Minutes of the meeting of the Kesgrave Town Council held on Monday 11th July 2011 at 7.15pm in the Council Chamber.
| Present: | Mr M Azmoodeh | Mr G Lynch |
| Mr N Beecroft | Mr P Miller | |
| Mr A Comber | Mr P Mills | |
| Mr D Fairbrother | Mr J Ogden | |
| Mrs N Goodchild | Mrs S Ogden (Chairman) | |
| Mrs J Klaschka | Rev R Spittle |
| 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 S Hudson (County Councillor) | |
| Mr J Klaschka (County Councillor) | |
| Mr M Grimwood (District Councillor) | |
| Mrs D McCallum (District Councillor) | |
| Mrs M Neale (District Councillor) | |
| Miss S Hall, Project Officer | |
| 8 Members of the public |
1. Apologies
Mr M Amoss work commitments
Mr R Bridgeman work commitments
Sgt P Street, Kesgrave Safer Neighbourhood Team work commitments
2. Declarations of Interest
Mr Miller declared a personal interest in item 9.b. i. Recreation and Amenities, Cedarwood Crossing, being a Governor and employee of Cedarwood School, and remained in the meeting during consideration and discussion of the matter.
Rev Spittle declared a personal interest in item 9.b i. Recreation and Amenities, Cedarwood Crossing, being a Governor of Cedarwood School, and remained in 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 13th June 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 had nothing to report.
The Vice Chairman reported:
he had attended numerous meetings regarding the future of the Youth Club.
An adjournment was declared:
- to receive reports from the County and District Councillors
Mr Klaschka, as County Councillor:
- urged Councillors to drop the subject of the Cedarwood Crossing. In his opinion Council had made themselves look foolish over this issue. He also issued copies of a response from Mr Bee, Leader of Suffolk County Council, sent in answer to Council's letter raising concerns over the inappropriately robust reply received from Mr Mayo. The letter, which is held on file, states Mr Klaschka considers the Officer had acted in a measured and professional manner;
- reported SCC Cabinet at their meeting on 19th July will be considering the provision of a Community Interest Company to fulfil their obligation to provide a Library Service. Communities will still be able to put in bids if they wish to do so but he had withdrawn his Expression of Interest in the Kesgrave Library; he confirmed he had informed Martlesham Parish Council of this in an email and will confirm in writing to both Kesgrave and Rushmere St Andrew;
- drew Members attention to a temporary road closure at Deben Avenue, Martlesham.
Mr Hudson, County Councillor
reiterated the opinion that Council should draw a line under the issue of the Cedarwood Crossing;
the Rights Of Way Committee had met and approved the proposed waiting restrictions at Cedarwood School;
Locality Budget cheques had been issued in relation to the various applications submitted.
Mr Grimwood, District Councillor
mentioned an application had been received from a local landowner in Playford, submitted on behalf of KALGA for allotment use;
he will be attending the Suffolk Acre Conference and a Rights Of Way training session in the week;
there are no Kesgrave applications being heard at the DCSub Committee meeting this month.
Mrs McCallum, District Councillor
reported following it's recent completion, she will be visiting Felixstowe Docks to view the latest phase of the expansion programme.
Mrs McCallum also announced that £13,000 had so far been raised to stage the Kesgrave Music Festival. The overall target of £15,000 for staging the event would hopefully be reached in the forthcoming Charity Auction night. This would enable all monies collected on the Music Festival day to be donated to charity. The Committee considering the possibility of making a small donation to local causes, and Members ideas for possible recipients was requested.
Mrs Klaschka informed Council that with Mrs McCallum's permission she had put forward her name for the Olympic Flame Torch Relay in 2012. Council considered this to be an excellent opportunity to acknowledge the tireless work undertaken by Mrs McCallum within the local community.
Mrs Ogden, as District Councillor, reported:
she will be attending the Suffolk Acre meeting to be held at the KWMCC;
she had also attended a site visit to Felixstowe Docks.
Mrs Neale, as District Councillor reported:
she is now Cabinet Member with the Portfolio for Housing;
she attended the Core Strategy and Development Management Policies Document meeting held at Trinity Park, also open to members of the public, where the LDF is being reviewed in the light of changes to the planning system.
