Sheringham Town Council Meeting
7th August 2012
SHERINGHAM TOWN COUNCIL MEETING HELD IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBER, TOWN HALL, SHERINGHAM, ON TUESDAY 7TH AUGUST, 2012, AT 8.00PM.
PRESENT: The Town Mayor – Cllr D Smith
The Deputy Mayor – Cllr D Gooch
Cllrs Stevens, Booth, Burns, Ashcroft, Fields, Brooks, Cox, Hill, McGinn and Bush
Cty Cllr B Hannah
Dist Cllrs R Smith, R Oliver and D Shepherd
Rev C Sherwood
P C I Smith
The Town Clerk / Administrative Support Worker
The Press
Three Members of the Public
The Rev Colin Sherwood lead the Council in prayer prior to the opening of the meeting.
8271. TO RECEIVE AND CONSIDER APOLOGIES: Cllr Birtwell.
8272. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST RELATING TO ITEMS ON THE AGENDA: Cllr Bush declared an interest in Item 10 – He is an Allotment Tenant.
Cllr Brooks declared an interest in Item 10 – She is an Allotment Tenant.
Cllr Ashcroft declared an interest in Item 10 – She is related to two Allotment Tenants.
Cllr Burns declared an interest – He is a Board Member of the Upcher Community Partnership.
8273. TO ACCEPT THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 3RD JULY, 2012: The Minutes of the meeting having been previously circulated, Cllr Cox asked for amendment to Min 8260 – line 7 – to delete ‘hoarded’ and insert ‘boarded’ and Min 8268 – line 21 – to delete ‘and to reconvene the meeting’, with the above amendments Cllr McGinn so PROPOSED acceptance of the Minutes of the Meeting held on 3rd July, 2012, Cllr Cox seconded. IT WAS AGREED.
8274. ITEMS REQUIRING A RESOLUTION UNDER THE PUBLIC BODIES (ADMISSION TO MEETINGS ACT 1960) TO EXCLUDE THE PRESS AND PUBLIC: The Mayor explained to Members Item 23 will not be taken this evening, it will be placed on the next Full Council Agenda once the Minutes have been circulated and approved.
8275. TOWN MAYORS ANNOUNCEMENTS: The Mayor announced attending the following engagements:
4th July – meeting with STC’s Solicitor in Norwich regarding the Purchase of the New Community Centre and Greet the Olympic Torch at Cromer Pier.
5th July – Opening St. Andrew’s Church Flower Festival with the Deputy Mayor and attending the Gala Performance of Sheringham Little Theatres Summer Reception Season.
10th July – Greeting the Muzillac Twinning Group to Sheringham at St. Joseph’s Church.
11th July – Greeting the Anglia In Bloom Judges at Odd Fellows Hall.
13th July – attending a Social Evening for the Sheringham Muzillac Twinning Association at the Community Centre.
28th July – welcoming the Harley Davidson Owners Group to Sheringham and Presenting the Prize for the Best Motorcycle.
29th July – taking part in the Ceremony to Crown the Carnival Queen on The Lea’s.
3rd August – starting the Carnival Duck Race on the Back Loke.
5th August – taking part in the Carnival Parade.
8276. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE ABOVE MINUTES: The Clerk referred to Min 8266- She reported receiving a response from NCC, who have confirmed the Sheringham Youth Centre Trust Deed fund is still currently being held by NCC and contact details have been provided to arrange for the transfer of the funds over to Sheringham Town Council.
8277. POLICE REPORT: PC Ian Smith gave a full and in-depth report on Crime for the month of August and will forward it to the Clerk.
Cllr Cox expressed serious concerns regarding traffic incidents at the new one- way system at St. Peters Road, due to the lack of signage. PC Ian smith stated he will speak further to his Officer’s.
The Mayor thanked the Officer for his report and complimented the Police on the enormous preparations with their involvement with the Queens Diamond Jubilee ‘Big Picnic’ arrangements. Their assistance was absolutely brilliant and PC Smith and his colleagues should be praised with their positive attitude.
8278. ANY COUNTY/ DISTRICT COUNCILLORS WISHING TO MAKE A REPORT: Cty Cllr Hannah furnished The Clerk with Issue 4 of the report from Fisher Bullen Building Contractors on the overview of the Planning Construction and the planned works for July/August at the new Community Centre at Holway Road – the Report is available in The Clerks Office. He continued to report on the following issues:
Flooding at the bottom of The Avenue – he will be contacting NCC Highways and Anglian Water Services.
