1151PRESENT Cllr G Berry (Chairman), Cllr Mrs V Baldwin, Cllr Mrs R Beeny, Cllr P Body

BEAMINSTER TOWN COUNCIL

Minutes of the Town Council meeting held on Monday 27th October 2014in the Skyrm Room at the Public Hall, Beaminster at 7.00pm.

1151PRESENT–Cllr G Berry (Chairman), Cllr Mrs V Baldwin, Cllr Mrs R Beeny, Cllr P Body,

Cllr Mrs A Cameron, Cllr R Cheeseman,Cllr P Elliott, Cllr Mrs R Knox, Cllr Mrs J Page and

Cllr Mrs S Samuel

1152IN ATTENDANCE – MrsChristine Bright (Town Clerk).

1153REPORTS FROM AND QUESTIONS FOR:

(a)Dorset Police Representative

In the absence of a police representative no report was received.

(b) West Dorset District Councillors

Councillor Mrs C Payne advised that:

• the main preoccupation of the District Council was currently the possible amalgamation with North Dorset District Council. Government funding had been made available to transform working practices and the first payment would fund the shared position in that the Chief Executive of WDDC would also take over as Chief Executive at North Dorset District Council, following the retirement of the current post holder. A decision would be taken in 2015 on full amalgamation should the sharing of a Chief Executive prove successful.

Councillor Mrs Page advised that:-

• she had recently attended a seminar on Play
• she had attended a half yearly meeting with representatives from the highway authority at which discussion on the provision of a pavement in North Street, traffic calming in Hogshill Street and traffic management in Whitcombe Road had all been discussed.

(c) Dorset County Councillor

Councillor Mrs Knox advised that:

• concern had been expressed that a proposed virtual pavement in North Street would not meet expections therefore plans had been prepared for the provision of a footway however no funding had been set aside within the current financial year
• future provision of Adult Services would be provided by an ‘authority trading company’, and although it would continue to be a County Council service, it would be accessible to those outside of the social services system
• there would be a further £8m less in the highway budget for 2015/2016
• every County Councillor had been given £5,000 to spend within their division and after careful consideration she had decided to purchase a community Speed Indicator Device which would be made available to all the parishes within her division; she also planned to consult with young people as to how any remaining funds should be spent

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Under this heading Councillor Berry drew attention to blocked pavement gullies, he also enquired

the latest position with regard to the unfinished footway in Clay Lane. Councillor Knox advised

that the District Council’s enforcement officer had been due to visit the property.

1154APOLOGIES–Apologies for absence were received from Cllr C Turner.

1155 MINUTES OF THETOWN COUNCIL MEETIN HELD ON 22ND OCTOBER2014

The minutes of the Town Council meeting held on 22nd October 2014,havingpreviously been circulated, were confirmed and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

Under this heading it was AGREED,that anyfuture Declarations of Interest were referenced with the appropriate minute number.

1156DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST AND DISPENSATIONS

No declarations were received.

1157REPORTS FOR OUTSIDE ORGANISATIONS

(a) BAVLAP

Cllr Mrs Beeny advised that:

• the Community Lunch had been well attended. The Partnership were now

preparing for the Annual General Meeting on 26th November, the guest speaker will

be the new manager of the Citizens Advice Bureau in Bridport, Mr Rovarn

Wickremasinghe.

Attention was also being focused on budgets for the forthcoming year bearing in

mind funding of the Local Area Partnership’s was under review going forward after

2015.

(b) Yarn Barton Centre

Cllr S Samuel advised that:

• the Annual General Meeting had been well attended. The centre had a good

financial year with regular fund raising events, the latest being a Quiz Night which

had raised £400. This year the Centre would be supporting the Christmas Lights

Festival and will be open between 6.00 – 8.00pm.

(c) Town & Larger Councils

Cllr Turner reported on the recent DAPTC’s Town & Larger Councils meeting at which the guest

speaker had been Dr John Richardson, Director of the Transformation Clinical Commissioning

Group.

(d) Crime Prevention

Cllr Mrs Baldwin report there had been a number of thefts from caravans, theft of fuel from

lorries and domestic oil also instances of fraudulent telephone calls regarding faulty

computers in recent weeks.

The Community Speed Watch team continued to grow and were hoping to expand the number of sites from which they could operate in the coming months.

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1158 PAYMENTS AND RECEIPTS

Members were circulated with a list of payments, chequenumbers 103968 – 103981 together withdirect debit payments between1st October2014 and 31st October2014 totalling

£8,316.99also receipts totalling £1,173.18.

Members RESOLVED toAPPROVE the list, a copyof which isattached.

Under this heading attention was drawn to two payments made to British Gas for electricity, the

Town Clerk was asked to ascertain why there would appear to be two electricity meters in

the Public Hall.

1159MAIN HALL REFURBISHMENT

Members had previously been circulated with details of outstanding issues relating to the

proposed improvements in the Main Hall together with essential remedial works identified in

respect of the former Social Club premises which would inevitably have an impact on thebudget.

