Billingham Town Council
Newsletter Spring 2015
A note from Easter Fun Day
the Chairman...
Wednesday 8th April 2015
W
elcome to our first
newsletter of 2015. Here
you will find information about
current projects, events
planned for this year and our
budget for 2015-16.
We are now based in the new
Library & Customer Service Centre
in the Town Square, making it
much easier to contact us.
We are also holding fortnightly
Chairmanship Surgeries in the
same building. Please come in
and see us if you have any
questions.
Councillor Colin Pollard Chairman 2014/15
John Whitehead Park,
11am - 3pm
B
illingham Town Council will be
holding an Easter Fun Day
suitable for younger children in
John Whitehead Park on
Wednesday 8th April 2015 from
11am - 3pm.
There will be various Easter themed
activities for children to join in with in
the Community Hub as well as an
Easter egg hunt around the park and
an appearance from the Easter Bunny.
To register for the Easter egg hunt,
please contact us on 01642 551171
or via our facebook page:
www.facebook.com/JWPHUB.
Harrington’s Pond Project
B
illingham Town Youth Council are
currently working on their
Harringtons Pond project, as part of
their Beautiful Billingham Campaign.
Harringtons Pond is located next to
Billingham Town Football Club grounds
on Cowpen Lane. The pond is currently
derelict and run down.
The Youth Council’s aim is to clean up
the pond and return it to its former glory
as well as installing usable footpaths
which will be wheelchair accessible, a
footbridge over to the ponds central
island, litter and dog fouling bins, an
information board of the pond’s history
and overall making the space available
for residents to enjoy.
The Youth Council have interacted with
the Harrington family, whose ancestors
lived in the pond house, and have learnt
a lot about the pond’s history, making
them evermore eager to restore the sites
beauty.
Shortly, with the guidance of Tees Valley
Wildlife Trust, the Youth Council will be
putting together a funding bid to fund the
project and have aims of starting the
initial clean up process in April 2015
which will include litter picking and shrub
clearance ahead of installing footpaths.
The Youth Council have contacted local
youth groups, schools, colleges and
universities to invite them to get involved
with the project. If you are interested in
the Harringtons Pond project, or would
like to join the Youth Council, please
contact us for more information.
Harrington’s Pond
For more information on the
Youth Council, please turn to page 4.
Tel/fax: 01642 551171 • Email: [email protected] • Website: www.billinghamtowncouncil.co.uk
2
Your Town Council
Schedule of meetings for 2015
May be subject to change
Thursday 12th February 2015
Tuesday 24th February 2015
Thursday 12th March 2015
Tuesday 24th March 2015
Thursday 9th April 2015
Tuesday 28th April 2015
Thursday 14th May 2015
Tuesday 19th May 2015
Thursday 11th June 2015
Tuesday 30th June 2015
Thursday 9th July 2015
Tuesday 28th July 2015
Services & Amenities and Planning Committee
Finance Policy & Resources Committee
Town Council meeting
Services & Amenities and Planning Committee
Finance Policy & Resources Committee
Town Council meeting
Services & Amenities and Planning Committee
Finance Policy & Resources Committee
Town Council meeting
Services & Amenities and Planning Committee
Finance Policy & Resources Committee
Annual Town meeting & Annual General meeting
Services & Amenities and Planning Committee
Finance Policy & Resources Committee
Town Council meeting
Services & Amenities and Planning Committee
Finance Policy & Resources Committee
Town Council meeting
No meetings in August 2015
Thursday 10th September 2015 Services & Amenities and Planning Committee
Finance Policy & Resources Committee
Tuesday 29th September 2015
Thursday 8th October 2015
Tuesday 27th October 2015
Thursday 12th November 2015
Tuesday 24th November 2015
Town Council meeting
Services & Amenities and Planning Committee
Finance Policy & Resources Committee
Town Council meeting
Services & Amenities and Planning Committee
Finance Policy & Resources Committee
Town Council meeting
No meetings in December 2015
3pm - 5pm
5pm - 7pm
6pm onwards
Your Town Councillors
2014/15
Ward
Billingham North
6pm onwards
6pm onwards
Billingham East
6pm onwards
6pm onwards
Billingham Central
3pm - 5pm
5pm - 7pm
Billingham South
6pm onwards
3pm - 5pm
5pm - 7pm
6pm onwards
Mick Stoker
01642 371641
Ray McCall
01642 880999
Ann McCoy
01642 533554
Jean O’Donnell
01642 559717
Paul Smith
01642 875121
6pm onwards
3pm - 5pm
5pm - 7pm
Keith Robinson
01642 551171
Gina McCall
01642 880999
3pm - 5pm
5pm - 7pm
6pm onwards
Royce Sandbach
07946623200
Sheila Smart
07908031924
3pm - 5pm
5pm - 7pm
3pm - 5pm
5pm - 7pm
Peter Clark
01642 800835
Eleanor Mockler
01642 561046
3pm - 5pm
5pm - 7pm
3pm - 5pm
5pm - 7pm
Councillors
Billingham West
Mike Smith
01642 371782
Helen Atkinson
01642 360645
Olive Milner
01642 646732
Colin Pollard
01642 531647
New Office
Accommodation
Billingham Town Council
is now located in
Billingham Library & Customer
Service Centre,
Billingham, Cleveland,
TS23 2LN.
