Minutes July 2007

KIRKBY STEPHEN TOWN FORUM
Minutes Of the Meeting held on Monday 2 July 2007

Present: Charles Hurst, Joan Johnstone, Mike Walker, Andrea Hines, Elizabeth Hall, Ann Sandell, Alex Birtles, Samantha Sandell

1. Apologies for absence: Ian Hartley, Martin Richter, Nick Locke, Pete Boardman, Jackie Semple, Tim Stoddard, Debbie Hylton
    
2. Minutes of the meeting on 15 May 2007:  Alex Birtles pointed out that actions put down to him on possible funding from the Promoting Eden scheme should have been given to Andrea Hines. Following correction the minutes were agreed as a true record of the meeting.

3 Matters Arising (where not agenda items):  
Ann Sandell had volunteered to take on the task of cleaning rubbish bins, and it was agreed that this should be part of the litter pick activity for Cumbria in Bloom and Britain in Bloom judging, on 23 July and 7 August.   Action: Ann Sandell

Andrea Hines had produced an outline of government bodies, which is attached to these minutes. The overview of funding will be prepared for sending out with these minutes.
Action: Andrea Hines

Mike Walker had asked Andrea Margolit from Cumbria CVS to address the meeting, and she planned to arrive later to outline their activities in support of the community.

Mike Walker had contacted Kate Burrows with a view to addressing a future meeting, with no response. She will be advised of activities in town for her waste roadshow.
        Action: Mike Walker        
The Eden Cultural Partnership has been asked if the KS Town Forum can be a corresponding member. The lack of immediate response has been taken as positive.

4. Treasurer’s Report: Joan Johnstone reviewed the financial position, and reported that the Forum funds stood at around £1200. She had identified a replacement bank account following withdrawal of facilities from the Furness Building Society.

Charles Hurst proposed that a Community Account be set up with Barclays Bank on behalf of the Forum. This was seconded by Ann Sandell. The meeting agreed to this proposal and arrangements were made for signatories to be the Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer of the Forum.

The recent questionnaire about the Tourist Information Centre was paid for by the Town Council, and the annual grant reduced appropriately.

5. Partnership with Appleby Alliance:  Alex Birtles and Mike Walker had looked at the Memorandum and Articles of the current Appleby Alliance, and agreed that few changes would be needed to proceed on the lines suggested previously, primarily in the area of the name of the organisation, and the geographic area covered. Alex Birtles also raised a possible inconsistency between the stated objectives of the Appleby Alliance, in particular for “the advancement of education, the protection of health and the relief of poverty, distress and sickness.” The Kirkby Stephen Town Forum aims are outlined in the Constitution as “to promote the quality of life and prosperity of the town of Kirkby Stephen and the conservation and enhancement of its character.” It would be necessary to check whether the Kirkby Stephen objectives are acceptable to the Charity Commissioners, even for a sub-group of the Charitable Company.

It was agreed that these points would be made to the Appleby Alliance.
        Action: Mike Walker 

6. TIC Review Group:  Andrea Hines reported that the review group was drafting a paper on the possible savings / increased income for the District TICs for Committee discussion in September 2007.  Charles Hurst reported that a questionnaire had been sent out in every copy of the Town Council Newsletter and he expected to collect the returns on 20 July. He agreed to advise Andrea Hines of the outcome by the end of July.
        Action: Charles Hurst 

7. Cumbria Tourism Benchmarking exercise: A Special Forum Meeting on Monday 21 May had been convened to hear the results of the survey carried out during summer 2006. Mike Walker had sent notes of the meeting, but summarised the finding as follows:

The major strengths of Kirkby Stephen from a visitor’s point of view appear to be the excellence of the Tourist Information Centre, and the availability and cleanliness of the toilets. This is a key message, as it is these two services which have been under financial pressure. The survey shows how critical they are to the visitor experience, and the basis of tourism in the town.

Visitors appreciate the varied independent shops, as a refreshing change from many town centres dominated by national chains.

The major weaknesses appear to be the market, and lack of attractions such as a museum.

The full survey is available at a cost of £50, and it is suggested that one copy is purchased for the Community Office by the Town Council. Details are on the last slide of the presentation.

As Kirkby Stephen is at the eastern fringe of Cumbria, bordering Durham and Yorkshire, co-operative action with these authorities was felt to be important to tourism in the town. Mike Walker had attended a recent Eden District Tourism Network meeting, and had been invited to progress the issues raised at a meeting in July.

