| Town Council Minutes 19 May 2010 |
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MINUTES OF A MEETING OF AMPTHILL TOWN COUNCIL held at the Council Offices, 66 Dunstable Street, Ampthill on Wednesday 19th May 2010 at 7.45pm. Present: Mrs M Wilson (Chairman), Mrs S Bacon (Vice Chairman), R A D Chappell, P Duckett, P A Eversley, Mrs P Foster, R A Holden, G Pascal, M A Smith, G Summerfield, R Tebbutt, Mrs M Wright, Donna Searle, Deputy Clerk and Mr T Grant (Temp. Office Assistant). Also present: Mrs R Calvert, Mrs E Summerfield and Mr A Cardwell.
There were no apologies received as all members were present.
There were no requests to speak.
Councillors Tebbutt, Wilson and Wright declared that they had visited Nissan-Lez-Enserune as part of the town twinning exercise. All three councillors met the cost of the trip at their own personal expense.
Cllr Tebbutt informed the meeting that he had resigned from the REVAMP and Parkside Hall Project team groups. The Deputy Clerk confirmed that she had received an email before the meeting from Cllr Tebbutt confirming this. Cllr Mrs M Wright declared a prejudicial interest in the tractor shed item as her husband is the architect and took no part in the discussion or voting of this item.
This item was withdrawn as a Police representative was not able to attend the meeting.
The past Mayor Cllr Richard Holden gave details of the recent events he had attended:
Members of the Council congratulated Richard on the courteous and efficient manner in which he conducted the mayoral duties during his term of office.
The minutes having been circulated to Members prior to the meeting were received and amended as follows:-
Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 21st April, as amended, be approved as a true copy. 8. To confirm and sign as a true record the minutes of the extra ordinary Council meeting held on Wednesday 28th April pages 90 to 91 - Appended The Deputy Clerk advised that she had been presented with a special resolution (as appended to these minutes) signed by five members of the Council just prior to the start of this meeting. The special resolution read as follows: “Under Standing Order 11a we the undersigned insist that the special resolution passed at the Extraordinary meeting on 28 April is suspended whilst an investigation is launched into its legitimacy by a suitably qualified independent body.” The special resolution was signed by Councillors Bacon, Foster, Pascal, Smith and Tebbutt. The Deputy Clerk asked the meeting to consider holding an extraordinary meeting of the Council to discuss the way forward with regards to this matter and to enable the time to collate the relevant information. Members were in agreement to this but were not minded to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 28th April at this stage. Resolved: That a) The minutes of the meeting held on 28th April are not approved and shall be deferred for confirmation at a future town council meeting; b) An extraordinary meeting of the Town Council is to be held to consider the opinion of a suitably qualified independent body regarding the recent decisions taken by the Council regarding the proposed Ampthill Park visitor centre and new Parkside Hall funding; 9. To consider which projects for Ampthill Park the Council wish to see through to fruition and consideration of the allocation of any sums remaining in Reserves on completion. The sum of £521,239.81 being allocated to park building projects as at 31st March 2010. This item being number 15 on the agenda was brought forward as part of the consideration of item number 8. Members discussed the extension to the Park’s tractor shed which would also incorporate new welfare facilities for the park staff. Members agreed that the existing facilities for the park staff were certainly below standard and replacement facilities were essential and should be treated as a priority. The Deputy Clerk provided the meeting with a previously drawn up plan of the tractor shed extension and advised that she had spoken with the architect, Barry Wright, who advised that a figure of £100,000.00 to £110,000.00 would be required to complete the works. These works included an extension to the shed; heighten the walls and higher shutters to allow better access for the tractor and a new roof over the entire building. Members were advised that the Central Beds planners were insisting on a slate tiled roof due to the historical setting of the Park and its inclusion in the Ampthill conservation area. In the current economic climate members felt that a competitive tender should be achieved and were minded to allow up to a maximum of £100,000 to complete the tractor shed extension. The Chairman asked the Clerk to read out an email received from Nigel Milway the contents of which were reported as follows: “Dear Town Councillors I notice that you have an agenda item this evening to make decisions on Park projects. We had a very constructive discussion on Parkside and Park projects on the 28th. Just to summarise: A new Parkside Hall is unlikely to succeed without full Town Council support and the commitment of substantial funds. It follows that if the available reserves are mostly spent on Park Projects, there will be no Parkside Hall. It is entirely reasonable to provide public toilets and essential facilities for Park staff – but they need to be provided as economically as possible. Preferably they should not be built on a potential new Parkside Hall site. You will recollect that I have been advised that a planning figure of about £1500 per square metre (i.e per 10 square feet) is a good guide. It follows that a tractor shed extension plus modest toilets should cost less than £100,000. The existing hall is in a very poor state and anyway