Address: The Town Hall, 35 High Street, Thornbury BS35 2AR
Tel: 01454 412103 (Mon-Fri, 9am-5pm)
Email:
Website: www.thornburytowncouncil.gov.uk
A new defibrillator has been purchased with generous help from the Lions and installed at the Armstrong Hall in Thornbury.
Councillor Benj Emmerson, chair of the Armstrong Hall Management Committee, said: "Our staff have had to assist a number of times with incidents at the Hall and had to go off site to find the nearest defibrillator.
"The Armstrong Hall management committee were keen to purchase one to have it on site for any future incidents, but we could not have afforded it without the kind donation from the Thornbury Lions."
The defibrillator has been installed on the outside of the building, so it can be used by other facilities if required and is detachable, so can be moved to the new Armstrong Hall when it is built.
Keith Townsend, president of Thornbury Lions, said: "Thornbury Lions were delighted to support the purchase of another defibrillator, which will be accessible for the people of Thornbury and our visitors."
Thornbury Town Council has set its budget for the next financial year and will be investing in a range of projects, services and facilities to benefit Thornbury.
The Mayor, Cllr Shirley Holloway said, ‘Thornbury Town Council is continuing to make significant improvements to local services and facilities. We believe that this budget strikes the right balance between investing in our much-needed facilities and providing value for money for local tax payers.’
This year will see the Town Council providing a service level agreement to Krunch to deliver two Youth Groups in Thornbury, a move which was necessary to continue Youth provision in Thornbury due to significant reductions in the Youth Services budget for Thornbury by South Gloucestershire Council. The Council will also be delivering a new play area at Osprey park and provide ongoing support to produce a neighbourhood plan for Thornbury which will give local people a greater influence on how new development takes place in the town. We will also be investing in work required for the redevelopment of the Armstrong Hall.
As a Town Council we will continue to invest in and support a range of other local groups and organisations through our grants funding such as Jigsaw, Thornbury in Bloom and Christmas lights, contributions to support the Citizens Advice Bureau and Volunteer Centre and local community events such as the Carnival and Arts Festival.
The Town Council’s share of the overall Council Tax bill remains small and this year’s total budget will see expenditure of £923,306 of which £664,783 will be met from Council tax and the remainder from income, grants and use of council reserves. This is an increase in of 6.7% when compared to last year’s budget, however due to the increase in new homes completed this year, this means that the average band D household will pay £129.26 per year towards the Town Council, which is only £0.97p more than last year or less than 2p a week.
The team working on the Thornbury Neighbourhood Plan has now produced a first draft.
The team consists of Thornbury Town Councillors and volunteers. They are not happy with it yet, so they have more work to do.
When the Plan is completed and approved it will say what sort of housing and other buildings we want in the next 20 years or so. They expect to finish this in the next few months, and will then ask everyone in Thornbury to tell them what they think of it.
530 people responded to the survey at the start of 2018 asking about the future of Thornbury. The team says thank you to everyone who took the time to fill it in.
In the spring they carefully looked through all the survey responses. The Survey Results Report can be seen by clicking on Documents on the Thornbury Neighbourhood Plan website at www.thornburyplan.co.uk.
The team has proposed a Vision for Thornbury and some Objectives for the Plan, which will also be put on the website for comments.
Thornbury Town Council is delighted to report that the play area at Streamleaze has received an upgrade.
New equipment has been installed, including a new multi-play piece, a trampoline and new springer.
The Town Council applied for and received Section 106 funding in relation to Frome Court House in Thornbury to enable works to take place.
Cllr Clive Parkinson, Chair of the Playing Fields and Cemetery Committee said, ‘Thornbury Town Council is really pleased to be able to refresh the play area at Streamleaze and is delighted that the equipment has been installed ahead of the summer holidays so that it can be enjoyed!’
Cllr Helen Harrison, Mayor of Thornbury Town Council said, ‘I have been pleased to see that the new equipment has been well received already and many were making use of it during the good weather at the weekend.’
The works to the Streamleaze play area are the first in a programme of upgrades the Town Council have committed to over the next few years with the Mundy Playing Fields next on the list and due to be in place before the summer holidays.
On Tuesday 20th March 2018, the Armstrong Hall Trust whose sole managing trustee at present is Thornbury Town Council made the decision on the option to pursue a New-build of the Armstrong Hall on the existing site.
The decision followed detailed work on three options that were considered, to relocate to Turnberrie's, to refurbish the existing Hall or to rebuild on the existing site. The three options had been subject to Community Consultation and the Community voted strongly in favour of the rebuild option with 80% of respondents to the survey (285) choosing this option.
The remaining vote was 18% (62) stating that they supported the refurbishment option and only 1% (4) stating that they supported the relocation to Turnberrie's option, with a further 1% (5) respondents selecting don't know, none or other option.
Cllr Clive Parkinson, Chair of the Armstrong Hall redevelopment group said, “On balance the Armstrong Hall Trust believes that at this time the new build option is the preferred route to take forward. This is also the clear preferred option of the Thornbury public in their response to the consultations. This does not mean that we know what the final design will look like, only that we have a design that we feel would be preferable to the refurbishment option. The consultations have thrown up many questions and suggestions and the Trust will consider all of these as it takes the project forward.”
“The Armstrong Hall Trust will also want to encourage individuals who have experience or expertise in such a project to join the Working Group and help the Town develop an exciting and appropriate successor to the existing Armstrong Hall that has served the Town so well for the last nearly 50 years.”
