Camborne Hill Camborne Town Council Newsletter JULY 2016 Mayor Mrs Val Dalley accepts the chain of office The Annual Town Meeting and Annual Assembly were held on 12th May 2016 at the Cornwall Council One Stop Shop in Camborne. Councillor Mrs Valerie Dalley was elected Mayor for the municipal year 2016/2017 and Councillor Colin Godolphin re-elected Deputy Mayor. Val thanked Councillors for putting their trust in her in what would be a busy year . She was greatly honoured and would do everything she could to promote the town. Val was pleased to invite the former Mayor, Trevor Chalker, to present the town plaque awards to residents of the parish for their outstanding contributions to the community. These were: Mr Alan Truscott for his dedicated voluntary work for Camborne RFC; Mrs Deidre White for her dedicated voluntary work for community projects, Mrs Beverley Pascoe and Mr Dave Summers in recognition of their long service, hard work and dedication to the Camborne Parish. The Mayor’s award was made to Mrs Marjorie Rowland for her voluntary service and hard work for Trevithick Day; she was, unfortunately, not able to attend the meeting. Mr Don Holmes was also awarded a town plaque for his work for OAK and wider voluntary contribution to the Town over many years and received his award from the Mayor and Deputy Mayor at Camborne Church at a later date. The new Mayor presented an award to Councillor Chalker for serving as Mayor for the previous municipal year. The Cornwall Council Townscape Heritage Initiative team, Mr A Richards, Mr C Simmons and Mr P Smith, were recognised for their outstanding work with Certificates of Achievement. Mrs Barbara Godolphin presented the Sid Godolphin Youth Achievement Award to Bethany Woor, a student at Troon CP School. The meetings were extremely well attended by the public who heard an excellent talk from Reverend Mark Richards about Camborne Cricket Club. The Club was formed in the 1830s and had recently celebrated 100 years of competitive league cricket. The pitch was classed as the ‘Lords’ of Cornwall, with the most unique ground in Cornwall. Reverend Richards thanked the Council for its recent grant award and eloquently expressed the need to save Camborne’s green spaces for future generations. CAMBORNE TOWN COUNCIL, THE BASSET CENTRE, BASSET ROAD, CAMBORNE, TR14 8SL TEL: 01209 612406 Progressing on the Library Camborne Library is Grade II listed and was designed by Sylvanus Trestrail You may have been wondering about what is going to happen to Camborne Library. Since our last newsletter there have been numerous meetings with Cornwall Council and progress is being made! Camborne Town Council’s Business Plan for the library was accepted and approved by Cornwall Council and a lot of work is currently being done to enable the transfer of the building to the Town Council; which will also be responsible for delivering the library service in Camborne. A full condition report on the building was commissioned by the Town Council which revealed that significant repairs are needed due to the lack of proper ongoing maintenance over many years. The Town Council hopes to move its offices to the first floor while continuing to provide the library service, including public access to computers, on the ground floor. A contract specification has been produced and is currently out to tender for an architect/project manager to develop the initial plans and estimate the total costs of the repairs and remodel. This will enable the Council to apply to Cornwall Council for funding to help towards the cost of the works. A decision on the contract will be made in September. In the meantime, staff are working hard on the details of all the legal agreements, staff transfers, service contracts, ICT arrangements, and finances to enable the successful transfer of the building and the service. We will continue to update you on progress in future newsletters. Acting on Road Safety and Parking Camborne Town Council has requested that Camborne is prioritised for the next Cornwall Council Parking Review due to ongoing concerns about safety and traffic in the town centre. Following a near accident involving a pedestrian and a car in New Connexion Street in June, the Council has also requested changes to improve safety at this location. Cornwall Council responded that it sees merit in recommending a one-way system (with no entry from Trelowarren Street) in New Connexion Street which would allow the installation of a footway on the road. The narrowed carriageway would also help to discourage illegal parking. This improvement has been added to a list of proposed schemes which will be reviewed by Cornwall Council in the light of potential funding opportunities. 