Various ideas were exchanged regarding how we might improve the weekly market, with no decisions taken for action.

8. Britain in Bloom:  A programme of planting has been completed, but weather conditions have delayed growth. The Committee expressed pleasure with the actions of the businesses in town with tubs and hanging baskets. Litter pick times had been publicised, and Forum members were asked to encourage weeding as appropriate around town.

9. Cumbria Association of Community Voluntary Services: The Forum welcome Andrea Margolit of CACVS to outline the support her organisation provides to groups in the Eden District. CACVS is a grouping of the various District CVS organisations based in Redhills in Penrith, but carrying out similar activities in the Eden District as before with predominantly the same people. Their Mission is to support Voluntary and Community Groups, the so-called third sector. They can provide advice for start-up and growth phases of organisations; advise on funding opportunities, and train trustees and management. They can also provide a personnel and payroll service on an economic basis. CACVS have equipment rental facilities at low rates. One service in support of funding provision is collection of statistics, which assists in providing evidence of the importance of the sector in the Eden District.

The monthly newsletter (The Exchange) is received regularly by the Secretary, who passes on items of possible interest to Forum Members. A copy is also available in the Community Office.

Andrea provided a considerable number of pamphlets about their activities, which will be placed in the Community Office for access by Forum Members:

Equipment List / Voluntary and Community Sector Statistics / Self Management of Long Term Sickness / Payroll Service / Employment and Personnel Services / Training & Development Newsletter / Guide to Training Courses for the Sector / The Exchange

10. 2007 Activities:
a. Christmas 2007: Mike Walker reported that no funding has been identified for a Christmas event, as the application from the Promoting Eden Scheme had not been submitted. He suggested that we held a simple event using local talent, at minimal cost. The date was agreed as Saturday 1 December 2007 to fit with the turning on of the Christmas lights. Mike Walker agreed to write to local organisations asking for support. Details would be discussed further at the September meeting.
        Action: Mike Walker

b. New Year Countdown: Mike had e-mailed 3 Bears Animation without response regarding help with a visual countdown for New Year’s Eve. He would follow this up. It had been noted that CACVS could provide a data projector on loan for around £25
        Action: Mike Walker

c. Charter Market: Charles Hurst reported that the French Market had been booked for Saturday 27 October 2007, in conjunction with visits to Appleby on Friday and Richmond on Sunday. It was pointed out that a sheep mart would be held that day, and parking would have to be considered carefully. It was agreed to approach the Grammar School and Christian Head for parking of the French Market vehicles.
        Action: Mike Walker
Other activities to mark the Charter Market were considered, with local market stalls, a costume procession, and marking of any famous historic Kirkby Stephen individuals. Ann and Sam Sandell agreed to lead this activity, and any suggestions should be made to them.
        Action: Ann Sandell

11. Kirkby Stephen Online: A new web-site (www.kirkbystephenonline.org.uk) has been set up with the support of the BBC and the University of Cumbria. The Town Forum has been offered a page to highlight its activities, and any interesting stories. There was some discussion about positioning of this web-site alongside the Official Town Council site. It was agreed that Town Forum minutes should be put on the Town Council site via the Community Office.
        Action: Mike Walker

The new site appears to be more informal, and the Forum encouraged contributions.

12. Ideas for Projects:
a. Kirkby Stephen advertising literature: Debbie Hylton had provided costs for reprinting the businesses booklet from Cerberus at £2500. A Business Directory for the Upper Eden area had also been published in 2003/4 but this was significantly out of date already. No actions were agreed, but it was recognised that the Forum needs to clarify the purpose of such publishing, before embarking on a major project. One simple solution may be to use the various town web-sites to encourage local businesses to provide a simple description of their offering similar to that used for the “Where to Eat” publication. Further discussion would be held at a future meeting.

b. Shop locally campaign & Kirkby Stephen Carrier Bags were not discussed.

13. Any Other Business:

a. Kate Burrows of Cumbria County Council has offered a waste and recycling road show for any events held in Kirkby Stephen. It was agreed that she should be informed of the Charter Market proposal.
        Action: Mike Walker

b. Peter Boardman has had to stand down as publicity officer. Ann Sandell has agreed to take over this role.

14. Date of Next Meeting:  It was agreed that the next meeting of the Kirkby Stephen Town Forum should be held on Monday 10 September 2007 at 7 pm in the room above the Tourist Information Centre.