Town Council’s Annual Report 2005/6

Presented by the Mayor, Cllr Wendy Harris

As this Civic Year draws to a close I am pleased to present the 2005/6 Hythe Town Council Annual Report to you, the residents of Hythe.

The Town Council has had a very busy year. By elections resulted in new councillors mid term but the council has settled down and worked well together. There have been 9 Full Council meetings  (8 scheduled and 1 Extra Ordinary), 13 meetings of the Finance & General purposes Committee, which deals with all financial and property matters (10 scheduled and 3 Extra Ordinary) and 17 meetings of The Plans & Works Committee,  where over 200 planning applications have been reviewed. From the Arts Culture and Leisure Fund HTC has grant aided £800 between the 1^st Hythe Scout Group, Seabrook Primary School, Hythe Cricket & Squash Club and Hythe Twinning Association. Application forms are always available from Oaklands, and there is £1,000 set aside for similar projects during 2006/7

The staff at Oaklands deal with the administration of some 18 Committees and these include the CCTV Committee, the Standing Orders Committee and the Charities Committee. Further details are set out in the Council yearbook. The Council revised the Five Year Plan in July 2005  and I would also like to give out details of our new community website www.hythe-kent.info Details of the actual business operation of the Council will appear on our ‘sister’ website www.hythetowncouncil.gov.uk.

The Town Council acts as Charity Trustee for Oaklands, Eaton Lands and Horn Street & Palmarsh Recreation Grounds. Leases exist between the Town Council and KCC (for the Library), Age Concern (for Sanford House) and Haven Health (the new Health Centre). We also have leases with private clubs operating on our South Road recreation area. The proposed Sports Centre will necessitate a lease between HTC & SDC.

Town Hall:

Last year saw the finish of the external and internal re decoration of our Town Hall – although we did have a slight hiccup when part of the Undercroft ceiling suddenly collapsed. CCTV captured the moment when in the early hours, fortunately when the High Street was deserted, a large chunk of plaster fell without any warning! This is a Grade 2 listed building which we are all very proud of. In September it will be open for the Heritage Weekend. Various events are held here throughout the year and the Undercroft provides a covered venue for charity stalls, musicians and other High Street entertainment. 

Council surgeries:

Monthly surgeries are held in The Mayors Parlour on the first Saturday of each month. Two Councillors are usually in attendance and local ratepayers can pop in without an appointment. They have worked well and will continue to be held.

My grateful thanks to The Town Clerk, Mrs Judith McCormick and all the office staff for their professionalism and expertise. The Chairman of our Finance Committee Cllr Mrs June Nolan, The Chairman of Plans & Works Cllr Dick Bushell and all the Councillors who have worked so hard in specialist areas also deserve a special mention.

Local History Room/Museum –

The Trustees at HTC have determined to reinvigorate the Local History Room/Museum. Several Trustees (including myself) visited Faversham and enjoyed an interesting and informative tour which has given us much to think about. We are hoping to move this project forward via The Charities Committee and representatives from Hythe’s Civic Society.

OPEN SPACES:

Our 5 main recreational and open space areas provide facilities to enjoy tennis, football, cricket, bowling, skateboarding, basketball nets, hard & grass surface pitches and youngsters play equipment. Two of these areas have particular projects attached to them:

Oaklands:

Haven Health -

The development of the Primary Healthcare Centre at Oaklands was due to be completed by the end of May but that date has now moved back to September. The Trustees have already used some of the proceeds from the sale of the lease toward essential work in the Oaklands building – including the undertaking of an asbestos survey. On completion of the project Oaklands will benefit from a new public toilet, re-surfaced and improved car park and a local pharmacy.

It is good to see some of the most heavily pruned trees springing back to life and continuing to provide refuge for our popular squirrels. The popular Bandstand Concerts will continue and HTC has a full and varied programme for those Summer Sunday afternoons.

South Road:

The proposed Sports Centre development –

Hythe Town Council support the proposals. The submission of the revised business case to the DCMS is due by the end of May. The centre will incorporate a replacement Sports Pavilion, Swimming Pool and other associated facilities. As most of you are probably aware the old allotment site has now been cleared to enable the provision of an additional sports pitch. The Sports Centre/ Sports Pavilion is the final project in the SEEDA Delivery Plan.

SEEDA: [South-East Economic Development Agency)

Over the past year there have been many meetings of both the SEEDA Steering Group and The SEEDA Partnership with many of the projects coming to a close. We have seen the completion of the refurbished Town Square, the redecoration of The Town Hall, seats and benches for Oaklands and The Royal Military Canal bank, and the second year of the highly successful Hythe in Bloom. We are so very lucky to live in a Town which benefits from such willing and enthusiastic volunteers.