Dog Patrol: Himself and STC Cllr Brooks carried out a dog patrol survey with NNDC Environmental health Offices. They encountered several people with dogs on and off leads. The NNDC Officer asked if they had come prepared with ‘doggie bags’ and all were positive and in support of the survey. The Sports ground and Beeston Common were also surveyed and one man was found without a doggie bag and he was made aware of this point.
A copy of Street Cleaning and a Litter Bin list was passed to The Clerk which is available in the Office.
A Bittern Line Partnership Leaflet was also passed to the Clerk – Cty Cllr Hannah asked if the latest BLP Minutes of 4th July, 2012, have been received by STC. The Clerk stated no Minutes of the Meeting had been received and that Cllr John Bush is now STC’s Representative.
He referred to STC Min 8266 – Cty Cllr Hannah stated he had previously produced an explanation of accessing the monies from the Norfolk Community Foundation. He is very disappointed after all his work and trouble to secure the monies in 2009 and handing over all documents to STC with the £3,000.00 plus of “Youth Club” monies, he would have thought the Councillor concerned who was aware, would have asked him the question instead of as in implied in the above Minute “If the Funds still exist”. He expressed he passes information but some of your Members do not reciprocate.
Review of Part Night Lighting – He passed a copy of the correspondence to the Clerk and stated he will be consulting with NCC. The Clerk informed the meeting this will be an Item for the next STC Agenda.
Japanese Knotweed – He is continuing to look at the issue of the Knotweed in the Beck at the bottom of The Avenue. He hopes to receive responses from Anglian Water and Owners of homes in Beeston Road.
The One Way Junction at St. Peters Road – He has been advised that a scheme of ‘hashing’ with ‘No Entry’ will be written on the junction by NCC Highways.
The Becks in Sheringham and Beeston – He will be talking to the Environmental Health Officer at NNDC to look into the responsibilities for the Becks.
Sheringham West Promenade Lighting – He furnished the Clerk with details of the background history, current arrangements and proposals to install energy efficient permanent lighting along The Lea’s Gardens.
Dist Cllr R Smith reported on Street Cleaning and the recent Beach Clean. He expressed the Foreshore is not up to standard and will report his concerns to the next Committee. He has received reports the new East End toilets have already been vandalised and that the cleaning is not up to standard, he will continue to monitor the situation.
He continued to report on the West Promenade lighting and The Leas amenity lighting which are out of action due to electrical problems. NNDC are proposing to replace the amenity lighting with energy efficient lanterns on the old festoon poles. Cllrs Booth, Cox and Stevens echoed strong concerns that the lighting on the Promenade should be prioritised on Health and Safety grounds as this area is completely in the dark.
Dist Cllr R Oliver reported on the following:
Sheringham Skate Park Project: He is delighted to formally report that after 3 meetings with a Cabinet Member and innumerable telephone calls they have successfully obtained the extra £20,000.00 for the Skate Park Project. He is in close liaison with Mr Sayles on its future and thinks that this is such an important win for Sheringham. He thanks all who did so much to support the application in its time of need.
Kier and Clearing Up: He has met with Mr Baker at NNDC regarding the level of cleanliness that Kier is maintaining after concerns across the town in all manner of areas which were recently reported. Since then there has been significant improvements and he has obtained a list of rectification and default notices issued on the contract and would appreciate it if any complaints are passed on. It is important to hold large Contractors to account.
Childrens Play Area Outside The Burlington: The gate has lost its latch and provides a danger for children who can freely wander onto the road. He has asked for it to be replaced which should be carried out by Mr Ingham and his team this week.
The Lea’s Lights: Dist. Cllr Shepherd and I are delighted to report that money from the maintenance budget is being used to replace the current lack of lighting on The Lea’s. He has met with Property Services and discussed the proposal as well as visiting the lights and agreed with Officer’s assessment that although lighting on the Promenade is also is also required, they are not financially in a position to get sufficient sturdy lights on the Promenade, as they will experience far harsher conditions than those on The Lea’s. However, he has asked that the Contractor repairs as many lights as possible on the Promenade in the meantime he is confident that combined with the Lea’s lighting will be an improvement both to the lighting and the look of the area. This is certainly a step forward.
