Messages from the Mayor

Hayle Town Mayor 2024/2025

Councillor June Lawrenson-Reid

 

Acceptance Speech, Annual Council Meeting 9 May 2024

Good evening one and all – Onen hag oll. Welcome and thank you for being here.

It gives me great pleasure to address you as Mayor of Hayle and share in the pride which we all have of our town as an historic port and harbour through the ages, a thriving economy with independent wide-ranging businesses, vast areas of natural beauty creating numerous opportunities for physical activities to be chosen.

We have a wealth of local clubs and organisations: Runners, Tennis, Football, Rugby, Cricket, Surf Life Saving, Bowls, Gig Rowing etc. Hayle Heritage Centre, Hayle in Bloom, OCS/U3A, Macmillan Cancer Support, The Royal British Legion, Friends of the Towans, Heyl Town Band (who have 10 young players currently looking forward to playing more music in Hayle)  and the Beavers, who have established their weekly club at the Scout Hut. All of which have an impact upon our own health and wellbeing and all need to be supported to ensure they remain for future generations. Thank you to all who work so hard to ensure this happens.

Hayle Community Action Group operates as the voice of the Community and meets monthly to progress the plans and procure funding for the Hayle Masterplan to be fully realised. Please contact Julie Baldwin, our Projects and Events Officer to receive updates. Thank you to you all.

I should very much like to thank all our local primary and secondary schools, who are being innovative with inspirational leadership, motivating young people to aspire to attain their goals in future, often by focussing upon sports/recreation initially. From the consultations in schools regarding the Masterplan, it was evident how strongly young people feel about their town and are keen to express their ideas and get involved. I hope that in time this may be the beginning of a Youth Council in which these discussions may be heard more widely, debated in schools from an early age and perhaps taken further. The power of being able to voice your opinions and debate the issues of the day can be significant and transformational.

Thank you to all who work so hard in our schools and enable pupils to partake in competitions, workshops etc at the Library, the Art Project at the Station and Hayle Carnival to name just a few.

Working together we can achieve so much more than if we operate in isolation. I favour the glass half full mentality, rather than half empty!

We need to have ambition and determination. Currently, we have a Working Party at Hayle Town Council (HTC) to achieve our objective of a relocation from the Community Centre, to re-build the Library with renewable energy to become more efficient, include HTC and create a Community Hub. This will in turn, enable Bodriggy Surgery to expand as we would prefer to progress a sale with the doctors.

Hayle is a town with two hearts: Copperhouse and Foundry. Genuine, big-hearted people looking for the best for their families and their futures. With ambition and purpose, working together, these hearts will be beating as one!

I should especially like to thank our Management Team at HTC: Town Clerk, Ellie, Facilities and Contracts Manager, Phil, Deputy Clerk, Matilda, RFO, Barbara, Projects and Events Officer, Julie, Administrative Officer, Lisa, Head Gardener, Olivia, Maintenance Team, Phil and Kieran and Library Manager, Emma and her team, Abi, Cris and Georgina.

Finally, I should like to thank all Councillors who generously give up their free time to work collaboratively as a team on our council. Balancing the issues of the day in thoughtful and rigorous debate to ensure the right outcome for the people of Hayle.

Hayle Town Mayor 2022/2023

Councillor Anne-Marie Rance

 

Ladies, gentlemen, and distinguished guests thank you for attending tonight’s meeting.

Hayle is the place, where as a child I felt truly happy and safe. It is where my fondness for nature and history began. Hayle is so rich in wonderful biodiversity which is borne out in our Sites of Special Scientific Interest. From rare plants, birds and butterflies, to badgers, foxes and hundreds of rabbits. I am quite clumsy so it was always a bit of a thing for me falling down rabbit holes whilst on walks over the Towans. I did it so often my parents would just say “there she goes again”.

Hayle is a place of unique character and great historical significance, all set in one of the most beautiful places in the world. During the 19th century Hayle became the most important foundry in the world for making Cornish engines and Cornish boilers, and now with the Marine Renewables Park hosting many innovative green businesses we are leading the way with green technology. The history of Hayle shows that it has regularly punched above its weight.

It is a great honour to become the Mayor of Hayle and it is my privilege to represent this community. I am looking forward to fighting for what Hayle and its community deserves.

