Parc Howard Association Committee Meeting 13 January 2016

Present;  Gareth Morris (chair), Kate Williams (vice chair), Peter Chin, Fred Hughes, David Bannister, Eldon Phillips, Phillip Thomas, Chris Beer, Colin Jones, Jane Jones, Pat Morris, Cllr Bill Thomas, Margaret Gimblett, Alison Jenkins.

Apologies were accepted from Jane Rosser, Ken Jones and Cllr Pam Edmunds. 

The minutes of the meeting held on 8th December were accepted.

​Feedback was given on the meeting attended by Gareth, Jane, David and Phillip on 12th January. The meeting was arranged at the request of Cllr Emlyn Dole and included Jonathan Fearn and Paul Murray together with representatives from Friends of the Museum, Llanelli Town Council and Llanelli Heritage. A breakdown was given for the first time on the approximate costings for the maintenance of the parc. These included £61000 for the parc and grounds, £22000 for utilities plus additional costs for the bowling greens, maintenance of playgrounds and paddling pool. The consensus was that the meeting was a positive one, with a willingness to work together. Cllr Dole re-iterated that it was his wish that the parc would remain in public ownership. Further details on costing have been promised. 
The setting up of a trust for the parc was discussed. Kate explained that the council already have in-house expertise, and that a trust can be tailored to individual requirements with safeguards put in place to safeguard the asset. Further funding can be requested once a trust has been set up. More meetings have been promised.

The Poems and Pints evening raised a total of £482 and the current balance on the associations account is £2816.88.

Forms were distributed for associate membership and for the Supporters page on the website. All were encouraged to distribute as many as possible. It was noted that we do not have a welsh version of the forms, and may need to pursue this.

Phillip stated that he has spoken to Gavin Evans (museum’s curator) about the guide to the parc that he has written. Gavin has expressed an interest in using Phillip’s guide as a basis for guided tours of the parc. Our thanks to Phillip, for all his work, and for generously gifting the guide to the association to use.

Forthcoming events;
Book and craft fair on 20th February
Noson Lawen on 22nd April ?
Plant sale on 14th May

We discussed if it were possible to arrange an Easter Egg Hunt, whilst appreciating that it is short notice.
It was noted that there will be a charge of £60 for us to open the house on the Saturday morning of the book fair. This is because of the museum being on site. A question was asked if the event was a joint one, would the charge still be requested? We could make a donation to the museum to offset some of the charge. Fred was unsure but it may be worth enquiries.

No correspondence received