It should be noted that the decision made at this stage is a decision to progress the project further. It is not a final decision on the design, facilities, governance or financing which will all require further work over the forthcoming year to inform a final decision and the commissioning of works.
Cllr Helen Harrison, Mayor of Thornbury and Chair of the Hall Trust said, “We wish to thank the Public for their great response to the Consultation which enables the Council to make a decision knowing it has the support and backing of the Public who we hope will get involved in this exciting project for Thornbury and create a wonderful legacy for the Town.”
Copies of the Consultation report are available from the Town Hall or from www.thornburytowncouncil.gov.uk.
Thornbury Town Council is continuing its programme of investment into new play areas, with plans to completely refurbish the play facilities at the Mundy Playing Fields, investing £85,000 in a new play area. We have appointed Proludic as our play contractor who will design and install the new play area before the summer holidays.
This will involve replacing the majority of the old equipment and safety surfacing, whilst retaining and incorporating the splash pad, zip wire, embankment slides, roundabout, climbing frame and balance bars. The adult exercise equipment will also be relocated away from the children's play area and the play area will continue to remain unfenced.
We aim to provide an inclusive play space that can be used for all children aged up to 16, split between a dedicated toddler area based around the splash pad and linked by the slides to the main children’s play area.
The neighbourhood plan for Thornbury, which will shape the future of the town for the next 20 years, is now underway.
It is an opportunity for local people, who know and love the area, to make sure they get a say in the development of our town. It will look at where new homes, schools and businesses should be built, how they should look and what services are needed to support them.
The neighbourhood plan is a document that is developed by the community to reflect local planning needs. Once adopted, it has real legal weight and must be considered by the Local Planning Authority when deciding planning applications.
For the plan to be a success it needs local people to think about how they would like Thornbury to grow and develop. It is important to understand that the neighbourhood plan cannot be used to block developments already allocated to the area, but without a plan in place, local people will have no control over the location or type of new developments and how they relate to the existing community.
Chair of the Steering Group, Tricia Hillier points out ‘Thornbury has always been a special place with a kind and welcoming community and a lovely environment. We want to make sure that as the town grows and develops we keep this community spirit and identity while maintaining and improving our environment.
That is why it is so important that we gather as many views as we can from local people on how we can achieve this to make sure that the plan we develop is one that has our community’s wishes at its heart.’ She adds ‘we ask everyone to think about this most important of issues that will affect them and their families for generations.’
Cllr Helen Harrison, Mayor of Thornbury says: "The town council is keen to ensure that Thornbury develops in a way that best meets the needs and aspirations of the community in order for it to continue to thrive for the next 20 years. We know that there has been some concern raised about the level and pace of new developments and how they impact upon us all and this plan will help us to influence and shape how new development happens and to address these concerns.”
Over the coming months there will be a number of events in the Thornbury area to give people an opportunity to provide feedback to the neighbourhood plan steering group.
Further information about the process, ways to have your say and consultation events are available from our website: www.thornburyplan.co.uk, our Facebook page and Twitter.
There is still an opportunity for people to join the steering group or one of the working groups and details on these and forthcoming events are available from 01454 412103 or by emailing .
Thornbury Town Council is funded by the residents of Thornbury and therefore has only limited funds available to assist community organisations located and working in Thornbury for the benefit of the community.
Subject to funding being available, Thornbury Town Council is committed to providing assistance and support to local community groups which are set up to promote community life for Thornbury residents. The Council’s financial support is provided by way of Grants which are decided against criteria set by, and which can be amended from time to time by, Thornbury Town Council.
Click here to download the grants policy (.pdf).
Click here to download a grant application form (.doc).
The Town Council is responsible for running Thornbury, and it's your first point of call if you want to find out more about where you live or how the town operates.
The Town Hall is easy to find, right on the High Street in a Grade 2 listed former police station, and you're welcome to drop in any time. It houses the Council chamber, offices and community facilities.
The building is also home to the Town Council's Tourist Information Centre, South Gloucestershire Citizen's Advice Bureau, Thornbury and District Volunteer Link, and Thornbury Pensioners' Drop in Centre.
Town councillors meet every six weeks, apart from in August. Meetings are held at 7.30pm at the Town Hall and we're all encouraged to attend. There's an opportunity at each meeting for any of us to speak or ask questions on any relevant topic.
The Council has 16 members, each elected for four years. The town is divided into four wards: Central, South, North-East and North-West, and each ward has four Councillors. The Chairman of the Council, who is also Town Mayor, is elected by members each May.
Councillors serve on four committees: Town Development, Playing Fields and Cemetery, Environment and Finance and Policy - each of these submits reports and recommendations to full Council.
Known locally as the Thornbury Town Trust, this is a Registered Charity with seven trustees, three nominated by the Council. It helps organisations, groups and individuals in Thornbury.
The Trust owns property and land around Thornbury. It runs four almshouses and over 80 allotments on Daggs Field. If you would like to know more about the allotments, click here.
You can hire the Council Chamber and its kitchenette for meetings or conferences. There is also an excellent exhibition/meeting room, and the community room is available during weekends and evenings.
The Town Hall is fully accessible with a ramp on Silver Street and a lift to the first floor. Please contact the office staff for more details.
Thornbury has its own civic regalia, worn on appropriate occasions. The silver gilt Town Mace is carried by the longest-serving Councillor and is a replica of the solid silver original, which is in the Bristol Museum.
The Mayoral chain was created in silver by local craftsman John Pinch in 1974. The Mayor's escort and the Deputy Mayor also wear chains, and the Mayor and Lady Mayor wear robes and corned hats.
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