Agenda item

Area North - Area Chapter 20/21 Update & Finance Report (Executive Decision)

Meeting of Area North Committee, Wednesday 23rd September 2020 2.00 pm (Item 145.)

Decision:

RESOLVED:

That Area North Committee agreed to:

(1) Note the report.

(2) Endorse and award allocation of spend on the following projects:

a) Endorse £2,000 from the Area Discretionary/Project revenue budget to support the development of a food and drink directory

b) Award £5,000 from Area Reserves to help progress the £1.6 million Ham Hill National Heritage Lottery Fund (NHLF) project

Reason:

To consider allocating funding towards a food and drink directory and the Ham Hill National Heritage Lottery Fund project.

(Voting: Unanimous)

Minutes:

On behalf of the Locality Manager, the Locality Team Leader presented the report which provided members with an overview of this year’s delivery of the Area Chapter and finance budgets for Area North. She noted it had been a difficult year so far for everyone due to the pandemic, and it had impacted on some projects.

The Leisure & Recreation Manager provided an overview of the Ham Hill National Heritage Lottery Fund (NHLF) project bid, and noted it was becoming more difficult to manage the site sustainably due to increased use and visitor numbers, especially in the current circumstances. She explained that the £5,000 requested from Area North Committee was towards the funding for the development stage of the bid.

During a brief discussion, the Leisure & Recreation Manager responded to points of detail, and some of her points included:

· The other areas had not be approached for funding towards the Ham Hill NHLF project. She had taken a steer from the Locality Manager about which budget to apply for funding.

· Acknowledgement that part of Ham Hill Country Park may now lie within Area East.

· She had been working with Area South with projects at Yeovil Recreation Centre.

· A brief explanation of what the revenue budget was for.

Several members noted Ham Hill was a wonderful asset and needed to be maintained. It was proposed to approve the funding for the food and drink directory, and the Ham Hill NHLF project, and on being put to the vote was carried unanimously.