Minutes of the meeting of the Kesgrave Town Council held on Monday 14th June 2010 at 7.15pm in the Council Chamber.
| Present: | Mr A Comber | Mr P Mills – arrived at 8.16pm |
| Mrs S Evans– arrived at 7.59pm | Mrs S Ogden (Vice Chairman and District Cllr) | |
| Mr R Haskell – arrived at 8.16pm | Mrs E Smith | |
| Mrs J Klaschka – left after the adjournment | Rev R Spittle | |
| Mr G Lynch – arrived at 7.17pm | Mr R Walkling | |
| Mr P Miller |
| In attendance: | Mrs V Read (Clerk to the Town Council) |
| Mrs J Francis (Deputy Clerk to the Town Council) | |
| Mrs L Bennett (Administrative Assistant to the Town Council) | |
| Mr S Hudson (County Councillor) | |
| Mr M Grimwood (District Councillor) | |
| 6 Members of the public |
In the absence of Mr Beecroft, Mrs Ogden took the chair.
1. Apologies
| Mr K Beecroft | – holiday |
| Mrs S Coupe | – family commitments |
| Mrs N Goodchild | – illness |
| Mr C Pryke | – work commitments |
| Mrs M Neale | – alternative meeting |
2. Declarations of Interest
Mrs Ogden declared a personal interest in item 10.a.iii. Re-consultation on proposals for Adastral Park, her husband being an employee of BT, remained in the meeting and took part in consideration and discussion of the matter.
3. Minutes of the last regular meeting held on 10th May 2010
The minutes having been issued were taken as read and approved and signed by the Vice Chairman.
4. Matters arising
a. Late items for information None.
5. Resolution to exclude the Public under the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960
The Council resolved that the public and the press be excluded for consideration of 6. Confidential Note regarding Item 7.a.i. of 8th June 2009 meeting and subsequent papers since publicity would prejudice the public interest by reason of the confidential nature of the business, and that these matters be deferred to follow Item 17. on the agenda.
The following item was taken after Item 17 and is minuted there.
6. Confidential Note regarding Item 7.a.i. of 8th June 2009 meeting and subsequent papers
7. Reports from Chairman and Vice Chairman
The Chairman being absent, the Clerk read out his report which detailed that he had attended:
- the presentation of the Town Plan to the residents of Kesgrave by the Town Plan Steering Group;
- the Drum Head Service at the Ipswich Waterfront to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the evacuation of Dunkirk.
His written report is attached to the permanent copy of these minutes at Annex 1.
The Vice Chairman had nothing to report.
An adjournment was declared:
– to receive reports from the County and District Councillors
Mr Hudson, County Councillor, reported:
– he remains a member of the same Committees as last year;
– he had attended a Scrutiny Committee meeting when the use of outside body representation and consultants was reviewed. Council are considering restructure in many areas;
– Locality Budgets are still in place and safe for this year, but it is expected there will be changes in this sector as well in the future.
Mrs Ogden, as District Councillor, reported:
– Cedarwood Primary School had been nominated runner up in the recent “Clean Up” campaign and been awarded £200;
– on the recent Flood Survey questionnaire to which the Clerk confirmed Council had received;
– the “Forum” for the over 60's held at the Community Centre was a very positive event, with most people attending very happy with the services in Kesgrave. The one re-occurring issue was the lack of a bill paying facility in the area;
– she is a representative on the Spa Pavilion Liaison Group, Chairman of the Green Issues Task Group and Vice Chairman of Licensing.
Mr Grimwood, District Councillor, reported:
– he remained Council's representative to Greenways and the Citizens Advice Bureau;
– he attended a Planning Forum at Stratford St Andrew where it was announced following a decision by the Coalition Government the Local Development Framework will remain on hold for the time being;
– the date for the next DC Sub Meeting is the 22nd June, although there are no applications for Kesgrave on the agenda.
