Minutes of the Meeting held on 19th October 2917
Present: Cllr Chris Smart, Cllr Mary Emment-Lewis, Alun Edwards, Bridget Hall (Minutes)
1 President’s Address
In the absence of the President, Chris chaired the meeting.
Although the meeting was not quorate, it was decided to continue for discussion purposes only with no resolutions being taken.
Best wishes were expressed to Cllr Robert Lee for a speedy recovery from his recent illness.
2 Apologies for absence
Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Robert Lee, Stuart Bentley, Cllr Lorrie Desmond-Williams, Jeff & Jane Bond, John Berry, Les Tallon-Morris, Peter Fenton, David Newton-Williams.
3 To approve the Minutes of the last meeting
The Minutes were approved, apart from a typing error on Chris Smart’s name.
4 Matters arising from the minutes
- i) Co-opted Members
Chris reported that at the recent BTA meeting, it had agreed that Les would continue to be a representative.
- ii) Council Events Committee
Chris reported that Cllr Mike Clarke had been appointed to the Council Events Committee, in place of Steve Maitland Thomas.
Bridget confirmed that she had attended the recent meeting and would report later on the forthcoming Christmas event.
Bridget said that Christmas lighting in the Town was discussed and it had been agreed to hold a public meeting to gather views. £25k had been spent on Christmas lights so it was important to spend this money appropriately.
iii) Toilets
Chris confirmed that the toilets in the underpass of the Pavilion would be reopening prior to Christmas, with management being jointly run by Arwen and PTC.
- iv) Tourism Initiative
Chris said that the date of this event had now changed to Friday 10th November to be held at the Grand Pavilion, with the aim of regenerating tourism in Porthcawl. A discussion ensued regarding the requested payment from the Chamber of £500 which would be used to provide refreshments to delegates. This matter was deferred for discussion at the next meeting.
- v) Events Group
Referring to the proposal for setting up an Events Group involving various organisations in the Town, it was thought that such a diversity of organisations would be difficult to bring together. Also, a joint calendar for Town events had been considered previously but proved difficult to coordinate with the various organisations.
5 Financial Report
As Mark Morgan was currently out of the country, there was no financial report for the month.
6 Events
- i) Summer Festival
Chris reported that funds raised from the Festival were down by 50% from last year, which was disappointing to note.
- ii) Christmas Festival
Bridget reported that she had attended the last Council Events Committee as co-opted member and that arrangements were all in hand for this year’s event. It would be held in John Street car park, as last year.
iii) Elvis Festival
Chris said that there had been complaints from shop-owners about stalls being set up for the Elvis weekend. However, it had been disappointing to note that some of the cafes did not stay open to provide for the increase in catering requirements.
7 Correspondence
Bridget reported that the President had received an email from Paul Whitaker offering Chamber members the opportunity to list their businesses in a pocket map that he would produce, at the discounted cost of £125 per advert. This matter was deferred for discussion at the next meeting.
Chris said that Paul Whitaker was also interested in putting on the Jazz Festival and has been discussing with the Arwen Trust.
8 Membership Report
Bridget reported that she was having difficult in recruiting new members and felt that the Chamber needed to have something to offer, such as advertising on the website at preferential rates. Bridget confirmed that Saltwater was joining. Bridget was chasing lapsed members but having poor response.
9 Any other business
There was no other business
Date of next meeting: Thursday 16th November 2017