Hayle Town Mayor 2021/2022

Councillor Steve Benney

I was born and grew up in St Ives attending what was then The St Ives Secondary Modern School at the Belyars.

After leaving school I trained as a carpet fitter working for BW Knights and Sons for a number of years. During my first year 1976, my mentor was also a retained firefighter and during that sweltering summer that I spent many an hour sat in the old fire station waiting for him to return from one of the many gorse fires that the County suffered that year. It was during that period I gained a passion for the fire service and wanting to make it a career, firstly when I became a retained firefighter at St Ives and then I was fortunate to be selected as a wholetime recruit firefighter in Cornwall Fire Brigade where I served a total of 32 years at various location throughout the County.

Married to Suzanne (formerly Suzanne Clatworthy) who is Hayle born and bred, I have lived at Penmare Terrace for the last 26 years and together, we have four children and six grandchildren, soon to become seven.

I feel honoured and very privileged to have been elected as Mayor of Hayle. I thank my fellow councillors for their support and, to Suzanne my wife in agreeing to become Mayors Consort.

I wish to pay tribute to all of the hard work undertaken by our former mayor, Clive Polkinghorne during the period that he has held office, a period that went on a year longer than expected because of the COVID-19 pandemic spreading across the Country. And of course when thanking Clive we must be thankful to Sue, Clive’s wife for her support to him during that period.

The last 14 months since the first lock down have certainly been challenging for us all, for the council that has been no different. We have had to re-think the way we work, the way we hold meetings and how we have communicated with each other. It has presented Ellie our Town Clerk and her team some challenges to overcome but, overcome them we have. Without her dedication and the dedication of her team I think as a council we may have found delivering or even maintaining services even if they were a reduce service, almost impossible. So I very much would like to place on record my thanks and the thanks of the whole council for their efforts.

As I write this message, the 19th of July 2021, a day some are calling ‘Freedom Day’ I want to put on record the councils thanks to our community, for all front-line staff who have been going to work every day to provide the service that they deliver. NHS staff, care workers, shop workers, public service workers, far too many to list but all equally as important.

To the volunteers and community organisations within our community who have assisted in providing help to those who have needed it, by collecting shopping, picking up prescriptions, providing and delivering meals and supporting the food banks to ensure food has been available for those in most need.

I’ve said it before, but a simple ‘Thank you’ will never seem enough, but I am extremely proud of our town and its community, the people within it and the care that has been shown by them.

As we continue to come out of the Covid-19 restrictions, I ask that we are understanding and tolerant, people have been affected by Covid in many different ways and the speed we individually start to recover may also be at a different speed.

Priorities during my period as mayor will be to promote and raise awareness of local housing needs, to raise the awareness of the public to the work and services provided by our council, including, hopefully by extending and enhance our existing facilities specifically the library and the provision of services offered.

I give you all an assurance that with the support of council colleagues I will do my best in representing and promoting Hayle to it best and in a way that it has for many years.

Hayle Town Mayor 2018/2021

Councillor Clive Polkinghorne

 

Hayle Town Mayor 2016/2017

Councillor Nick Farrar

The Mayor, Cllr Nick Farrar, and Mayoress, Mrs Angela Farrar

The Mayor, Cllr Nick Farrar, and Mayoress, Mrs Angela Farrar.

Acceptance Speech 12 May 2016

Honoured guests, ladies and gentlemen, councillors and members of my family and friends.
I am proud and honoured to stand here as the elected Mayor of Hayle for the following year.

My fellow councillors have given me a great privilege and responsibility, and I express my sincere appreciation for placing your trust in me. I would especially like to thank Jayne, our angel of the North, and Graham for their kind words.

I take this responsibility and the trust you have shown very seriously. I commit to serving the people of Hayle to the best of my abilities with enthusiasm, compassion and devotion, and offer my full support to our Clerk Ellie and the other members of team Hayle, Caroline, Karen, David, Rose and newest member, our gardener Olivia.

Welcome to the Hayle Day Care Centre, this wonderful establishment, which helps the elderly of Hayle, St Ives and beyond offering a warm friendly welcome with the offer of terrific food, comfort and amazing staff. I am pleased to announce that tonight’s refreshments have been prepared by the staff of the day care centre and I thank them for their hard work; I would like to announce that my charity for this year will be the Hayle Day Care Centre.