You can contact us on
01642 551171
or email us on
[email protected]
Tel/fax: 01642 551171 • Email: [email protected] • Website: www.billinghamtowncouncil.co.uk
3
Cafe in the Park
S
ituated in the heart of John
Whitehead Park, Cafe in the Park
is set in a prime location with easy
access to/from the Town Centre and
is surrounded by excellent facilities
such as the Community Hub,
Skatepark, Tennis Courts, MUGA,
Outdoor Exercise Equipment,
Children's Play Park and playing
fields providing a great place for all
members of the family to enjoy.
The cafe offers low cost family meals
as well as offering daily specials priced
at £3.00 each.
Daily Specials:
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
- Lasagne
- Cottage Pie
- Chicken Curry
- Chilli
- Fish, Chips & Mushy Peas
- Chicken Parmo
Following responses from a recent
survey, a new dessert menu has been
launched in the cafe. We will be hosting
themed nights and afternoon tea. To
have your say on what you would like
B
to see in the cafe, please ‘like’ us on
Facebook or visit our website to
respond to our surveys.
Over the Christmas period, the cafe
offered a Christmas dinner package for
group bookings of between 10-20
people. The package included
Christmas dinner with all the trimmings,
crackers, music and a selection box for
only £5 per head.
The cafe supports many charities such
as Macmillan Cancer Support and
Butterwick Hospice Care. At our
Macmillan coffee morning held on 26th
September 2014, we raised over £260
for the charity and at our Butterwick
Hospice event held on 29th October
2014 we raised over £71. We will be
holding more charity fundraising events
in the cafe throughout the year.
To keep up to date with information
from the cafe, weekly deals and
upcoming events, please ‘like’ our
Facebook page:
www.facebook.com/JWPHUB.
Community Hub
illingham Town Council were
successful in acquiring funding
from Grantscape to provide a
Community Hub which is located in
John Whitehead Park adjacent to the
Cafe, looking out onto the skatepark.
Currently, youth sessions run from the Hub
on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday
evenings from 6.30pm - 8.30pm.
Last year, we had a range of successful
workshops in the Hub such as Rag Wreath
Making, Be Messy & Make and Fluent
Friends which we aim to continue
throughout this year. To keep up to date
with upcoming workshops, ‘like’ us on
Facebook or visit our website. If you have
any suggestions, or would like to hold a
workshop in the Hub, please contact us for
more details.
Following responses from a recent survey,
we are looking into the possibility of holding
a weekly Over 50’s Club in the Hub.
The Hub is available to hire for any
occasion such as meetings, group
sessions, children’s parties and much
more. If you would like to hire the Hub for
an occasion or would like to set up a
weekly session please contact us for more
details.
The Hub hosted several children’s parties
last year. We have party packages
available all year round for the Hub which
can include food provided from the cafe.
Parties held through the summer months
are a hit with all the free facilities available
within John Whitehead Park. For more
information on our party packages, please
contact us.
Working with our local Police it was
reported that with the opening of the
Community Hub, Cafe and skatepark
facilities in 2014 anti-social behaviour
recorded incidents had reduced from
approximately 50 to 2 in the first month.
This is a fantastic achievement.
Upcoming workshops/sessions:
Bike/Scooter Security tagging
- Thursday 2nd April 2015, 11am - 3pm
Bike/Scooter Reclamation
- Thursday 2nd April 2015, 11am - 3pm
Stalls in Hub - BB Dolls, Tutuly
Princess, Bow’s & Belles
- Tuesday 7th April 2015, 11am - 3pm
Stalls in Hub - Partylite. Sweet Lola
Blue, Lady Fatpants Cakes
- Thursday 9th April 2015, 11am - 3pm
Rhythm Time
- Friday 10th April 2015, 10am
Cupcake Decorating workshop
- Date to follow (Check our Facebook
and website for update)
To book onto a workshop
please contact us on 01642 551171.
