EVESHAM TOWN COUNCIL
Minutes of the Meeting of the EVESHAM TOWN PROMOTION COMMITTEE held at 6.30 pm on MONDAY 6 OCTOBER 2014 in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, Evesham.
Those present:
Chairman:Cllr A P Booth
Councillors:Cllr A L Dyke,Cllr M S Goodge, Cllr M Hammon,
Cllr C D Homer (Town Mayor), Cllr F Kaler (Deputy Mayor)
Cllr Mrs D R Raphael, Cllr R W Raphael, and Mrs R Whiting
Officers:Mrs C Chambers (Finance Officer), Tonia Collet (Almonry Heritage and Tourist Information Centre Manager)
20.Apologies for Absence
Apologies were received on behalf of Councillors J Bulmanand G O’Donnell.
21.Declarations of pecuniary or other interest including requests for dispensation (if any)
There were no declarations of interest made.
22.Financial Statement
The Town Clerk had circulated with the agenda a report which detailed the current Promotion budgetand listed the expenditure for 2014/15.
Evesham VE Festival£4,570
Wychavon Festival of Brass£3,900
Evesham River Festival£5,650
Evesham Town Guide£2,000
Bands in the Park£2,000
Total£18,120
Remaining budget£1,380
This report was NOTED.
23.The Almonry Heritage and Tourist Information Centre Quarterly Report
A report prepared by The Almonry Heritage and Tourist Information Centre Manager, Ms Collett, informed Members of the activities and use of the Centre for the 1st quarter April to June 2014had been circulated to all Committee Members with the agenda.
Ms Collett first commented upon the visitor figures, which had seen a slight decrease to913 visitors this quarter compared to 1277 for the same period last year. There had also been a decrease in school visits, primarily because of a change in the school’s curriculum. The Heritage Centre officers were in the process of repackaging what the centre offered to local schools in line with the curriculumchanges.
Ms Collett continued to report that the local branch of NADFAS (National Association of Decorative and Fine Arts) embroiderers were in the process of making enough monks’ outfits for an entire class to dress up. It was reported that a new volunteer had joined the team in April; they were helping to run one of the Collection Discover points on a Tuesday, and were also working on the Almonry 100 Project.
The Make Merrie evening and Medieval Weekend, both held in May, were very well attended and Ms Collett thanked all of the professionals and Almonry staff involved who had donated their time, and raised over £600 for the Great Big Almonry Project.
Members of the Committee thanked the Manger for her hard work and congratulated her on the successful completion of the first stage of the Lottery fund Application.
NOTED
24.Pie and Ale Festival – Request for funding
The Town Clerk had circulated with the agenda a copy of the grant application form that had been completed by the organiser of the Pie and Ale Festival. The festival organiser had requested £1,500in retrospective funding.
The Clerk advised the committee that the festival had already taken place, and he had attended a VECTA meeting in June (VECTA organised the festival) and advised them of the new procedures and requirement to apply for funding in advance of the event. The Clerk had asked the organiser to provide accounts for the event but they were not provided.
The promotion Committee congratulated the organisers on a well attended successful event and acknowledged that the Clerk had attended a meeting in June to explain Evesham Town Councils new grant application procedures. Following discussion it was RESOLVED that the retrospective grant would not be approved and that the Clerk should write to the organiser to explain the grant application procedure.
25.Abbey Bridge and Viaduct Lamp Column Banners
The Town Clerk had circulated with the agenda a report on the Abbey Bridge and Viaduct Lamp ColumnBannerswhich were paid for and erected by Worcestershire County Council (WCC). The report advised the Committee that WCC had asked that Evesham Town Council take on the responsibility for the administration and erection of the banners. The banners were to promote events in Evesham such as the various festivals.
It was advised that if the Council agreed to take on responsibility that a policy would be required stipulating what was and was not permitted, a draft policy was attached for Members to consider. The policy gave detailed guidelines for those who wished to place a banner, what was permitted, the size etc.
The report advised that the Town Council’s staff were unable to erect or to dismantlethe banners so the Council would look to appoint a sub-contractor to do the work on its behalf, the cost of which had been estimated at £1,000 per cycle, including the production of banners. It was anticipated that this cost would be met by those who wished to erect the banner.
It was further reported that there were a total of 16 generic Evesham banners, including the 8 that were currently in situ, highlighting various Evesham attractions.
The policy included a condition that advertising would be permitted on the banner, if it was an event sponsoring a specific event. The Valuation Office Agency had verbally confirmed that the banners were not rateable as they were not hard standing permanent signs, therefore rates would not be payable.
The committee commented that whilst the banners would be a great way of advertising events, it was unlikely that the events themselves would be able to afford the associated costs, and that the Council should consider funding this themselves.
Following discussion the Committee RESOLVED to take on the responsibility of the Abbey Bridge Banners. It was further RESOLVED to adopt the banner policy as attached at appendix A, but that fees detailed in paragraph 6, be reviewed once all the costings have been established.
26.PromotionBudget Bid 2015/16
The Town Clerk had circulated with the agenda a report on the current years budget, details of the committee’s expenditure thus far was itemised at minute 22.
The report advised that the current budget was £19,500,an increase from £18,500 in the previous financial year. The Clerk now sought Members’ recommendation for the Promotion Budget for 2015/16.
The report also noted for members information that Evesham Festival of Music was scheduled to take place in the 2015/16 financial year, in addition, the 750th Anniversary of the Battle of Evesham would be celebrated. The Festival Company who are organising the event had indicated they wouldrequest a significant amount of funding from the Town Council, estimated in the region of £10,000 - £20,000. There was also the cost of erecting and taking down banners that needed to be considered.
It was also noted that the Market Town Partnership had now been disbanded which in the current year had received £15,000.
It was RESOLVED that the Promotion budget for 2015/16 be retained at £19,500, but that a request is made to the Council that they consider moving the £15,000 that would have been allocated to the MTP to the Promotion budget. Therefore the total Promotion budget for 2015/16 would be£34,500.
It was NOTED that this request would not go to the next meeting of the Council for adoption but instead to the appropriate Budget meeting for consideration.
Members stated that whilst they supported the Battle of Evesham event in principle, they wanted further information and asked that the Clerk place it on the agenda for the forthcoming Council meeting.
27.Matters raised, for information only, at the discretion of the Chairman
No matters were raised under this agenda item.
There being no further business, the meeting closed at 7.40 pm.
COUNCILLOR A P BOOTH
CHAIRMAN