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MINUTES of the Meeting of Wivenhoe Town
Council
held in the Council Chamber on Monday 15
June 2009.
Present: The Town Mayor, Cllr. N. Lodge (Chairman),
Cllrs: C. Fox, R. Needham, K. Rogers, B. Sinclair and D. Purdey.
Borough Cllrs. S. Ford, J. Manning and M. Cory.
Mrs. A. Stinson (Town Clerk) Miss N. Edwards (Admin)
Evening Gazette
1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE.
Apologies for absence were received from County Cllr. J. Young, Borough
Cllr. A. Quarrie and Cllrs. M. Iacovou, C. Liddy, P. Kraft, A. Vaughan and
F. Richards.
2. MINUTES. RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Town
Council held on 18 May 2009 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.
3. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES.
9) CAB Presence in Wivenhoe: Town Clerk advised that an officer from Essex
County Libraries had visited the Town Council offices to see if it was
possible to use the Council Chamber once a month for this purpose, provided
that funding could be obtained. Town Clerk to obtain an update on this.
4. POINTS RAISED BY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC.
Two letters had been received regarding the state of the wet-dock. One from
the Fishermen and one from the Sailing Club. Town Clerk to press Taylor
Wimpey for a meeting with the Town Council now that the survey on the
wet-dock had been carried out.
Cllr. Sinclair declared an interest in the above.
5. REPORTS FROM MEMBERS OF THE COUNTY AND BOROUGH
COUNCILS.
a) Essex County Council: Cllr. Young had sent a written report which was
noted. There was nothing of particular importance to report on.
b) Borough Council: Cllr. Cory congratulated Cllr. Lodge on becoming Mayor.
Regarding the CAB presence in Wivenhoe Cllr. Cory said that an SOS bus was
supposed to be visiting Wivenhoe. Members asked him to find out more about
this and also to take up the issue of funding for this type of service. He
also reported that he had been dealing with weeds in roads, which he had
reported to ECC Highways and taken up residents’ issues concerning overgrown
trees and missing street signs. There would be no Youth Bus during the
summer as it was hoped that the Youth Centre would remain open.
Cllr. Manning reported that he had been dealing with dog bins and potholes.
Cllr. Ford reported that he had been re-elected as deputy chair of the
Planning Committee and that Cllrs. Cory and Manning had also been elected to
the Planning Committee. He spoke about the retrospective planning
application for continuation of work at Wivenhoe Quarry from La Farge which
the Borough Council Planning Committee had no concerns about. The proposal
for a Swim Park at the University, although a community asset could create
parking problems, especially in the north of the town. Concerning the
University concern was expressed that some of the CCTV cameras were not
working. Cllr. Manning said he would look into this.
c) Public Transport Representative: A full report from Peter Kay was
circulated and noted by members. The issue of public transport and car
parking on the day of the May Fair was of concern and it was suggested that
a meeting between the Town Council, Essex County Council, Colchester Borough
Council and the police was needed. Cllr. Rogers said he would produce a
report in a few weeks.
6. COMMITTEE REPORTS.
6.1 Planning
a) Minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on 2 June were
received and noted. The matter of the meeting with Taylor Wimpey was now
urgent.
b) Section 106 Working Party (Cooks’): Nothing further to report other than
the impending meeting with Taylor Wimpey.
c) Health Centre: Cllr. Lodge circulated new drawings showing new designs.
News on the land acquisition was hoped for shortly.
6.2 Personnel Committee.
Nothing to report.
6.3 Finance and Administration Committee.
Nothing to report other than the next meeting would be scheduled for
September.
6.4 Best Value Committee
a) Draft notes of meeting held on Tuesday 8 June were received and noted.
Cllr. Fox reported that the Town Plan group were in the process of
prioritizing the ‘wish list’ for the ‘Making the Links’ project and that he
would be contacting an officer from the RCCE shortly.
7. WORKING PARTY REPORTS.
7.1 William Loveless Hall Working Party:
a) Date of the next meeting 9 July.
b) The request for an extension of hall hire until 12.30am to enable time
for clearing up on 5 September, following a birthday party, was AGREED.
7.2 Estates (General Amenities & Landscaping) Working Party.
a) Notes of the Meeting held on June were received and noted. It was
suggested that the
Estates Working Party look into the possibility of further land for
allotments as there were
now 62 people on the Town Council’s waiting list. Agreed to ask Cllr.
Richards to take
this up.
7.3 Wivenhoe Wood Working Party: Cllr. Sinclair reported that path clearing
in the woods had been carried out and also more seats had been put in the
woods. The next meeting would be on Sunday 26 July. Volunteers from the PP3
group had also attending the meeting.
