Minutes of the Meeting of Visit New Mills held on Monday 15th December 2014
- Present:
Barry Bate, Sean Whewell, Beth Atkins, Jean Fildes, Mike Daniels
- Apologies:
Northe Slack
- Minutes of the Meeting of 6th October 2014:
- were accepted as a true and correct record.
- Matters Arising
From 4) Matters arising – 7) Action Plan – Planters. Contact with DCC – Beth will email Isabel Mulligan again.
From 4)8)2) – Teenage Market. Beth will circulate information on the franchise model (as used in Stockport) to members. Jean will investigate what other legal formats Visit New Mills might adopt as a Community Group and circulate to members.
From 7)i) – Helen Packpahan. Beth reported that including Newtown on a suitable tourist information-style map was very difficult. It was agreed that this topic will be part of the discussion with Borough Councillors.
From 7)ii) – HBPC councillors. It was noted that the date for meeting with HPBC councillors had been moved from today till 12th January because of website training. Barry has invited them for that date and will appraise them of the topics VNM wishes to discuss.
From 7)vi) – Action Plan review. It was agreed that the first of the quarterly Action plan reviews will be at the February meeting.
From 8)1) – Funding request. Barry reported on the current correspondence with NMTC concerning funding for the Christmas lights switch on. It was agreed that he should continue the conversation.
It was also agreed that Sean will complete an electronic application to Ray Atkins for funding from the Borough Council Initiative Fund.
- Preparation for meeting with Borough Councillors
Following discussion it was agreed that the session will start with an outline of VNMs’ work over the last year. We would then like to discuss 1) existing conservation area management within the town (and the state of the public realm), 2) allocation of officer time within the Borough (and the possible issue of double-rating), 3) traffic management on Union Road (and other associated traffic parking issues) and 4) the installation of an accurate visitor-friendly map and welcome board at Newtown Station. Barry will convey this list to the Councillors so that they can be prepared for the meeting.
- Finance Update
Sean reported that the current balance is £1,537.26. Currently VNM owed £113.00 and was owed £64.00. Sean agreed to resend access codes to Beth and Jean.
- Website Update
It was noted that the last business meeting had been changed to a website training meeting and that content was now being added to the site. Barry reported that he had asked the Natural History Society, the Local History Society and the Parks Manager to supply copy and photographs that could be used on the relevant landing pages in the ‘About the area’ and ‘Things to do’ sections. Sean proposed accepting the offer from Rebecca Cassidy to provide content – she will in initially be asked to write the ‘Getting here’ and ‘Places to stay’ sections.
The issue of further training (for members of the group) was discussed. It was noted that Karl is available for some training. Sean suggested using some of the training videos on UTUBE. Mike will provide a further session for Barry. It was agreed that Beth will ask Vivienne to undertake ‘checks’ of the current content for suitability.
- Action Plan Update
Deferred until the next meeting.
- Any Other Business
- Sean reported that Eddie reader will be performing at the New Mills art Theatre on 24th July 2015.
9) Date of next meetings
Monday 12th January 2015 from 3.00 until 5.00 at SBA. HPBC Councillors will be invited to attend from 4.00 until 5.00.