| Town Council mins 16 Dec 09 |
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MINUTES OF A MEETING OF AMPTHILL TOWN COUNCIL held at the Council Offices, 66 Dunstable Street, Ampthill on Wednesday 16th December 2009 at 7.30pm Present: Councillors: R A Holden (Chairman), Mrs S Bacon, R A D Chappell, P Duckett, Mrs P K Foster, M A Smith, G Pascal, G Summerfield, R Tebbutt, Mrs M E Wilson, Mrs M Wright and Dawn Sutherns, Clerk. Also present were P.C Paul Element, Mr B Fletcher and Mr Tony Wilson of the Ampthill and District Lions, Mr J Plummer Chairman of the Community Safety Group and Mr B Silcock, Church Street Residents Association. Before the start of the meeting Mr B Fletcher and Mr T Wilson presented Cllr Holden with a cheque in the sum of £1,000 towards this year’s Mayor’s Charities. This donation was from the proceeds of the Firework Event in November. Cllr Holden thanked Ampthill and District Lions for the donation and advised he was pleased to see the event taking place again with the three organisations of the Town Council, The Ampthill District Lions and the Police working together.
Apologies were received from Cllr P A Eversley (another commitment) and Cllr P Duckett (work commitment).
Correspondence had been received seeking the Council’s approval for the event on 5th November 2010.
Cllr R Tebbutt declared a personal interest in this matter as he is a member of the Bedford Lion Club.
Resolved that the event on 5th November 2010 be approved.
Mr B Silcock of the Church Street Residents Association addressed the Council on the group’s suggestions for reducing speed and parking along Church Street.
Cllr G Pascal declared a personal interest in this matter as he is Chairman of the Church Street Residents Association.
Mr Silcock put forward an idea of installing slalom parking outside the Masonic Hall and no 22 Church Street on opposite sides of the road; another set could be outside the Post Office. The effect of this would be to slow down the traffic.
Mr Silcock also requested that if the increase to 40mph goes ahead between the Ailesbury Road roundabout and Maulden then could 20mph be painted on roundels in the road at the same time.
Cllr Holden thanked Mr Silcock for the suggestions; Cllr G Summerfield is to meet with Highway Officer in the New Year and could take this idea up with them at the same time as the shared space proposal.
Cllrs M Smith and G Summerfield declared an interest in the item concerning the Festival as they are members of the Festival Committee.
There were no prejudicial interests declared.
Cllr R Holden gave details of the events he had attended during the past month.
The minutes having been circulated to Members prior to the meeting were taken as read.
They were then signed as a true copy.
Members had been provided with a copy of the report as appended to these minutes.
Mr Plummer advised that the SARA method is a well known and established way of dealings with and finding solutions to problems.
Mr Plummer then went on to advise of updates on the actions recommended:
Mr Plummer then asked that the report be noted and a further agenda item to review the matters be placed on the Town Council agenda in March 2010.
Resolved that a review of matters on the SARA report be placed on the Town Council agenda for March 2010.
Cllr G Summerfield gave his apologies and left the meeting at 8.15pm for another engagement.
P.C Element provided an update on what the Police have been doing since the SARA report as follows:
P.C Element then gave the following information on crime figures for November:
PC Element advised that he had arranged a “Street Meet” in Willow Way and 25 people came to meet the Officers. Following this a Residents Association has been formed. This may be an idea to take to other areas of the town.
A Member raised concern over the burglary of a 92 year old resident in Woburn Street and asked if there was any way in which the Council can alert people that there is a spate of incidents happening. PC Element advised that there was no pattern emerging of whether the increase is due to organised or opportunist burglaries.
Mr J Plummer advised that he could gain new leaflets from the Home Office under the Community Safety banner.
Resolved that PC Element be given a regular spot in Around the Pump in which he can let people know what is happening in Ampthill and that this matter is placed onto the agenda for Editorial Group for discussion.
Cllr Holden thanked Mr J Plummer and PC Element for coming to meetings and their help over the last twelve months.
Matters arising from previous minutes for note.
Cllrs Mrs M Wilson and R Holden met Lorna Walker of The Greensand Trust on Monday 7th December to talk through the Council’s concerns. Lorna is to take the issues such as a car parking plan back to the Dog Walkers Group and come back to the Town Council with their thoughts.
The Clerk and Cllr Holden have investigated as to whether it was possible to erect another post to show the entrance into the car park being one way; it was found that this would not be possible as the width of the entrance prevents this. A stencil has therefore been purchased that will allow ONE WAY to be painted with the white arrow in the middle.
Resolved that the stencil be painted in yellow paint, Cllr Holden will speak to the Manager of Nat West Bank to request a sign is erected advising people to turn right out of their car park.
Members are still concerned over the condition of the fence line along Kings Arms Path as Punch Taverns do not appear to be responding to the request to repair the fencing. It was therefore:
Resolved that the Clerk contacts the Health and Safety Executive at Luton and the Enforcement Officer at Central Bedfordshire Council to get this matter dealt with.
