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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 19 April 2010. Present: The Town Mayor, Cllr. N. Lodge (Chairman), Cllrs: C. Liddy, A. Vaughan, B. Sinclair, F. Richards, M. Iacovou and P. Kraft. Borough Cllrs. S. Ford and A. Quarrie County Cllr. J. Young Peter Kay, Public Transport Representative Roger Mallett and Andy Crawford (Members of the public) Mrs. A. Stinson (Town Clerk) Cllr. J. Chapman, Mayor of Brightlingsea and two members of Brightlingsea Town Council. (guests) 1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE. Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs. K. Rogers, D. Purdey, C. Fox and R, Needham, Borough Cllrs. J. Manning and M. Cory. An apology had also been received from Mr. B O’Dell. 2. MINUTES. RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Meeting of the Town Council held on 15 March 2010 be confirmed and signed as a correct record. 3. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES. 4. POINTS RAISED BY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC. With the Chairman’s consent Mr. Andy Crawford addressed the meeting about the land behind Rectory Road which had recently been put up for sale. Mr. Crawford asked if the Town Council could look into ways of securing this land for Wivenhoe. Members thanked Mr. Crawford for his concern and in principle were in agreement with him. Cllr. Young said that there were grants available for Community Orchards. The matter would be discussed at the end of the meeting. 5. REPORTS FROM MEMBERS OF THE COUNTY AND BOROUGH COUNCILS. a) Essex County Council: Cllr. Young reported that she had met with a couple of Town Councillors and Ray Smith of ECC Highways to look at an alternative scheme for parking at Vine Parade. Consultation had started on the pull-in areas in The Avenue; the VAS at Rectory Road was making slow progress as there had been technical difficulties; concerning the request for a bus shelter at Rectory Road on the Brightlingsea bound side Cllr. Young asked if the Town Council had taken this up yet with Adrian Summons of ECC Highways. Town Clerk responded that this had not been done yet as more information was needed on where the bus shelter was to be sited due to the pavement on Rectory Road being quite narrow. By the entrance to La Farge on Rectory Hill was put forward as a better site and this would be looked at to see if it was feasible for a bus shelter to be sited there. b) Borough Council: Cllr. Ford had nothing to report, other than that there were to be no wheelie bins in Wivenhoe, following the consultation. Cllr. Young added that CBC was carrying out a pilot in some areas for a food waste scheme. Cllr. Cory had submitted a written report stating that he had been dealing with the situation at the Football Club; Ward boundaries and DDA access to Polling Stations. Cllr. Quarrie congratulated the Town Council on their latest leaflet, which was being distributed by Town Councillors to all residents in Wivenhoe. Cllr. Quarrie said that she had been pressing for pavement repairs to the Dene Park Estate, which had been on the waiting list for nearly four years now. c) Public Transport Representative. Peter Kay circulated a report which was very informative. He said that he would visit Cllr. Rogers for details of contacts regarding policing and parking issues on the date of the May Fair. Regarding the Rail Franchise letter a response had been received to the Town Council’s letter. 6. COMMITTEE REPORTS. 6.1 Planning a) Minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on 30 March were received and noted. Hearings on the LDF were currently taking place and Cllr. Fox was attending where possible. b) Section 106 Working Party (Cooks’): Cllr. Liddy reported that the Town Council was still awaiting a response from solicitors to several outstanding issues. The Working Group had held their first meeting and Cllr. Sinclair reported that he had contacted Taylor Wimpey about several issues and was awaiting their response. c) Health Centre: Cllr. Lodge reported that the PCT had put everything on hold until the General Election was over. d) Land Registry: Cllr. Liddy reported that all of Town Council owned pieces of land had now been registered and that as a requirement for Asher Prior Bates a Client Care Prospectus needed to be signed. AGREED that Cllr. Cyril Liddy be authorized to sign the Client Care Prospectus. e) Land opposite Millfields School: Cllr. Liddy reported on this piece of land, which was owned by Elmstead Parish Council and subject to a covenant by developers that the land is to be maintained as Public Open Space. It has recently come to the Town Council’s attention that Elmstead Parish Council now seek to have the covenant removed and concern was expressed that Elmstead Parish Council should, by rights, advertise this fact to the general public. The matter would be discussed by the Town Council at their Planning meeting the following evening. 6.2 Personnel Committee. The meeting scheduled for 14 April was cancelled due to too many members being absent. The date of the next meeting would be re-arranged. 6.3 Finance and Administration Committee. a) Review of the system of Internal Audit (Annual Governance Statement) In accordance with the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2003 the system of internal audit and the Annual Governance Statement was reviewed by the Town Council. The Town Council were entirely satisfied that all aspects of the Town Council’s financial controls were thoroughly inspected and tested under the current internal audit arrangements and it was Proposed by Cllr. Richards, seconded by Cllr. Kraft and RESOLVED that the Annual Governance Statement be approved and signed. 6.4 Best Value Committee a) Draft notes of meeting held on Monday 12 April were received and noted. 7. WORKING PARTY REPORTS. 7.1 William Loveless Hall Working Party: a) Notes of the meeting held on Thursday 18 March were received. Town Clerk to further research concerning better spotlights in the Wyvern Room. 7.2 Estates (General Amenities & Landscaping) Working Party. a) Notes of the Meeting held on 6 April were received. Town Clerk to find out from CBC about the time limit on a skip which had been in the High Street since before Christmas. [post-meeting note – skip removed following day] 7.3 Wivenhoe Wood Working Party: Nothing to report. 