The Sandstone Town Hall was built c1888-1890 at a cost of £5,000.
Egremont Town Council,
Town Hall,
Main Street,
Egremont,
Cumbria.
CA22 2DB - 01946 820254
Egremont Town Council
Annual report for 2005/06 by Mrs Jean Lewthwaite.
I have thoroughly enjoyed my year as Chairperson of this Town Council and would like to:
Commend:
Friends of Egremont Castle, Lowes Court, Special Events Committee & various
Regeneration Groups.
Disappointed:
that our Community Policeman Andy Watson was lost to the town through illness, however he is back on light duties & we look forward to seeing him back on the beat.
Thanks goes to:
Geraldine who has been truly committed and capable during the clerk's absence through illness
Colin for his great support and advice as Vice-Chairperson
Elaine for her input and advice particularly N.D.A.
John for his work on the allotment sites and giving his time and commitment to whatever he is asked to do
June for always being ready and willing to assist, even planting trees
Jimmy for looking after the interests of Moor Row
Michael McVeigh for his work in allotments & cemetery and his sound advice
Mark, Michael T & Gerry limited by their work & family commitments but appreciate what they have done.
Donations:
Were given to Egremont Town Band, Childline Northwest, Xmas event, Air Ambulance, Operation Xmas Child, Hospice at Home, Fair trade, Moor Row Jubilee Club & Friends of Egremont Castle.
Myself and Colin accepted a new seat into the cemetery which was donated by Egremont Rotary Club to celebrate their 100th anniversary.
The Good Citizen's Award went to Friends of Egremont Castle.
I presented prizes for the annual allotment competition.
John Killip was co-opted onto the Town Council in September and he is an asset to the Council.
Egremont Regeneration Officer Simon Walker & Janet Simpson - the new Headmistress at Wyndham School attended a Council meeting, likewise representatives from the Environment Agency.
The Town Council agreed to support the recently formed Fairtrade Steering Committee in their bid to obtain Fair Trade status for the town.
Moor Row War Memorial railings were made safer by the entrance gate making it much easier on Remembrance Sunday when wreaths are being laid.
Also we supported Moor Row Residents Group (by submitting the planning application on their behalf) in their aim to erect a figure of a hiker at the entrance to their village.
Contested British Telecom when they proposed removing Bigrigg payphone.
Raised the Children's Memorial in the cemetery & John Killip planted the area with a variety of heathers.
Supported Moor Row Nursery which will enable them to extend the ages from 3yrs - 11yrs instead of 4yrs - 11yrs.
The Market Hall & Cemetery had a few problems through the year but the personnel sub-committee dealt with these issues.
I attended the quarterly meeting of Copeland/County/Parish Councils & found them informative about what is going on in other areas.
Egremont Town Councillors for 2005 are as follows: D Platt (Chairperson), J Lewthwaite (Vice-Chairperson), C Jackson, M McVeigh, M McCabe, G McKendry, J Redden, M Tebay & E Woodburn.
We are responsible for the Market Hall, the Cemetery, Bowling Green, Cemetery House, Egremont & Moor Row War Memorials, Bridgend & East Road allotment site & management of Sandholes allotment site.
The Market Hall continues to be well used for car boot sales, Egremont OAP Association, karate, weightwatchers, dog training, aerobics, spiritualist & archaeological meetings, tea dances, private & public meetings, private functions and school exams. Both our Market Hall attendants have completed a Child Protection course and our partnership with the Rugby League Club who operate the bar continues to work well.
The Cemetery has had a flooding problem for some years now, the winter of 2003 was particularly bad so this last summer, we paid for a major drainage programme to be carried out on the bottom field. This meant we had to use a new part of the cemetery for burials. This involved careful marking out & measuring and a length of new path constructed. Even with this drainage, some areas can only be used for single grave depth. A very large tree was blown down in the gales, the tree has now been removed & the wall will be re-built under the insurance cover. Regular "Safety with Machines" courses & maintenance updates are attended by our two cemetery workers.
An annual inspection of the cemetery house is carried out & any repairs identified & dealt with. The rent is ring fenced for this purpose.