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. | |
| 3 | Kesgrave and Rushmere St Andrew match funded PCSO quarterly report. |
to allow members of the public to speak:
Cedarwood Crossing: Mr Walkling, of Peasey Gardens, questioned Mr Klaschka further on the Cedarwood Crossing expressing his annoyance with the inconsistency of information previously given to him by Mr Klaschka and County Officers. He also stated his dissatisfaction in the way the consultation process had been carried out. Mr Klaschka replied to various questions posed, however Mr Walking was not satisfied with the responses and stated he would be taking the matter further. He also reported on the results of a request he had made to SCC under the Freedom of Information Act which clearly highlighted the final siting had been made without residents being consulted.
Kesgrave Quarry: Mrs West and Mr Munro residents of Main Road addressed Council on their concerns over the application for extended hours at Kesgrave Quarry and the very short timescale for responses. The process for consideration of this application was explained as it is a Suffolk County Council application not District Council. The Clerk explained the deadline for responses for the Town Council has been set as the 20th July, over a week later than that given to residents. It appeared this was because Playford had been consulted a week earlier than Kesgrave. Mr Klaschka confirmed that resident responses will be considered if they are delivered to SCC before the 20th July and offered to take any to the County Office.
Mr Klaschka informed Council he had delivered a petition from residents regarding the recent application to extend the operating hours at Kesgrave Quarry to the Officer involved.
Mrs McCallum as Vice Chairman of the Suffolk Coastal DCSub Committee, stated she is unable to discuss or respond to any comments made regarding the Kesgrave Quarry application, however advised the members of the public present to form a group with one spokesperson and make a joint representation at committee meetings on their concerns;
Mrs Ogden had received several calls from residents raising concerns with the recent planning application for Kesgrave Quarry.
Mrs Neale stated the recent planning application submitted by SCC for Kesgrave Quarry had been advertised in Playford but should also have included Kesgrave. Following representations from residents she had encountered difficulties in obtaining information from the Suffolk County Council website; a planning notice to alert residents had been erected but was buried in undergrowth.
Kesgrave Library: Miss Hall, of Trinity Close, had prepared a report, based on documents published by SCC regarding the future of County Libraries. This had been issued to Members and is attached at Annex 1 to the permanent copy of these minutes. She highlighted the Library consultation responses, SCC's proposed vision for the future of the service and the discrepancy regarding the Expressions of Interest received.
Mr Klaschka stated in his opinion Miss Hall's report had not given a true interpretation of the County's stance although he had noticed a few anomalies himself in the County report, including the EOI which he had raised with the SCC Officers.
The following item was brought forward.
8. Planning and Development Matters
a. Planning applications received since 10th June 2011 The application for extended hours at Kesgrave Quarry was considered by the Committee and it was agreed to support the concerns of residents. A draft response will be issued to P&D members for approval and will then be held on file.
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 had been received from the Census Area Manager thanking KTC for allowing census staff the use of the Council Chamber for meetings. |
| 4.D. An email had been received from Andrew Down stating his role as Extended Schools Officer has ceased and he is to be re-deployed to Ipswich. He thanked KTC, together with other agencies and partners, for their support with the many successful projects carried out in the community. |
A copy of the lists of Notices and Correspondence, including those for information only, were issued to each Councillor and are attached at Annex 2 to the permanent copy of these minutes.
b. Councillor Representative Reports
The Chairman, as a member of the BMX Working Party, reported the consultation evening had been successful with many people in favour of the project. Work is being progressed with an application for a 'Certificate of Lawfulness' being submitted before work is carried out to clear the site. She also asked if 12PT could consider making the site a policing priority when open. The Clerk, as Secretary of 12PT, will inform the Group of her request.
7. Financial Matters
a. 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.
b. Transfer between accounts Council agreed a transfer of £3,100 be made from the Instant Access Account to the Ordinary Account.
c. Transfer of Reserve Funds
Transfers to/from Reserve funds in July 2011
| Youth Club transfer of funds | 2,112.14 | To Youth Club | |
| Youth Club session 23/06/11 | 12.60 | To Youth Club | |
| Youth Club evening event | 75.00 | From Youth Club |
d. Standard Life Treasury Bond The Deputy Clerk explained the current Standard Life Bond ceases on 19th July. As Standard Life are now part of the Barclays Group negotiation for further bonds have to be sought through Barclays. Although there is a bond available on the 22nd July details of the next Bond will be available the week before. Council agreed in order to avoid further delay in investing the money the Finance and Resources Committee should determine at their meeting on 25th July whether to deposit £50,000 with a Barclays Bond or one of the two alternatives which are available with other organisations.