7.4. Minibus Working Group. a) The Minutes of the Mini-bus Working Group meeting were received and noted. Town Clerk reported the balance at the end of the year to be £22,782.33. Cllr. Sinclair reported that although there had been some further repairs to the rear heater hoses the garage had given the vehicle a good report. 7.5 Youth Facilities Working Party. Cllr. Richards reported that she would be going to visit the new Youth Council when they were formed and invite them to a Council meeting at a future date. 7.6 Members' Individual Proposals or Reports: a) Mayoral Activities: Cllr. Lodge reported on attendances at the following: visit to Cubs and Scouts at the Scout and Guide Hall on 16 March; Colne Barrier Open Day on 18 March; Riverbank clean-up on 21 March; Wivenhoe Society AGM on 24 March; Wivenhoe Luncheon Club on 25 March; Book Launch of Martin Newell’s new book on 1 April; Sprat and Oyster Supper at Brightlingsea; Reception to mark the Launch in Essex of the EACHSA (Educational Aid for the Children of South Africa) Trust on 16 April. To date Cllr. Lodge said he had attended 106 events during his term of office. b) Community Safety and Police Matters: Cllr. Kraft reported that she would contact Cllr. Rogers and obtain details of the new Chair of the Community Safety and Neighbourhood Watch Group. Cllr. Sinclair reported that thefts from boats in Wivenhoe was still an issue but the local Police were unable to follow this up as it was a matter for the Marine Police. c) NAP report: Cllr. Kraft reported that the next meeting was to be held on 18 May 2010 at the Council Chamber. 8. TOWN CLERK'S REPORT. 8.1 Burial Grants and approval of memorials. The Town Clerk reported that one Burial Grant had been issued and one memorial had been approved since the last meeting. One burial had taken place. 8.2 NALC/EALC Communications. DIS communications and April 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 begun in all Town Council owned areas. The goalposts on the KGV field had been taken down for refurbishment and repainting and it was hoped that during this period the pitch would be left to rest and re-seed. Most of the seats on the Quay had been taken in, re-coated and put back and a letter of thanks received from the Nottage Institute. Several areas had suffered from graffiti and most had been removed, apart from that on the new bus shelter in Belle Vue Road which was difficult to eradicate. The groundsmen had assisted the newly formed Wivenhoe Bloomers in the re-planting of the boats in front of the William Loveless Hall. Painting had also been carried out in the main hall and corridor of the William Loveless Hall. The number of visitors to the Council Offices for the month of March totalled 155. Concerning graffiti the Mayor of Brightlingsea advised that they had the same problem in Brightlingsea but had taken photographs of the graffiti to the Colne School and the artist had been identified. 9. FINANCE. 9.1 Current Financial Report a) The March spending and income Report was received and noted b) Town Clerk reported the end of year balance to the bank at £103,188.09. c) 2009/2010 Audit of Accounts: The appointment of John Turner as the Town Council’s Internal Auditor, as per last year and the appointment of Wayne Rickard of the Audit Commission as the Town Council’s external auditor for the financial year 2009/10 were both Approved. 9.2 List of cheques numbered 503303 -503330 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. 9.5 Appeals for Financial Support. a) A request towards set-up costs had been received from Helping Hands. Cllr. Lodge advised that he would be donating £200 from the Mayor’s Charity to Helping Hands. AGREED that the Town Council contribute a further £50 towards the set-up costs of Helping Hands. 10. NEW BUSINESS. 10.1 Correspondence. a) CBC Consultation on proposal to move to whole Council elections. After discussion members agreed with the proposals. b) ECC Public consultation: The Edith Borthwick School and Southview School Members noted receipt of a copy of the consultation document on amalgamation of the two schools onto a new site at Springwood Drive, Braintree. c) Wivenhoe Regatta: The request for Town Council to arrange for delivery of portaloos as per last year for the Regatta on 17 July 2010 was Agreed. d) QRRA: A letter had been received from the Chair of QRRA asking if information on planning and other local government matters could be forwarded not only to the QRRA but to all four resident’s associations in the town. Town Clerk to respond that email addresses of the associations would be needed in order for this to be carried out. Information is regularly posted on the Town Council noticeboards, web-site and the Library. Also to be discussed at Planning. 10.2 Conferences/Seminars. Cllrs. Kraft and Richards to attend an EALC course on Law and Procedures on Friday 23 April 2010 at Dunmow. 10.3 Notices. Members noted the following: Wivenhoe Town Annual Cricket Match – Wednesday 14 July commencing at 6.00pm - Teams needed and contributions to buffet. 10.4 Licences. 10.5 Highway Matters. 10.6 Press Releases. Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 RESOLVED that, by virtue of the provisions of Section 1 (2) of the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960, the public be excluded during discussion of the next item on the grounds that publicity would be prejudicial to the public interest by reason of the confidential nature of the business to be transacted. Land for sale behind Rectory Hill. Members discussed this further. All members were in agreement that the Town Council should express its interest in the sale of this land to the Estate Agents, subject to a full survey of the ground being carried out. The matter would be discussed further at the meeting of the Planning Committee the following evening. The meeting closed at 9.05pm. CHAIRMAN |