Tel/fax: 01642 551171 • Email: [email protected] • Website: www.billinghamtowncouncil.co.uk
4
John Whitehead
Park
Billingham Town Council manage the services in
John Whitehead Park in partnership with Stockton Borough Council
Tennis Courts
Tuesday evenings from 6pm - 9pm
Saturday afternoons from 1.30pm - 4pm
We are looking to start up a women’s
team. If you’re interested, please contact
our office on 01642 551171.
Outdoor Exercise Equipment
There will be free training sessions on the
Outdoor Exercise Equipment commencing
in Spring 2015 to allow residents to learn
how to get the most out of the equipment.
MUGA
The MUGA was installed in 2012 and has
facilities to play 5-a-side football,
basketball, netball and Hockey. The facility
is well utilised and we are looking at
introducing dedicated coaching sessions.
Skatepark
The Skatepark was installed in 2014 and
is well utilised by members of the public of
all ages. This facility is an asset for our
community.
Last year shortly after opening the skate
park we ran a trial session dedicated for
younger children on Saturday mornings.
We are hoping to do this again this
Spring/Summer. Details of this will be
advertised on our JWP Facebook page.
B
illingham Town Youth
Council was set up at our
AGM in May 2013 and is made up
of 10 enthusiastic young
members.
The Tennis Courts are free to use during
the opening hours of the park, except the
following times when the courts are used
by Billingham Tennis Club:
We are also looking to develop tennis
coaching, for more information please look
on our facebook site and notice board in
John Whitehead Park.
Billingham
Town
Youth
Council
At their meeting in July 2013, the
Youth Council launched their
“Beautiful Billingham” campaign
with aims of cleaning up Billingham
and making residents feel proud of
the town that they live in. The
campaign covers reducing graffiti,
vandalism and dog fouling,
encouraging more residents to
recycle and making Billingham a
clean and friendly environment.
Since starting the Beautiful
Billingham campaign, the Youth
Council were informed of
Harringtons Pond; a run down,
derelict area of green space sited
behind Billingham Town Football
Club grounds. The youngsters
instantly wanted to undertake work
on site at Harringtons Pond as part
of their Beautiful Billingham
Campaign as the site has so much
potential for residents of Billingham
to enjoy.
To keep up to date with our projects,
please ‘like’ us on Facebook:
Billingham Youth Council.
From left to right: Cllr Ray McCall,
Lewis Roe Chairman of BYC,
Cllr Gina McCall, Mayor Barbara Innam
and Flynn Bainbridge Vice Chairman of
BYC at the opening of Cafe in the Park and
Community Hub on 1st April 2014.
Tel/fax: 01642 551171 • Email: [email protected] • Website: www.billinghamtowncouncil.co.uk
5
Our Events for 2015
Easter Event
We will be holding an
Easter Event suitable for
young children on
Wednesday 8th April
2015 in John Whitehead
Park.
There will be an Easter egg hunt, Easter
themed arts and crafts, biscuit decorating,
face painting, balloon modelling, magic
shows and the Easter bunny will be
coming along!
Summer Event
Following our successful WW1 themed
Summer event last year, we will be holding
a Summer Event in John Whitehead Park
on Saturday 25th July 2015 - more details
will be released soon on our Facebook
page and website.
Precept
2015/16
A
Halloween Event
Last year we
delivered our
Halloween event
from the Community
Hub and we are
looking to do this
again on Friday 31st
October 2015 more details will be
released soon on our Facebook page and
website.
Traditional Christmas Event
We will be holding our 8th Traditional
Christmas Event in Billingham Town
Centre on Saturday 5th December 2015 more details to be released soon.
Christmas Carol Service
Our Christmas Carol service will be held in
John Whitehead Park on Sunday 6th
December 2015 - more details to be
released soon.
We will be holding other smaller events
during 2015 in John Whitehead Park, the
Community Hub and Cafe in the Park. To
keep up to date with our upcoming events,
please ‘like’ us on Facebook or visit our
website.
If you are interested in holding a stall at one
of our events, please visit
our website and complete
the application form under
‘Events’. If you would
prefer a hard copy, or for
more information, please
contact us.
All of our services and facilities are delivered for you at a minimal cost of
28 pence per week (Band A). The cost of each band is shown below:
Band A
Cost per week (in pence) Cost for the year (in pounds)
0.28
14.67
0.38
19.56
0.47
24.44
Band B
0.33
Band D
0.42
Band C
Band E
17.11
22.00
Elections 2015/16
Town or Parish Council election is
held to elect councillors to sit on
your local Parish or town council.
Town and Parish Councillors are elected for
a term of four years and must seek reelection at the next full elections if they wish
to remain in office. Any councillor elected
midterm as a result of a by-election must
also seek re-election at the next full
elections.