7.4. Minibus Working Group.
Nothing to report.
7.5 Youth Facilities Working Party. Nothing to report.
7.6 Members' Individual Proposals or Reports:
a) Mayoral Activities: Cllr. Lodge reported on attendances at the Colchester
Mayor Making Ceremony; the Wivenhoe May Fair on 25 May; the Wivenhoe Regatta
and the Pram Race on 30 May; Colchester Borough Council’s Civic Service;
involvement with the USA student exchange, including reception at the
William Loveless Hall on 11 June; June Market and Art on the Railings on 6
June; Family day at the Wivenhoe Sailing Club on 13 June and finally the
very successful Mayor’s Summer Ball on 13 June at the William Loveless Hall
which raised approx £1,000 for the Wivenhoe Mayor’s Charity.
Cllr. Sinclair presented Cllr. Lodge with a vintage bottle of wine for the
next Mayor’s Ball, which Cllr. Lodge thanked him for.
b) Community Safety and Police Matters: Cllr. Rogers reported on matters
concerning noisy neighbours and cold callers. There had been some minor
vandalism in lower Wivenhoe but no serious concerns. Members welcomed Cllr.
Rogers back after his spell in hospital.
8. TOWN CLERK'S REPORT.
8.1 Burial Grants and approval of memorials.
The Town Clerk reported that two Burial Grants had been issued and one
memorial had been approved since the last meeting. Two interments had taken
place.
8.2 NALC/EALC Communications. The May monthly communications and newsletters
from both NALC and EALC were both available in office for members to read.
8.3 Tenancy Allocations/Changes from Colchester Borough Council. None.
8.4 Work Management.
a) General: The Town Clerk reported that grass-cutting had been continual.
The footpath at the Mede Way play area had been resurfaced. All of the tubs,
boats and hanging baskets had been planted up. One had been overturned but a
resident had replanted it. The number of visitors to the Council Offices for
the month of May totalled 152.
b) IT: Town Clerk reported that one of office machines, now five years old,
was experiencing hard drive faults which was causing intermittent boot
failures. A back up had been taken that day by the Town Council’s IT
engineer. A recommendation therefore for two replacement XP towers at £290
each was AGREED. Town Clerk would also see if there were any grant funding
available for IT work.
c) Electrical installation: Cllr. Lodge reported that the recent work on
data networking and trunking had revealed that the wiring set-up in the
Council Office building, although safe, needed a professional survey and
chart. AGREED to survey being carried out by an electrician for the sum of
£250.
9. FINANCE.
9.1 Current Financial Report
a) The May ending and income Report was received and noted.
9.2 List of cheques numbered 503109 -503127 drawn since the last Town
Council Meeting was approved and signed.
9.3 List of Payments made from the Imprest Account since the last Town
Council
Meeting was approved.
9.4 Motions Under Standing Orders Recommending Expenditure.
Replace XP Towers £290 inc VAT each
Office electrical survey and chart £250
9.5 Appeals for Financial Support. None.
10. NEW BUSINESS.
10.1 Correspondence.
a) CBC Street Naming and Numbering Legislation:
The letter from CBC Street Naming Officer advising that the CBC intends to
pass a resolution to adopt the Towns Improvement Clauses Act 1847 Sections
64 and 65 relating to the power to number buildings, name streets and alter
the names of streets, to be in force throughout the Borough, was received
and noted.
b) University of Essex Annual Review: Members received the copy of the
2007-2008 review. Cllr. Purdey would read through the document.
c) Letters: Two letters had been received, one from a resident of Rowhedge
complaining about the music noise from Wivenhoe on 25 May and 30 May and one
from a resident stating that facts and figures concerning County, Borough
and Town Councillors’ payments should be made public.
The contents of both letters were noted and acknowledgements had been sent.
10.2 Conferences/Seminars. Members noted the following:
Essex Biodiversity Project Celebration meeting – Friday 3 July at the
Essex Records Office in Chelmsford 10am – 2.00pm.
10.3 Notices. Members noted the following:
Town Council Annual Cricket Match – Friday 10 July
10.4 Licences. None.
10.5 Highway Matters.
a) Resident Parking Review Consultation: Members noted the email from
Richard Walker, Parking Services Manager, reassuring the Town Council that
the review is not to consider changing the High Street car park arrangements
at this time. Agreed still to have a meeting with Mr. Walker on either 1st
or 6th July around 5.00pm. Town Clerk to arrange.
10.6 Press Releases.
The meeting closed at 8.35pm.
CHAIRMAN
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