Page 1 of 10 COUNCIL MEMBERS: Cllr K Pacey - Chairman Cllr K Asmal Cllr M Carnall Cllr S Gerrard Cllr P Henry Cllr J Midgley Cllr D Pepper Cllr P Turner Cllr P Wright Cllr T Barkley Vice Chairman Cllr J Branston Cllr C Dolan Cllr S Hampson Cllr H Midgley Cllr M Pacey Cllr H Screaton Cllr E Vardy IN ATTENDANCE: Catherine Voyce Town Manger Ursula Southan Deputy Town Manager PCSO Brain Geeson Cllr R Jones There two members of the public present. 573/16 REFLECTION Cllr K Pacey gave the reflection. 574/16 TO RECEIVE APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Apologies were received and accepted from County Councillor Dave Houseman (work commitments) and Cllr H Asmal (holiday) 575/16 TO ACCEPT DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS WHETHER PERSONAL AND/OR PREJUDICIAL ON ITEMS ON THE AGENDA Cllr H Midgley declared an interest in anything pertaining to Syston in Bloom. The meeting was adjourned for fifteen minutes for matters to be raised, if any, by the public. A report was tabled by the editor of Syston Town News concerning the changes and charges to the Town Square Car Park which was brought to her attention by one of her readers. The two important changes were as follows:
Page 2 of 10 A camera had now been installed near the paying machines New machines requiring car registration numbers to be input had been installed and complaints of poor visibility of the keypad had also been voiced Failure to comply with the parking fees would result in a 70 fine The Town Square shopping Centre and the car park are both privately owned. There were no conditions placed on the original planning application for the car park. ACTION: Town Manager to write to Euro Car Parks requesting a short stay car parking levy and for a more visual key pad 576/16 POLICE REPORT FOR JANUARY 2016 This report was prioritised at the meeting to allow the Police representative to return to duty. PCSO Brian Geeson presented the Police Report for January: A recent success story was the local community giving snippets of information to the Police which resulted in an arrest and subsequent charge for growing Class A Cannabis in a house on East Avenue. The Police report (below) had been circulated with the agendas: Council noted the following police report: The Crime report summary consisted of reported crimes and incidents of anti-social behaviour during the aforementioned dates. All of the information within the summary report was suitable to be in the public domain and conformed to the victim s wishes and would not compromise any ongoing investigations. Category of reported crime Number reported Crime prevention messages Dates: 1 January to 31 January 2016 Burglary dwelling 7 Oxford St, College Rd, Fosse Way, Wilkes Way, Melton Rd, Barkby Rd, Belvoir Dr. Most of these were smashed windows or door windows, one was an insecure rear window. Please install burglar alarms and window alarms and window alarms. Ensure windows are closed and locked. Burglary other than in a dwelling 4 Melton Rd x 2 shop window smashed, shop store room forced. Wren Cl shed lock forced. Parkstone Rd school
Page 3 of 10 window removed. Install window alarms and shed alarms. Damage in public places 2 Melton Rd shop window damaged, CCTV checked but to unclear to make an ID. St Peters & St Pauls church had its roof lead damaged and stolen. Theft from retail premises 2 One of these was a charity box. The other groceries female suspect ID d and charged. Theft of motor vehicle 0 Theft from motor vehicle 9 Wolsey Way x 2, Partridge Cl, Mallard Dr x 2, Swallow Dr, Martin Dr, St Columbia Way, Barkby Rd. Again most of these vehicles were left insecure, one was a van door forced. The thefts from motor vehicle on the Birds estate occurred between 03.30-04.00am. CCTV footage shows two males going along cars trying the door handles and getting lucky. The footage is too dark and not good enough to provide an identification. One of these males was on a pushbike. Please ensure you have locked your vehicle properly, try the handle don t just rely on the fob. Do not leave valuables inside or tools in vans. Please be vigilant for anyone acting suspiciously and call 101 immediately. March beat surgery is on Saturday 26 th, 1600 hours at Tesco, Syston. A selection of crime prevention gadgets will be on sale. The local beat team are holding the following events at Costco, Westmoreland Avenue, Thurmaston. Tuesday 5 April 12.00-15.00 fitting tamper proof screws to number plates. Wednesday 6 April 17.00-19.00 tool marking. A new NHW scheme has now been set up covering Mowbray Drive and Belvoir Drive. Speed Checks further checks have been conducted on Glebe Way and within a 40 minute time frame 10 drivers were advised and three tickets issued for speeds of 47, 50 and 52. This clearly shows the need for a 30 minute reminder sign. ASB for the month of January reports for ASB were: Youths causing problems at a local club resulting in entry being refused ringleader spoken to. Youths throwing snow balls at a house on Broad Street, caller asked for them to stop and they did. Good News