The notice of election for borough/parish
elections will be published on 23rd March
2015 and nominations can be submitted
from that date until the closing date on 9th
April 2015.
7th May will see local elections taking
place. If you are interested in making a
difference for your community then why not
pick up a Councillor nomination pack from
our office.
Executive Officer on 01642 551171 or email
[email protected].
Town Council meetings are held on a
monthly basis, and run all year with the
exception of August and December.
For more information about standing as a
Councillor, please contact Dianne Rickaby,
Tel/fax: 01642 551171 • Email: [email protected] • Website: www.billinghamtowncouncil.co.uk
6
Look how far we have
come since inception!
Installed 8 entrance signs
“Welcome to Billingham” to
give our town identity
Produced 5 newsletters to
residents after which we
progressed onto assisting the
setting up of Billingham
Community Newspaper
Sponsored extra hours of
Enforcement provision with
two dedicated Officers who
patrolled Billingham on Friday
and Saturday evenings
between 7pm - 10pm
Consulted with businesses
and Stockton Borough
Council to ensure that any
community benefit funds
generated from new ventures
must be kept within
Billingham for the people of
Billingham
Entered into a management
agreement with Stockton
Borough Council in assisting
managing services in John
Whitehead Park such as
skate park, MUGA, Outdoor
Exercise Equipment and
Tennis Courts
Supported the development
of a Skate park in John
Whitehead Park and are now
managing the facility and the
coordination of the JWP
stakeholders group
Development and delivery of
successful Summer and
Halloween Events
Sited 29 flower tubs around
Billingham and 8 planters at
the base of entrance signs in
partnership with Shaw Trust
2007
Launched a “Keep Billingham
Tidy Campaign”
Supporting local community
groups, events, charities and
organisations with donations
who carry out projects that
benefit the community
Assisted Billingham Food
Bank with the setting up of
the new site in Billingham
town Centre and assisted
with funding applications
(which were successful
targeting industries in
Billingham)
Assisted residents with the
time capsule project
Representation at Northern
Locality Forum, Parish
Liaison Forum, Safer
Billingham Partnership,
Billingham Environmental
Link Programme, Billingham
Legacy Foundation, A19
Noise Action Group, Northern
Area Transport Strategy
Group and attendance at
resident association meetings
Opened Cafe in the Park
(2014)
Supporting/assisting with the
proposed new developments
for John Whitehead Park
Bowls Club
Day to day assistance to
residents with queries
Delivered 7 successful
Traditional Christmas Events
2015
Launched Pride of Billingham
Awards at AGM in 2010
Lobbied for improved
accessibility to Billingham
Train Station
Successful in obtaining 105
free trees from the Woodland
Trust to plant at Billingham
Beck
Successful in obtaining
funding to renovate the
rooms adjacent to the cafe to
form a Community Hub
(£27,000)
Established a Youth Council
in 2013 who are now working
on their Harrington’s Pond
project as part of their
Beautiful Billingham
Campaign
Sponsors of Billingham
International Folklore Festival
& Billingham Carnival and
Garden Show
Assisting St Cuthberts
Church Hall Group with
renovations and looking at
potential funding streams and
managing the project on their
behalf
Achieved Quality Town
Council Status in
January 2013 (only second
Council in Cleveland to
achieve this status)
Assisted residents to look at
transport needs and issues
(Isolated areas such as Port
Clarence and Cowpen
Bewley)
Registered an interest to
Stockton Borough Council in
developing the peninsula
area of Osborne Park into a
community orchard
Held a competition between
local schools to design a coat
of arms for the Town Council.
The winning design was
created by Lydia Bailey,
student at St. Michaels
Secondary School,
Billingham and the design
has now been made into a
Chairman and Vice
Chairman’s pendant
Installed 6 litter bins and 18
dog fouling bins throughout
Billingham
Working in partnership with
Stockton Borough Council we
installed a suite of outdoor
exercise equipment in John
Whitehead Park (Successful
in obtaining funding and were
awarded £16,000 from PCT
and £500 from Grants 4
Health)
Developed a new website
Developing a
Neighbourhood Plan for
Billingham
Working in partnership with
Stockton Borough Council we
will be delivering aspects of
Health & Wellbeing from our
Community Hub and Cafe.
This is a taster of what we provide, for more details please visit our website.
Your local Town Council working for you.
Billingham Town Council
John Whitehead Park Community Hub & Cafe
@billinghamTC
Billingham Town Council, Billingham Library & Customer Service Centre, Billingham, Cleveland, TS23 2LN
Tel/Fax: 01642 551171 • Email: [email protected] • Website: www.billinghamtowncouncil.co.uk