Combe
Martin Parish Council Annual Report 2007 - 2008
Parish
Clerk – Michelle Beaumont Councillors
Elaine
Maidment 883829 Income & Expenses
Where the Money
Goes
£19,558
- Car Parks Where it Comes From
£72,636
- Car Parks Chairman’s Report
Dear
Shammickites After
being Vice-Chairman of the Parish Council for two years, when the
opportunity came to become Chairman, I thought that this would be quite a
challenge. And I was right. This year has been an eventful one, full of a
combination of high and low points. It started with a low. The lack of
people coming forward to stand for election in May, 2007, was really
disappointing and, whilst no-one minded not having to trudge round the
village delivering election addresses, it was very sad that, for the . rst
time in living memory, there was no parish council election in Combe
Martin. That said, we ended up with a full twelve councillors and were
happy to welcome the new faces onto the Parish Council. The
forced closure of the steps from Marine Drive across Greenhills has also
been a sad decision to have to make. There has also been no option for
Council but to close the area around the Alcoves at the Parade, having
read the Structural Engineer’s report on the area. On
a more positive note, CCTV in Kiln Car Park has resulted in a considerable
reduction in antisocial behaviour in the car park. Last
summer, Council successfully obtained a Quality Coast Award for Combe
Martin Beach, one of only 73 in the entire country, an indication of its
commitment to support tourism in Combe Martin. Some
notable anniversaries occurred this year. In September, the Twinning with
Cormelles le Royal celebrated its 30th anniversary and a
reception was held at the Pack O’ Cards. In March the Shammickite
produced its 25th anniversary edition, I used the Chairman’s fund to
provide refreshments at a gathering to thank all those people who had
contributed towards the production of our village newsletter over the
years. Parish
councillors work hard during the year for Combe Martin and I hope that
villagers will join with us to work towards the same aim. The Parish Council year
Many
people thought that nothing was happening about the People’s Millions
money for some time during the summer, but in fact we were busy doing
things like getting the technical specification written for the CCTV, to
make sure it would do what we wanted it to do. We also had to iron out
problems such as ‘does a parish council need planning permission to
install CCTV?’ (The answer, after much discussion and book studying by
the planners, was no). In
the autumn, things started to happen. Poles appeared in Kiln Car Park,
soon followed by new streetlights. The decorative lights around the
Seaside were all replaced and in November, CCTV cameras were put in place
in the car park. On a wet and windy day, a lorry and trailer appeared from
Scotland carrying the new shelter, matching seats and a lot of railings.
It was lovely to receive the very positive comments from so many people
who saw all this street furniture being installed. Part
of the People’s Millions project had been a survey of the Parade area,
and sadly, the result of the survey was worse than we had hoped. In fact
the survey was such that, having read the report, there was little option
but to close off the area above and in front of the alcoves, in case
anything fell from the structure. We are currently looking at the
different options of how to deal with the problem, the first and foremost
being how to raise enough money to sort the area out, without having to
ask villagers to pay a lot more on future year’s council tax. The
new seat, which we installed near the junction of Castle Street and Rows
Lane, was followed this year by three seats at the entrance to Spurway
Gardens, which we hope will be handy for anyone walking the length of our
rather long main road. We
try hard to keep Combe Martin in good condition, and sometimes succeed
better than at others. We have worked hard on Blackmore Ham Gardens, the
War Memorial and Adams Hay. We are still looking for a project to enhance
Head Town and would welcome any well-thought out ideas! Large
quantities of rubbish washing up onto the Beach suddenly has been a real
headache at times this year, and we would be really grateful to hear from
anyone who would be willing to give an hour or two of their time to help
when such things occur. If you would be willing to help, please ring the
office on 883403. Nicky
Tossell |