I would also like to thank the ladies of the flower club for the lovely arrangements.

Why does anyone become a councillor?

Well for me, the trigger was 14 years ago when we lost our son Jamie. Immediately afterwards we were offered help, love, advice and compassion from the whole town, from people we didn’t know that well, but had heard what happened and wanted to help us. We had visits from town councillors, most notably Cllr Terri Lello, Cllr Marjory Roberts, Cllr John Coombe and his wife Lorna; all came to offer support and kind words.

Later tributes came from the whole council by naming a street after Jamie, and after we raised some money through sponsored bike rides and other events, plaques were placed near to equipment that those funds helped finance. Walking around our town and seeing evidence of the love we received, helped us as a family to come through our grief and focus on the future.

From seeing the good that people can do, it became an ambition that one day I would be in a position to repay some of that kindness by becoming a councillor, and today I stand here further in debt to my colleagues and the people of Hayle as your Mayor; Hayle is a town that just keeps on giving. Hopefully now as your Mayor I can give back some of what Hayle has generously given me.

Over the last two years I’ve been privileged to be Graham’s deputy, and to Graham and the other Mayors that have served since I have been a councillor, I thank you for the exemplary manner in which you have fulfilled the role; I have a lot to live up to.

I have been honoured to Chair our Amenities Committee, and with help from Cllrs Capper, Coad, our Clerk, Cornwall Councillors Pollard and Coombe and officers from Cornwall Council have overseen the improvements to our Recreation Ground, Plantation, Mill Pond and other sites in Hayle, being particularly proud of the way the Recreation Ground has been transformed.

It is my wish that the Recreation Ground has a piece of inclusive play equipment installed, enabling children of all abilities to enjoy the area, and with support from the council this is moving closer to reality and is one small way to pay some of the good stuff forward.

Next year will see the 20th anniversary of our town’s twinning with Pordic in Brittany, and I am looking forward to helping our Twinning Association create a truly fantastic tribute to this landmark event and hope the whole council will join me and get involved.

I know it is going to be difficult trying to balance work, family and council commitments, but with the support from my council colleagues, work colleagues and my family we will make it through the other side with smiles on our faces and Hayle continuing on its journey to build a better future for following generations.

This civic year will end with elections for a new council, please vote for me, I know some of our longest serving members are considering retirement, which will leave some big holes in our council.
If anyone feels that they would like a go at becoming a councillor please come to some meetings, speak to us in the street and give it consideration, it’s a truly fantastic honour to serve your town, and even better to feel that sometimes you’ve done the right thing. There is no right or wrong person for the job, you don’t need to share the same opinions or interests of others, and a diverse selection of people is what makes a council great.

This is best explained by the story that came from the recent Cornwall Council Camping and Team Building exercise held at Joppa near the treacle mine. When a situation arose highlighting how different two people’s interpretations of a situation can be.
The names have been changed to protect the innocent.

On the first night, after a meal and a few drinks sat around the camp fire singing songs, they all retire. Some hours later, John wakes up and asks his companion John.
“John, look up at the sky and tell me what you see.”
“Well,” John said, “John I see millions and millions of stars.”
“And what do you make of that John?” asks John;
John thinks for a minute.
“Well John, astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets.” “Continue,” says John.
“I will,” says John.
“Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo.
Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three.
Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow.
What does it tell you John?”
John is silent for a moment then turns to John,
“Well,” John says, “John, I think, that someone has stolen our tent.”
So you see we have two perfectly honest but very different opinions on a situation proving there is no right or wrong person for the role of councillor.

Thank you once again colleagues, friends and Hayle.

Hayle Town Mayor 2014/2016

Councillor Graham Coad

Councillor Graham Coad

Mayor’s Message

I’m Graham Coad, a St George’s Road boy, Hayle born, ex Penpol School, Humphry Davy School and then in Devon and Cornwall Police, where I served twice policing Hayle, (retired since 2004). I’ve been on Hayle Town Council since I was elected in 2007 and thoroughly enjoyed it, having been chairman of Amenities Committee, and involved with several projects and working groups and deputy mayor, even editor of The PUMP for a while!

