BURNHAM-ON-SEA AND HIGHBRIDGE TOWN COUNCIL MONDAY 3 rd MARCH 2014

Transcription

1 BURNHAM-ON-SEA AND HIGHBRIDGE TOWN COUNCIL MONDAY 3 rd MARCH 2014 Minutes of the Town Council meeting held this day in the Old Courthouse, Jaycroft Road, Burnham-on-Sea at 7pm Present: Cllr Cox (Chairman) Cllr Mrs Burge Cllr Clarke Cllr Burridge-Clayton Cllr Davey Cllr Miss Groves Cllr Mansfield Cllr Harvey Cllr Jones OBE Cllr Ms Lawson Cllr Nicholls Cllr Miss Parkin Cllr Smout Cllr Williams Mrs Emery (Town Clerk), Mrs Brewer (Admin Assistant) Before the beginning of formal business: Mr Matt Ballard of Somerset County Council updated members on the progress of the Enterprise Centre at Isleport, Highbridge: 1.16m Contract Light industrial units, eg: carpentry Office Businesses Also Start up units To commence in March 2014 To be completed by June 2014 Currently Wessex Water was holding up progress, because of the problems of flooding on the levels they were dealing with as priority. Future tenants were being sought Competitive rents were being arranged based on an average for the area Cllr Smout asked if Fibre optic Broad Band would be available for the Businesses in Highbridge, as this was not on the original plan. This would be investigated. Members thanked Mr Ballard for his report. 17/14/TC 18/14/TC Apologies Apologies were received (and approved) from: Cllr Miller (unwell) Cllr Mrs Pollard (away) Cllr Hancock (work) Cllr Young Declarations of Interest Members NOTED the following Declarations of Interest: Cllrs Davey, Jones, Mansfield and Smout as members of the Development Control Committee at Sedgemoor District Council Cllrs Burridge-Clayton, Clarke and Smout on licensing matters as members of the Licensing Panel at Sedgemoor District Council Cllr Miss Parkin on Licensing Matters and item 8.2 a) & b) on the agenda. Cllr Smout on items 8.2 & 8.4 on the agenda. Public Speaking Time The meeting was suspended to allow members of the public who had registered to speak in accordance with Minute nos. 14/96/TC and 49/97/TC. Members NOTED the comments from: Mrs Jenny Turco on the Tesco 106 Town Improvements project: Disappointment that more press releases have not been made to make visitors aware that Burnham-on-Sea was not affected by the floods. 1

2 Numbers of visitors had been down from last years half term. Waves, wind and rain and the power and force of Nature could not be controlled, but the recent weather had caused a decline in visitors to the town over half-term as many people outside Somerset viewed the floods in the media and thought they covered all areas. Would like to see the Council doing more to attract visitors to the town. Money was available through the Tesco 106 Project Town Centre Manager was needed now not October Why will Recruitment take so long? Cllr Clarke, Chairman of The Town Improvements Committee informed Mrs Turco that: The recruitment process would take place this summer. The job had two parts A project Manager had already been appointed and progress had been started. A Job Description and Person Specification was being drawn up. The person would need to deliver the projects agreed, they would be line managed by the Town Projects Committee and need to work with the Chamber of Trade, Tourism Manager and BiARS Cllr Smout, Chairman of the Staffing Committee added: Advertisements, Interviews, References and Notice had to be arranged, making the recruitment process at least 2 months. As soon as the Town Project committee had agreed the Job Description and Person Specification, the staffing committee would progress the recruitment of a Town Centre Manager. The 2m funding being made available by central government, to mitigate damage to tourism from the extreme weather conditions, was mentioned and the Clerk asked if members wished her to write to ask SDC if they would be applying for any of the funding in view of Mrs Turco s comments on trade being affected at half-term. Action: The Clerk to write to Sedgemoor District Council and ask if they would be applying for any of the 2m relief fund. Mr Walsh about Neighbourhood Planning Only four towns in Sedgemoor applying Axbridge had a designated area 18 Completed plans 7 gone to referendum The Town Council would be avant-garde if it proceeded with the Neighbourhood Plan, as it is a progressive and innovative initiative, and he strongly supported the idea. The meeting was re-convened. 19/14/TC 20/14/TC Chairman s Announcements The Chairman had attended an event to introduce a historical website for Burnham-on-Sea, also the refurbishment service at Burnham Funeral Services and a Civic Service at Axbridge. The Chairman announced the Fundraising Quiz to be held at the Princess on Friday 14 March, in aid of the 2014 Fireworks display. He also encouraged members to attend the Highbridge Festival of Arts held at various venues from 6 March. Minutes of the Last Town Council Meeting The Chairman presented the minutes of the last meeting. Members AGREED they should be signed at a true and accurate record of the meeting. 2