It was AGREED that the immediate priority had to be the first floor premises and therefore the main hall project which still needed to be finalised was deferred until April 2015.

1160CHRISTMAS OFFICE ARRANGEMENTS

Members AGREED to close the Council Office from 12 Noon on Tuesday 23rd December 2014 and

reopen at 10.00am on Monday 5th January 2015.

1161DORSET WASTE PARTNERSHIP – CONSULTATION ON STREET CLEANING AND LITTER

Members had previously been circulatedwith a copy of the corporate response compiled by the Town Clerk based on members’ comments with regard to Dorset Waste Partnership’s consultation on street cleaning and litter. It was AGREEDto submit the response as circulated without any additional comments or observations.

1162LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOUNDARY COMMISSION

Members had previously been circulated with correspondence received from the Local

Government Boundary Commission regarding the commencement of the formal electoral review

of Dorset County Council and views were sought on future division boundaries for the Council.

Cllr Mrs Knox advised that the Commission were looking at division boundaries with a view to

evenly distributing the number of electors represented by each Council member however the

geographical spread in rural areas would not be taken into account. Members had no comments

to make.

1163CORRESPONDENCE

(a) DAPTC AGM – RESOLUTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION

Members were circulated with the detail of the proposals put forward by Chideock Parish

Council, Bridport Town Council, Piddle Valley Parish Council and St Leonards and St Ives Parish

Council. Following consideration of each proposal it was AGREED to support the proposals

submitted on behalf of Chideock Parish Council and St Leonards and St Ives Parish Council; with

regard to the resolution from Bridport Town Council members considered that the statutory

Annual Parish Meeting was a vital link with the electorate and therefore could not support the

proposal. With regard to the resolution submitted by Piddle Valley Parish Council it was

AGREED to delegate the vote to the Town Council’s representatives attending the AGM.

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(b) ROYAL BRITISH LEGION – REMEMBRANCE PARADE

The Chairman drew attention to notification that the responsibility for the organisation of

The Remembrance Day Parade had been passed to bodies other than the Royal British Legion,

Which were no longer able to take the lead or obtain insurance for organising these parades.

As a consequence of this decision an approach had been made to the Town Council by the

Beaminster Branch of the RBL for assistance. In view of the shorttimescale it was

AGREED to assist the RBL wherever possible with this year’s parade.

1164 PROGRESS REPORTS

Members had previously been circulated with a written progress report on all outstanding

issues. NOTED.

Under this heading the Chairman advised that following a meeting with representatives from

WDDC it was planned to site a new parking ticket machine adjacent the recently installed Heritage

lighttogether with a new litter bin. The decision had also been taken to resite the bicycle rack if

possible.

The Town Clerk advised that discussions had commencedwith allotment plot holders with regard

to the possible formation of a Allotment Association to take futureresponsibility for the

allotments. A small working party had been formed and a further meeting had been scheduled for

22nd November.

The Chairman reminded members of the meeting with representatives from DCC Highway

representatives on November 28th.

1165 FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS

One item was identified –WDDC Local Plan Examination on 4th December 2014

1166 PUBLIC BODIES (admission to meeting) ACT 1960

Members RESOLVED that public and press be now excluded from the meeting whilst

discussion took place on item 14 on the grounds that publicity would be prejudicial to the

public interest by reason of the confidential nature of the business to be transacted in

respect of a potential lease agreement. Also item 15 on the grounds of consideration of quotations

received.

1167 FORMER SOCIAL CLUB PREMISES

Members were advised that a Draft Lease for the Fleet Club had been prepared and a precise of

the detail would be circulated to all members in due course. A document detailing the background

with regard to the surrender of the Lease with the former Social Club had also been circulated and NOTED.

Members were asked to consider three quotations received to install a new combination

condensing gas boiler in the Fleet Club as follows:

Company A£ 3,985.00 excl VAT

Company B£ 2,757.00 excl VAT

Company C£ 5,274.00 excl VAT

It was RESOLVED to accept the quotation from A P Chant in the sum of £2,757.

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The Town Clerk advised of a recent incident of flooding, this time from the gents toilet in the first

floor premises which had, once again caused water ingress into the Council premises below. It

was AGREED to obtain a quotation from A P Chant to check all plumbing within the Club premises.

11168 CHRISTMAS LIGHTING

Members were asked to consider one quotation received to install / remove multiple strings of

lights on the Christmas tree and associated works in the sum of £831.00 excl VAT. It was AGREED

to accept the quotation in the sum of £831.00 provided by Shaun Annetts Property Services Ltd. It

was NOTED that any additional works would be charged at £32.00 per hour excl VAT.

1169DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The date of the next meeting was NOTED as Monday 24th November 2014.

1170 MEETING- The meeting which started at 7.00pm closed at8.40pm

CHAIRMAN

24th November 2014

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TOWN COUNCIL MEETING – Monday 27th October 2014

PAYMENTS AND RECEIPTS