Sheringham Town Council Meeting
6th September 2011
MINUTES OF THE SHERINGHAM TOWN COUNCIL MEETING HELD IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBER, TOWN HALL, SHERINGHAM, ON TUESDAY 6TH SEPTEMBER, 2011, AT 8.15 PM.
PRESENT: The Town Mayor – Cllr D Smith
The Deputy Mayor – Cllr D Gooch
Cllrs: McGinn, Booth, Talbot, Ashcroft, Fields, Brooks, Cox, Frazer, Stevens, Hill, Birtwell and Bush.
The Clerk and Deputy Clerk
Dist. Cllr R Smith
The Revd C Sherwood
The Press
2 Member of the Public
7980. THE OPENING PRAYER: The Revd C Sherwood gave the opening prayer.
Cllrs Booth and Hill returned from a brief Fire Brigade call out.
7981. APOLOGIES: Cllr R Hewitt and Burns. Cty Cllr Hannah, Dist. Cllr Oliver and Sgt A smith.
7982. DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS RELATING TO ITEMS ON THE AGENDA: Cllr Cox declared a personal interest on the following Items : Item 10 – his Son In Law is an Allotment Tenant. Item 12(d) – he is known to two of the Contractors. Item 12(f) – he is a life Member of the Friends of the Sheringham Museum Trust and this Council’s Representative on the Sheringham Museum Trust. Item 14 – he is an Ordinary Member of the Upcher Community Partnership.
Cllr McGinn declared an interest on Item 12(a) – he is claiming his travel expenses. He also declared an interest in Item 12(f) – he is this Council’s Representative on the Sheringham Museum Trust.
Cllr Brooks declared an interest on Item 10 – she is Chairman of the Allotment Association.
Cllr Ashcroft declared an interest on Item 10 – her Daughter is an Allotment Tenant.
Cllr Bush declared an interest in Item 10 – he is an Allotment Tenant.
Cllr Birtwell declared an interest in Item 10 – he is an Allotment Tenant.
Cllr Booth declared a prejudicial interest in Item 12(d) – he is known to two of the Contractors – he intends to leave the meeting during the discussion.
Cllr Hill declared a prejudicial interest on Item 12(d) – he is known to two of the Contractors – he intends to leave the meeting during discussion.
The Mayor declared an interest on Item 12(d) – he is known to two of the Contractors – he does not intend to use his vote.
7983. TO ACCEPT THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 2ND AUGUST, 2011: Cllr McGinn asked for an amendment to Min 7972 -Page 6 – to delete lines 5 and 6. –and insert ‘NCC to agree a new Lease for STC to continue after expiry in 2019’. Cllr Birtwell asked for an amendment to Min 7970 – Page 5 – line 3 – to delete ‘pile’ and insert ‘pole’ and to amend line 12 – to delete ‘Committee’ and insert ‘individuals’.
Cllr Cox asked for an amendment to Min 7959 – Cllr Bush declared a prejudicial interest and not a personal interest. With all of the above corrections and amendments Cllr McGinn PROPOSED acceptance of the Minutes of the Meeting held on 2nd August, 2011, Cllr Cox seconded. IT WAS AGREED.
7984. TOWN MAYORS ANNOUNCEMENTS: The Mayor announced the following attendances:
▪ 3 August – greeting Carnival Visitors and Judging the Best Costume.
▪ 5 August – starting the Carnival Duck Race on the Back Loke and presenting Prizes on Lifeboat Plain.
▪ 6 August – attending the Carnival Concert at St. Peter’s Church.
▪ 7 August – Presenting Prizes at Model Boat Competition and Judging the Floats with the Town Clerk and taking part in the Parade.
▪ 9 August – attending the Meeting in the Town Hall with Annette Thorpe from British Telecom regarding the Broadband Enhancement.
▪ 18 August – attending the Sheringham Preservation Society’s Annual Art Exhibition at St. Johns Hall.
▪ 21 August – attending the Muzillac Twinning Association Annual Summer Picnic.
▪ 23 August – attending the COAST meeting at Odd Fellows Hall
▪ 2 September – attending the Launch of the BREAK Charity Calender at Odd Fellows Hall.
