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Present: The Town Mayor, Cllr. M. Newton (Chair)

Cllrs: S. Boughton, R. Needham, S. Nash, N. Tile, A. Vaughan, C. Singleton, K. Read, P. Finn and P. Booth.

Borough Cllrs. R. Scott, C. Liddy and M. Cory.

H. Humphreys (Town Clerk)

2 Members of the public

Prior to commencement of business, safety announcements were given by the Chair.

1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE. Apologies were received and accepted from Cllr. S. Hoy, County Cllr. J Young, Peter Kay and Siobhan McLeod the Community Enabling Officer from CBC.

2 MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE TOWN COUNCIL MEETING HELD

ON 16th OCTOBER 2017 RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Meeting of the Town

Council held on 16th October 2017 be signed as a correct record. The Clerk recorded and made a correction on behalf of Cllr. Cory who explained that the funds raised referred to under Item 4b had been for Wivenhoe Tempest not the Youth Hub. Cllr. Needham suggested with regards purchasing property to let that there was a need to take care as acting as a Local Housing authority could be impacted by right to buy.

3. TO CONSIDER ANY POINTS RAISED BY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC OF

WHICH WRITTEN NOTICE HAS BEEN GIVEN. None.

4. REPORTS FROM MEMBERS OF THE COUNTY AND BOROUGH COUNCILS.

a) County Councillor Julie Young. Cllr. Young sent her apologies with a report as she was attending a meeting. Her report was read by Cllr. Newton. She reported a section 215 notice has been issued to Persimmon Homes due to non-compliance of maintenance agreements. This is now in the hands of the courts and a hearing will be arranged in the new year. Regarding pollution coming from the Tarmac site, she met with contractors and Mr. Coase Friday 10th November to discuss the ongoing work to remove the chemicals from the water. Whilst the gambions are removing iron; manganese and aluminium levels are above what they should be. She has discussed this with Bernard Jenkin MP and he will be requesting a review meeting with the EA which she will attend.

CCTV and Jetting of the Town drain started on the 14th November and was expected to take 1 week, Cllr. Young hopes this will solve the problems experienced in August with regard to flooding or indeed flag up additional work needed. She has been investigating whether there are any problems with the construction of the river wall and holding tank and is unsure who is liable. She has reported the sinking pavement at West Quay and this is being investigated. She has attended several meetings regarding concerns about drug dealing including a multiagency review of the specific case. A meeting with residents is being planned.

Cllr. Vaughan asked if Cllr. Young had spoken to the surgery about car parking and requested an update regarding the Repair Café. Cllr. Cory reported that the Repair Café have pulled out of the library but have secured funding.

Cllr. Singleton asked if there was scope for a multi-agency maintenance plan regarding the Town Drain. Cllr. Vaughan suggested that the problem would need to be known for this approach to be relevant and Cllr. Newton suggested that Cllr. Tile’s Flooding Working Party should continue with its investigations.

b) Borough Councillors R. Scott, C. Liddy and M. Cory.

Cllr. Scott reported that the high attendance at the Garden Community Consultation was a terrific success and it was good to see the community galvanised. She asked the relationship between HOW and WTC. She had not been asked to call in the planning application on the old Drs Surgery, although Highways had been consulted and passed this, but she will monitor the development. She has been chair of the CBC Trading Board looking at governance of new companies to find ways of financing CBC business. The Child Assessment and Development Unit had been closed but has now reopened and is assured for a few months and she has spoken to Bernard Jenkin who is trying to secure funding as without assessment students may not get the support they need. She has been focusing on school parking and clean air; the Play Street Idea was launched to remind parents they didn’t need to park at Broome Grove and she hopes to continue with more creative ways of engaging with parents. She is arranging a multi-agency meeting with Highways, NEPP, school governors and parents at Broome Grove. She hopes to try the same at Millfields but it is not so easy to cut this site off from the main traffic. Cllr. Nash suggested that NEPP be contacted as they could help re-educate parents. Cllr. Read was worried about the Play Street giving children mixed signals about road safety and Cllr. Scott confirmed that it was made clear that the road was closed. Cllr. Tile suggested contacting cycle groups in town and Cllr. Scott confirmed this had been done.

Cllr. Tile asked if Cllr. Scott had taken measurements of air quality at Broome Grove and Cllr. Scott responded that she hadn’t but that the issue is meant to resonate with parents and any reduction in traffic by the school should also create a better environment whether or not it is a health hazard. The exercise is just to raise awareness.

Cllr. Needham suggested one of the cul-de-sacs opposite Millfields could be used as a target area. He asked if the Executives of the new CBC Business Units will be remunerated for this work. Cllr. Scott reported that the only paid executive is the CEO. Cllr. Cory reported that these business units are intended to generate income for CBC services and that there are no shareholders other than the Council itself. Documents and policies relating to this are on the CBC website and he will forward to Cllr. Needham. He explained that Amphora is the overarching company covering trading, energy and housing and he will send details. Amphora housing would seek to deliver affordable and social housing which would be subsidised by profits made elsewhere. Colchester Borough Homes has a borrowing limit which has prevented them from building any more and Amphora is the way around this. Cllr. Tile asked about letting Amphora Place office space to a law firm and Cllr. Cory responded that CBC were being more commercial and sweating their assets in order to pay for frontline services.