2 Improving and maintaining our environment Camborne Town Council always does its best to make the town a lovely place to be during the summer by providing flowers which are watered and maintained by our Amenities team. This year we were pleased to be able to erect the displays a full two weeks earlier than usual by working with Truro City Council. We would like to say a very big THANK YOU to all the businesses and organisations that sponsored one of the large planters and the floral units; it really does help us to provide more flowers in more places. We hope you have enjoyed the lovely display of colour throughout the town. The Amenities Team also cut grass verges for Cornwall Council in six locations, including Treswithian Road, as well as cut the footpaths in the parish. There are approximately twenty five miles of footpaths in Camborne which keeps our team very busy indeed! The Council heavily subsidises this service as the payment from Cornwall Council represents only a fraction of the cost. The new contracts were approved by the Amenities Committee in April so we will be continuing to provide this much needed maintenance work. Enabling communities The Council owned allotments at Enys Road have been successfully managed by the Camborne Produce Association for many years. The original Agreement for the allotments dates back to 1985 when ownership was transferred to the Town Council from Kerrier District. Following a review of the agreement everyone agreed that it was no longer fit for purpose as its terms prevented the Produce Association from being able to effectively manage the land. Work on an new Agreement for the Association has taken much longer than anticipated due to the lack of legal records from both Camborne Redruth Urban District Council and Kerrier District Council. In April, the Amenities Committee was pleased to approve the first draft of the new Agreement which will have a twenty five year term and is designed to enable the Produce Association to manage the allotment gardens for the greater benefit of local residents. We hope to be in a position to complete all the arrangements very 3 soon. Supporting Community Groups and Events The Council is committed to supporting and helping local community groups improve the quality of life for Camborne residents and does this by providing grants. The Council’s grants award policy aims to ensure that all grant applications are treated equally, grants awarded provide value for money and that all awards are within the legal powers of the Council. Any community group or charitable organisation may apply for funding to- wards a project that will benefit people living in the Camborne Parish. Please contact the Town Clerk, Amanda Mugford, if you would like to apply or need more information. We are always happy to help you with your application! From April to July 2016 the Council awarded grants for projects of all sizes. These were as follows: Camborne Cricket Club £3,000 Camborne Royal British Legion £ 400 BID Camborne (Man Engine event) £2,500 Crofty Holman Cricket Club £ 450 Merlin MS Centre £ 570 Camborne RFC Mini Juniors section £ 700 The Donald Thomas Centre £5,000 Holmans FC £1,000 Camborne, Redruth & District Lions Club £ 250 Shelter Cornwall £ 300 The Council also made a donation of £300 to the Friends of Beacon Park to help towards the cost of a Consultation Fun Day. 4 Progressing the devolution of green spaces Negotiations with Cornwall Council for the transfer of eight green spaces in the parish have been ongoing. The Town Council has agreed to an additional two sites located near Meneth Road as well as the former allotments at Troon and the Pengegon Allotments. There are, therefore, twelve green spaces that are currently in the package being considered by Cornwall Council. It is our understanding that this is intended to be one of the next big devolution packages in Cornwall and a report will be going to Cornwall Councillors in September for approval. In the meantime, Camborne Town Council staff are working on future maintenance and management plans for the land as well as all the legal complexities involved. We will keep you informed of progress! Camborne Recreation Ground The campaign to Keep Rugby at the Rec continues as agreement has still not been reached on the future of this site. Cornwall Council has said that the categorisation of the rugby pitch as surplus land for disposal was an anomaly and has recently suggested that the Recreation Ground could be leased to the Town Council. We do not currently know the terms of the proposed lease, although we understand it would be for 99 years. There is still time to support the Town Council in its campaign to safeguard the rugby pitch and make better use of the whole of the site for the benefit of the community by signing our petition. You will find a link on our website www.camborne-tc.gov.uk; alternatively, why not go to the Real Ale Festival at the Rec on 19th, 20th and 21st August and sign a paper version? Your support is needed and appreciated very much.