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The Wivenhoe Encyclopedia |
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MINUTES of the Meeting of Wivenhoe Town Council held in the Council Chamber on Monday 16 March 2009. Present: The Town Mayor, Cllr. F. Richards (Chairman), Cllrs: D. Purdey, C. Liddy, P. Kraft, C. Fox, N. Lodge, A. Vaughan, R. Needham, K. Rogers and B. Sinclair County Cllr. J. Young, Borough Cllr. S. Ford. Mrs. A. Stinson (Town Clerk) Miss N. Edwards (Admin) Evening Gazette 1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE. Apologies for absence were received from Cllr. M. Iacovou and Borough Cllr. A. Quarrie. 2. MINUTES. RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Meeting of the Town Council held on 16 February 2009 be confirmed and signed as a correct record. 3. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES. 6.3a) Wivenhoe Town Football Club: Town Clerk to find out which game was being sponsored by the Town Council. 10.1a) Wivenhoe Housing Trust: Cllr. Needham had brought some documentation on the Housing Trust for members to read through. 4. POINTS RAISED BY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC. None. 5. REPORTS FROM MEMBERS OF THE COUNTY AND BOROUGH COUNCILS. a) Essex County Council: Cllr. Young welcomed recently co-opted Cllr. Needham. Cllr. Young gave a report on the railway bridge, proposals were with Network Rail and then consultation would be taking place; concerning the resurfacing of Clingoe Hill Cllr. Young had asked for the Boundary Road to be re-opened during the closure of the A133 but was advised that this was not possible; Public Conveniences – work had started that morning on the refurbishment; Cllr. Rogers mentioned the underpass and Cllr. Young said that it was an area of ongoing concern, some improvement work had been carried out on the path at Salary Brook to stem the flooding. b) Borough Council: Cllr. Ford also welcomed Cllr. Needham to the Town Council. He then spoke about the Borough Council’s proposals to remove shrub beds with in the Borough to cut down on maintenance costs. There was concern about some of the shrub beds in Wivenhoe which were maintained by the Town Council’s own groundsmen and were part of the Town Council’s Landscaping Project in 1996. The Town Clerk would contact Neil Long of CBC Estates to ensure that none of these beds were removed. Cllr. Ford had also been on the Task and Finish Group concerning the 20 mph speed limit. There had been a lot of concern on the Waste Appraisals Document and Cllr. Young advised that no decision had yet been made and in the first instance it would be a pilot scheme. He was still working on the Sustainable Communities Act. Concerning the development at Rowhedge port this had been refused by the Borough Planning Committee as being too high a development facing the river. Cllr. Quarrie had sent her congratulations on the success of the recent Mayor’s Ball. c) Public Transport Representative: Peter Kay had sent a written report which was circulated to members. Members said that they would be happy to received emailed reports in future. 6. COMMITTEE REPORTS. 6.1 Planning a) Minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on 17 February were received and noted and the draft Minutes of the meeting held on 10 March also noted. Cllr. Liddy brief members on the meeting with planning officers concerning issues with both the Port site and the Cooks’ Shipyard site. The footprint for phase 3 of the Cooks’ site was being changed which would now require a new planning consent and a new S106 Agreement. b) Section 106 Working Party (Cooks’): Cllr. Liddy reported that he would be preparing a spreadsheet on the Cooks’ site for the working party and that any dealings with the S106 Agreement would be handled this time by the Town Council’s solicitors. Cllr. Sinclair reported that the dredging of the wet-dock should be completed by Easter. c) Health Centre: Cllr. Lodge report that nothing had changed apart from discussions on which direction the Health Centre would face. The next meeting of LiFT would be on 1 April and he would report back. 6.2 Personnel, Finance and Administration Committee. Nothing to report. 