Hungerford Town Council presses ahead with tourism committee

Town mayor Martin Crane told a meeting of the full town council: “We now need volunteers - I’m putting my name forward. Perhaps it could meet on a bi-monthly basis to tackle issues that aren’t directly related to other committees, such as street signage and welcome signs in order to market the town.
“Volunteers should give their name to the clerk and then we can talk about a budget.”
The idea for a town council tourism sub committee, floated at a previous council meeting, initially ruffled feathers when a spat broke out between the council and the town Chamber of Commerce following a £10,000 windfall from the Government’s Town Team Partner scheme to enable the revitalisation plans of the Marketing Hungerford Group established by chamber members.
The chamber considered that it won the cash for the town and should have a major say in how to spend it.
Roger Thompson warned the meeting; “I’d like to see some terms under which this is being set up. Broadly speaking, what will be its remit? It would be very easy for it to expand so it goes on forever. We need clear objectives.”
But Mr Crane told the full council: “We need a generic committee - sometimes the chamber concentrates its efforts on the retail and hospitality trade and it might miss out on other opportunities.
“I agree we should define the sub committee’s terms of reference and that’s something we could present at the next meeting.”
Martyn Hopkins said: “I suggest we get the chamber and the Town and Manor of Hungerford involved.”