7985. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE ABOVE MINUTES: For information only:
The Clerk read the response from NNDC relating to the Sale of the East End Toilet Block. Minute 7973 refers. The letter stated NNDC has no reference to any commitment to ring-fence the capital receipt from the sale to Lusher’s Toilets. The Scheme originally assumed that the construction of the new toilet block would be dependent on sufficient funds being available from the disposal of the old block. At their Cabinet meeting in January, Members emphasised that they wanted no link between the disposal and construction of the new block to ensure that, even if sufficient funds were not available from the disposal, the new construction would still be able to proceed. They confirm it is normal procedure for capital receipts to be allocated to the capital reserve and for Cabinet to agree a capital programme for new works in each financial year. NNDC apologises for any misunderstanding and it was never their intention to mislead Sheringham Town Council.
7986. POLICE REPORT: Sgt Andy Smith sends his apologies to the Council as unfortunately the Safer Neighbourhood Policing Team will not be represented at The Town Council meeting on Tuesday due to duty commitments. This report therefore contains the Police report for the last month up until 31st August as follows:
There have been 20 reported Crimes over the period stated above, a significant improvement over last years August figures.
· An Insecure pedal cycle was taken from Station Road, local enquiries have not yet revealed any suspects
· Alcohol was stolen from Sainsbury’s in the High Street. Enquiries are ongoing to establish the identity of the offender from CCTV footage
· A quantity of money was taken from the bar of the Ex Servicemen’s club on Holway Road. A male was identified and given a conditional caution for the offence, having given back the money to the club.
· A Washing machine awaiting repair was taken from the front of a house in Greenlands Way by two males with Northern accents. Enquiries are ongoing.
· A quantity of household linen was taken from a holiday home in Co-operative Street. The incident is currently under investigation.
· Information given to Police led to the arrest of a male for possession of Cannabis in the Grice Close area. The male is on bail pending further enquiries
· Again in the Grice close area, a male was arrested in a separate incident for possession of Cannabis. The man is on bail for further enquiries
· A female attending Cookies field for the carnival complained of harassment by security staff. This incident is still under investigation pending enquiries with the Security firm.
· A young male complained of being spat at and had his car kicked whilst driving in Gunn Street. A male suspect has been identified for the offence. Enquiries are continuing
· An insecure pedal cycle was taken from outside Grays amusements in the High street. CCTV enquiries have not revealed a suspect at this time.
· An incident of phone call harassment has been reported in Abbey Road and is currently under investigation
· £160 in cash was taken from a safe in a shop premises in the High Street, whilst the staff were distracted by a young woman. CCTV stills have been circulated to identify the persons involved.
· A window was broken in Lifeboat Plain following a disturbance in the area. Officers are looking at CCTV footage to identify those involved
· A man was arrested for damaging a fence in Norfolk Road. He is currently on bail awaiting further enquiries
· 3 reports of vehicle damage were received in separate incidents occurring in Morris Street, Cliff Road and Station Road. CCTV footage is being used to try and identify possible Offenders
· A man was arrested and charged with several offences after he attempted to gain unlawful access to a house in Grice Close
Current Priority Work
Speed enforcement checks have been carried out during August on Weybourne Road, Holt Road, Nelson Road, Cromer Road and Holway Road, with the emphasis on speed awareness and education. When observing these areas in plain vehicles, we have noticed a significant improvement in traffic speed in these areas; however we will continue to hold speed enforcement checks in identified locations within the Town area
Following an initiative to combat rogue traders and scrap metal thefts, we again joined forces with our colleagues in the Special Constabulary and our partners in VOSA and Environmental Health to carry out a static vehicle stop/check in Holway Road. Over a 3 hour period fifteen vehicles were identified and checked, four of these were issued with a prohibition notice, two with a VDRS and two with words of advice. In addition to this, we also carried out speed checks in the area of Holway Road and Weybourne Road, this resulted in one male receiving a fixed penalty notice for recording a speed on 44mph in a 30mph limit whilst five other motorists received words of advice for slightly breaching the limit.
An initiative has been planned to engage with our more mature residents with an over 60’s lunch event at the Tyneside club on Wednesday 7th September organised by PCSO Rebekah Best. Residents have the opportunity of a having a very reasonably priced meal together with receiving support from our partner agencies who will be on hand to offer advice on many different issues. The event has been well publicized and we are sure that residents will find the event both delicious and informative!
