Mission and Aspirations
‘Investing in our community to improve Bodmin’
The strategic aims of Bodmin Town Council fall under four main categories:
RESOURCES To sustain a financially viable Town Council which is considered an employer of choice within the town.
COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT To effectively communicate and work with the community to support the development of the town as a place to visit, live and work.
ECONOMY To support the development of the local economy.
LAND, PROPERTIES, PARKS AND OPEN SPACES To secure and develop access to parks, open spaces and cemeteries for use by residents of, and visitors to, Bodmin and to reduce losses associated with BTC land and buildings whilst increasing community usage.
More specifically, Bodmin Town Council has identified the following key goals and projects, which they aim to deliver during their current term:
New Skate Park
Following a detailed tender and bidding process, Bodmin Town Council has engaged the services of Maverick Skateparks to create the Town’s new Skate Park.
A public consultation process has been undertaken and a user group has been created to fully engage in the design process. Having met with the user group to understand their ideas and aspirations for the park, Maverick produced an initial design, which was presented at the user group in September 2019. Following the suggestions and comments at this meeting, Maverick are now working on the final design which will be shared at the next meeting of the user group in October.
Updates will be provided to Council at Estates Committee and Full Council meetings as appropriate.
New Cemetery
Due to the remaining available space for interments at the existing New Cemetery, there is a need for Bodmin Town Council to establish an additional site on which to create a new cemetery facility for interments into the future.
Officers are currently working to find appropriate plots of available land that can be considered for suitability in terms of their fitness for purpose, cost, location and accessibility. Potential plots identified by Officers are reported to the Estates Committee for consideration and discussion.
New Parks Development Building and Compound
This project has been put on hold for the 2019/20 financial year due to budgetary constraints and urgency and prioritisation of other key projects.
Further updates will be provided in due course.
Locate all office-based staff within Shire Hall
All Bodmin Town Council office-based staff are now located within the Shire Hall. This relocation occurred in February 2019.
The aim of this project was to create a cohesive ‘Town Hall’ and to maximise the potential rental of Shire House.
Bodmin Town Council has formed the Shire House Complex Advisory Committee in order to progress discussions regarding the future use(s) of Shire House and the Shire House Suite and this progress will be reported to future Estates Committee and Full Council meetings.
Refurbish / Rebuild Fair Park and Priory Park toilets
Fair Park Toilets Following an investigation into the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of this project, Council have opted to refurbish this toilet block as the most cost-effective option. RTP Consultants were engaged to draw up the plans to refurbish these toilets within the current building footprint, with the layout being reconfigured to provide individual unisex toilet cubicles plus disabled and buggy-accessible parent and baby facilities. The project is currently on Contracts Finder to invite tenders, with a closing date of 17 October 2019.
Progress updates will be provided at future Estates Committee meetings.
Priory Park Toilets This project has been put on hold for the 2019/20 financial year due to budgetary constraints and urgency and prioritisation of other key projects. Further updates will be provided in due course.
Complete registry of land owned by Bodmin Town Council
Bodmin Town Council aims to ensure that all properties under its ownership be formally registered with HM Land Registry.
This project will be progressed on a case-by-case basis as resources allow. Progress will be reported to future Estates Committee meetings.
Complete existing contract negotiations for land and buildings and enter new where Council agrees
Hillside Park
At its Special Council meeting held on 5 February 2019, Bodmin Town Council agreed to the signature of a lease with Mallino Developments, on behalf of Bodmin Jail, for an area of land at Hillside Park for construction of a car park to accommodate the increase in the number of visitors who will be attracted to Bodmin following completion of the current Bodmin Jail development project. This car park will also mitigate the current traffic problems around this area caused by vehicles parking on the road. Further developments will be reported to future Full Council meetings as appropriate.
Narisa Hall
The property is currently on the market for lease. Bodmin Town Council will consider applications for tenancy of this building as they are submitted.
Neighbourhood Plan: Community consultation, consideration of appropriateness, cost-benefit analysis
At its Full Council meeting held on 21 March 2019, Bodmin Town Council voted in favour of the creation of a Neighbourhood Development Plan for Bodmin and the Council formed a Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group at this meeting.
More information can be found on the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group page.
If you have any questions or comments, please contact Councillor J P Cooper.
Staffing review to ensure sufficient capacity and capability to deliver agreed objectives
Bodmin Town Council aims to deliver its agreed set of objectives during its current term and is aware that, in order to achieve this, the office-based staff tasked with delivering these objectives must be equipped to carry out the work involved within their agreed working hours.
The first stage of this review has now been completed and the second stage is currently underway.