I have lived back in Hayle since 1996, with a grown up daughter and grandson, Jenny and Cameron also living in Hayle, a son Tom in the Royal Navy, son Jonny in college and daughter Lizzie still a pupil at Penpol.

I have also worked away, in Exeter, Plymouth, Penzance, Camborne Truro and Newquay so have some idea of how other towns and cities work.

Mother’s side of the family, (Oateys from Foundry) were Hayle people back to the1600s while Father’s people came from the Callestick and St Columb areas, and I am delighted to be Cornish, and pleased that we are now officially recognised as a nation!

Having seen jobs and industry collapse in Hayle in my teens and the dilapidation of the harbours and waterways, I too waited forty years for change and am proud to have been on the council and involved as we worked with Penwith and Cornwall councils to play our part in the planning process for the repair and renewal of Hayle Harbour, now well underway, and other smaller but important and useful developments.

As mayor, and a politically independent town councillor, I hope to help keep Hayle Town Council working together for the good of our town and area, and maintain good links with our neighbouring communities.

I would LOVE to see more people taking an interest in local politics as it directly affects the future of our town, Hayle Town Council meetings are open to the public and usually start with a public participation session. We welcome Hayle people to help us create the Hayle neighbourhood Plan to have a say in influencing planning and development of Hayle forward to 2030.
In the meantime, please make sure you’re registered to vote and vote when you can, so you can help make a difference to Hayle!

Graham Coad

Hayle Town Mayor 2012/14

Councillor Jayne Ninnes

Councillor Jayne Ninnes

Acceptance Speech, 10 May 2012

Councillors, honoured guests, ladies and gentlemen

I would like to thank my fellow councillors for their kind words and for voting for me as Mayor. I am really honoured to represent the town council and the people of Hayle. Though I am sure some of my fellow councillors were motivated by the fact I get my own parking space so they don’t have to watch me reverse near their cars.

I was born in a coastal industrial town which was no longer in its heyday. Traditional jobs in mining , ship building , fishing and heavy industry were disappearing leaving shrinking job opportunities and a beautiful coastline of sandy beaches with no ships. I was born not in Hayle but in the North East of England in South Shields near Sunderland .Elements of this will sound familiar and perhaps explain why I love Hayle so much.

I went to university in York and studied Economics and Economic History. From York I moved to London to get a job and began a management training scheme and eventually moved to the South West region with Sainsbury’s. Whilst at Sainsbury’s I met and married, Jonathan and moved to Hayle from Exeter. After several happy years of working in retail management I moved to Cornwall College where I work in Human Resources Management. Cornwall College is a fantastic organisation which is now in the top 10% of Colleges nationally whilst remaining a truly open access College. It is a great example of what can be achieved when we raise our aspirations.

As well as football my parents gave me an interest in politics and my community .My parents were teachers and involved in their community. They ran the local youth club at their church and I spent many school holidays as a child hiking from one youth hostel to another in the lake district .They would often take groups of children from difficult backgrounds away for the weekend and I learnt from them the importance of sharing what we have with those who don’t have it. Their love of working in the community rubbed off, their love of hiking didn’t.

Whilst representing the Mayor at Camborne’s Civic Parade last year I heard a presentation on their food bank and thought it would be good if Hayle had a food bank too. With the help of my fellow Labour Councillor Anne Marie and Margaret Tanner we spoke to the local churches and found other volunteers who were also hoping to set up a food bank. We now open on a Saturday Morning in Hayle Methodist Church from 10-12. Donations can be made through CO-OP or through local churches .

The town council are also trying to help our community by keeping the swimming pool open a challenge since losing funding from Cornwall Council. For many years volunteers from the town council and the town have supported the pool a community project which I fully support and would encourage others to join.

There was always lively debate in our house as my parents had different views. I remember one incident where there was a protest on a prison roof being televised. My mum was very taken with the leader of the protest and liked to see him marching along the roof top giving orders to his fellow protestors. My Dad had a more succinct point of view and said the protestor should be shot as that would knock some sense into him. These conversations would go on often in our house on different topics. So I grew up believing in the redistribution of wealth and the liberal use of water cannons as central tenants of political policy. Some would say perfect training for new Labour of which I am a member and proud to be a Labour councilor.