Throughout the year, various people are invited to speak at the beginning of our meetings, some in reply to concerns from the public.
The use of the Main Street by ambulances on emergency call outs was one instance, Richard Shaw & Phil Radcliffe attended & the problem resolved.
The construction of a flood warning system concerned the residents near the river & we brought them together with two Environment Agency representatives. Both sides of the problem were highlighted & although not totally resolved, it gave the opportunity for feelings to be aired.
The Manager of the Fire Control Room at Cockermouth came to ask if we would support their case for retaining it at Cockermouth rather than one large central control room for an area covering Cumbria, Manchester, Lancashire, Liverpool & Cheshire which was what the Government were proposing. We agreed to write supporting his cause.
We have regular visits from the local police, the last one being our new Community Police Officer Andy Watson. He is to hold regular surgeries in the library on most Friday afternoons and be patrolling the Main Street regularly.
We held our annual allotment competition as usual, ably judged by Miss Mary Armitage, prizes & money were presented at a special evening in the supper room, by the Chairperson of the allotment sub-committee.
Our annual Good Citizen's Award in the form of a shield was given for 2004 to Mrs Margaret Leamon for her sterling work for Egremont Castle.
We distribute our donation budget to groups or individuals from Egremont Parish & includes free hall hire to especially deserving causes. We are currently housing free of charge the Citizen's Advice Bureau & the Credit Union until new premises become available.
We entered & won a Cumbria in Bloom award this year, the trophy is displayed in Jenkinsons shop window & we hope Egremont traders will support the Amenity Committee in their request to have flower boxes outside their Main Street premises in order to boost 2005's entry.
As part of Best Practice, we have acquired cheaper gas & electricity suppliers.
As a result of councillors keeping us in touch with local concerns, we have had the cherry trees replaced on the verge opposite Bigrigg Church. We pay for extra grasscutting on paths & verges in the two villages. The issue of the Moor Row seat has not been resolved yet.
In quiet periods, the cemetery workers clean local areas of litter & weeds.
We also pay for one Market Hall attendant to monitor the public toilets daily at lunch time.
We continue to support the objections to the detrunking of the A595.
We plan to contribute information to a website for Egremont.
Our precept of just under 4%, equivalent to 44p per week per household for a Band A property is higher than inflation due to the extra works required in the Cemetery & increased rates.
There are vacancies & anyone interested in becoming a Town Councillor should contact the Clerk on 01946 820254.
Town Council
Mrs Jean Lewthwaite - Chairperson
Mr Colin Jackson - Vice-Chairperson
Town Councillors:
Miss Elaine Woodburn
Mr Gerard McKendry
Mr Mark McCabe
Mr Jim Redden
Mr Michael Tebay
Mrs June Bland
Mr John Killip
Mr Michael McVeigh
Egremont North Councillors; Copeland Councillors.
Margaret Bernadette Woodburn (Labour)
23 High Lea,
Castle Croft,
Egremont,
Cumbria.
CA22 2BU - 01946 820861
Work: 01946 820254
Elaine Margaret Woodburn (Labour)
23 High Lea,
Castle Croft,
Egremont,
Cumbria.
CA22 2BU - 01946 820861
Samuel Joseph Meteer (Labour)
10 Wodow Road,
Thornhill,
Egremont,
Cumbria.
CA22 2SD - 01946 820404
Egremont South Councillors; Copeland Councillors elected to serve on 1st May 2003.
Michael Arthur McVeigh (Labour)
15 Whitegate,
Egremont,
Cumbria.
CA22 2BQ - 01946 820703
Constance Lucia Watson (Labour)
Waverley,
Greendykes,
Egremont,
Cumbria.
CA22 2JS - 01946 820423
Peter Charles Ernest Watson (Labour)
Waverley,
Greendykes,
Egremont,
Cumbria.
CA22 2JS - 01946 820423
18 Harpur Place, Thornhill, Egremont, Cumbria. CA22 2SG
01946 824 052
enquiries@visitegremont.co.uk