has outdated facilities. Note that the existing hall’s heating has now failed and there is a leak in the roof. The hall is on borrowed time. You have the future of a very important Ampthill facility in your hands this evening – and one that has widespread public support. Please make your decisions with all this in mind.” After discussion members felt it was prudent to deal with one thing at a time and the extension to the tractor shed and adequate welfare facilities for the Council’s park staff should be agreed upon at this meeting. The balance of the remaining reserves should be considered at the extraordinary meeting of the Council. Resolved: That a) The Town Council proceed with the extension to the park tractor shed up to a maximum of £100,000.00 for the total build; b) Mr Barry Wright, architect, is instructed to apply for planning permission and if possible try for a more economical roof material to keep costs down; c) The allocation of the remaining reserves together with up-to-date information of all town council projects to be made available at the extraordinary meeting of the Council for further consideration. 10. To confirm and sign as a true copy the minutes of the extraordinary Council meeting held on 17th May (Town Twinning) Minutes of the above meeting were circulated to members the day before this meeting. Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 17th May be approved as a true copy and that the Town Council write a formal letter of invitation to Nissan-Lez Enserune for their representatives to come to Ampthill for the official Town Twinning signing. 11. To note matters arising from previous Town Council minutes as contained in the Clerk’s report a) Access to Ampthill Social Centre (see minute no 288) A chaser letter has been sent to Carole Hegley at Central Bedfordshire Council raising concern over the complaint the Town Council have received and asking why these new regulations have been introduced. There has been no response to date. b) Post Box at Flitwick Road (See minute no 350) The letter has been sent to the Post Office and Central Bedfordshire Council to request the post box be relocated in the vicinity of its previous location. Resolved: That the above information be noted. 12. Treasurer’s Report The current balances as at 30th April 2010 unreconciled as the new accounting system is not yet live were presented. Resolved: That the report as appended to these minutes be noted. 13. To consider the payment of all monies on the list of Supplier Invoices due to the 12th May 2010 Members were provided with a copy of the list of Supplier invoices due as appended to these minutes. Cllr Holden queried the cost of electricity for the public conveniences. The Deputy Clerk advised that she believed this related to back-billing, if this was not the case the Clerk would advise accordingly. Resolved: That all monies on the list be paid. 14. To approve and adopt the Committee report as follows: a) Planning Committee meeting – 14th April 2010 Cllr Summerfield advised that he had called the application for Swaffield Close into Central Beds Council’s Planning Committee. Resolved: That the report be adopted and signed as a true record. b) Planning Committee meeting – 4th May 2010 Resolved: That the report be adopted and signed as a true record. c) Finance, Policy and General Purposes Committee meeting – 5th May 2010 Amendment to minute no. 3 on page 1 to read licensing hours will ‘be’ discussed. Amendment to the recommendation under minute no. 4 on page 4 should have included ‘That the No Alcohol Zone be placed on a future agenda’. Resolved: That the report, as amended, be adopted and signed as a true record. 14a. Written Meeting Debriefings There being no written meeting debriefings the Council invited Cllr Summerfield to give a couple of important updates for information:
15. To consider whether the Town Council wish to allocate funding towards youth facilities and events in the Town This item was to have been included on the last Finance agenda but was unfortunately omitted so was placed on the agenda for consideration this evening. Members had no further information to add at this time and suggested this matter be deferred to a future meeting when more information could be available. Resolved: That this matter be deferred to a future meeting when more information is available. 16. Correspondence a) Direct Information Service – Issue No. 733 Resolved: That the above be noted. b) Bedfordshire Bugle – May 2010 Resolved: That contact be made with Louise Ashmore, BATPC to ascertain training figures to run a training course at the Ampthill Town Council offices (evening time) and invite councillors from Steppingley, Millbrook and Clophill to share costs. 17. Consideration of whether any Press Releases are to be made It was agreed to include details of the new Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Committee Chairmen in the next ‘Around the Pump’. 18. Cllr Mrs Bacon then passed the following motion “That in view of the confidential nature of the business about to be transacted relating to staff and financial matters, it is advisable in the public interest that the public and press be temporarily excluded and that they are instructed to withdraw”. Resolved: That members of the public be excluded from the remainder of the meeting. Cllr P Duckett left the meeting at 9.07pm to return to work. 19. To approve and adopt the confidential minutes of the following meeting: a) Town Council meeting – 21st April 2010 page 89 Resolved: That the minutes of 21st April be approved as a true record. This minute is appended for Members only. 20. Staffing Matters This minute is appended for Members only. There being no further business the meeting closed at 9.23pm. CHAIRMAN DATED |