6.3 Best Value Committee a) Draft notes of meeting held on Monday 9 March were received and noted. b) Items of Note: Proposal from Elmstead Parish Council concerning development of the land opposite Millfields School. The recommendation of the Best Value Committee was unanimous in that the proposal be rejected. To consider therefore the following recommendation of the Best Value Committee: “That the unsolicited proposal from Elmstead Parish Council for development of the land opposite Millfields School be rejected by the Town Council.” Proposed by Cllr. Fox and Seconded by Cllr. Vaughan that the recommendation as worded above be put to the Town Council: A vote was carried out. There were 7 for and 2 against. The Proposal therefore was Carried. RESOLVED therefore that the unsolicited proposal from Elmstead Parish Council for development of the land opposite Millfields School be rejected by the Town Council. The Town Clerk would inform Elmstead Parish Council of the Town Council’s decision. May Fair 2009: A letter had been received from the May Fair Committee requesting a contribution towards the cost of the license fee which was being charged by Snake in the Grass, holders of the Premise Licence for the King George V Playing Field. AGREED to contribute £250. The matter of the Premise Licence for the KGV field would be re-visited in the future at a Best Value Committee. Wivenhoe Society and PP3: An approach had been received from the Wivenhoe Society for the Town Council to assist with their PP3 (Parish Paths Partnerships) initiative. In general their request was for the Town Council to finance the cost of extra personal accident insurance for the volunteers. Cllr. Richards advised that as the Town Council was a member of the PP3 they would be able to reclaim this cost from the PP3. Agreed to formally approve that the Town Council fund the Personal accident insurance costs for the volunteers. 7. WORKING PARTY REPORTS. 7.1 William Loveless Hall Working Party: a) Date of next meeting 16 April. Cllr. Kraft reported that research was still being conducted on a replacement floor. Two more samples of beech had been obtained and a better method of laying the floor was being looked into. The Working Party would carry on with their research. Members congratulated the Working Party on the new windows and favourable comments had been received from the users of the Hall. 7.2 Estates (General Amenities & Landscaping) Working Party. a) Notes of the Meeting held on 2 March were received and noted. Cllr. Lodge reported on the two recently installed seats and thanked the groundsmen for their swift work in replacing the vandalized Wivenhoe Sign at Heath Road. Cllr. Sinclair reported that the tipper truck’s hydraulic mechanism needed looking at and the Town Clerk advised that the groundsmen were aware of this and it would be dealt with as soon as the truck could be spared. 7.3 Wivenhoe Wood Working Party: Cllr. Sinclair reported that work was being carried out on Ferry Marsh, bridge-building was being scheduled on 5 April and path clearing in the woods on 31 May. 7.4. Minibus Working Group. The next meeting would be held on Tuesday 24 March at 7.30pm. Cllr. Sinclair reported that there was a mechanical fault at the moment on the bus which caused it to lose water. Two garages had looked at it so far but had been unable to trace it. The office were to discourage long distance hires for the time being. Town Clerk advised that a notice to this effect had been placed in the bus and all the regular drivers were aware of the fault. Extra bottles of water had also been placed in the bus. 7.5 Youth Facilities Working Party. Nothing further to report. 7.6 Members' Individual Proposals or Reports: a) Mayoral Activities: Cllr. Richards reported on attendances at the High Sheriff’s Award on Wednesday 4 March and at the very successful Mayor’s Charity Ball held at the William Loveless Hall on Saturday 7 March, where approximately £1000 had been raised for the Mayor’s Charity Fund. Cllr. Richards thanked all those who helped with the event. b) Community Safety and Police Matters: Cllr. Rogers reported that WPC Byrne had now been moved to Ipswich Road due to her disability and that PC Gibson would be taking over as the main Wivenhoe officer. PCSO Neville continues at the Community Support Officer and would soon be seen in a light blue uniform to easily identify her as a PCSO. Cllr. Rogers had dealt with noisy motorcycles at Henrietta Close and anti-social behaviour on the KGV field. A bid for funding for a CCTV system was being applied for. Approaches had been made to the Post Office and the Scout and Guides for a contribution and Cllr. Rogers would report further on this at the next Best Value meeting. Cllr. Sinclair reported on recent thefts from boats and the difficulty he had experienced with the new police call system. Cllr. Rogers also said that he was not happy with the new call system. 