Mayor's Report to the Annual Town Meeting

Mayor of Bakewell, Cllr Paul Miller, gave the following report to the Annual Town Meeting:

I would like to thank our County and District Councillors, Alasdair Sutton, Alyson Hill and Mark Wakeman as well as Peak Park Member Kath Potter for all their work, seen and unseen, on behalf of Bakewell.

Thanks are due to my fellow Town Councillors for their contributions and support during the year and throughout their term of office.

2023 is an election year for District, Town, and Parish Councils in Derbyshire Dales and elections will take place on Thursday 4th May.

The Town Council has so far met on 14 occasions during 2022-23. Council meetings are held on the first Monday of the month and members of the public are welcome to join us and may make representations in Public Speaking.

To meet our spending plans the precept was set at £105,000 for 2022-23 and remains at that level for 2023-24.

Over the year we have commented on a total of 54 planning applications and appeals.

To mark the Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II the Town Council distributed commemorative coins to children at the Infant and Junior schools. The Jubilee Oak was planted at Scot's Garden. Bakewell itself looked stunning with union flags and red white and blue bunting throughout the town centre over the Jubilee weekend.

We have undertaken project work and made representations on a wide range of matters including:

• Drainage issues
• Flooding
• Incorporation of former Neighbourhood Plan policies into the PDNPA Local Plan
• Installation of throwlines on the riverbank in the town centre
• Producing a Long Term Management Plan for Scot's Garden
• Publicised the location and availability details for publicly available defibrillators in Bakewell including with the "What3Words" reference
• Quinquennial Review of Town Hall
• Reinvigorating the Bakewell Partnership
• Streetscene issues
• The Public Sector DecarbonisationFund
• Town centre repaving
• Town centre trees
• Tree and Woodland Management

We have given our support to the DDDC Housing Need Survey.

The Town Council has appointed representatives to Bakewell in Bloom, Bakewell Town and Community Trust Liaison Committee, and the Bakewell Branch of the Royal British Legion.

We have participated in DDDC "Closer Working" meetings, briefing sessions for Chairs and Clerks organised by the Derbyshire Association of Local Councils, and liaison meetings with the Peak District National Park Authority.

Our website, www.bakewelltowncouncil.gov.uk, continues to provide access to agendas, minutes, supporting documents and a wide range of other information. Page views over the last twelve months have exceeded of 65,500.

We continued to offer Christmas trees to traders in the town and provide the public Christmas tree at Bath Gardens.

We have supported community based organisations with grants:

• £10,000 to Bakewell Town and Community Trust,
• £500 to Bakewell Carnival Committee
• £50 to Bakewell WI
• £600 to the Bakewell Model Radio Controlled Car Club

We have successfully applied for grants for:

• £1,000 from DDDC to mark Queen Elizabeth II's Platinum Jubilee
• £300 from the DDDC Local Projects Fund

We have received a bequest of £1,000 for use in funding town centre trees from the estate of Hilary Young.

With the COVID-19 pandemic receding we are once again able to enjoy more of the activities and events that make life worthwhile. Though with inflation still high, living and business costs increasing, and energy prices yet to come down there are undoubtedly significant challenges ahead.