3 21/14/TC Minutes of the Planning Applications Committee Cllr Mrs Burge presented the minutes of this meeting, she stated that: A vote was taken at the meeting on the principle only of the ASDA expansion, there was no application before members. When the application does come before members they will consider the application in its entirety and make a decision based on the full plans before them. Members of the Committee AGREED the minutes should be signed as a true and accurate record of the meeting. 22/14/TC Report from Cllrs Burridge-Clayton and Woodman Cllr Woodman reported that any Clubs, Societies or Organisations could apply to Mrs Janet Keen for Match Funding Grants from the Highbridge Community Foundation Fund. More information could be found on the website. Cllr Burridge Clayton reported that Somerset County Council had sold Highway Speed cameras to the Police and they would be operational again. The County Council Budget remained frozen and the Fire Fighting Budget had risen by 1.7%. 23/14/TC Matters Arising from Previous Meetings Members considered the report from Ian Jefferies. Cllr Miss Parkin commented : Project Coach Update o The breakdown of expenses proved Money Well Spent o They were doing a Fantastic Job, encouraging Coach Companies to visit Burnham-on-Sea o Weston-super-Mare had been asking Les and Ian for advice o Face Book and Twitter accounts had been created. o A raffle for the Coach Drivers would be held to celebrate the 100 th Birthday of the Pavilion Pier, with a prize of 100 each week from Easter to September. Accreditation Scheme for Junior/Primary School Councils Cllr Miss Groves and possibly Cllr Ms Lawson would work with the teachers and schools to set the criteria for the Accreditation Scheme, but it would be appropriate that other councillors decided which school would be the awarded the cup each year. The Clerk suggested The Mayor and Chairman of Policy & Finance. Update on the Burnham & Highbridge Youth Council Cllr Ms Lawson reported to members that 23 young people had attended the meetings, approx. 15 at each meeting. There was a core group of 8 each week. They would like to hold fundraising events, a Disco had been organised and they were looking at Sports events in the future. The Clerk would be applying for a further Community Group Grant. Cllr Jones congratulated the leaders and wished them Good Luck and Success. Update on Neighbourhood Planning Cllr Harvey reported that there were 20 people at the public meeting informing residents about the Neighbourhood Plan. A form had been created to find expressions of interest, of which 12 had been completed. 3

4 Cllr Harvey then submitted Notice of the following MOTION, seconded by Cllr Williams: This Council agrees - A) That it should submit an application to Sedgemoor District Council to designate the complete parish of Burnham-on- Sea & Highbridge as a Neighbourhood Planning area. B) To expand the current Working Group to include any other interested Councillors and those who attended or sent apologies to the recent public meeting, to consider and report on - i) Community Involvement ii) Membership of a Steering Group iii) Terms of Reference/Constitution of a Steering Group iv) Working arrangements with the Town Council - including financial arrangements v) Contact, advice, and support available from Sedgemoor District Council C) To receive Neighbourhood Planning progress reports every two/three months via the Policy & Finance Committee of the Town Council. According to Standing Orders, the Chairman allowed members to speak for three minutes each the following points were raised: Concerns over the cost of completing a Neighbourhood Plan Councillors were pleased to see the interest from residents Concerns that residents did not necessarily understand business needs and over the balance of input from residents and businesses into the plan, this may have an effect on getting agreement as past consultations had shown many residents were in favour of pedestrianisation while businesses in the town were not. Terms of reference for the Steering group need to be agreed by council and the Steering group need to agree their constitution All meetings to be quorate and minuted Funding at the present was 20,000 from SDC. Controls would be put into place to agree how this money was used and reviewed by the Policy & Finance committee as an agenda item on each of its meetings. Councillors did not wish to use consultants to progress the Neighbourhood Plan, and therefore a great deal of community input was required. Consultation process was a huge task and very important for the project in order to get agreement when the completed plan went to referendum. It was important that the process was reviewed regularly and if something was found not to work or offer value the Steering Group agreed to move on. It was important to remember that Neighbourhood Plans covered not only planning issues but also housing, parking, education, business development, infrastructure etc Transparency Press releases were important to keep residents informed Transparency was important and Accounts should be published Members were encourage by the amount of support, but recognised the Working Party would need to form a cohesive plan taking into account many diverse opinions The following areas were agreed: The Neighbourhood plan would cover the whole parish, and that the Neighbourhood Plan would be an agenda item on every Policy & Finance meeting so that reports went to the town Council regularly 4

5 Cllr Burridge-Clayton PROPOSED the amendments to Section C of the motion to cover the above, this was seconded by Cllr Davey. Members voted 12 in favour with 2 abstentions The Motion was carried. Format for Annual Town s Meeting The Annual Town s meeting would be held this year at the Princess Theatre and Arts Centre. Members considered the suggestion by the Clerk to present each Committee as an information board and people would circulate the room to view them. The Committee reports would still be available as a booklet with the Audited Accounts Report, later in the year. The second part of the meeting would be when invited parties would be asked to make a presentation and the third part residents could talk to the Councillors. Cllr Harvey suggested a board for people to put themselves forward as Councillors. Cllr Williams commented that this would bring a Breath of Fresh Air to a somewhat boring meeting. Cllr Miss Parkin PROPOSED this format be used, seconded by Cllr Davey all members AGREED. 24/14/TC 25/14/TC Correspondence Members NOTED the following: Letter from John Osman of Somerset County Council and Sam Winter at SALC about Flood Relief Fund: o Policy and Finance Committee would look at an area of underspend. o Sedgemoor District Council had already pledged funding. o Cllr Mrs Burge reported that a coffee morning had been held and 1,200 had been raised for this. Details of the Temporary Road Closures as listed on the agenda for this meeting: o Members NOTED these, but were concerned that problems of road closures and access to properties during sports events had not been addressed. Cllr Smout had spoken to the organiser who had said they would put notices out to times of the road closures, and that emergency access was permitted, although he understood that last year the Marshalls had not allow any movement of traffic during the race period, and this had caused problems for some businesses o Residents and Businesses had not been informed. The NEW Premises Licence Esplanade Fish Bar To Vary an existing Premises Licence - Burnham-on-Sea Holiday Village The South West conference of Local Council Associations at Tiverton in April. Members would be happy for the Clerk and Deputy Clerk to attend. Accounts Members NOTED the details of invoices paid during November and December 2013 and the Committee reports to the end of December /14/TC Forthcoming Dates February 2014 Members NOTED the information as detailed on the Agenda for this meeting. There being no further business the Chairman closed the meeting at 21.25hrs. 5