tural Centre. The Centre has always provided wonderful flowers for the town in the past and we are also pleased to support such a worthwhile organisation.

This year we will also be making two types of planter available for sponsorship. There will be a choice of the usual planter filled with summer bedding or a new planter filled with sustainable plants that will provide a year round display. The Committee has worked with Duchy Horticul- tural College to design the new sustainable option and will be putting the first planter of this type on display as soon as the plants are sufficiently established. We hope businesses and other organisations will follow our lead to enhance the streets of our town every month of the year and not just in the summer. Please contact the Town Council offices for more information about our sponsored planters.

The Council will also be working with the Duchy College Greenfingers Team to improve the flower bed at the junction of South Terrace and Basset Street. A number of plants had to be removed from the bed because they were obscuring the vision of motorists. The College has designed a planting scheme of perennials less than 2ft high for the bed and will be working with the Council’s Assistant Handyman to plant the bed at the end of April. The Community Centre and Donald Thomas Centre

The Council was extremely sad and concerned to learn that all the Trustees and the Manager of the Community Centre and Donald Thomas Centre resigned in March. There is a serious risk of both centres closing and Reverend Mike Firbank is leading an initiative to keep them open. There will be a public meeting on 23rd April 2013 at 8pm at Camborne Church to appoint new trustees. We hope that people will come forward to help save these important amenities and wonderful buildings.

New Councillor for Camborne West

Councillor Jacqueline Merrick was co-opted on to the Council on 14th February 2013 to represent the Camborne West Ward. Jacqueline is a member of the Green Party and has a strong interest in local, regional, national and global politics. She has lived and worked in Camborne for over twenty five years and with her five children and ten grandchildren believes she has good insight and knowledge about what irks local people and their expectations for the future. Jacqueline has worked as an environmental facilitator and hopes to be an active voice in airing relevant concerns for the future dynamics of the local community. 4

Your Councillors PROGRAMME 2013 MEETINGS R J BEARE, 1 Rosevale Crescent, Full Council Budget & Amenities Planning Camborne, TR14 7LU Tel: 01209 715585 Development

January 10 24 17 14 & 28 D BIGGS, Izar, Chapel Close, Kehelland, Camborne, TR14 0DB February 14 28 21 11 & 25 Tel: 01209 713213 March 14 26 21 11 & 25 J P COLLINS, 4 Primrose Close, Camborne, TR14 7HS April 11 25 18 08 & 22 Tel: 01209 710636 May 16 23 28

S P CULLIMORE, 14 Pendarves Street, June 13 27 20 10 & 24 Troon, Camborne, TR14 7EG Tel: 01209 719525 July 11 25 18 8 & 22 MS J MERRICK Carn Entral Farm, August RECESS TBC Brea, Camborne TR14 9AH Tel: 01209 710695 September 12 26 19 09 & 23

MRS C M TRENGOVE, Fernside, Penponds, Camborne, TR14 0QG October 10 24 17 14 & 28 Tel: 01209 717038 November 14 28 21 11 & 25

S J ODGERS, Prinair, December 5 19 12 09 & 23 26 William Street, Camborne, TR14 8JQ Tel: 01209 718300 PROGRAMME COMMITTEES 2012/2013

MRS J CHARMAN, New Downs Farm, Treswithian Downs, Camborne, Planning Committee TR14 0BY Tel: 01209 612891 Councillors: J P Collins Chairman MRS H CULLIMORE, 14 Pendarves R Webber Vice Chairman Street, Troon, Camborne, TR14 7EG Tel: 01209 719525 Mrs J Charman A Crickett R WEBBER, 1 Seton Gardens, Camborne, TR14 7JS Mrs H Cullimore Tel: 01209 711360 S Cullimore

C Godolphin MRS M A WILLIAMS, Bos-an-Pryskel, S Odgers Shorts Hill, Treslothan, Camborne, TR14 9LW Tel: 01209 715454 Mrs C Trengove

A SANDERS, 14 Croft Common, Amenities Committee Troon ,Camborne, TR14 9HT Tel: 01209 714415 Councillors: M Champion Chairman P White Vice Chairman

P WHITE, 43 Centenary Street, R J Beare Camborne, TR14 8HP J P Collins Tel: 01209 715638 A Crickett D Everett D EVERETT, 35 Lower Pengegon, Camborne, TR14 7UJ C Godolphin Tel: 07538 438093 S Odgers

A Sanders M N CHAMPION, 128 College Street, Camborne, TR14 7LA Budget & Development Tel: 01209 612840

Councillors Ms A Pascoe Chairman C GODOLPHIN, 108 Pengegon Parc, R Webber Vice Chairman Camborne, TR14 7UW R J Beare Tel: 07907 798321 (Mobile) D Biggs

MS A PASCOE, 35 Church Road, S Cullimore Penponds, Camborne, TR14 0QE S Odgers Tel: 07763 697290 A Sanders A CRICKETT, 38 Street, Mrs C Trengove Camborne, TR14 8JB Tel: 07891 113195 Mrs M Williams

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