Agenda and draft minutes

The Chairman informed those present of the actions required in the event of a fire or emergency.

Members of the public may ask questions of the Town Team by submitting in writing via email to enquiries@saltash.gov.uk or the Guildhall no later than 48 hours prior to the start of the meeting.

Responses to public questions will be dealt with at the discretion of the Chairman.

None received.

It was unanimously agreed that the notes of the last meeting were a true and accurate record.

The Chairman noted that the £277.81 balance remaining in the Trip 037 column of the previous statement has now been returned to Cornwall Council as agreed at the previous meeting.

The funding statement and available S106 ringfenced funds was noted.

At the previous meeting, a Working Group comprising of HF, RB, SG and BAES was established to engage and consult with local traders in order to gain a better understanding of which operational model for a Reality Trail would be most suitable. The Working Group was also tasked with considering the future management and operational responsibility of the project once established.

SG provided a verbal update and confirmed that the Working Group had met and are seeking external support and will report back at the next meeting.

Members discussed the concerns relating to the potential high development costs of an ‘Augmented Reality Trail’ and noted that these are more commonly seen in large-scale visitor destinations.

The Working Group will consider this further and report back to Members at the next meeting, alongside the findings of any additional research undertaken.

The Chairman provided an update, and whilst he has approached the wine library, no further action has been taken at this stage as the Town Council have been utilising the Banner site at the Retail Park for recent Co-option and now for the Settlement Spatial Plan.

At the invitation of the Chairman, the Administration Officer presented the report circulated within the reports pack. Members were reminded that it had previously been agreed that the production of promotional leaflets and large map signs, to be installed at various locations as detailed in the report, would be funded from the Section 106 Waitrose Publicity Fund. However, the remaining balance within the fund is insufficient to meet the full cost of all five map signs.

The Administration Officer therefore requested that Members consider allocating up to £5000 of the ring-fenced Section 106 Publicity Funds to support the delivery of the map signs and the distribution of promotional leaflets during the 2027/28 financial year, subject to approval from the S106 Officer that the funds can be used for this purpose.

Whilst Members agreed that it would be beneficial to complete the map signage project, they were uncertain about the value of committing to a further year of leaflet distribution. Members wished to explore whether any usage data or feedback could be obtained from the QR code featured on the leaflet to help assess its effectiveness.

Members also requested that consideration be given to scaling back the leaflet distribution programme to avoid unnecessary expenditure. It was further noted that a number of updates may be required to the leaflet content before any future print run is commissioned.

It was agreed to refer the Officer's recommendations back to the Working Group for further consideration and investigation. The Working Group will review the matters raised by Members, including the effectiveness and scope of future leaflet distribution and any required updates to the leaflet content, and report back with its findings and recommendations at the next meeting.

HF was scheduled to present on this agenda item. However, in her absence, Members agreed that consideration of the matter would be deferred and would be received at the next meeting.

KJ provided an update on progress relating to the provision of training opportunities for local businesses.

He advised that his initial approach had been to promote the initiative through a range of social media channels on 26 July, posting on ten relevant platforms and groups to gauge levels of interest, without specifying whether the courses would be funded or chargeable. However, despite this outreach, no expressions of interest or enquiries were received.

KJ reported that a further social media post was made on 25 September, this time promoting funded courses in an attempt to assess demand. Once again, no expressions of interest or enquiries were received.

He subsequently undertook direct engagement with local businesses, visiting ten premises on Fore Street in person. Of those visited, four businesses expressed some interest in the initiative.

KJ noted that he had concerns regarding the viability of the project, advising that Saltash Studios already provides digital training opportunities and that numerous other organisations offer online digital training courses. He suggested that the availability of these existing training providers may be contributing to the limited level of interest shown by local businesses.

Members discussed the viability of continuing to pursue the initiative in light of the limited interest demonstrated by local businesses through both online promotion and direct engagement.

Following discussion, it was agreed that KJ would prepare a report setting out the challenges encountered, the outcomes achieved, and any lessons learned from the research undertaken to date. Members will consider the findings of the report at a future meeting before determining how they wish to proceed with the initiative.

Street Markets

RB provided an update regarding the previous proposal for CEPL12 to take on responsibility for delivering the street markets. Members were reminded that the proposal had been placed on hold at the last meeting due to resource and capacity constraints.

RB reported that CEPL12 remains keen to progress the initiative and hopes that sufficient resources can be made available to enable delivery of the street markets during the next year. He advised that the proposal remains under consideration and that CEPL12 will continue to explore opportunities to move the project forward when capacity allows.

Street Audit Works

RB provided an update following the recent street audit. He reported that he had received no further communication from Will Glassup, Highways and Environment Manager at Cormac, since the audit had taken place. Members noted that a number of the agreed works identified during the audit had yet to be completed.

RB advised that he would contact Will Glassup to follow up on the outstanding repairs and seek an update on their progress. He also encouraged Members to notify him of any additional street maintenance issues requiring attention so that these could be raised with Cormac as part of the ongoing follow-up.

Pontoon Area

Members discussed the connectivity between the Pontoon and Fore Street, and noted that Plymouth Boat Trips had reported that passengers were not always keen to walk up the hill to the town.  Members discussed at length the various options that had been considered in the past that were unfortunately not financially viable.

Jannercard

PR confirmed that HF has been in contact with Mike Turner, creator of the Jannercard, he is interested in speaking with Members and will hopefully be available to attend the next meeting.

Co-Op Culver Road Car Park

PR reported that no response had been received from the retail management team regarding the possibility of introducing a one-hour free parking scheme. He advised that he would continue to pursue the matter and seek further engagement with the relevant parties; however, based on the lack of response to date, he was not optimistic that a favourable outcome would be achieved.

SM indicated that Cornwall Council may be interested in doing some sort of parking agreement, he will pass the contact details to PR who will make further enquiries.

End of Meeting: 6.20 pm