Minutes

FARNHAM TOWN COUNCIL

Minutes

Annual Town Meeting of Electors

Time and date

6.30pm Thursday 18 March 2021

Place

Held virtually by Zoom Webinar

Attendance:

Meeting attended by 91 members of the public.                               

o   The Town Mayor (Cllr Pat Evans) (Chairman)

o   The Deputy Mayor (Cllr Alan Earwaker)

o   Cllr David Attfield

o   Cllr David Beaman

o   Cllr Roger Blishen

o   Cllr Carole Cockburn

o   Cllr Sally Dickson

o   Cllr Paula Dunsmore

o   Cllr Brian Edmonds

o   Cllr John Scotty Fraser

o   Cllr Michaela Gray

o   Cllr George Hesse

o   Cllr Michaela Martin

o   Cllr Andy Macleod

o   Cllr Mark Merryweather

o   Cllr Kika Mirylees

o   Cllr John Neale (Leader)

o   Cllr John Ward

1.    Welcome by the Mayor of Farnham, Cllr Pat Evans

The Town Mayor opened the meeting of electors at 6.39pm and presented a short preamble.  In 2020 there was no Annual Town Meeting as the first national lock down had just occurred. This year the meeting was being held virtually by Zoom.

The Town Mayor explained this was a meeting for the electors of Farnham and was a statutory meeting held once a year.  Only those who live and worked in Farnham could participate in the meeting.

The Mayor introduced the Leader, Cllr John Neale as Lead Councillor of the Finance and Strategy Working Group.

2.    The Mayor of Farnham

The Mayor described the role and responsibilities of the Town Mayor giving examples of the Civic and Council functions attended during her two years in office (due to Covid) and her chosen Charities Space to Grow and Hale Community Centre. 

The year had been unusual due to the pandemic. During a typical year, The Mayor hosted and attended events and represented the Town elsewhere. The Mayor was the first citizen of the Farnham, and an ambassador of the Town, promoting and upholding the character of Farnham and supporting community groups and projects. The Town Mayor Chaired the Farnham Town Council meetings.

At the beginning of the pandemic Farnham Town Council developed a partnership with Farnham Maltings, and 30 organisations to help and support the community. The Town Council hosted the coronavirus helpline for residents. The organisations that came together at the start of the pandemic continued to meet fortnightly, as ‘Farnham Connect’. A fund had been set up thanks to the support of residents of Farnham had reached £50,000. A committee met regularly to allocate support and £30,000 had been allocated to date.

The Mayor outlined the different duties and responsibilities of Farnham Town Council, Waverley Borough Council and Surrey County Council.

The Mayor invited the Lead Members of the five Working Groups to present details of their activity during the year.

3.    Reports from Working Groups

i)     Tourism and Events Working Group

Cllr Earwaker presented a summary of events undertaken by the Tourism and Events Working Group in 2020/21.

Last year the programme of events had been significantly impacted by Covid restrictions, with 50% being postponed or  ...  view the full minutes text for item 1.