Cllr. Vaughan asked if Cllr. Scott had responded to the Right Homes in the Right Places White Paper on Housing and Cllr. Scott replied that she had but she had to write to the Council. Cllr. Cory confirmed that he has chased Karen Syrett at CBC regarding the Right Houses for Right Places paper. Cllr. Vaughan reported that she would like to see the Alternative Model for Government paper on garden communities that Cllr. Scott mentioned and Cllr. Scott confirmed she would send it to her. Cllr. Vaughan asked about Cllr. Scott’s commitment to the buffer zone being built on with the new proposals and Cllr. Scott confirmed that she had only looking at residential builds and the proposed development south of the A133 was a Park and Ride, but she agreed with Cllr. Vaughan that this is also development and that if there was housing or significant development south of the A133 she would not support this. Cllr. Aldis asked about the new road shown and after the location was pointed out, Cllr. Scott said she would keep an eye on it.

Cllr. Liddy was pleased to see the response to the consultation, which he reported could have been handled differently. He will take criticisms back. Cllr. Aldis reported that CBC officers estimated 550 residents had attended.

Cllr. Cory reported that he had no more details on waste and recycling figures and would bring these back. He had helped arrange special collections for elderly residents and asked that anyone requiring assistance be referred to himself or CBC as the Zone Teams could act quickly. He has reported fly tipping on Elmstead Road. The house with rubbish collecting in the drive has had a warning from the Zone Warden following educational visits and the team is monitoring. The Repair Café has funding through ECC and Cllr. Cory is arranging for this to be paid. It has been difficult to set up a meeting with the University regarding policing as dates are limited until after Christmas but he will keep Cllrs. Read and Boughton informed. Wivenhoe Neighbourhood plan now needs to meet standards. Peter Hill has a list of criteria which Cllr. Cory will circulate. Cllr. Needham stated he understood that these have been met and Cllr. Cory reported that he will go back to CBC to check. If this is complete it will fit in with the CBC Local Plan and be protected. Cllr. Cory is involved in strategic discussions about private landlords and CBC want to be stronger on regulation of private landlords as some have let substandard properties or allow their tenants to act in an antisocial manner. Cabinet will be discussing possible changes to the Local Council Tax Support Scheme. Pensioners will be protected. Cllr. Cory will send a copy of the agreed policy. Regarding the car in the car park, police need to give the go ahead to move this as it is taxed and MOTd. The Zone Warden has referred this to NEPP and Cllr. Cory will monitor. Cllr. Needham asked about cars parking on the cycle path and Cllr. Cory reported that this has been referred to Cllr. Young as a Highways issue. Cllr. Nash asked if CBC could provide more recycling calendars for residents and Cllr. Cory said he would bring some to the Clerk. Cllr. Newton suggested something could be put in the noticeboards. Cllr. Finn reported it was good to see Borough Councillors at the consultation and Cllr. Cory reported that he had made his views clear and wanted to protect the town from any issues.

c) Report of Peter Kay, Public Transport Representative. Nothing to report.

5. COMMITTEE REPORTS.

5.1 Planning.

a) Minutes of meeting held on 7 November 2017. Cllr. Vaughan reported that the talk on S106 had been illuminating and that CBC were open to ideas on spending allocations.

i) To agree to request that NP Team send list of NP Projects for S106 consideration.

Cllr. Vaughan reported the NP Team had done a lot of work and if they could share details of bigger projects CBC would look at these. She proposed that if the NP group were not willing that there needed to be a sub-group to look at this. Cllr. Needham reported that the NP team had negotiated with landowners and plots land would be donated. Cllr. Vaughan suggested projects could be looked into at the agreed Away Day as there were funds available to tap into, and this needed to be deferred.

ii) CBC Garden Community consultation.

Cllr. Vaughan reported that the turnout was encouraging. WTC had to confirm who was attending the consultation on their behalf. Wivenhoe Society are attending. This is complex and Cllr. Vaughan suggested WTC should look at legal representation or a Planning consultant. The Consultation would be from 8-16 January 2018 with the conclusion on 22nd January 2018. Cllr. Vaughan PROPOSED the Clerk wrote to the Planning Inspectorate to state that up to five people would be speaking on behalf of Wivenhoe Town Council but they could currently not be named. This was AGREED. Cllr. Vaughan PROPOSED WTC investigate bringing in legal/planning expert to talk on their behalf. Cllr. Read SECONDED and it was AGREED.

Action Point: Clerk to write to Planning Inspectorate as agreed.

Cllr. Vaughan suggested another public meeting was needed and asked about allocating a weekend date over the next few weeks. Cllr. Aldis reported it would be better to contact CBC/TDC with possible dates before second week of December. Cllr. Finn asked which Cllrs were involved with HOW and Cllr. Aldis reported it was a non partisan group made up of local volunteers. Cllrs. Newton, Boughton, Nash, Vaughan and Aldis have assisted HOW but it was stressed they are not WTC sponsored. It was agreed that it was not necessary to discuss Cllr. Aldis’s attendance at the Public Inquiry (Item 5.1.a.iii) as the Inquiry had now moved to Colchester from Swindon.

5.2 Personnel

a) Report of meeting held on 23 October 2017 (Chair).

Cllr. Newton reported there was one issue to be discussed In Camera following the meeting.

5.3 Finance and Administration Committee.

a) Minutes of meeting held 23 October 2017.

Cllr. Newton reported that Cllr. Aldis would be setting up a working party to review Standing Orders and Policies. SCRIBE had been agreed and the auditor and another Town Clerk in the area might be able to assist with implementation. This was to be discussed at the meeting on 21st November. The Clerk has been putting together a draft budget.

6.4 Estates Committee.

a) Estates Properties Committee.

i) Minutes of meeting held 13th November 2017. Cllr. Aldis reported that electrical works had been forwarded for scoping. The gas smell had gone from the hall since decommissioning the heater. It did not make economic sense to restore the garage that was donated by Colchester Academy so this would be donated to the allotments. A brick and timber framed garage for the yard had been quoted at £4.2k and agreed. The large screens should go up soon. The sound system for the William Loveless Hall had been agreed and WTC would match fund the user group. The next meeting was due 8th January.