A Monthly Publication

By Cllr Christine Earnshaw, Mayor of Hunstanton

On Sunday October 4^th the Mayor hosted the Town Council’s Civic Service welcoming guests from near and far, young and old.  I explained that this was the second Civic Service held this year as my predecessor had held his in March shortly before the end of his term of office.    I thought it would be interesting to meet people both local and from around the county and beyond earlier on.  My speech to the guests was as follows:

I hope you enjoyed the service  - I tried to include something seasonal with the harvest moon now well and truly waned and something local to the sea which is usually a joy to behold but can be  disastrous which is why, like many,  I will always support the wonderful work the Lifeboat men and the Coastguards .  Thank you to Fr John, Sister Margaret, the organist and choir and Glebe School choir for singing one of my favourite hymns, and to Page Jordan, our Carnival Queen for the reading along with Chris Amos and for producing the Order of Service with his lovely photography.

The collection in church will go towards the basement appeal for a youth facility! (I elaborated on this for the benefit of guests from other areas)

Being Mayor of Hunstanton may be somewhat different from being mayor of other market towns, perhaps the Sheringham mayor will agree when I explain that . . . .

Hunstanton is a resort, we attract visitors all the year round and I have attended many functions where I know very few people other than the organisers.  This is fine because we are a thriving resort and there has been much going on for visitors and residents this summer.    We have had an Arts Festival with a range of cultural events,  an exceptionally good carnival, a superb Lifestyles event that packed the promenade with a variety of musical and extreme sporting events, the 33^rd Lawn Tennis Tournament which although local people love to moan about,   is actually a major event on our calendar ,   it is the largest amateur lawn  tennis competition after Wimbledon in the UK and it certainly puts money in the Borough’s  coffers as well as the business communities’.  And then there was the RSPCA Dog show at the Community Centre and the Kite Festival at Smithdon all of which enjoyed good weather conditions this year, and doesn’t it make a difference! The Princess Theatre has had some good audiences over the season and we have also seen an increase in the popularity of water sports, a keen kite surfer told me that this is the best place in all England to surf, he came from Southend.  And this is to mention just a few – but mustn’t forget the bandstand which has also attracted people to enjoy the GREEN with different bands playing a variety of music throughout the summer.

I mentioned THE GREEN: this Green is very precious to the people of Hunstanton as we have seen it eroded to development over the years.  There are plans afoot to either register this Green as an open space or to share the management of it with the Borough Council.   The Town Council is keeping a watching brief over impending developments.

Among all the excitement this season has been our entry to Anglia in Bloom and RHS Britain In Bloom.  Has the town ever looked so colourful, so neat and manicured as it has this year?  The extra expense and effort has been rewarded with GOLD for best resort in E Anglia and a Silver Gilt for Britain in Bloom.  So, I would like to thank and congratulate all who had a hand in this achievement, especially the unsung heroes, the litter pickers, the gardeners who watered the beds while most of us were still curled up in ours!

There is more to come with the Bonfire on the Cliff top Car park. With Edfest, celebrating the landing of King Edmund on Nov 20^th;  Santa’s grotto here in the basement, switching on of the lights and, of course, the famous Christmas Swim which I know some people here present have done – well done you!

Some of our guests have come some distance to be here today with mayors and chairs from Brancaster, Downham , Fenland, Kings Lynn,  Norwich,  Sheringham,  Swaffham , Wisbech and apologies and if anyone is omitted,  please introduce yourself later.  We have the Head boy and Girl from Smithdon High School, and the Carnival Queen, Brownies and Cubs, and I hope there will be increased interest from young people in what makes their community work.  I am delighted that Colonel Cassie Barlow from RAF Lakenheath and her husband Tim have been able to be here as Hunstanton has had close association with American military since WWII. And thank you all for being here today to support my year of office.

I concluded with paying tribute to Elaine Bird and her team for producing the excellent Newsletter which keeps the residents and visitors so well informed and promotes interest in the town and thanked Peter Mallam, deputy mayor for his strong support and the Town Clerk, Lisa Powell and Deputy Chris Amos who had organised the day and a lot else besides!

The idea of a Civic Service was revived in Hunstanton by Mayor Richard Bird and it has been a privilege to emulate his wish by holding another as it is an opportunity to showcase our town. It was quite interesting to hear some visitors making comments to the effect that they hadn’t been to Hunstanton for ages and hadn’t it changed for the better while others counteracted with ‘Oh, we come here a lot, we love it here!’   

This is the note to conclude on as it is because we ‘love it here’ that we work on the Town Council for the good of the Town.