Thorpe St Andrew Town Council Meeting
Minutes of the meeting held on Monday 5th January 2009
Present: Mr R. S. R James (Town Mayor)
Mr G. Allison Mr E. A. Newberry
Mr A. J. Barber Mr N. Shaw
Mr J. F. Fisher Mrs E. C. Laming
Mr S. Freeman-Pannett Mr G. Rowe
Apologies: - Mr D. E. Eley, Mr I. J. Mackie, Miss S. P. Lawn,
Mr D. R. C. Spooner, Mr J. M. Ward (Deputy Town Mayor)
In Attendance: Mr S. J. Ford (Town Clerk)
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST: Mr S. Freeman-Pannett declared a personal and non-prejudicial interest in cheque number 1140 payable to Ben Burgess Ltd. as an employee of the company..
3. To confirm the minutes of the meeting held 1st December 2008
The minutes of the meeting held on 1st December 2008, previously circulated to members were approved and signed.
4. Announcements
None.
5. Public Participation
The Town Mayor then suspended the meeting to enable members of the public to speak.
Police
P.C.S.O. M. Seaman presented the crime statistics for the previous month and said that the figures were very low. Additional information was given regarding some of the crimes whose descriptions made some incidents sound much worse than they actually were.
District Councillors
Mr J. F. Fisher said that there had been a major change in planning regulations that came into effect on 1st October 2008. A great deal of information on the planning legislation was available on the Planning Portal website but the District Council would prefer people to consult them first for advice on how the new regulations affected the need for planning permission on any proposed alterations to properties.
Mr N. Shaw reported that he would be attending a meeting of the Cilitas eco friendly transport group in Toulouse and that members of the group would be attending a meeting in Norwich in March.
6. Payment of Accounts
Cheque numbers 003256 – 003301 totalling £23,119.15p, on the 2008/09 payments list were approved and signed.
7. Tree Wardens’ Report
The contents of the monthly report were noted. Mr P. Rope said he was concerned over many of the trees in Thorpe St Andrew that had been planted when the town was first being developed. Many of the trees required costly maintenance to be carried out and some were coming to the end of their life. Tree works were costly and he was concerned that some residents would not be able to afford the work that was needed.
8. Draft Minutes of Committee Meetings
Plans Committee
The draft minutes of the meetings held on the 8th December 2008 were noted.
9. Proposed budget 2009/2010
Information on the projected number of Band D properties for the next financial year was noted. It was RESOLVED to retain the 4.3% increase in the budget for 2009/2010.
10. Long term capital spending programme
Mrs E. C. Laming had prepared some notes for consideration for the proposed long term capital programme and they were circulated for information.
11. Norfolk Police Authority
The Police Authority wished to publish an article promoting the work of volunteers who were members of the Independent Custody Visiting Scheme in local newsletters. It was AGREED to advise the date of the next edition of The Beacon and to offer the opportunity of publishing the article in The Beacon and on the Town Council’s website.
12. Norfolk Police Authority Open Meeting
The date of the Open Meeting regarding the NPA’s budget and Council Tax proposals for 2009/10 and invitation to attend was noted.
13. Beacon questionaire
A letter from a resident pointing out shortcomings in the local bus service was noted. The bus companies would be sent the results of the questionnaire regarding public transport that had been included in the last edition of the Beacon. The writer requested that flowers should not be planted in the tree plantation and suggested that a site that considered was better suited. The resident would be informed that there were no firm proposals at present and that the views of the majority of residents would be taken on board when firm proposals had been received for the community garden.
14. Society of Local Council Clerks
It was AGREED to renew membership of the Society for a further twelve months.
15. Appointment of internal auditor
It was AGREED to defer the decision on appointing the internal auditor until the next financial year.
16. Freedom of Information – new Model Scheme
It was RESOLVED to adopt the new model publication scheme that had been developed and approved by the Information Commissioner.
17. Finance and General Purposes Committee
It was RESOLVED to bring forward discussion on the new committee which had been listed as item 28 on the agenda. Town Mayor, Mr R. S. James had submitted proposals for the objectives and terms of reference for the new committee. It was RESOLVED to adopt the proposals put forward for the committee that would have seven members. Three named substitutes would be appointed and called upon if any of the seven members said that they would not be able to attend a committee meeting.
18. Town Council office opening hours December 22 – 31.
The opening hours would be 10am to 1pm for the period.
19. Bus shelter for The Denes
Information on the order that had been placed was noted.
20. Bus shelters – Broadland Business Park
The Town Council had agreed to be responsible for the two bus shelters that were being erected at Broadland Business Park and would receive a commuted sum of £15,000 from the developers to cover the projected maintenance costs.
21. Regional Empowerment Partnership
A request for nominations for membership of the Steering Group of the Partnership was noted.
22. Bittern Line Community Rail Partnership
Information on the next meeting on 11 December 2008 was noted.
23. Eco-towns planning policy statement consultation
Information on the consultation would be considered at the next Plans Committee meeting.
24. East of England Region Empowerment Partnership
Information on a secondment opportunity that existed at the Partnership was noted.
25. Community Speedwatch
A copy of a press release announcing the formation of a Thorpe St Andrew Community Speedwatch team was noted.
26. Thorpe St Andrew School Partnership Problem Solving Meeting
Action points arising from a SNAP meeting that had been held at the school were noted.’
27. Policing Green Paper
A summary of comments received following publication of the Policing Green Paper “From the Neighbourhood to the National: Policing our Communities Together” was noted.
28. Thorpe St Andrew School Prize Award Evening
A letter of thanks for the donation of £50.00 towards the purchase of book tokens for the prize evening was noted.
Date of next meeting 2nd February 2009 at the Dussindale Centre 7.30pm.