Lavatory Vandalism: Dist Cllr Shepherd and l were disturbed to hear reports of vandalism of the new lavatories and has been passed onto the Police. They have also received requests for female and male only cubicles rather than unisex and is interested is the Town Council’s views.
Sheringham Little Theatre and Planning Application: The Plans have been drawn up and a copy is available in the Clerks office. The work is imminently being tendered for. Concurrently an application for a grant is being placed with the Big Society Fund which he has every reason to be successful.
Butt Lane and Adjacent Path: Following their Surgery both paths have now been cleared.
Dog Fouling: Dog Fouling continues to be a problem not least at the newly cleared paths. Officer’s should be doing another week in Sheringham in the next few weeks but what is needed is a conviction or FPN which gets publicity to get across the message that this will not be tolerated.
Council Tax Working Party: He is representing Sheringham and the District on the newly formed Council Tax Support working Party where they are trying to provide the fairest model to mitigate the impact of the latest cuts from the coalition finance bill.
Localism: He is pleased to hear that talks are progressing positively on the Devolving Assets and wishes them success.
Upcher Community Partnership: He was delighted to see the press release about the UCP who despite the financial constraints continue to provide a fantastic service. He has no doubt the Town Council will miss them not being stationed at the Town Hall any longer.
Coast Hopper: Dist Cllr Shepherd and l attended the meeting at Odd Fellows Hall and hope very much that the meeting on this will provide some positive developments as this service is of profound importance to the town and businesses up and down the coat. He noted this was raised previously at the NNDC Full Council meeting.
Uplands Park Hedges: These are overgrown and have been reported as a problem. He is working with the County on this issue.
Pedestrianisation: All four Dist Councillors are in support of pedestrianisation and would welcome a return on this to the Town Council Agenda for discussion. They remain convinced that not only is it the will of a large number of people, a manifesto commitment upon which Dist Cllr Shepherd and he were elected and a benefit to business, it is also the case that a pilot scheme would provide many of the answers to critics and supporters alike.
Dist Cllr Shepherd reported on the follow: Kier complaints regarding bins have been raised at the last Scrutiny meeting and the situation is being monitored. He has received requests for Dog Bin installations at Butts Lane and West of the Primary School. He has also received requests for male and female cubicles at the new East End toilet block rather than unisex.
8279. TO ACCEPT THE MINUTES OF THE PLANNING COMMITTEE MEETINGS HELD ON 3RD AND 17TH JULY, 2012: The minutes having been previously circulated; Cllr McGinn PROPOSED acceptance of the minutes of the Planning Committee meetings held on 3rd and 17th July, 2012; Cllr Cox seconded. IT WAS AGREED.
The Mayor recommended moving to Item 12 in order for a Member of the Public to Speak early on during the meeting. The Deputy Mayor PROPOSED moving to Item 12 of the Agenda; Cllr Ashcroft seconded. IT WAS AGREED.
8280. RESOLUTION TO ADJOURN THE MEETING FOR UP TO 15 MINUTES FOR MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC AND COUNCILLORS WITH PECUNIARY INTERESTS, TO SPEAK ON MATTERS RELATING TO BUSINESS BEING TRANSACTED AT THIS MEETING: A Member of the Public spoke on her request for the installation of a Pelican Crossing on the Cromer Road between the Holway Road and Holt Road to assist her on the grounds of Health and Safety. After which Cllr Stevens PROPOSED reconvening the meeting; Cllr Ashcroft seconded. IT WAS AGREED.
The Mayor PROPOSED moving to Item 19 in order for the Member of the Public to hear the outcome of her request.
8281. RECEIVNG LETTER OF REQUEST FOR A PELICAN CROSSING ON THE CROMER ROAD: Members had previously been furnished with a copy of the letter of request from a blind resident who is required to walk a distance out of town in order to reach the town centre due to the lay-out of the highway crossings. A full discussion took place when Cllr McGinn PROPOSED this Council should take the initiative to contact NCC Highways and support the residents request; the Deputy Mayor seconded. The PROPOSITION was put to the vote. Those In Favour – 7. Those Against – 0. Abstentions – 1. IT WAS CARRIED. Cllr Cox although in full support stated a pelican crossing on the Cromer Road would be useful but does not help the problem of the resident negotiating her journey to the Health Centre, but if we can move matters forward this would be a benefit to Sheringham. Cty Cllr Hannah also agreed to contact the Highways Engineer and arrange for a walk of the area with all parties concerned including the Member of the Public.