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Minutes of the meeting of the Kesgrave Town Council held on Monday 16th April 2007 at 7.15pm in the Council Chamber.

Present:

In attendance:

1. Apologies


2. Declarations of Interest

Mr Briggs declared a prejudicial interest in item 4.a., Matters Arising, KWMCC correspondence being a trustee of the KWMCC and left the room while the matter was under consideration.

Mr Bugg declared a prejudicial interest in item 4.a., Matters Arising, KWMCC correspondence being a trustee of the KWMCC and left the room while the matter was under consideration.

Mr Comber declared a prejudicial interest in item 4.a., Matters Arising, KWMCC correspondence being a trustee of the KWMCC and left the room while the matter was under consideration.

Mr Mills declared a prejudicial interest in item 4.a., Matters Arising, KWMCC correspondence being a trustee of the KWMCC and left the room while the matter was under consideration.

Mrs Evans declared a prejudicial interest in item 8.a.x., Planning & Development Matters, Application C06/1369 being a near neighbour, and left the room while the matter was under consideration.

Mr Mann declared a prejudicial interest in item 8.a.x., Planning & Development Matters, Application C06/1369 being involved in the preparation of the application, and left the room while the matter was under consideration.

Mrs Read declared a prejudicial interest in item 8.a.x., Planning & Development Matters, Application C06/1369 being a near neighbour, and left the room while the matter was under consideration.


3. Minutes of the last regular meeting held on 12th March 2007
The minutes of the last meeting having been circulated were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chairman.


4. Matters arising

a. Late items for information The Clerk brought a letter to Council’s attention which referred to the grant request for the Sports Hall from the Community Centre which was considered at the November F&R meeting and the December Council meeting, and was the subject of a letter sent on Council’s behalf in January. The Councillor diary article in November Kesgrave News was also on the subject of the Sports Hall. The letters and relevant extracts are attached at Annex 1 to the permanent copy of these minutes.

Mr Mills, Mr Comber, Mr Briggs and Mr Bugg all considered they should declare a prejudicial interest and left the room after the initial explanations.

Members confirmed there had been no consideration of Reserve Funds being used permanently: the recommendation put to the F&R Committee was that £30,000 could be granted by loading the precept by £10,000 for three years with the second and third year loading being used to pay back loans from Earmarked Reserves.

Members agreed the Clerk should respond that if justification is made to support a request of £10,000 then a statement in Kesgrave News will be required by the Community Centre as a condition of the grant. At present a member of the public could consider the Council had been coerced into offering a grant when they had been willing to do so but had not been given sufficient time to give due consideration. The statement required will be a clarification of the timings of:
– the original request
– the Councillor Diary article and
– the Town Council opportunity to consider and respond to the request,

Mr Mills, Mr Comber, Mr Briggs and Mr Bugg returned


5. Chairman’s Report

Nothing to report.

Mrs Boon arrived.

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An adjournment was declared:

– to receive reports from the County and District Councillors, Police, Crime Prevention representatives, Public Transport Liaison Officer and Local History Recorder

Mr Hudson, as County Councillor, had nothing to report.

Mr Hammond, as District Councillor reported:–
– he had attended a meeting held by the Environment Agency regarding Coastal Defences;
– he has been involved in preparations for Government inspections at Otley College.

Mr Bugg, as District Councillor reported:–
– a pilot scheme, for the collection of cardboard, is to be implemented in Woodbridge;
– he had attended a site visit to view local sea defences and hear how developers are trying to address the issue.

Mrs Read, as District Councillor, gave further information about the significance of the application under consideration which had been referred to by Mr Bugg. The application is being watched with interest by other Planning Authorities with similar challenges. It will not now be considered under the current administration but will be discussed by the Full Development Control Committee in due course because of its importance.

No member of the Police was present and no written report had been received.

– to allow members of the public to speak

Mr Walker, of Peart Grove, asked for clarification on the 9.8% increase to the KTC proportion of the Council Tax. The Clerk stated she will forward the relevant figures to him, explaining the increase.

Mr Walker also asked if he could meet with the Project Officer; at the Clerks suggestion it was agreed to postpone this until after the election as Mr Walker is a candidate. Miss Hall suggested a draft agenda from Mr Walker would be useful.

Reverend Spittle left.

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6. Notices and Correspondence

a. Items for Discussion

12.D. A consultation document had been received from SCC regarding the proposal for Ipswich to become a Unitary Council asking for KTC comment. Council agreed for proper consideration to be given this item should be deferred for discussion until the next months meeting in order that information can be issued to all Members.

13.D. Copies of the Model Code of Conduct had been received from SALC and will be discussed at Item 12.

A copy of the lists of Notices and Correspondence, including those for information only, and Reports and Mandates received were issued to each Councillor and are attached at Annex 2 to the permanent copy of these minutes.


7. Financial Matters

a. Receipts and Payments Copies of the statements of Receipts and Payments were issued to each Councillor and are attached at Annex 3 to the permanent copy of these minutes. Council agreed the Receipts and Payments be accepted with no further discussion and settlement of the accounts was approved.

b. Transfer between accounts Council agreed a transfer of £12,000 be made from the Tracker Account to the Ordinary Account.

c. Transfer of Reserve Funds Council agreed that funds be transferred as detailed.

Product/service Amount Reserve fund
RFC Inspection & Grass cut 46.50 From RFC
Street Lighting improvements 7,636.87 From Street Lighting
SCDC 1,000.00 To 3PT

d. Additional signatories, Barclays Business Current and Tracker Accounts The Deputy Clerk explained that in light of the forthcoming elections Mr Comber, as an uncontested candidate, may be the only Council signatory available to sign next month’s cheques. It was suggested and agreed that as another uncontested candidate, and at present Vice-Chairman, arrangements are made at Barclays for Mr Briggs to become an additional signatory.

e. Late items for information None.


