MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE SALTNEY TOWN COUNCIL held at the ODDFELLOWS HALL, 65 HIGH STREET, SALTNEY on WEDNESDAY 8 JUNE, 2011
PRESENT: Councillor D Evans (Deputy Mayor in the Chair), Councillors K Armstrong-Braun; T J Elliott; T A Evans; V Gay; E E Greensmith; R N Lythe; B J Marshall and the Town Clerk.
16. APOLOGIES
Apologies were received from Councillors H D Beddow, D A Hope, W P Jones, A C Lloyd; T R Lloyd and R N Lythe.
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17. MINUTES
RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 1 May, 2011 be confirmed as a correct record.
18. MAYOR’S COMMUNICATIONS
As The Mayor had submitted his apologies the Town Clerk read from a short statement.
19. POLICE MATTERS
PC Millington was in attendance and reported as follows:-
· following major cut backs in the North Wales police budget there had been a number of important changes to police operations. PC Millington would continue to be a Community Beat Officer but he was now part of a larger team and therefore could be called upon to work anywhere in South Flintshire. With effect from 4 May response vehicles would be based in Mold and areas for patrol allocated from there;
· he would be working a rigid shift pattern with no flexibility. This would mean that if a Council meeting did not fall within his working shift but on a rest day, then he would be unable to attend;
· the previous action plan concentrating on ‘footpaths’ he would now have no time to pursue although the PCSO would continue to follow up as best he could;
· it was possible that another Special Constable could be allocated to the Town bringing the resource available to 2 Specials.
Cllr Armstrong-Braun reported that he had experienced a deal of difficulty in reporting an incident. He had been kept waiting on the ‘phone for some considerable time and then the police control had sent the police to the wrong place. He had instigated an investigation himself but wondered if this long delay in dealing with the matter was the reason that people were not reporting incidents.
RESOLVED: That the Town Council record their thanks to PC Millington for coming to the meeting to explain the changes on his rest day.
20. FLINTSHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL HOUSING BALLOT PROJECT
In accordance with Minute 111 the Project Director attended the meeting and briefed Members on the options that had been made available to the County Council in dealing with the necessity to bring the housing stock up to standard and the reasons for the ballot of the Council tenants.
RESOLVED: That the report be received.
21. FINANCE AND GENERAL PURPOSES COMMITTEE
RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the meeting of the Finance and General Purposes Committee held on 25 May, 2011 be received and the recommendations contained therein adopted.
22. GRANTS UNDER SECTION 137
During the discussion on the outturn of the 2010/2011 budget, members commented on the uptake of the grant fund under Section 137 of the LGA 1972. Only £3433 of the £8000 available had been used and it had been agreed that the Council should be asked to review the present procedure for applying for a grant. Members had a copy of the application form for information.
Members were concerned that the grant money should be well spent and that there should be a good return on the resource.
RESOLVED: That the availability of grants be advertised and a paper be prepared for the next meeting of the Council, suggesting a policy for making grants under this section of the Local Government Act.
23. MOBILE LIBRARY SERVICE
Following the reference of the loss of the mobile library service in the area of Mainwaring Drive from 1 April, 2011 in Minute 14 of the last meeting, there had been a suggestion that the County Council had consulted with all Clerks to Community Councils prior to this decision being taken. The Town Clerk reported that the only correspondence received in this matter was a letter dated 6 April, 2011 in which the Officer concerned stated ‘locations for the stops mostly remain the same but some days and times have changed.’ No specific reference was made to Mainwaring Drive or the decision not to provide a stop there.
Members referred to the agreement at the County Forum that there would be proper consultation on all matters affecting Town and Community Councils and the lack of commitment to that agreement by the County Council.
RESOLVED: That a letter be sent to the County Library Service asking for this stop by the Mobile Library to be re-instated.
24. OLYMPIC TORCH 2012
The Town Clerk reported that Olympic Torch would be carried throughout the UK from 19 May - 27 July 2012. Although the route would not be announced until later in the year, the organisers had already announced that it would be in Bangor, North Wales on 28 May and in Chester on 29 May. It was possible therefore that it could pass through Saltney, along the High Street and enter England via the Saltney/Chester border crossing. The organisers were asking for nominations for torch bearers and Members.
RESOLVED: (unanimously) That Councillor Dave Evans be nominated by the Town Council in recognition of his sterling work with the youngsters in the Town at the Deva Boxing Club.
25. PUBLIC CONVENIENCE SERVICE IN FLINTSHIRE
The County Council was reviewing public conveniences in the County. The review was being carried out by a Members and Officers Task and Finish Group with the following terms of reference:
· to compare the current service with that provided in other Welsh Authorities recognised to offer best practise;
· consider if the provision of a County funded Public Convenience Service is ‘core business’ for the County Council, particularly during difficult financial times;
· consult with the Community regarding the future provision of the service;
· consider linking the service to other Corporate Objectives i.e. Tourism;
· consider alternative options for the provision of the service, such as the WAG fund available to local business to open their facilities to the public.
The Task and Finish Group were asking for the Town Council’s comments on the future of the service in respect to the above terms of reference.
RESOLVED: That the Task Group be informed that the Town Council 1)do not consider the provision of a County funded service is a ‘core business’; 2) that they should consider alternative options for the provision of the service, such as the WAG fund available to local business to open their facilities to the public.