Other open areas are:

Palmarsh play area ~ regrettably the play equipment here has had to be removed due to vandalism but HTC hope that the tougher equipment for football and basketball practice will not suffer the same fate.

Horn Street play area ~ this continues to be well used but due to the steeply sloping nature of the site it has been difficult to provide further play equipment.

The Green ~ a vital informal open space area with two distinct play areas and a free car park. It is used daily by townsfolk and also by the large biennial events – the Hythe Festival and the Venetian Fete. Circuses and fun fairs pitch here when visiting Hythe and local organisations hold boot fairs during the summer months. Sunday will be this year’s first Boot fair and monies raised will be distributed through The Mayors Benevolent Fund. Many local organisations have already benefited from this fund and I look forward to helping others.  My very grateful thanks to Hythe Rotary Club who are organising and marshalling the event for me. Now all we need is a dry day!

ALLOTMENTS:

There are 4 sites ~ Horn Street, Longbridge, Twiss Road and Eaton Lands. The allotment area at Eaton Lands forms a small part of a vast tract of land which is a charity administered by the Town Council acting as Charity Trustees.

Eaton Lands:

The northern meadow has recently been planted with 6 new trees and we hope they will grow to form an ‘avenue’ through the wildflower meadow. This year will see a wide mown strip around the perimeter to allow better access and use when the meadow is in flower. Bulbs are to be planted in the Autumn. A tree audit has now been completed and the works undertaken within the wooded area. Under the provisions of The Five Year plan a woodland management plan is due to be undertaken by the Trustees. 

Events and Civic activities:

The Town Council hosted several events over The Trafalgar weekend last October – including a torchlight procession and service at our War Memorial. It was a wet and very windy night but spirits were high and despite the weather we enjoyed a magical evening. Special thanks go to the Salvation Army Band, the magnificent efforts of the schoolchildren who made lanterns and braved the cold in appropriate but often flimsy costume, Ken Colley for reading the address, and the boys from The Harvey Grammar school for that unforgettable statue of Nelson.

As Mayor I held a Civic Carol Service at Saltwood Church last December. Rev Martin had tactfully reminded me that many Hythe residents worship at St Peter & St Paul and that it would be good to have a visit from The Mayor. I hope that this will become an annual event and that it will be held at a different place of worship each year. We had a lovely evening and the schoolchildren made the service very special with their humorous but pertinent sketches.

Throughout the last two years Canon Brian Barnes has consented to be my Mayors Chaplain and he has been a tremendous support and also a good friend. He has become immune to my sometimes slightly whacky ideas and didn’t even sound surprised when I asked if the choir at St Leonard’s could sing songs from the film ‘Sister Act’ at my Civic service. Thank you so much Brian, for all your help.

The Mayors Secretary, Mrs Margaret Stewart and The Town Sergeant, Mr Graham Johnson have also ably organised and assisted me – my grateful thanks to you both.

I am pleased to report that the Lord Warden has also been back to visit us. Last autumn he planted a tree in Oaklands and he recently attended the superb concert held at St Leonard’s with the Salvation Army Band, the Hythe Concert Band and the newly formed Shepway Gospel Choir.

My second Civic year began on a very high note with the Queens visit to Dover. Although we were warned that she probably would not stop to speak to all of us we were absolutely delighted when she shook hands and exchanged words with every Cinque Ports Mayor.  It was a unique occasion which will remain in my memory. The Town Council has just taken delivery of a videotape showing approx 15 mins of archive film taken in and around Hythe on the day of our Queens Coronation. We hope to make this available for viewing as soon as possible.

The Venetian Fete was also an unforgettable experience. Although we have always attended, it was very different attending as Mayor. From the beginning of the Civic year the Cinque Port Mayors were all keen to receive their invitations and it is clear that this is a ‘hot date’ on the Civic calendar. We enjoyed a fabulous display and my thanks and congratulations to Cllr Schoner and The Venetian Fete committee for organising such a fabulous event for Hythe.

It would be difficult to list all the numerous events Paul and I have attended during the year but we have had the most marvellous experience over the last two years which we will remember for ever. It is a privilege and an honour to represent Hythe. It is a busy life and we have been well supported by my Deputy Mayor Cllr Matthews and his wife Sally. I think even they were surprised by the diversity and number of invitations received. Thank you both.

I conclude my report by commending the many organisations and societies in Hythe that work with Town Councillors and Council staff to keep Hythe a vibrant and much loved Town.

Thank you.