Minutes of the meeting of the Kesgrave Town Council held on Monday 8th August 2011 at 7.15pm in the Council Chamber.
| Present: | Mr M Azmoodeh | Mr P Miller |
| Mr N Beecroft | Mr P Mills | |
| Mr R Bridgeman | Mr J Ogden | |
| Mr A Comber | Mrs S Ogden (Chairman) | |
| Mr D Fairbrother | Rev R Spittle | |
| Mrs J Klaschka left after item 16 |
| In attendance: | Mrs V R Read (Clerk to the Town Council) |
| Mrs J Francis (Deputy Clerk to the Town Council) | |
| Mrs L Bennett (Administrative Assistant) | |
| Mr J Klaschka (County Councillor) | |
| 5 Members of the public |
1. Apologies
Mr M Amoss work commitments
Mr G Lynch family commitments
Mr M Grimwood District Councillor) family commitments
Mrs D McCallum (District Councillor) family commitments
Mrs M Neale (District Councillor)
Sgt P Street (Kesgrave SNT) work commitments
2. Declarations of Interest
Mrs Ogden declared a prejudicial interest in item 7.a.iii Finance and Resources, Computer replacement as the wife of the resident undertaking the research, and left the meeting during consideration and discussion of the matter.
Mr Ogden declared a prejudicial interest in item 7.a.iii Finance and Resources, Computer replacement as the son of the resident undertaking the research, and left the meeting during consideration and discussion of the matter.
Rev Spittle declared a personal interest in item 10.a.i Big Society, Youth Club, being a Youth Work employer, and remained in the meeting during consideration and discussion of the matter.
3. Minutes of the last regular meeting held on 11th July 2011
The minutes having been issued were taken as read, approved and signed by the Chairman.
4. Matters arising None.
5. Reports from Chairman and Vice Chairman:
The Chairman:
reported she had attended a Mayors at Home evening in the James Hehir building in Ipswich;
reminded all Town Councillors of the Retrospective meeting to be held at 7.00pm on the 5th September in the Council Chamber.
The Vice Chairman had nothing to report.
Mrs Ogden explained Item 11 was to be deleted from the agenda and Councillors would be invited to ask Mr Rayworth, who was offering himself for Co-option, questions at the end of the adjournment.
An adjournment was declared:
- to receive reports from the County and District Councillors
Mr Klaschka, as County Councillor reported:
Suffolk County Council have referred the Kesgrave Quarry planning application back to the applicant for further analyses;
he understood a further area has been identified on the High School site, near the caretakers bungalow, where additional accommodation could be located for the 200 extra pupils. He has encouraged officers to put in a bid for funding and urged the Town Council and the Youth Centre Support Group to be patient as the process could be as long as 3 years;
he is working on the steering group dealing with the Library issue. The current solution being considered to retain all 44 Libraries is to divide them into 3 groups and for a manager to run 3 Libraries each. The overall management structure would also be reduced to a General Manager with 6 support officers instead of the current 30. A paper will go to Cabinet possibly in October and then Full Council in November. The Home Library Service is also to be reconfigured and resources used more intelligently.
Mr Klaschka, as District Councillor, reported he had given an Our Place presentation to the Suffolk Coastal Partnership Board. Using Kesgrave as an example he had demonstrated this new approach, is not a panacea and without its difficulties but, is attempting to deal with the issues of divestment.
Mrs Ogden, as District Councillor reported:
she had attended an all day meeting at Trinity Park regarding the Local Development Framework. The Core Strategy will now go out for further consultation and then be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate;
nominations are being requested for the Coastal Sports Awards;
Sport England has money available;
as a support Cabinet member she had attended the Local Strategic Partnership Young Peoples Board which she considers is rather rural in its focus at present however it is providing transport for young people in very rural areas to be able to spend time in the nearby towns;
she had also attended a licensing meeting where a demolition Order had been granted.
Mr Grimwood, District Councillor, being absent, Mrs Bennett reported on his behalf that the Help Centre have been granted £1,500 from Spark towards running costs.
Mrs McCallum, District Councillor, being absent, Mrs Bennett reported on her behalf on the success of the Music Festival where over £11,000 was taken on the gate, and no arrests were made.
There was no representative from the Kesgrave SNT however Members had been issued with the following reports which are held on file:
| 1. | 12PT monthly report. | |
| 2. | Kesgrave Crime report. |
to allow members of the public to speak
No Member of the Public wished to address the Council.
Mr Rayworth had submitted a profile and no Councillors had questions to ask of him.
The meeting reconvened and item 12 was brought forward.
12. Councillor Vacancy
Council were issued with ballot slips to vote on the Co-option. Mr C Rayworth was Co-opted to the Council and will complete the necessary documentation later in the week.
6. Notices and Correspondence
a. Items for discussion
The following items were brought to Members' attention:
| 1.D. Community Magazines, where no issues were raised by Members. |
| 3.D. A letter of thanks for graffiti project funding had been received from Kesgrave High School |
| 4.D. A letter of thanks for funding for Kesgrave Music Festival had been received. |
A copy of the lists of Notices and Correspondence, including those for information only, were issued to each Councillor and are attached at Annex 1 to the permanent copy of these minutes.
b. Councillor Representative Reports None.
7. Financial Matters
a. Draft Minutes of the last Committee meeting held on 25th July 2011 had been issued to Councillors and are attached at Annex 2 to the permanent copy of these minutes. Mr Miller brought the following item to Members attention:
i. Treasury Bond The Committee had been presented with four Bond options and a fifth possibility was raised at the meeting which required further investigation. The fifth option proved not to be viable. Therefore in accordance with the Committee decision documentation investing £50,000 in a 1 year Bond at 2.45%, with the Cambridge Building Society Bond had been completed and a cheque would be signed later in the meeting.
ii. 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 Item 7.a.iii., Financial Matters, Computer replacement since publicity would prejudice commercially sensitive information, and that these matters be deferred to follow item 16 on the agenda.