26. THE HOUSEHOLD RECYCLING CENTRE SERVICE IN FLINTSHIRE
The Town Clerk reported that the County Council was reviewing the provision of its Household Recycling Centre (HRC) service across the County. The review would be carried out within the following terms of reference and once completed would be presented to the Councils Environment Overview & Scrutiny Committee before seeking Executive Board approval.
· to compare the current service with that provided by other Welsh Council’s, recognised to operate best practise, in terms of recycling potential, user safety and overall satisfaction with the sites;
· consider options to introduce a ‘residents only’ policy at the HRC sites;
· consider the future provision of local ‘Bring Sites’ (the Council’s local recycling facilities);
· review the permit scheme for vans and larger trailers at HRC sites.
The County Council were requesting any comments the Town Council wish to make on the future of the service in respect to the above terms of reference.
RESOLVED: That the County Council be informed that the Town Council consider that the scheme should be for ‘residents only’.
27. FLINTSHIRE LOCAL ACCESS FORUM
The Local Access Forum is a statutory body under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, set up to advise the County Council, the Countryside Council for Wales and others on all matters relating to public access to land for the purposes of open air recreation and the enjoyment of the area. The Flintshire LAF was seeking to develop communication links, exchange of views and collaboration with the Community and Town Councils in Flintshire, in relation to the rights of way (ROW) network in the County. The LAF was concerned with all users of the ROW network, including pedestrians, cyclists, equestrians, carriage drivers and less able people including wheelchair users.
To begin the process they had grouped Town and Community Councils into 5 geographical areas. Saltney is in the group with Broughton and Bretton, Connah’s Quay, Hawarden. Queensferry and Sealand and Shotton Community Councils.
The first meeting with Members and the LAF was to take place in the Council Chamber, Town Council Offices, Quay Building, Fron Road, Connah’s Quay on Thursday 7 July, 2011 at 18.30 hrs and the Town Council was invited to appoint two representatives. It was suggested that the representatives (who need not necessarily be Councillors) should have some knowledge of and interest in the public rights of way network in the Community.
RESOLVED: That Councillor Armstrong-Braun be appointed the Town Council’s representative and that enquiries be made to ascertain if a member of one of the Groups for the Disabled would be willing to be a representative.
28. . REFORM OF THE EQUALITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION
RED TAPE CHALLENGE
The UK Government was conducting a public consultation on plans to reform the Equality and Human Rights Commission. UK Government’s Consultation document: http://www.equalities.gov.uk/what_we_do/ehrc_reform.aspx. The EHRC’s Commissioner for Wales, Ann Beynon, had asked that all sections of the community consider and respond to this consultation and particularly to offer an opinion on how best to strengthen the equality and human rights agenda in Wales.
There were two specific references to Wales in the consultation document:
· ‘we attach importance to the EHRC retaining a strong and distinct presence in Wales and Scotland, working closely with the Welsh Assembly Government, the Scottish Government and the Scottish Human Rights Commission (page 5, point 11)’
· the Government will consult the Welsh Assembly Government and Scottish Government on these proposals to ensure they reflect the needs and circumstances of those nations (page 8, point 3).’
The Equality and Human Rights Commission had responded to the consultation and they were circulating their response to assist stakeholders as they drafted their own submissions. The response stated that the Commission:
• envisages having a strong and distinct presence in Wales (point 55);
• will need flexibility to address the very different environment being developed by the Welsh Government (page 4 para 1)
• recognises the legislative frameworks regulating the distinctive equality duties and human rights protection in Wales (point 54)
• will deliver a programme relevant to the demographic, social, economic and political circumstances and needs of Wales (point 55).
They had provided a link to their full consultation response. http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/about-us/vision-and-mission/government-consultation-on-our-future/ Members were asked to consider if the Town Council wished to provide a response.
RESOLVED: That Members be asked to respond individually.
29. SUPERFAST BROADBAND - FIBRESPEED
The Town Clerk reported that the new Fibrespeed Network, which was a Welsh Government funded high speed fibre network that connected the majority of Industrial Estates across the North Wales coast from Holyhead and Caernarvon; Bangor; Conway; Llandudno; Abergele; St Asaph; Mold; Deeside Industrial Park; St David’s Business Park; Hawarden Business Park; Wrexham Technology Park; Wrexham Industrial Estate and then onto the Manchester Gateway by-passed the Saltney area completely. This left the River Lane Industrial Estates and the Companies there at a disadvantage and possibly would deter companies and businesses that require high speed Internet access from investing in the area..
RESOLVED: That 1) the County Council be asked to support the call from Saltney for investment in the development of cheap broadband and Superfast Broadband to the area; 2) the schools and businesses and members of the CH4 Business Club be asked to lobby the Welsh Government and the County Council similarly.
30. NOTICES OF MOTION
The Council considered a Notice of Motion from: 1). Councillor Armstrong-Braun: ‘That using some of the £7500 set aside in this year’s budget for Equipment and playground equipment, the Town Council ask the County Council to prepare and 'match fund' a scheme for the improvement of the play area at Carlton Avenue’.
Following some discussion with the County Council it had become apparent that the County Council had no budget left in this financial year to ‘match fund’ this proposal but that they would consider such a proposal in next year’s budget consultations.
RESOLVED: 1).That this matter be deferred for consideration in the cycle of budget meetings towards the end of 2011;
2) Councillor Gay: ‘That the Town Council sponsor an advertisement for the CH4 Business Club in the magazine being prepared by the County Council for the Flintshire Business Week which will take place in October’.
RESOLVED: 2) That the Town Council agree to sponsor an advert as set out above at an estimated cost of £100.