MINUTES of the Meeting of Wivenhoe Town Council Held in the Council Chamber on Monday 15 s1

MINUTES of the Meeting of Wivenhoe Town Council held in the Council Chamber on Monday 17th June 2013. ______

Present: The Town Mayor, Cllr. A. Vaughan (Chairman), Cllrs: A. Aldis, I. Endean, K. Hall, D. Henley, N. Lodge, P. Kraft, R. Needham, K. Read, F. Richards, N. Tile and A. Stinson. Borough Cllrs. S. Ford and C.Liddy, Mrs. A. Stinson (Town Clerk) Gary Cockett of the Environment Agency

Prior to the start of the meeting members welcomed Mr. Gary Cockett of the Environment Agency who had attended to give a presentation on the operation of the Colne Barrier and how tides and weather affected the closure of it. The barrier was built in 1993 at a cost of 12ml. It protects approx 1600 properties. A recent overhaul was carried out at a cost of 3ml. Mr. Cockett emphasized the fact that the Environment Agency is only responsible for water when it is in the river. Surface water flooding and sewage is the responsibility of authorities such as Anglian Water and the local authority. Members thanked Mr. Cockett for a very interesting presentation.

An open day at the Colne Barrier would be held later in the year.

Prior to commencement of business safety announcements were given

1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE. Apologies for absence were received from County Cllr. J. Young, Cllr. B. Sinclair and Peter Kay.

2. MINUTES. RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Town Council held on 20 May 2013 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

3. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES. None.

4. POINTS RAISED BY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC. None.

5. REPORTS FROM MEMBERS OF THE COUNTY AND BOROUGH COUNCILS. a) Essex County Council: Cllr. Young had sent a written report which was circulated. Items of note: Cllr. Young had been pursuing the incident of jet skiers on the River Colne and was looking into the matter; Plans for the cycle path would be circulated soon and more savings have to be made at County level which could leave some public services very short of funds. Realignment of the bollards on Anchor Hill had been carried out. b) Borough Council: Cllr. Ford reported that there had been new rules on planning concerning householder changes, whereby some rear extensions would only need consultation with immediate neighbours. Change of use laws had also been loosened. Concerning the matter of jet skis on the River Colne Cllr. Ford would take this up with Colchester Borough Council to find out where the responsibility lies now.

Members also raised with Borough Cllrs their concerns on the proposal to build 5 ‘affordable’ houses on land currently in use as garages in Rosabelle Avenue. No details had been received yet apart from a letter from CBC Housing. Members were very concerned about this whole issue and suggested that a public meeting be held at which

1 housing officers would be invited to attend. Town Clerk to contact CBC housing to arrange this.

Members noted that Cllrs. Manning and Cory had sent no apologies or reports.

Cllr. Liddy circulated to all a synopsis of the Quay Ward Locality Grant spend to date. c) Public Transport Representative. No report.

6. COMMITTEE REPORTS. 6.1 Planning a) Minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on Tuesday 4th June 2013 were received and noted. Cllr. Lodge reported that CALC had received many complaints from small councils that the on-line planning consultation was proving problematic, especially for small councils without sufficient IT equipment. This was being taken up with CBC. b) Cooks’ Shipyard Working Group: Cook’s Development Parking Strategy: The proposal for the Parking Strategy for the new car park within the Cook’s development had been approved by Ward Cllrs and now required confirmation from the Town Council on acceptance of the document.

Cllr. Read PROPOSED therefore that the Parking Strategy be accepted provided that the existing High Street car park is not included within the pricing structure. This was seconded and unanimously agreed.

RESOLVED that the Parking Strategy for the “Cook’s Development” Wivenhoe Car Park be accepted and that confirmation is sought from CBC that the existing High Street car park is not affected.

Dinghy Park spaces: Cllr. Read reported that of the 34 interested parties a draw had been held for the 14 spaces and that to date only 2 spaces had been taken up. There was some confusion that the dinghy spaces were linked to a dinghy launch area and it was confirmed that it was just a ‘dinghy park’ and not a ‘launch’ area.

Wet Dock Moorings: Town Clerk reported that two fishermen were outstanding in their mooring fees and a reminder would be sent this month.

Fisherman’s Store: Cllr. Read reported that Cllr. Sinclair was in negotiation with a fisherman concerning this. Cllr. Read also reported that the canoe rack was with the manufacturer and that currently there was space within the wet dock for a mooring of a 50ft vessel. c) Health Centre: Cllr. Lodge updated members on the piece of land opposite Millfields School, under the ownership of Elmstead Parish Council, which could possibly be large enough for the build.

6.2 Personnel Committee. The date of the next meeting would be on 26 June. Cllr. Read offered to take the meeting as the Town Clerk would be going into hospital the next day for an operation and would be recovering for approximately two weeks.

2 6.3 Finance and Administration Committee. a) Minutes of the meeting of the Finance Committee held on 30 May 2013 were received and noted.