CAD reports received by Police
Cad Report from 2nd August to 4th September 2011
A total of 221 Calls to Police for the Sheringham area were received during the period.
Most notable were:
· An air incident where a light aircraft made a landing at a disused airfield.
· 7x Road Traffic Collisions where three resulted in minor injuries.
· Two cases of Violence Against the Person currently being investigated.
· 36 incidents of Anti-Social Behaviour reported but most were relatively minor, and only 15 of which were directly related to rowdy youth behaviour.17 instances related to just two people who have both been dealt with.
· Five cases of Criminal Damage where two were against property and three for damage to vehicles.
· There three Missing Person reports dealt with where each person was eventually found safe and well.
· Seven reports of Suspicious Circumstances related to suspect or bogus callers but as far as we are aware, no offences were committed.
· Ten reports of other Suspicious Circumstances included 2 tip-offs relating to drugs, a boy with a cut foot, and one during Carnival week reporting the offshore “Nessie” float as suspicious J
· Ten offences of theft related to various goods and property where most cases are still under investigation.
· Several reports of either Highway Obstruction or Road Related Offences were made that mainly involved parking problems and were dealt with by local officers.
· Two reports of Burglary were made but one of which turned out to be a false assumption when the property was later found.
· Several call relating to Concerns for Safety were made for various reasons including welfare concerns for animals in vehicles, a drunken male, children hitting golf balls in a park, and one regarding the cliff barrier (NNDC were notified on this one).
· There was also a case of Bilking when a person ordered and ate a meal and left without paying.
7987. ANY COUNTY/DISTRICT COUNCILLOR WISHING TO MAKE A REPORT: Dist Cllr Smith gave a brief report on the Sheringham promenade lights. He stated NNDC have achieved getting 10 out of 12 lights in working order. Two have problems, one of which had a severed cable.
He asked Members if they wished to volunteer to be part of the Working Group relating to Review of Polling Stations.
7988. TO ACCEPT THE MINUTES OF THE PLANNING COMMITTEE MEETINGS HELD ON 2 AND 16 AUGUST, 2011: The Minutes having been previously circulated, Cllr McGinn PROPOSED acceptance of the Minutes of the meetings held on 2 and 16 August, 2011, Cllr Cox seconded. IT WAS AGREED.
7989. ALLOTMENTS, CEMETERY & COMMONS COMMITTEE:
(A) Cemetery Inspection – To Consider Treatment to Cemetery Grass:
Cllr Cox stated he had raised this point. During his inspection he noted the grass has been invaded by moss and weeds. He explained the M.Tech has stated he is willing to carry out treatment, but the cost will be expensive and there are no guarantee’s this will solve the problem. Cllr Cox expressed the situation will have to be tolerated.
(B) TO APPROVE THE RECOMMENDATIONS FROM THE ALLOTMENT INSPECTION: Cllr Hill PROPOSED accepting the recommendations from the Allotment Inspection, Cllr Ashcroft seconded. IT WAS AGREED.
(C) TO ACCEPT THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 9TH AUGUST, 2011: The Minutes of the Meeting having been previously circulated, Cllr Booth asked for an amendment to Item 5(B) – line 9 – to delete “He suggested if the path were to be extended it should run along side the hedge to the far corner of a new entrance made directly to where the new compound is intended”. Cllr Cox with the above deletion stated the following paragraph will need deleting as they both relate. With the above amendments Cllr Hill PROPOSED acceptance of the Minutes of the Meeting held on 2 August, 2011, Cllr Cox seconded. IT WAS AGREED.
The Mayor asked Members to take Item 13 prior to Item 11. Cllr Hill PROPOSED moving to Item 13 to adjourn the meeting for Public Participation, the Deputy Mayor seconded. IT WAS AGREED.
7990. RESOLUTION TO ADJOURN THE MEETING FOR UP TO 15 MINUTES FOR MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC AND COUNCILLORS WITH PREJUDICIAL INTERESTS, TO SPEAK ON MATTERS RELATING TO BUSINESS BEING TRANSACTED AT THIS MEETING: One Member of the Public addressed the meeting and spoke in relation to the Sheringham Moving Forward Group. Cllr Hill PROPOSED reconvening the meeting, Cllr Brooks seconded. IT WAS AGREED.