For me though what came out of this was a strong commitment to the labour party and the belief that jobs are the most important thing a system of government can provide. . My main focus will always be on what can we do to bring employment to our town especially high quality jobs such as we hope the new renewable energies park development on North Quay will bring. For me the vote on North Quay was easy even at the cost of a concrete bridge but the decisions on South Quay less so. Many of you will know that I have been one of the more skeptical councillors about South Quay – What we must all do now as a council and as a community and I will help do as Mayor is to ensure that we hold ING and Cornwall council to the agreements made. Overall I believe the development will be good for the Town , we have paid a price for it with houses on the Towans and a supermarket on South Quay , however if we get all that is promised in return , the crater in South Quay repaired , the reintroduction of sluicing and many more jobs in the town then Hayle is going places. If all is delivered I believe it is on balance an excellent plan for Hayle’s future.

In addition being hopefully able to heat the pool soon, we have our own fire station coming making the town not just safer but bringing retained fire fighting jobs to the town and Harvey’s foundry phase 3 bringing more opportunities. Our Cornwall Councillors and out going Mayor John Bennett have achieved a lot and deserve huge credit. I hope I can live up to the example they have set. It is an exciting time to be in Hayle and I am very proud to be your new Town Mayor.

Citizens of the Year 2012-13

The first job I had to do as Mayor was possibly the hardest role I will have to do all year as I had to choose the recipients of the Mayors awards. It was very difficult to choose from the excellent people put forward but after much deliberation it gives me great pleasure to announce.

Female Citizen of the Year 2012 is

Margaret Tanner – I am sure many of you will know of the excellent work that Margaret does for the Hayle in Bloom , Churches together , Cancer Research UK in Hayle of which she is the treasurer , Hayle Food Bank , St Josephs and much more. I would like to share with you one comment from one of her nominations which I feel really explains why Margaret deserves this award “She is a remarkable lady who is constantly out and about working for the people of Hayle. It easy to appreciate her impact if you think what Hayle would be like without her as she has an innate ability to bring out the best in people she sees the potential in everyone and tries to make everyone feel good about themselves. Ladies and Gentlemen the award goes to Margaret Tanner.

Male Citizen of the year 2012 is

Malcolm Bryant – Citizens of Hayle and especially Angarrack will be very familiar with Malcolm’s achievements in helping to provide Angarrack with excellent Christmas lights, a community hall , and his work on the jubilee committee. One of his nominations describes Malcolm or Ernie “as a true legend of the village, a doer who gets involved totally in village life.” The award goes to Malcolm Bryant.

Young Person of the year 2012

Young person of the year 2012 is Emily Corin . Emily has been chosen for her marvellous sporting achievements having scooped all 3 national titles in surf skiing and 12 Cornish titles and at 16 won a European bronze medal and became a reserve for the GB open team. The award goes to Emily Corin.

Mayor’s Organisation of the year

There are many excellent organisations in Hayle and this year’s award goes to one of the very best , the Hayle Dare Care Volunteers presented to Lesley Channel. As stated by one of their nominations “the volunteers support by helping in the kitchen , acting as carers on the mini bus, entertainers throughout the day engaging clients in art , games and entertainment. They also fundraise for the centre. Without these volunteers the very existence of the centre would be in doubt” I am thrilled to name Hayle Day Care Centre volunteers as organization of the year.

And last but not least the

Mayor’s Youth Organisation of the year is

Hayle Youth Club. The Youth Club is an excellent organisation where the young people of the town have a wide variety of activities including their own radio station. One nomination describes how the young people take responsibility for their club and run it for the benefit of all. To collect the award and tell us a bit more about the club is Craig Walker and representatives of the users of the youth club.

Thank you very much to all who nominated and all who won.

Town Council Sites/Services

Hayle Town Council manages Hayle Community Centre, Hayle Outdoor Swimming Pool, Lethlean Lane Allotments, Public Conveniences, Hayle Recreation Ground, King George V Memorial Walk, Jubilee Path, The Millpond (not the play area), The Plantation and other small pockets of green land. Find out more

Report to Cornwall Council

Report a problem/ask a question concerning the following: Housing, benefits, council tax, street lights, highways/footpath issues, general planning issues, waste collection, fly-tipping, street trading, licensing, environmental health, parking, fire safety. Find out more

Council Corner News

Published in the bi-monthly Hayle Pump Newsletter
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