– to allow members of the public to speak
Mr Walkling, of Peasey Gardens, brought to Council's attention that cycling in front of the units and Tesco was still an issue with nothing being achieved regarding the dismount signs being wrongly positioned, despite being mentioned at previous meetings. The Store Manager who was aware of the problem had now moved on and he asked if the matter could be put on the agenda for next month. The Vice Chairman responded she would approach the new manager and initiate proceedings to deal with the concerns raised.
on Allotments
Mr Bradbrook, Chairman of KALGA, stated he had written a letter to Council asking for a single point of contact within the Council to act for the group. It was explained this is not possible, although KALGA can of course contact any Councillor at any time; no Councillor is in a position to act for the Council and would be expected to refer any matter either to the Clerk or to the next Council meeting.
Mr Copping, of The Lloyds, stated it had been approximately 18 months since the request for allotment provision in Kesgrave had been brought to Council and in his opinion he had seen no positive action taken and asked what is being done. It was explained Council had agreed allotment provision should be considered in Kesgrave and this item has been listed on the Full Council agenda rather than Recreation and Amenities Committee as this enables discussion each month and accentuates its importance. However, it was reiterated until land is identified and a decision reached on the Local Development Framework no progress can be made. In the interim any useful information relating to allotments has been forwarded to Mr Bradbrook.
Mr Copping informed Council of a newspaper article in the Telegraph reporting on 'compulsory leases' by Councils and asked for this to be considered. It was reiterated until the LDF has established where development can take place there is “hope value” on land in the vicinity which would preclude its use as allotments. Compulsory purchase can only be achieved through the District Council and they can refuse to undertake this. As yet neither the Council nor KALGA have been able to locate land other than that which has “hope value”.
Mr Copping asked if the Town Council held a list of all applications requesting allotment provision. The Clerk stated a common register is being held between KALGA and the Council.
Mr Bradbrook confirmed Martlesham Allotment Association have made it clear they are not prepared to consider partnership working if any land is made available for their own organisation.
on Town Plan
Mr Walker and Mrs Klaschka as Chairman and Treasurer of the Town Plan Steering Group gave a short presentation to Council on the finished Town Plan.
Members had been issued with hard copies with their agenda and a copy is attached to the permanent copy of these minutes at Annex 2. Several questions were asked on how the final document had been arrived at. It was explained the Steering Group had acted as facilitators to compile the questionnaire from questions posed by residents. In this respect it does not represent the general concerns of the whole population, only those who were able to participate in the roadshows or at the school sessions. From the resultant answers, from both hard copy and on line, the group determined which issues should be considered as a pressing matter in need of attention, while also taking into consideration the supplementary statements made by the residents.
The Steering Group then answered questions asked by Members which established:
– the difference in percentages were due to rounding up or down;
– identification will be made available on the ages of residents to identify which groups were asking for certain facilities – this can be achieved by using information from the questionnaires;
– responses from the High School are not included as none were received;
– the priorities identified for Kesgrave Town Council contradicted some of the results recorded from the questionnaire. It was explained comments received at the end of the questionnaire were listed and then, if the group considered it applicable, added to priorities. Council were concerned this was a misinterpretation of the results which has led to misleading priorities. This could have been addressed if the comments had been itemised separately.
This particular answer raised questions regarding the analysis of the questionnaire and it was further established an unanswered question was completed as a no-opinion answer.
The plan is now on-line and an article will be placed in Kesgrave News advising residents of this and a Summary of the results will be included in a future issue. It was noted Mrs Klaschka is now the Webmaster and Mr Walkling has ceased to have any involvement.
Mrs Ogden suggested a guest book should be included on the Website and in view of the poor attendance at the launch meeting, a further meeting might be held now that residents have a document to discuss. This will be considered and the Group were keen to point out it is a working document and as such it has been suggested a meeting is held with all stakeholders in 6 months to a year to assess what has and has not been achieved.
Mrs Evans complemented the Group on producing an attractive document.
Mrs Klaschka and Mr Walker left the meeting.
The meeting was reconvened and the following two items were brought forward.
15. Town Plan
Council discussed the priorities identified in the Town Plan which they have been charged with achieving. As some time has elapsed while the document was finalised the improvements at Rupert Fison Centre have already augmented the tasks identified for the Town Council. The majority of the other tasks are work in progress or regularly achieved. It was agreed a positive article should be submitted to Kesgrave News rebutting the needs identified in the Town Plan and promoting the Town Council actions.