6.4 Estates Committee. a) Minutes of the meeting of the Estates Committee held on 3 June 2013 were received and noted. b) Goalposts: Cllr. Richards gave a report on the need for the replacement of the old goalposts on the King George V Playing Field, following an incident involving injury to one of the groundsmen when moving the goals. Research into moveable goalposts had been carried out and an inspection of the facilities at Wivenhoe Town FC had also been carried out. Cllr. Richards advised the meeting that there was sufficient funds in the Estate’s budget to cover the cost of replacement. AGREED that moveable goalposts be purchased and that investigation into S106 funding towards this cost also be looked into. c) Containers in yard: A date would be obtained from Sibbons for moving one of the old containers in the Council yard.

7. WORKING PARTY REPORTS.

7.1 William Loveless Hall Working Party a) Notes of the meeting held on 29 May 2013 were circulated.

7.2 Wivenhoe Wood Working Party: Nothing to report.

7.3. Minibus Working Group: Nothing to report.

7.4 Youth Facilities Working Party. Cllr. Richards reported that a meeting had been held with Fay Mathers, Community Initiatives officer to discuss the future of the Philip Road centre.

7.5 Community Opportunities Group. Cllr. Needham reported that the group was in suspension at the moment.

7.6 Diamond Jubilee Gardens Working Group. Cllr. Vaughan reported a quote had been received which needed to be revisited. Bat boxes would soon be put up in the wildlife area.

7.7 Pavilion, Offices, Yard and Police Houses Working Group. Cllr. Needham reported that still no progress had been made on the lease for the Pavilion which had now taken over 2 years. Members agreed that all avenues had been exhausted now and the Town Council’s solicitor would be instructed to investigate termination of the lease negotiations, as it was considered that the facility could be better used by the community for events on the KGV field, especially now that funding had been received for improving the fabric of the building.

Cllr. Needham also reported that the frontages of 81/83 High Street had been mowed to form unity with the frontages of the Town Council offices and the William Loveless Hall. Discussions on the fire alarm system for the Council Office building has also prompted the group to investigate possibilities of acquiring the site, as per 1974, when the building was in the ownership of the UDC. A full report would be circulated when the group had

3 completed their enquiries.

7.8 Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group. a) Minutes of the meeting held on 5 June were received and noted. Members noted that an Open Day was being held on Saturday 6 July at the William Loveless Hall between 10am – 4.00pm. This was advertised on the Town Council’s web site. b) Date of the next meeting would be on 3 July 2013.

7.9 Members' Individual Proposals or Reports: a) Mayoral Activities: Cllr. Vaughan reported on attendances at the Mayor-Making Ceremony at Colchester Town Hall on 22 May; Stuart Pawsey tea on 5 June; Colchester Civic Service on 16 June (attended by Deputy Mayor, Cllr. Kevin Read); Chelmsford Cathedral for Evensong on 16 June. Total of 4 engagements. b) Wivenhoe Community Safety and Neighbourhood Watch report: Noted that the date of the next meeting would be on 27 June at 7.30pm in the Council Chamber. c) Highways Panel: Cllr. Lodge reported that the Highways Panel had 1m for improving roads within the area.

8. TOWN CLERK'S REPORT. 8.1 Burial Grants and approval of memorials. The Town Clerk reported that no Burial Grants had been issued and no memorials had been approved since the last meeting. Two interments of ashes had taken place.

8.2 NALC/EALC Communications. May and June DIS had been circulated electronically and Making the Links communications were being circulated electronically when received.

8.3 Work Management. a) The Town Clerk reported that grass cutting was continuing in all areas. The goalposts on the KGV had been moved and the Sunday football players had expressed their thanks for this. Work on the Jubilee Gardens was progressing and refurbishment of the toilet for the disabled was now finished. The number of visitors to the Council Offices for the month of May totalled 202.

9. FINANCE. 9.1 Current Financial Report a) The May spending and income report was received and noted.

9.2 List of cheques numbered 503947 -503965 drawn since the last Town Council Meeting was approved and signed. 9.3 List of Payments made from the Imprest Account since the last Town Council Meeting was approved.

9.4 Motions Under Standing Orders Recommending Expenditure. a) AGREED to purchase moveable goal posts for KGV Field – approx cost £3,500

9.5 Appeals for Financial Support. a) Wivenhoe Farmers Market – a request for a contribution towards the cost of a leaflet was considered. AGREED to a contribution of £50 towards the leaflet cost.

4 10.1 Correspondence. None.

10.2 Conferences/Seminars. None.

10.3 Notices.

Reminder for the Town Council’s Annual Cricket Match on Wednesday 17 July at 6.00pm – all welcome.

10.4 Licences. None.

10.5 Highway Matters.

10.6 Press Releases.

Public Consultation on the Wivenhoe Neighbourhood Plan Saturday 6 July at the William Loveless Hall 10am – 4.00pm.

The meeting closed at 9.30pm

CHAIRMAN