Page 4 of 10 Some of you have seen an article in the Leicester Mercury regarding an Alaskan Malamute dog which was causing issues on the Empingham Drive estate. The dog kept getting out of its home and attacked other dogs. It s owner was served a community protection notice, but its measures were not followed and the dog got out again. Charnwood Borough Council seized the dog last October and it was placed in kennels. After a lot of chasing there are now double yellow lines on Vicarage Close and the gap in the zig zags outside St Peter & St Paul s school has been filled in, making it a little safer for the children. A male from syston has recently been charged with theft from stores and bailed to court. A local male has been given a conditional caution for possession of Class A Cocaine. 577/16 ANNOUNCEMENTS AND COMMUNICATIONS Cllr R Jones had regretfully resigned from her Councillor role with Syston Town Council (STC), for health related reasons. She expressed her thanks to Councillors for their support and and to the Syston residents that had re-elected her. She wished STC every success in achieving their goals in the future. Cllr M Carnall had expressed his disappointment at the plaque commending personnel form Syston Fire Service that had been installed by the fire sign in Park Square. Cllr H Midgley had written to the Town Manager stated that Syston in Bloom members were in agreement to receive training on the use of Syston Town Council equipment if they wished to use it. He had asked for a letter from the Town Manager to confirm this position. The Town Manager requested consent from the Council to write on their behalf confirming this interpretation to be correct. It was proposed by Cllr T Barkley and Resolved that the Town Manager write to Syston in Bloom to confirm the position. Charnwood Borough Council (CBC) had issued a guidance document in the use of Social Media by Councillors. The Town Manager had emailed the document to all Councillors and a paper copy was tabled for the inclusion in the Councillor s handbook. 578/16 TO RECEIVE COUNTY/BOROUGH COUNCILLORS REPORTS Cllr S Hampson The CBC budget would be finalised in February with the boost of an 6.6m extra from Government. The main body of the budget would focus on health care for the elderly.
Page 5 of 10 Cllr E Vardy CBC had recently won a case against a request for a judicial review by a developer on the Core Strategy; costs relating to the case had been awarded to CBC. An appeal period of seven days was in process. A planning application for the Broadnook Development at Birstall would soon be submitted. Cllr Vardy and Cllr Barkley were working with planners and the Melton River Conservation Society to look into developing the Sanatorium in Meadow Lane, Syston to convert it to an outdoor pursuit centre. This would hugely benefit young people in the town and surrounding area as well as having strong economic benefits. Cllr T Barkley Boost for Broadband in Charnwood More than 10,000 homes and businesses across the Borough were now able to benefit from high-speed fibre broadband. Parts of the following areas have recently gone live: Syston, Birstall, Loughborough, Newtown Linford, Sileby, Burton on the Wolds, Woodhouse Eaves and Woodhouse. Environmental Crime CBC s award winning Don t Muck Around enviro-crime campaign was coming soon, focussing on fly tipping, general litter, dog fouling, chewing gum and cigarette litter. Cash on offer to help with healthy schemes. The staying healthy community grants were funded by the NHS for Leicestershire and Rutland for organisations delivering projects to improve the health and wellbeing of residents. One off spending such as new equipment, running costs of conferences, promotional campaigns, events and small projects up to a maximum of 2K per organisation. Community Grants Community Grants from 50 to 20K were available, supporting the improvement of community buildings, sport, leisure and youth groups. Application deadlines were in June and July. Stay warm and healthy Grants of up to 4K were available for new heating systems, boilers and insulation measures. Available to people with long term health conditions, living in a cold home. Empty Homes
Page 6 of 10 CBC were interested in making any necessary home improvements to empty properties that could be rented to tenants. CBC were offering grants up to 15K to make a property habitable and safe. Council Tax CBC was proposing a rise in council tax of 4.47 per year for a band D property. It would be the first increase in the local element of council tax for six years and would see the annual charge for an average Band D property rise to 107.09. The Budget for 2016/17 included proposals to: Invest 200K on improvements to car parks around the Borough, 164k on various improvements to the borough s parks and open spaces and 131.5k on more environmentally friendly and efficient heating and lighting in Council buildings. Cllr K Pacey Licencing reviews were increasing in number and Cllr Pacey was working on two scrutiny panels. He was also involved in the empty homes scheme. Borough Councillors had received training recently on the identification of people going abroad to become terrorists. 579/16 CO-OPTION OF A NEW COUNCILLOR John Lucas was the only applicant for the position of Co-Opted Councillor and his letter of application was read out by the Town Manager. It was proposed by Cllr S Gerrard and Resolved to accept John Lucas as a member of Syston Town Council and he was duly elected. All were in favour and he was welcomed back. 580/16 MINUTES OF FULL COUNCIL MEETING Minutes of the Full Council meeting on 26 January 2016 were proposed by Cllr K Pacey and Resolved to accept and signed as a true record. 581/16 MINUTES OF COMMITTEE MEETINGS Minutes of the meeting of Development & General Purposes Committee on 2 February 2016 were proposed by Cllr D Pepper and
