Minutes of the Projects Committee Meeting held on Thursday 27th October 2016 at 6pm in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, Abergavenny.
Present: Cllr Mr Chris Woodhouse(Mayor)
Cllrs Mrs S Woodhouse, D Simcock, Ms S Dodd, M J Hickman, R Harris, M Harris, Miss M Toombs, N Tatam.
In attendance: The Town Clerk, Bill Owen, Esther Weller (new events company), Stan Pochron (Civic Society).
Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs T Thomas, M Powell, D Edwards & J Prosser, Ruth Coulthard (Civic Society).
- There were no declarations of interest.
- The Mayor welcomed Mr Bill Owen and Esther Weller to the meeting and introduced them to all present. Mayor informed attendees that Bill Owens has been honoured and instated into the British Cycling ‘Hall of Fame’. Everyone agreed it was a well-deserved honour.
- Abergavenny Town has again been awarded the best cycling event in the cycling calendar this year for the second time. All cycling events this year went very well. The Velethon has moved dates next year from the original May date to July, disappointingly clashing with the Abergavenny Cycling Festival. It is believed the date was moved to accommodate other events happening in Cardiff. Some events have had to be cut including the road race which will result in a £60,000 loss of income from British Cycling. The participation event will still take place on 24th June and the main event on the evening of Friday 7th July, it is hoped if the event is staged prior to the Velethon then people can be encouraged to use it as a practice run for the Velethon.
All councillors expressed their disappointment at this change of date and the effect it may have on our event, especially after many years of hard work by Bill Owen to make the event such a success with over 600 people taking part last year. It was felt that Bills work should be recognised by both the Welsh Government and the Velethon organisers. Suggestion were made about lobbying County Councillors and Welsh Government regarding the changes. The Town council is willing to help in any way they can, the Mayor gave Bill Owens a grant application form to complete and informed him that the town will give its full support to the event.
Councillors discussed the bollards in St Johns Square and the damage being caused by cars parking incorrectly. Mayor informed all that more removable bollards would be put in place, though this will have a cost to the council. Council to ask for costs from Rob Davies.
- Esther Weller gave a short talk on her new event business. The main topic was a new Christmas marking event for this year. Esther has 25 business on board a new venture to promote shopping in the town. 80% of businesses replied to the enquiry. Entry forms are being produced which will instruct participants to get their forms stamped in all participating businesses, obviously encouraging entry into new shops that they may not have used before. Businesses are paying £25 each to participate in the scheme and will display posters in windows.
All completed form will be entered in to a draw with the first prize being £100 and runner up prizes of 2 X £25. It is hoping this will increase the footfall to all businesses in the town. The event will run from 1st – 24th December, poster and leaflets are currently under production and the cost to the council is nil. The event will also be promoted on the Internet. Businesses taking part can be expanded on the run up to Christmas if necessary. The Civic Society have been contacted and are on-board with the scheme.
It was requested if Esther could come back in the new year and give the council an update of how the event went – Esther agreed.
The mayor closed the meeting at 6.30pm.