An Audit of litter and Fido bins is currently being undertaken and a map depicting the location of all of these will be placed in the Rupert Fison noticeboard before the next Council meeting. Locations of Post boxes will be displayed on a separate map.
Later: Mrs Klaschka contacted the Clerk regarding the inclusion of 10.5.i. and ii. in the Town Plan document which could be interpreted as something which Council is not doing at present. The Steering Group are aware these actions are already being undertaken by the Council and this should therefore be read in this context. Consideration will be given to adding an explanatory note to the Website.
13. Kesgrave Allotment Association
Following comments made in the adjournment the Clerk will email the Telegraph article to Members and investigate whether Compulsory leasing is a possibility. Council must also consider the financial burden of provision on all of the electorate. Mr Walkling volunteered to investigate the cost of land, both agricultural and with “hope value”, in order that an estimate of the cost per electorate can be made.
8. Notices and correspondence
a. Items for discussion
| 1.D | There was no discussion regarding the Community Magazines, except on the excellence of the Chairman's article on page 3 of Kesgrave News in June. |
| 3.D | A thank you letter had been received from Suffolk Accident Rescue Service for the KTC donation. |
| 5.D | A thank you letter had been received from Suffolk Coastal District Council for the KTC response to the Planning Service Scrutiny Committee |
| 11.D | Mr Walkling drew Council's attention to an article on the success of a new play area in Newmarket and asked if further information could be sought to be included in discussions on Youth Provision at the next R&A Committee. The Deputy Clerk will investigate. |
b. Councillor representative reports None.
c. Police Matters report Members had been issued with two reports which are held on file
| 1 | A crime report for Kesgrave from Pc Kay Hammond |
| 2 | The 12PT monthly report |
9. 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 £7,200 be made from the Instant Access Saver Account to the Ordinary Account.
c. Transfer of Reserve Funds None.
d. Annual Return for Audit Members had been issued with the recommended information to be inserted onto the Annual Return and they approved the figures and other insertions as presented. Two figures on the explanation of variences sheet had been incorrectly recorded and Members were advised of the alterations. Mrs Francis completed the form and the Chairman and Clerk then signed the document later in the meeting. A copy of the document is attached at Annex 4 to the permanent copy of these minutes.
e. Model Standing Orders Members were informed new Model Standing Orders need to be considered. This would normally be taken by Finance and Resources Committee with a recommendation to Full Council. However the changes are extensive and to avoid a discussion at both F&R and Full Council it was agreed a working party of F&R and any interested Councillor will meet on the 19th July. The document will then go to F&R on 26th July with a recommendation to Full Council in August. Councillors were asked to inform the Clerk by the end of the week if they wish to join the working party and the 30 page draft document will then be issued to those Councillors only. All Members will then receive the recommended document for the August meeting.
f. Resolution to exclude the Public under the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 (to consider).
The Council resolved that the public and the press be excluded for consideration of 8.g. Financial Matters, Office Equipment since publicity would prejudice commercially sensitive information, and that these matters be deferred to follow Item 17 on the agenda.
The following item was taken after Item 17 and is minuted there
g. Office Equipment (May Item 12.a.vii)
h. Late items for information None.
10. Planning and Development Matters
a. Planning applications received since 7th May 2010 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 5 to the permanent copy of these minutes.
Members attention was drawn to the additional letter for C10/0479 sent to SCDC following the announcement that gardens are to be reclassified as greenfield not brownfield sites. Council is hopeful this will see an end to the eroding of private green space by infilling in Kesgrave.
b. Street naming None.
c. Late items for information Members were informed that:
– SCDC enforcement team are investigating the change of signage at the General Store at the junction of Dobbs Lane with the A1214 which may need planning permission;
– after repeated queries to SCDC a response has now confirmed that unless the advertising sign in the Quebec Garden which is visible at Bell Lane junction is removed a request for authority to instigate legal proceedings will be made to the Development Control Committee;
– a letter from SCDC with regard to the way forward for the Core Strategy was precied to Council. This is held on file and further documentation is awaited. However it was noted with the new Coalition Government at Westminster and the subsequent changes being made, there will be some further delay in the Local Development Framework as decisions are reached and received.