The Clerk has been advised that Central Bedfordshire Highways have ordered an additional 33% of salt supplies for this winter.
Members had been provided with a sheet showing the Current Balances as at 30th November 2009.
This was noted.
Members were provided with a copy of the estimates showing the expenditure and income for month seven against the budget, as appended to these minutes.
Resolved the report as appended to these minutes be noted.
Members were provided with a copy of the list of Supplier invoices due as appended to these minutes.
Resolved: i) That all monies on the payment sheets be paid. ii) The Clerk is to enquire of Baikie Wood Consultants as to their hourly rate and at year end it is to be checked as to whether these charges are competitive.
Members were provided with a sheet as appended to these minutes showing the figure of £497,391 being required to meet the net expenditure of the Town Council for the financial year 2010/2011.
Resolved that that Precept for 2010/2011 remains at the figure claimed for 2009/2010 - £498,150 and that this is forwarded to Central Bedfordshire.
To approve and adopt the Committee report as follows:
Cllr R Tebbutt presented the report of the Parks Open Spaces and Burial Ground Committee held on 2nd December 2009 and asked for its adoption.
Resolved that the report be adopted
A Member then raised questions on item 8 - bollards along Bedford Street and asked that Cllr G Summerfield bring this up at his meeting with the Highways Officer.
A Member enquired on the matter of the flower baskets and whether Cllr P Eversley’s offer to provide and water the hanging baskets for £500 is being considered.
The Clerk advised that in previous years Cllr Eversley had only ever been paid for the purchase of plants, and regulation under Section 80(i) 6.4 of the Local Government Act 1972 prevents the Council taking up Cllr P Eversley’s offer.
“A person may be disqualified from being elected or being a member in a number of ways the first being:
A disqualification arises if he or she holds a paid office or other place of profit or gift or disposal of the Council or any committee or sub committee thereof or under a company controlled by the Council; in the case of an office of profit it is immaterial that no profits were actually received”
It was then:
Resolved that the recommendation numbered 9 be upheld. Two members voted against this.
Cllr M Smith presented the report of Youth Working Group meeting held on 30th November 2009.
Resolved that the wording on the item regarding on the metal shed be amended to read:
“Metal Shed – if it is highlighted by the young people that they want a facility to meet in, planning permission would be needed before any promises were made.
Resolved that the report be accepted as amended.
Cllr R Tebbutt presented the report of the Higher Stewardship for Coopers Hill meeting held on Thursday 3rd December 2009.
Resolved that the report be accepted.
The Clerk presented the report from the Center Parcs update meeting on Thursday 3rd December 2009.
Resolved that the report be accepted.
Cllr R Tebbutt presented the report on the Greensand Ridge Local Action Group meeting on Friday 4th December 2009.
Resolved that the report be accepted.
The Clerk presented the report of the Ampthill Community Safety Group meeting on 17th November 2009.
Resolved that the report be noted.
Correspondence had been received to enquire as to whether the Council would be willing to allow for a youth related music event.
Resolved that the idea be accepted in principle, subject to the normal hiring conditions, and that the Festival Committee be invited to attend the Town Council meeting in January to talk this proposal through.
Mrs M Wright gave a short update and advised that the latest information is that there is expected to be 800 traffic movements between the hours of 5am and 11pm.
The next meeting is to be held on 8th January and Cllr G Summerfield will attend this and give further updates at the January Town Council meeting.
The proposal had been copied to Members.
Resolved that this document is discussed in detail in a meeting early next year.
Cllr Mrs Foster advised that she would like to see a rotation of members on sub committees and working groups. The Clerk advised that this would be possible, but if there is a staff issue being dealt with by the Staffing Panel this would have to be concluded to its end before any change of personnel to ensure there is no breach of confidentiality between the Staffing Panel and Appeals Panel.
Resolved that this issue be discussed in greater depth by the Finance Policy Working Group.
a) Local Councils Review - winter 2009
b) Countryside Voice – autumn 2009
c) The Poppy Appeal – thanks for the £7.80 raised in the Council offices. In the Ampthill and Flitwick area a total in excess of £20,000 has been raised.
d) The Playing Field – autumn 2009.
e) Highways Agency- M1 Junction 10 to 13 Improvements – comments to go back by 27th January 2010.
f) Central Bedfordshire - notification of the proposal to increase the speed limit to 40mph between Ailesbury Road roundabout and within 35 metres of The Pathway, Maulden. This is proposed on safety grounds to enable a gateway to be erected at the change to 30mph at Snow Hill, Maulden.
Cllr R Holden will prepare a press release on the donation from Ampthill and District Lions.
“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”
This minute is appended for Members only.
This minute is appended for Members only.
This minute is appended for Members only.
This minute is appended for Members only
There being no further business Cllr Holden wished everyone in attendance a Happy Christmas and a prosperous and Happy New Year. The meeting closed at 9.36pm.
CHAIRMAN DATED |