Crewkerne Town Council s4

CREWKERNE TOWN COUNCIL

Minutes of a meeting of the POLICY AND RESOURCES COMMITTEE held in the Council Chamber on Monday, 12th December 2011 at 7.45p.m.

PRESENT :

Cllrs. M. Best (Chairman), Mrs. Allman, Ms. J. Dawson, Miss. Hennessy, Mrs. R. Jackson, R. Pailthorpe, Mrs. A. Singleton, Mrs. A. Stuart, N. Sturtivant and Mrs. S. White.

In Attendance: Mrs. J. Warner, Town Clerk, Mrs. A. Hooper, Finance Officer, Cty. Cllr. J. Dyke and 7 member of the public and 1 member of press.

25 TO NOTE APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE 11/12 Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs. Bond (personal) and Mrs. Bond (personal).

26 OPEN FORUM 11/12 Ms P. Dawson (Treasurer of the Crewkerne Allotment Association (CAA)) reported that members of their Association had been removed from the Council waiting list, some without agreement, after receipt of the C.A.A.£500 grant towards the new fencing. However even though the group had taken over the land at Lyewater it was only for a five year period and having a plot on this site did not remove the Council’s obligation to provide allotments.

Mr Traves enquired about allocation of the allotments at the Lyewater site. He also said that the present Town Council website was not user friendly.

27 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST 11/12 Cllr. Sturtivant declared a personal interest item - 9a 2012/13 Budget Calculations (Vice- president of CUDOS).

Cllr. Mrs. Stuart declared a personal interest item 10 – Allotment Policy and Conditions Review (rents a private allotment in the town).

Cllr. Ms. J. Dawson declared a personal and prejudicial interest item 10 – Allotment Policy and Conditions Review (sister is Treasurer of the Crewkerne Allotment Association).

Cllr. Mrs. White declared a personal interest item 9a – 2012/13 Budget Calculations (patron of CUDOS).

28 MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING 11/12 It was AGREED that the Minutes of the meeting of the Policy and Resources Committee held on 10th October 2011 be APPROVED.

29 TO RECEIVE THE CLERK’S VERBAL PROGRESS REPORT 11/12 The Clerk referred to Minute 19 - Review of Taxi Licensing, and reported that all parties had been notified of the withdrawal of the delegated function.

PR 1 30 THE TOWN COUNCIL WEBSITE 11/12 To review the site and consider whether it meets the needs of the Council

(Min.156 TC refers)

After discussion it was AGREED go ‘live’ with the new Town Council website, to input photographs, and to ensure that various links including to the Local Information Centre would be set up.

Cllr. Pailthorpe volunteered to help input data onto the new website.

31 LONG STAY CAR PARK IN THE TOWN CENTRE 11/12 To consider how progress can be made on the provision of a new car park and examine the council’s role in partnership with SSDC in addressing the future parking needs of the town

The contents of the report were noted.

After discussion it was AGREED to consult with the community about the problem whether to retain the temporary car park on Henhayes or not, and as a first step put an article in the next Council Newsletter asking the residents and local business their views on the future parking needs of the town.

32 CREWKERNE PUBLIC TOILETS FALKLAND SQUARE – PROPOSED 11/12 TRANSFER OF CARE AND OPERATION FROM SSDC To consider a report on the outline proposals to transfer responsibility to the Town Council

The report by the Clerk was noted.

It was AGREED the Clerk would contact Lawrence Willis, SSDC Assistant Director (Environment) to advise that the Council would like to continue dialogue on the proposed transfer from SSDC.

33 2012/13 BUDGET CALCULATIONS 11/12 Further consideration a) Review of the grant application awards for 2012. To receive further information

After considering additional information regarding grant applications for the Henhayes Centre, Filmcrew, South Somerset Citizens Advice Bureau and the Speedwell Club, it was AGREED to approve the decisions on the following community grants:

Henhayes Centre - £1500 Heritage Centre - £1500 West One - £10,250 ABCD - £580 Local Information Centre - £144 CUDOS - £500 Citizens Advice Bureau - £2,000 (with the continuation of the service in Crewkerne and suggest additional time might be allocated) Town Crier Honorarium - £300 Twinning Association - £150

PR 2 Speedwell Club -Unsuccessful at the current time due to lack of estimates and planning and design information Filmcrew – Unsuccessful, because a hearing loop at Wadham School should be the responsibility of the County Council and the School b) Additional information regarding the draft budget, for recommendation to the Full council in January 2012

After receipt of financial information from the Finance Officer it was AGREED to approve the draft precept for ratification by the full Council on the 23rd January, it was also AGREED to put aside a sum for any future developments on the Council website. c) To review the composition of the precept breakdown for a direct comparison against other local councils

It was AGREED not to change the breakdown of the Town Council’s precept.

34 ALLOTMENT POLICY AND CONDITIONS REVIEW 11/12 To review the policy and conditions following recent communications from Lyewater Allotments organiser. To consider a report

Cllr. Ms Dawson left the room at 8.55pm

The report by the Clerk was noted. It was acknowledged that several potential allotment sites in the past few years had eventually come to nothing primarily because of highway issues. The Committee restated that the condition of the £500 grant award was to help enable residents come off the Council’s waiting list, several members of the C.A.A. had subsequently been happy to do so. There was currently a very long waiting list and it was previously deemed only fair that if someone now had an allotment their desires had been achieved thus leaving only those without a plot at all.

After considerable discussion Councillors instructed the Clerk that the C.A.A. members who wish to be re-instated be put back onto the Council waiting list, and for her draw up an application form to be completed by applicants for the allotment waiting list, which would ask whether they hold an existing allotment, and for this to be prepared for the next Amenities Committee meeting on the 9th January 2012.

Cllr. Ms. Dawson returned at 9.16pm

35 HEALTH AND SAFETY 11/12 To consider a report from the Health and Safety Officer

The report prepared by the Property and Projects Officer was noted.

36 TASK GROUP TO REVIEW THE COUNCIL’S FINANCIAL CONTROLS 11/12 A few councillors needed to conduct the annual review, for audit purposes, of the effectiveness of measures to prevent and detect fraud

Cllrs. Ms. Dawson and Miss Hennessy agreed to conduct the annual review, for audit purposes, and the findings of which would be brought to the next meeting on 13th February 2012.

PR 3 37 TO RECEIVE MATTERS OF REPORT 11/12 None

38 DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING 11/12 Monday 13th February 2012 after the Planning and Highways meeting in the Council Chambers

The meeting closed at 9.21pm.

Signed………………………………

Dated……………………………….

jl/policy/pr121211

PR 4 PR 5