Camelford News – March/April
Camelford News – March/April
8 April 2022
OCM GRAND OPENING
Thank you to all those who supported our St Piran’s Day celebrations and OCM Phase 2 Opening. To those who came along, those who volunteered, led workshops and entertainment or provided food and drink – you made the day very special. It is delighted to announce that the event raised £275 for the OCM Skatepark Club. Thanks to everyone who put money in the bucket, bought a raffle ticket or donated to the inflatable assault course. This included a £50 donation from New Hanger Management and £30 from Cornish Crepes. The money will go towards resources, activities/coaching at the OCM Skatepark Club. If you would like to join, please email dave.edkins@camelford-tc.gov.uk. There will be member only sessions at the OCM starting in May and special events/coaching/competitions for members. Membership is £1. The OCM Skatepark Club will be launched 2 June 2022 as part of Fun Week and Jubilee Celebrations. There will be opportunities to volunteer and get involved.
The event was opened by Mark Richardson of The National Lottery Community Fund and Mayor Cllr Rob Rotchell.
“The Town Council took over responsibility for the skate park back in 2017 when the Youth Club closed. The park was in very poor condition and shortly after taking it over we were advised to close it as it was deemed unsafe and the site almost derelict. The Town Council took the decision to rejuvenate the park and fast forward five years to today. It’s not been a straightforward journey but here we are with a state of the art facility that we can all be proud of. Inevitably given the challenges we have all faced over the past couple of years there are still some finishing touches to make.”
The toilet block, table tennis and container should be arriving soon.
Unfortunately the pump track has had to close until further notice. CTC apologises for any inconvenience caused. It knows it is disappointing as it has only just been opened! It hopes to have the issues rectified soon.
WELCOME TO OUR NEW COUNCILLOR – JIM THOMSON
Following the resignation of Cllr Chandler, it is delighted to announce that Jim Thomson was co-opted into Camelford Town Council. Jim has already got into the swing of things by volunteering to read stories in Cornish at our St Piran’s Day storytelling event and also designing and painting a St Piran’s Day Flag.
BIG CONVERSATION REPORT
At the beginning of 2021 a group of local people began working with Matt Baker from Rise Associates to establish a placemaking group to develop plans to address the decline of Camelford and improve the town. Featuring residents, councillors, voluntary sector figures and local business people, this became known as Agan Reskammel. After several months of discussions, a blueprint was developed to help Camelford recover from the pandemic and reclaim its identity. The Vision document went out to consultation in November 2021. Face to face meetings were had, as well as an online version. The Vision document below will be used to secure future funding for Camelford. At the Annual Parish Meeting, Matt Baker summarised the results of the Vision document. A copy of all the documents are available to view at the library. Should you wish to have a copy, it will be charged at 10p per sheet.
Camelford-Vision-Document-Final-April-2021.pdf (camelford-tc.gov.uk)
ANNUAL PARISH MEETING
Thank you to all those who attended the Annual Parish Meeting in March. Minutes will be approved at next year’s Annual Parish Meeting but were part of associated documents for 15 March on the website/meetings/agendas if you would like to have a read. It included reports from grant recipients, an update on what the Town Council have been doing, and presentations from Matt Baker and Paul Thomas from the Camelford Regeneration Community Interest Company.
DEVELOPMENT PLAN REFERENDUM
At the beginning of March, a referendum was held to decide whether Cornwall Council should use the Neighbourhood Development plan when making future decisions about planning applications. A Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP) is a community-led framework for guiding the future development, regeneration and conservation of an area. It is about the use and development of land and contains our vision, objectives, planning policies, proposals for improving the area and/or providing new facilities and protecting the landscape.
More than three quarters of those who voted have voted in favour of using the plan.Camelford-NDP-CC-Modified-Version-October-202.pdf (camelford-tc.gov.uk)
ALLOTMENT GARDENS
Renewal of lease agreement. Contracts for the coming year will be sent out shortly. The fee remains the same at £22 per annum. If you are interested in an allotment garden, please contact the office. There is a waiting list!
LIBRARY/ WORKSHOPS
As part of Welcome Back Funding (European Regional Development Fund, Cornwall Development Company and Hall for Cornwall), it had the opportunity to host a variety of workshops around the town. Many of these were held at the library, the Old Bank and the skatepark and were open to both adults and children. Thank you to all those who supported these workshops by attending; a great time was had by all. The poetry from the poetry workshop (run by Olivia Lowry) will be etched into the Broadwood Bridge boards as soon as the bridge has been painted and existing boards removed of paint and restored to their former natural glory. The library has also hosted workshops for Manga drawing (run by Keith Sparrow) and various Storytelling sessions which are always very popular. There was also a parkour workshop run by the Urban Playground Team, who also performed “Zoo Humans” at the opening of the OCM (pictures above). Articulate provided willow ship and story workshops at the Primary School and performed their stories in the Library. The Flag workshops (run by Janie McDonald) were a roaring success and the flags looked amazing in the High Street.
EASTER ACTIVITIES
Join in our fun Easter Egg Trail competition which starts on 15 April. Bring in your completed trail forms (see below) to the library by 22 April for a chance to win a fabulous prize. Trail forms are available in the library now! Every child who takes part will get a small chocolate treat. Eggs will be hidden in participating shop windows around town! On Saturday 16 April bring in your decorated Easter Eggs and Easter Bonnet to win a prize! Please bring in your eggs and bonnets by 12pm. Judging will take place in the library at 12.30pm. Winners will be announced on Facebook. Easter stories and crafts in the library from 10am
FUN WEEK AND JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS
CTC is again organising Fun Week and will include events to celebrate the Queen’s Jubilee. More details about the events will be circulated throughout the town and on social media.
