Minutes of the Tourism Committee Meeting held in the Council Chamber, Town Hall on Tuesday 6th June 2023 at 6.00 pm

 

PRESENT:

East Ward:

Councillor Mrs J Gubb
Councillor J Hellyer

South Ward:

Councillor P Lawrence
Councillor S Inch

North Ward:

Councillor D Bushby

West Ward:

Councillor C Hawkins

IN ATTENDANCE:

Mrs L Dixon-Chatfield, Town Clerk’s Asst


001. TO ELECT A NEW CHAIRMAN

Councillor S Inch nominated Councillor Mrs Gubb for the position of Chairman, Mrs Gubb was happy to accept.

Proposed by Councillor S Inch, seconded by Councillor Lawrence and

RESOLVED: That Councillor Mrs Jude Gubb is appointed as Chairman of the Tourism Committee for the coming year.

(Vote – For: 4, Against: 0, Abstentions: 2)

 

002. TO ELECT A NEW VICE-CHAIRMAN

Councillor Bushby nominated Councillor S Inch for the position of Vice-Chairman. Councillor S Inch was happy to accept.

Proposed by Councillor Bushby, seconded by Councillor Hawkins, and

RESOLVED: That Councillor S Inch is appointed as Vice-Chairman of the Tourism Committee for the coming year.

(Vote – For: 5, Against: 0, Abstentions: 1)

 

003. TO RECEIVE APOLOGIES AND REASONS FOR ABSENCE

There were no apologies.

004. TO RECEIVE DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST ON ITEMS ON THE AGENDA

There were no declarations of interest received at this point in the meeting.

 

005. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION SESSION

There were no members of the public in attendance.

006. MINUTES

Proposed by Councillor Bushby and seconded by Councillor Hawkins, the minutes of the meeting held on 25th April 2023 were approved and signed as a correct record.

(Vote – For: 5, Against: 0, Abstentions: 1)

007. TO DISCUSS AND UPDATE ON BIDEFORD’S GOT TALEN IN JULY

The Chairman had organised a smoke-machine and karaoke machine for the Auditions on 14th July and the Show on 21st July. A reasonable price had been secured for both dates,

The Clerk asked if the Committee would like a meeting with Lucy Lowe (who is currently away) on her return. She suggested a de-brief on Bideford Fair and update on Bideford’s Got Talent.
She added that advertising the event can be stepped up. There had been a bit of interest at Bideford Fair and she had given out a few Application Forms.

The Clerk would come back to members with dates for a meeting with Lucy Lowe.

008. TO UPDATE ON THE OTHER PLANS IN PLACE FOR THE CORONATION

• Coronation Benches
The Clerk reported that the Acting Town Clerk was in the throes of gaining planning permission for the siting of the two benches. This had been somewhat lengthy as it had been difficult to determine the land ownership outside Victoria Park.
The Acting Town Clerk would be ordering the benches and the Maintenance Supervisor had the installations noted.

• Coronation Rose Bed
The Clerk reported that the Acting Town Clerk was completing the permit for the piece of land opposide the decorative railings outside Victoria Park.
She had identified 6 or 7 roses with Royal names and would look to purchase them.

• Trees for Schools
Councillor Bushby would get onto the three schools in the next day or two and arrange a date. Members agreed 3 – 4 weeks.
The Clerk confirmed that the trees had been collected by the Maintenance Team who were looking after them.

Councillor S Inch added that he considered it would be the best time to give out the Coronation medals to the school-children. All members agreed this would be ideal. Councillor Bushby would get the numbers from each school and pass these to the Clerk.

009. TO DISCUSS AND UPDATE ON CHUDLEIGH PICNIC, SUNDAY 3RD SEPTEMBER

Councillor Bushby confirmed that Hockings Ice Cream would be on site. The Clerk confirmed the Hog Roast, although the Chairman asked her to double check as they had pulled out of Bideford Fair. The Clerk was sure that a deposit had been paid for Chudleigh Picnic but she would confirm that. She added that she would set up the licence.
Councillor Lawrence confirmed that Soundwave would provide the PA and music and would be bringing more efficient speakers.
The Clerk would encourage voluntary organisations to come along to provide information. Councillor Hawkins confirmed that Hedwigs would have a stall.

There was discussion regarding portaloos. The Clerk explained that she had sourced a provider for last year but the former Town Clerk was nervous about having the unit on site from Friday until Sunday with the chemicals in it. It was felt that a chemical spill could be disastrous for the area, and so the portaloo had not been ordered.
Members asked the Clerk to look at costs for the portable toilet trailers.

010. TO DISCUSS AND RECEIVE UPDATES FOR THE 80TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE D-DAY LANDINGS ON 6TH JUNE 2024 AND CONTINUE FORMING A PLAN

The Clerk confirmed that the Pollyfield Centre had been booked. She thanked Councillor Bushby for the telephone numbers for fish and chip vans and would make a start on contacting them. She mentioned that dietary options would need to be considered.
She added that she would be putting a message through social media asking for Bideford people to contact the Town Council if they had a relative who was involved with the D-Day landings. This, with a view to a reading out of names at the Beacon Lighting.

The Chairman mentioned that the person who had handled the Beacon over the years, had sadly passed.
The Clerk suggested a meeting with Pollyfield Committee members a little later in the year to go through proceedings.

011. TO DISCUSS IDEAS FOR 2024 AND LOOK AT WAYS OF UTILISING THE PANNIER MARKET HALL.

The Chairman asked members to “put on their thinking caps” to come up with some ideas for next year, and some ideas that could incorporate the Pannier Market. She added that, with the provisional success of Bideford’s Got Talent, we now have three good events each year, but need to build on that.

Members discussed the changes at the Pannier Market in recent weeks and had given some thought to how to utilise the space. A small co-operative of Butchers Row traders had been formed to arrange Markets twice a week.

Councillor Bushby asked that members consider the Market Hall as a Wedding venue, with soft furnishings and a wedding licence – the cost of which was around £2k for four years and renewals at around £800. The Market Hall now had an Alcohol Licence.

The Clerk mentioned that Councillor Hawkins had considered forming a Working Group from Councillors who sit on both Tourism and Market Management, with other members coming in – to handle the events that cross-over between the two Committees.
Members were not averse to the idea.

012. DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING

The next meeting would be held on Tuesday 18th July 2023 at 6.00pm.
The Chairman suggested an informal meeting to go through Bideford’s Got Talent. The Clerk would make provisional dates for all to agree on.

 

The business of the meeting having been completed, the Chairman thanked the members for their attendance. The meeting concluded at 6.35 pm.