The following item was taken after item 16 and is minuted there.
iii. Computer replacement
b. Receipts and Payments Copies of the statements of Receipts & Payments were issued to each Councillor and are attached at Annex 3 to the permanent copy of these minutes. Council agreed the Receipts & Payments be accepted with no further discussion and settlement of the accounts was approved.
c. Transfer between accounts Council agreed a transfer of £23,400 be made from the Instant Access Account to the Ordinary Account.
d. Transfer of Reserve Funds
Transfers to/from Reserve funds in August 2011
| SCC | 400.00 | To Locality Budget 11/12 and subsequent transfer to 12PT | |
| SCC | 2,000.00 | To Locality Budget 10/11 | |
| Youth Club subscriptions | 8.60 | To Youth Club | |
| SCC | 1,208.00 | To Locality Budget 10/11 | |
| Youth Club subscriptions | 13.20 | To Youth Club | |
| Kesgrave Arts | 1,200.00 | From 12PT | |
| Cambridge Building Society | 50,000.00 | From General Reserve | |
| NCS Rental | 3,073.00 | From Photocopier |
e. 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 Item 7.f, Financial Matters, Office Equipment since publicity would prejudice commercially sensitive information, and that these matters be deferred to follow item 16 on the agenda.
The following item was taken after item 16 and is minuted there.
f. Office equipment
g. Late items for information None.
8. Planning and Development Matters
a. Planning applications received since 8th July 2011 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.
b. Late items for information Cemex, the applicant for the Kesgrave Quarry change of hours of operation, had written informing the Council the application had been withdrawn.
9. Recreation and Amenities Matters
a. Roads, footways and footpaths None.
b. Late items for information Members were informed Mrs M Camilleri has been appointed as Market Manager. She is currently approaching the 40 prospective stall holders, offering them an incentive of 4 months at the cost of 3, with the market programmed to start in October.
10. The Big Society
a. Youth Club Provision
i. The current position Mr Comber reported the Youth Centre Support Group are still working with the Christian Family Church over Youth Club provision. The Church are interested in taking the Youth Club building if a lease for more than 3 years is available.
b. Library Provision There was no discussion on this item as Council await further information from County on the situation outlined by Mr Klaschka in the adjournment.
c. Other items None.
11. 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 Item 12. Councillor Vacancy since publicity would prejudice commercially sensitive information, and that these matters be deferred to follow item 16 on the agenda. This item was deleted from the agenda.
The following item was taken immediately after the adjournment and is minuted there.
12. Councillor Vacancy
13. Kesgrave Allotment Association There was nothing to report.
14. Police Matters
i i. Police and Community Engagement Meetings Council were reminded the PCEMs are currently held every month taking the 12 parishes in rotation. Any resident can attend any PCEM and experience demonstrates that if an issue is important enough they are willing to do so. However as attendance at all PCEMs is low and involves a substantial amount of Police resources in administration and attendance this frequency of meetings is not thought to be practical. Sgt Street had suggested at the July 12PT meeting that PCEM's be reduced with meetings still being held in the three larger parishes once a year but in the 9 smaller ones these should only be held once in three years. It was noted the police can be contacted on any issue by email, telephone, at the mobile police station, through the parish Clerks or by calling at the SNT office. Council agreed with this reduction in meeting frequency.
ii. 12PT Representative The Town Council representative at 12PT is Mr Miller. Meetings are held from 10.00 to approximately 12.00 on one Wednesday every second month. Unfortunately Mr Miller is often required to leave the meeting before the end because of work commitments and a second representative would be helpful. Mrs Klaschka volunteered to attend.
15. Report from Clerk and Press Officer
Volunteers to attend the Senior Citizens Outing on 17th August were requested, both for accompanying one of the 3 coaches and for helping to serve the tea.
Articles for inclusion in the September issue of Kesgrave News will be submitted on:
Jubilee Celebrations in 2012 and the competition,
Paperbanks, Flyposting and Street lighting.
It was noted the Music Festival posters had all been removed within 24 hours and Mrs McCallum's Committee were commended for this. This will be added to the article as demonstration of the responsible attitude exhibited by local people.
16. To receive any such other communications or matters of sufficient urgency that the Chairman will allow for discussion.
None.
Mrs Klaschka left the meeting.
The remaining Members of the Public left the meeting and Council were able to consider the following:
Mrs and Mr Ogden left the Chamber for the following item
7. Financial Matters
a. iii. Computer replacement At the Finance and Resources meeting Mrs Read had explained with commitments at home Mr Read had been unable to undertake the work necessary to source and set up replacement computers. Mrs Ogden had suggested her husband might be available to take on the work. Mr Ogden has now attended the office and agreed to undertake the work. Having looked at the current system he has already emailed the Clerk with some suggestions and these are now being followed up.
Mrs and Mr Ogden rejoined the meeting.
7. Financial Matters
f. Office equipment At the July meeting Members had been informed of a letter received from NCS and agreed the Clerk should discuss the issue with Mr Amoss. Mr Amoss had attended the Council office and offered some suggestions on how to proceed. However he also looked at documentation which Mrs Francis had compiled and which raises further questions over the contract. At Mr Amoss' suggestion this has been forwarded to Prettys Solicitors for their comment.
Date of next meeting:
Monday 12th September, Full Council in the Council Chamber at 7.15pm
The Chairman closed the meeting at 8.08pm.
Chairman