8. Planning and Development Matters

a. Planning applications received since 9th March 2007 The list of planning applications where comment was required, those which were not contentious and the decisions received, had been issued to each Councillor and is attached at Annex 4 to the permanent copy of these minutes. The Committee considered the list with the exception of Item x, planning application C06/1369 which has gone to appeal. Plans for which comment was required were displayed and further comments were invited. The Committee agreed that a further letter be sent with regard to the reduced private parking availability in the revised application C07/0306, land at Century Drive; no other additional comments were made. The P&D Committee then approved the list and the comments with the exception of Item x en bloc.

Mrs Evans, Mr Mann and Mrs Read left the room.

The Deputy Clerk explained the planning application for 29 Edmonton Road is to go to appeal and KTC have the opportunity to submit further comments to the Inspectorate. The Council’s previous response to SCDC strongly opposing the application was read to Council, the comments were upheld by the P&D Committee, and the Deputy Clerk will write accordingly.

Mrs Evans, Mr Mann and Mrs Read returned.

b. Street naming None.

c. Late items for information None.


9. Recreation and Amenities Matters

a. Draft Minutes of the last Committee meeting held on 26th March 2007 were issued to Councillors and are attached at Annex 5 to the permanent copy of these minutes.

b. Roads, footways and footpaths The Deputy Clerk advised Council of the following matters.

- An e.mail had been received from a resident of Penzance Road expressing his concerns with the speed of passing vehicles and the recent road accidents which had occurred near the shops. He asked if the Town Council can help in this matter. It was agreed to forward the e.mail to the SNT requesting speed checks to be carried out and to write to SCC asking if any further road safety measures could be put in place.

c. Youth Club This item has been duplicated in error and will be taken at Item 11.

d. Late items for information None.


10. Project Officer

Members were issued with the latest report from the Project Officer which is attached at Annex 6 to the permanent copy of these minutes.


11. Youth Provision

a. Youth Club Nothing to report.

b. Other Youth Issues The Bell Project will commence on the 24th April with one of the bars open to young people aged between 13 and 17 on a fortnightly basis. CRB checks and Risk assessments have been carried out. Alcohol will not be served.


12. Elections

The Clerk reported on her discussions with SALC with regard to filling the two Town Council seats in Kesgrave West left vacant after the nominations were received.

– the seats must be filled by Co-option as they have not been filled under the current election process; – residents cannot call for an election;
– the co-option can take place at the May Council meeting.

On SALC advice therefore a page 3 article has been submitted explaining that the seats will be filled by co-option at the May meeting and asking residents who are interested in putting themselves forward to submit a profile for consideration by Council to the Clerk no later than 9.00am on the 14th May.

Documents from SALC explain the procedure however:
– the Council is not obliged to consider the candidates who have failed to secure a seat at the May 3rd election and must not discriminate against people for the usual reasons ie race/colour etc.
– the seats are to be filled one at a time by a majority knock-out vote. The first candidate to be chosen could if they felt confident enough (ie a previous Councillor who understood the Code of Conduct issues) fill in the Declaration and then sit on the Council for the co-option of the second but it would be advisable if the candidate is not a previous Councillor that they do not take part.
The Clerk also explained the revised Code of Conduct had been through the Statutory process and could be adopted after 3rd May. This can therefore be adopted at the May meeting but only if the Members are confident they wish to do so before the New Register of Interest forms are available or if the forms are already available. It will probably be wise to postpone the Adoption of the new code until the forms have been received as it must be born in mind the Interest forms must be signed within 28 days of adopting the Code.


13. Report from Clerk and Press Officer

a. Minutes for the ATM held in July 2006 The Clerk explained the draft minutes for the second ATM held in July last year were an agenda item on the August Town Council meeting and had been presented to the meeting but not minuted as such. They will therefore be attached to the permanent copy of the April minutes at Annex 7 and a pencil note added to the August agenda to direct the reader.

b. Other items

1. Members were reminded that successful candidates following the elections on May 3rd are strongly advised to attend the Member “seminar” to be held on Tuesday 8th May. This was held 8 years ago in order for the new Council to meet each other informally, be issued with relevant information about Standing Orders, Committee Terms of Reference etc and in order for them to consider which Committee they wish to sit on.

2. The count following the elections will be conducted on Friday 4th May There is no indication when the Kesgrave result will be announced but it is anticipated these will be displayed on the web site and this will in turn be put into the Council noticeboard. New Councillors can be assured they will receive a letter over the bank holiday weekend inviting them to the 8th May seminar.

3. The Clerk gave a brief account of the differences between the conduct of Woodbridge Town Council and Kesgrave Town Council meetings following her Clerking of the former the previous week while the Woodbridge Clerk was on holiday.

Articles for inclusion in May Kesgrave News have been submitted on:–



14. To receive such other communication or matters of sufficient urgency and importance that the Chairman will allow for discussion

None.


15. Date of next meetings


The Chairman, Mr Whinney, who is not standing for re-election in May, addressed the Council. He explained that he had had the pleasure of being a Councillor for 8 years and Chairman for 6 and thanked the Members for their support during that time. He congratulated the 4 Councillors who had been elected unopposed for the West ward and extended his good wishes to all the candidates standing for East Ward.

He then closed the meeting at 8.23pm

Chairman

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