On the 15th of July, the mayor signed and sealed the 25-year lease for allotment ground off Lethlean Lane. This finally concludes many years of negotiations by the council and the Town Clerk and will enable the council to supply around 40 allotments. The allotment area is shown edged in green on the map. The land edged in pink has been purchased by the council for a cemetery extension, some of which could also be used for allotments for a few years.

Work will commence shortly on required works to the entrance, fencing, roads and paths and allotment preparation. If all goes to plan, we will be offering the allotments to those on the waiting list soon and occupation could be in October.

The go-ahead has been given for Hayle to join Newquay and St. Austell  in having a Discover Map. It is funded by Hayle Area Plan, Hayle Town Council, Cornwall Council and West Cornwall Local Action Group with additional donations form local businesses.

The maps carry no advertising and the formats have been standardised to create a 'brand'. The Discovery maps:

1. Are free to all, including every household in the Hayle area
2. Promote car-free exploration of the area (by foot, bicycle, bus, ferry or train) with information on Green Lanes, footpaths, trails, cycle hire and public transport.
3. Highlight the natural beauty of the area – through illustrations and information about local habitats, flora, fauna and shore life.
4. Encourage sustainable practices – by providing information on recycling, buying local produce and using public transport.
5. Gives a background to the origins and fascinating histories of the town.
6. The maps are advert-free and therefore the sustainability message is not seen by the public as being ‘hijacked’ by a commercial interest.

The map is now in the works and will be ready for distribution in December.

Take a look at the web sites associated with the Newquay and St. Austell maps.

www.newquaymap.co.uk

www.staustellmap.co.uk

On Friday, 16th of July, Why Dance Theatre put on a spectacular show of dance, based on the Lion King, at the Hayle Community School.

With mostly school-age performers who had only been practicing for 16 weeks, it was an amazing achievement.

Keep an eye out for their next performance and, if you are interested in joining in, contact the Dance Director, Mark Oleski at whydancetheatre.com.

Cllr. Harry Blakeley is shown here extinguishing a petrol fire using CO2.

All participants were able to try water, CO2, foam and powder extinguishers.

Participants felt that the training was extremely useful.

Hayle's open-air swimming pool was opened by Town Mayor John Bennett on the 29th of May.

The mayor only had to cut a ribbon but town councillor Chris Head actually christened the pool - fully clothed.

The pool is now open daily until September and is staffed by professional life savers.

The annual visit by our twinned town, Pordic took place from the 13th to the 15th of May, 2010. Pordic Mayor, Gilbert Gaspaillard, presented a gift from Pordic to Hayle of a beautiful wooden art work of a sailing ship.

The gift was received on behalf of the town by Hayle Mayor, John Bennett.

"It is was a great pleasure to be able to spend a pleasant afternoon with Gilbert and Mike Stuckey from the Twinning Association", John said. "It is surprising how many parallels there are between our two towns and their surrounding districts." For a photograph of the whole party and more details of the Twinning Association, click here.

At a packed ceremony at the Day Care Centre on the 13th of May, John Bennett was elected mayor and Jayne Ninnes was elected deputy mayor. Cllr. Bennett said: "I am honoured to have been chosen to chair Hayle Town Council and to serve as mayor of Hayle in the coming year. Being a mayor and councillor is made much easier when you are backed by such an excellent Town Clerk and her team. Eleanor Giggal, Neill James and David Gallie have a wealth of knowledge and experience between them and I look forward to working with them in the coming year. "

Hayle is the first town in Cornwall to be awarded Walkers Are Welcome status.

Thanks to the work of the Hayle Area Plan team and the HAP administrator, Claire Casey, we have achieved accreditation and are now listed on the Walkers Are Welcome web site.

We will be ensuring that the needs of walkers are met by ensuring that footpaths and facilities are maintained in good condition - benefitting both local people and visitors.