Page 7 of 10 Resolved to accept and signed as a true record. Cllr Pepper made Councillors aware that the Town Manager would be requesting a copy of the safety audit(s) on behalf of STC (relating to the recent change to the road layout/mini roundabout. Minutes of the meeting of Amenities Committee on 9 February 2016 were proposed by Cllr J Midgley and Resolved to accept and signed as a true record with the correction of two typographical errors It was noted that Cllr J Midgley had not declared an interest to Syston in Bloom, when she had done so at previous meetings. It was agreed that she should continue to do so. Minutes of the meeting of Resources Committee on 16 February 2016 were proposed by Cllr T Barkley and Resolved to accept and signed as a true record. Cllr Vardy requested that Members made their comments regarding typographical errors in the minutes, before the meeting to avoid wasting Councillors and Officers time at meetings. 582/16 STANDING ORDERS REVIEW The Town Manager detailed the recommended changes to the Standing Orders on each page; new additions and deletions were read out by the Town Manager and looked at in close detail. The Town Manager announced that all mandatory items by law were in bold type. Action Town Manager: The Standing Orders would be implemented on 1 March 2016 and a contents page would be produced once all the amendments have been carried out. It was proposed by Cllr T Barkley and Resolved to accept the Standing Orders as amended. The motion was carried. Cllr S Gerrard abstained. The Chairman and Vice Chairman thanked the Panel and the Town Manager for the work put into reviewing the Standing Orders. It was proposed by Cllr K Pacey and Resolved to review the Standing Orders annually at the first Full Council meeting following the annual AGM meeting. It was proposed by Cllr K Pacey and
Page 8 of 10 Resolved for all Councillors who wish to be considered for membership to any committees, (the filling of vacancies only); to inform the Town Manager for agreement at the next Full Council meeting. Action Town Manager: March Full Council to update membership to committees. 583/16 PAINTING OF BROOKSIDE- COLOURS Councillors had requested the opportunity to consider the colour scheme for the painting of the Brookside Suite. Officers had recommended keep the colour theme of neutral creams and browns already in the office and reception area. It was suggested to use an endurance paint to enable cleaning. It was proposed by Cllr K Pacey and Resolved to allow Officers to choose the colour of paint for the Brookside but to keep in the neutral theme. 584/16 TOWN MANAGER S REPORT The Town Manager s report had been circulated with the agendas. As it had already been a lengthy meeting the Town Manager asked if there were any questions relating to her report. Cllr J Midgley queried why she and Cllr J Branston had not been invited to the Bowling Green Liaison Committee meeting when they were both members. The Town Manager explained that there had not been a meeting of the Liaison Panel, but that the Legal Department from Leicestershire County Council had invited the Chairman, Cllr H Screaton, the Town Manager and Cllr Dave Houseman, to attend a meeting to consider the legalities of Village Green Law; the outcome of the meeting was planned to be reported to the Bowling Green Liaison Committee and all members of the Panel would be invited. Cllr P Turner declared his fundamental disagreement with the concept of the Civic Reception. The Chairman and Town Manager advised that it was held in order to recognise and thank volunteers and other hard working people in Syston for their efforts and free giving of their time in order to enhance the lives of others. Other Councillors supported this statement. 585/16 MEMBERS QUESTIONS RECEIVED TO THE CHAIRMAN There were no questions.
Page 9 of 10 Cllr S Gerrard advised that she had attended the LCAS presentation where Syston was awarded the Foundation Level, and believed that Syston could go straight for Gold Level by next year. The Chairman congratulated the staff of Syston Town Council for all their work towards this award. 586/16 ACTIONS FROM PREVIOUS MEETING Councillors noted and accepted the Actions Report. The Town Manger advised Council that all actions listed had been completed. Now that the training policy had been approved the Town Manager would be working on the Training Plan. Action: Town Manager to write up a Training Plan for approval at by the Resources Committee. 587/16 DATE OF NEXT MEETING Full Council 22 March 2016 It was moved by Cllr K Pacey and carried that the following item be moved into confidential and that: The public, including the press, be excluded from the meeting as publicity would be prejudicial to the public interest by reason of the confidential nature of the business about to be discussed.
Page 10 of 10 The meeting closed at 9.30 pm.