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 10.f, Financial Matters, Office Equipment since publicity would prejudice commercially sensitive information, and that these matters be deferred to follow item 13 on the agenda.
The following item was taken after item 13 and is minuted there.
f. Office equipment
g. Late items for information Procedures for the additional bank signatories following the election are now near completion but Mr Bridgeman will not at the present time be included.
8. Planning and Development Matters
a. Planning applications received since 10th June 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.
The Kesgrave Quarry application had been discussed following the adjournment and is minuted there.
b. Street naming The road name for Area FF has been confirmed. Council were informed that Taylor Wimpey had endeavoured to have their contractual obligation with the Landowner lifted in view of the Council concerns. However they had been unsuccessful and the road is to be Hares Close.
As this is the final area of development within the Grange Farm area this item will now be removed from subsequent agendas.
c. Late items for information None.
9. Recreation and Amenities Matters
a. Draft Minutes of the last Committee meeting held on 27th June 2011 were issued to Councillors and are attached at Annex 5 to the permanent copy of these minutes. Mr Comber brought the following items to Members attention:
i. Play Equipment Improvements and Provision (R&A item 18) It was agreed Miss Hall will undertake further investigations on types of play equipment to enable the R&A Committee to bring a recommendation to the October Council meeting.
b. Roads, footways and footpaths
i. Cedarwood School crossing consultation Members had been issued with a copy of the response from Mark Bee, Leader of SCC, to the KTC letter, as minuted in the Adjournment.
ii. The SCC, Notification of Temporary Road Closure at Deben Avenue, Martlesham 1st to 26th August was noted.
c. Late items for information None.
10. The Big Society
a. Youth Club Provision
i. The current position A meeting is to be held on Tuesday 12th July of organisation interested in the Youth Club building. The Youth Centre Support Group will meet the following day to discuss how to proceed and a report will be brought to the August Council meeting.
b. Library Provision
i. Draft Expression of Interest (EoI) document by a working party led by Mr Klaschka
ii. Draft Expression of Interest by Ipswich Libraries
These items had been discussed at length during the meeting. It was noted that:
SCC Cabinet will be making a decision on how to proceed with Library provision at their meeting on 19th July;
Mr Klaschka has withdrawn his Expression of Interest Document in the light of the anticipated outcome of the Cabinet meeting;
Mr Klaschka has informed Martlesham Parish Council and will inform Rushmere St Andrew Parish Council of the above and that he has already informed the officers who compiled the Cabinet papers of several errors including the statement that Kesgrave Town Council supported his Expression of Interest. KTC will receive this confirmation also;
the representatives from Kesgrave, Martlesham and Rushmere St Andrew had attended a meeting at Kesgrave Library to hear about the Ipswich Library Co-operative Expression of Interest. This is simply a single sentence of intent and would require considerable work and investigation to prove it viable.
c. Dobbs Lane Crossing Nothing to report.
d. Other items None.
11. Kesgrave Allotment Association
It had been noted earlier that an application has been lodged with SCDC for change of use of farmland to allotments in Playford, and it is understood this is for the benefit of KALGA.
12. Report from Clerk and Press Officer
1. Articles for inclusion in the August issue of Kesgrave News have been submitted on:
Rupert Fison Centre improvements and the Mobile Library.
13. To receive any such other communications or matters of sufficient urgency that the Chairman will allow for discussion.
Mrs Klaschka stated Gorseland School are interested in hosting a Council in the Classroom session. This will be followed up in the near future.
Members of the Public and Mrs Klaschka left and Council were able to consider the following:
7. Financial Matters
f. Office equipment
Council had agreed in June that Prettys Solicitors be asked for advice on a letter to be sent to NCS with regard to the second copier. Before that could be undertaken Terry O'Rorke of NCS had written to the Council with suggestions regarding the outstanding payments. Council agreed the proposals made were not acceptable. The Deputy Clerk has also identified further anomalies within the documentation and it was agreed these should be drawn to Mr Amoss' attention for his advice before Prettys are approached.
Date of next meeting:
Monday 8th August, Full Council in the Council Chamber at 7.15pm
The Chairman closed the meeting at 9.15pm.