11. Recreation and Amenities Matters
a. Roads, footways and footpaths Members were informed of the following:
| 1 | A Speed Management Guidelines document had been received from Suffolk County Council giving detail on location and costs of different signage and road treatment which will be very helpful when consideration is needed on requests received from the public. |
| 2 | Documentation regarding a proposed zebra crossing at Cedarwood School was considered. The Deputy Clerk will respond asking for an extension westwards of the proposed yellow lines to protect the school entrance and for the time restrictions to be consistent with those at Heath School, which are for the opening and closing times of school, not all day. |
| 3 | The Traffic regulation order for Grange Lane which proposes installation of yellow lines in the hammer head and restriction of access. Members indicated their agreement with the proposals. |
b. Late items for information Members were informed of the current situation with regard to an area of Public Open Space between Fentons Way and Pilboroughs Walk where a landscaping hump had been used by young people for an informal dirt jumping area. This is a direct route for many pupils to the High School and while numbers had originally been fairly minimal, use of the area has escalated. While residents who live next to POS would be expected to have some degree of activity in the near vicinity the nuisance is increasing. Complaints to the Police and the Town Council have resulted in discussions with SCDC.
In previous years some attempts have been made to repair the grass hump which was being eroded but this has been unsuccessful. The decision was therefore taken to remove the hump in easy stages. However the hump was actually removed in one operation and some soil spread over the surrounding grass which has left the area looking rather unattractive. Some complaints have now been received from other residents and a group of High School pupils about the removal of this hump which was appreciated by so many young people but was not an official recreation facility.
Unfortunately a Police Community Support Officer had commented to a resident that the police were not aware of the difficulties which had exacerbated the situation with one resident suggesting in an email the Police had not been involved in the decision making process. The Clerk has spoken to the SNT Sergeant and all the SNT officers are now aware of the situation.
Members agreed this is an unfortunate scenario, and it was noted some young people are now using the woodland south of Glanville Place.
12. Grange Lane
Consideration had been made of the proposed traffic orders under item 11.a. Members were also given the current update on progress. Many Members had visited the site since the last meeting and agreed a very positive improvement is being achieved.
13. Kesgrave Allotment Association
This item had been taken immediately after the adjournment and is minuted there.
14. Quality Status
a. Training Needs Members were informed the Clerk has spoken with the new Chairman at Martlesham Parish Council who has expressed an interest in his Council joining with Kesgrave for Suffolk Association of Local Councils Bespoke training. This will be considered in more depth when the summer holidays are over. Rushmere St Andrew will be invited to join both Councils.
b. Retrospective Debate Members were reminded a meeting was to have been held in February and it had been agreed at the May meeting a new date should be set. Three possible dates were put forward and Members were asked to inform the Clerk within the next week which they would find preferable; a majority consensus will set the date.
15. Town Plan
This item had been taken immediately after the adjournment and is minuted there.
16. Report from Clerk and Press Officer
Articles for inclusion in Kesgrave News have been submitted on:–
Page 3 Who's who round the Council Chamber
Others
- What can we do in the holidays
- Senior Citizens Outing
- MSG pavilion hire
In view of continued interest in the Pavilion hire generated by these articles the original poster regarding this building will be placed in the Rupert Fison Noticeboard.
17. To receive such other communication or matters of sufficient urgency and importance that the Chairman will allow for discussion
None.
The remaining members of the public then left and Council were able to consider the following.
6. Confidential Note regarding Item 7.a.i. of 8th June 2009 meeting and subsequent papers
The minute held as a confidential note was agreed and signed by the Vice Chairman. As no further information had been made available to the Council since the May meeting, it was agreed in accordance with the debate held in May that, no further consideration will be given to this item and Mr Klaschka will not be invited to speak at meetings, until developments have taken place.
9.g. Financial Matters, Office Equipment (May Item 12.a.vii)
Council were informed the documentation provided by the Clerk to SALC had been handed to Prettys. Documentation has since also been provided to SALC from another Council. This is in accord with the KTC situation and a report from Prettys is awaited.
18. Date of next meeting – Monday 12th July 2010 in the Council Chamber
The Chairman closed the meeting at 9.35pm.