8. TOWN CLERK'S REPORT. 8.1 Burial Grants and approval of memorials. The Town Clerk reported that no Burial Grants had been issued and two memorials had been approved since the last meeting. No interments had taken place. 8.2 NALC/EALC Communications. The February monthly communications and newsletters from both NALC and EALC were both available in office for members to read. Items of Note: A congratulatory letter from EALC on the Town Council’s submission for Quality Status, which has been awarded to the Town Council for a further term. 8.3 Tenancy Allocations/Changes from Colchester Borough Council. None. 8.4 Work Management. a) General: The Town Clerk reported that repairs had been carried out on the slide stanchions in the KGV play area and an area of safety surfacing patched. New taps in the pavilion wash-basins had been put in. A start had been made on renovating the area opposite The Greyhound; the Val Last memorial seat had been put in near the Quay Shelter; the Wivenhoe Sign had been re-painted and put back and the Old Cemetery cut back. The noticeboard for the Old Cemetery was still being worked on. The number of visitors to the Council Offices for the month of February totalled 178. b) Annual Town Report: Town Clerk advised that a first draft of the Annual Report had been circulated for members to read and amend as necessary. 9. FINANCE. 9.1 Current Financial Report a) The February spending and income Report was received and noted. Items of Note: The Town Clerk reported that both grants from Cory Environmental Trust (£13000) and CBC Community Initiatives Fund £7450 had now been received for the Mede Way Play area. 9.2 List of cheques numbered 503042 -503064 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. None. 9.5 Appeals for Financial Support. a) Wivenhoe May Fair 2009: AGREED to contribute £250 towards the cost of the license fee which was being charged by Snake in the Grass, holders of the Premise Licence for the King George V Playing Field. b) Wivenhoe Society PP3: Agreed to fund the Personal Accident Insurance cost for the volunteers working with the Wivenhoe Society on the PP3 scheme (Parish Paths Partnership). It was noted that the Town Council, as members of PP3, would be able to claim back the cost of this from the Parish Paths Partnership. 10. NEW BUSINESS. 10.1 Correspondence. a) NATS: Members noted receipt of a letter advising that NATS will be conducting a new consultation based on revised proposals to redraw the aircraft route map in the area of south-east England. Dates of the consultation were not known yet. b) Citizens Advice Bureau presence in Wivenhoe: The letter asking the Town Council to consider approaching Colchester CAB to investigate the possibility of providing an outreach service within the town, either at the Town Council offices or the library was supported. A letter would be sent to the CAB, CBC and the Library to further this and a letter of thanks would be sent to Ms. Hirst for raising this with the Town Council. c) Wivenhoe Society – Engine Shed: Members received the letter from the Wivenhoe Society about the poor condition of the Engine Shed and agreed to write to Network Rail about the matter. It was also agreed that the Wivenhoe Society be asked to send a letter to Network Rail as well. d) PRoW (Public Rights of Way) Rolling Inspection Programme. Noted that Wivenhoe will be one of the parishes to be surveyed this year by ECC PRoW Rolling Programme. Town Clerk to find out more details on when this is to be carried out. e) BT Review of Pay Phones: Members noted that the Town Council’s objections on the removal of the public payphone box in Colchester Road had been taken into account by BT and the box will now be retained. 10.2 Conferences/Seminars. None. 10.3 Notices. Members noted the following: ECC Annual Civic Service at Chelmsford Cathedral Thursday 26 March 7.30pm 10.4 Licences. None. 10.5 Highway Matters. None. a) ECC Road Resurfacing – A133 Clinghoe Hill, Colchester-Clacton boundary carriageway: Members noted that ECC intended to resurface this stretch of road and that it will be necessary to close the road commencing 18 March for 3 consecutive nights between the hours of 19:00 and 07:00. The meeting closed at 9.45pm. CHAIRMAN
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