Nailsworth's Poet Laureate
Pip Heywood has been crowned Nailsworth’s second Poet Laureate after wowing Nailsworth Town Council’s judges with his work.
The Poet Laureate competition encouraged local people to express themselves through poetry while showcasing their talents. The culmination of this competition was to find a local poet to hold the honorary title of Nailsworth Poet Laureate for two years. Throughout the term the Poet Laureate will work alongside Nailsworth Town Council and within the community to develop opportunities to help make poetry part of the life of the town.
Pip Heywood impressed the judges with his exceptional writing skills and ability to convey powerful emotions and local history through poetry. You can read the winning entry here.
The competition provided a wonderful opportunity for poets to express their views creatively. Budding and established poets were equally welcomed to enter. Nailsworth Town Council would like to thank everyone for taking part this year.
Pip will succeed Mark Corcoran, who in 2022 was appointed the first Poet Laureate at Nailsworth Festival of Words.
Precept for 2024 – 2025
Nailsworth Town Council has an expected annual expenditure of £483,626 for 2024-2025 of which the precept makes up £434,776. The rest of the income comes from community room hire charges. In 2023-2024 NTC also successfully applied for just over £32,000 in grant funding.
In 2023-2024, NTC faced two challenges; the cost of living crisis and uncertainty over high rises in the utilities charges, services, materials and supplies. With unpredictable rising costs, NTC took the decision to keep the precept lower for residents by using £18,500 from reserves to support Homestart (family support at the Arkell Centre), a Community Development Worker and essential tree work. Without this, the precept would have been £380,135.
The challenges for 2024-2025 are similar, with building repair and maintenance costs rising further. NTC’s buildings are very well used by community groups and small businesses, and to keep them safe, the council needs to increase their maintenance. An additional role – part time Project Officer – means that this work can be done more quickly.
Extra funds have been requested for structural work to the Town Hall, and to remove the old wooden pavilion at KGV playing field. This will be replaced with a purpose-built grounds maintenance store. NTC will also apply for grant funding and use earmarked reserves for this work.
Nailsworth Town Council continues to spend around 18% of the annual budget to support the community through services such as the Youth Club, library, family support and community development.
What is the precept?
The precept is the council tax that Stroud District Council collects on behalf of Nailsworth Town Council. Unlike county and district Councils, town and parish councils do not receive any direct funding from central government. The precept is a very important part of the town councils income. Nailsworth also gets income from grants and hiring out community rooms.
The Town Council has had two Speed Indicator Device Signs installed. One of these is near Egypt Mill, on the A46 and one on Nympsfield Road towards the Youth Club. NTC has been working with the Police and Crime Commissioner and Gloucestershire County Council to obtain and fit the SIDS.