Diss Town Council s1

DISS TOWN COUNCIL

Minutes of the meeting of the Full Council held in the Council Chamber, Diss Corn Hall on Wednesday 18 th October 2006 at 7:15pm.

Present: Councillor B. Clark-Taylor (Town Mayor)

Councillors R. Kitchen J. Maskell S. Olander R. Oxley A. Palmer J. Talbot A. Thurston G. Walden T. Wenman

In attendance: Mrs. D. Sarson - Town Clerk J. Proudlove - South Norfolk Council District Councillor 2 members of the public 3 students from Diss High School

The Mayor opened the meeting by welcoming the young people from the Diss High School Council in attendance at the Council meeting by his invitation, Alex Dimminger, Jasmine Rivett and Alice Baillie, who is also the South Norfolk Youth Parliament representative. He also thanked David Cooper, who recently resigned from Council for personal reasons, for his contributions to Council and stated that the Council is very sad to lose his input and wished him well with his work and family commitments.

0351. TO CONSIDER APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Apologies for absence were received and accepted from Councillors Mrs J. Trippett-Jones, Henderson- Gray and County Councillor Mrs. J. Chamberlin. Councillor Walden apologised that he may be late to the meeting.

0352. DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS

Minute Councillor's Personal Prejudicial Reason No. Name 0356 a) J. Maskell  The Councillor is an employee whose employer is receiving payment under the Schedule of Sundry Creditors. 0364 A. Palmer ü The Councillors are members of South Norfolk Council B. Clark-Taylor 

0353. MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING The minutes of the Meeting of Full Council held in the Council Chamber on 20th September 2006 were agreed as a correct record, ADOPTED by Council and duly signed by the Town Mayor.

The Deputy Town Mayor, Councillor Oxley, assumed the Chair and suspended the meeting to hear reports from District Councillors, County Councillor, the Police and to receive comments from members of the public on items to be discussed on the agenda.

A member of the public spoke in regard to the Cittaslow committee asking if the Council was getting out of its’ depth having 21 members many of whom were not members of this Town Council. He also stated that car park income shared by South Norfolk should go towards town projects and asked if it was justified that much of recent years car park monies has gone to Cittaslow projects. Councillor Palmer explained the reasons for this in particular that the Cittaslow projects are town projects and South Norfolk Officers are supporting and working with the Cittaslow committee.

Full Council 18.10.06 Page 1 of 5 Councillor Walden entered the meeting. District Councillor J. Proudlove stated he had nothing specific to report. Councillors thanked him for his support on the Vince’s Road issue and he responded that the profile on this issue needs to be raised to the highest level.

District Councillor A. Palmer supported Cllr. Proudlove’s comments and stated that the planning application for Vince’s Road has been referred to South Norfolk’s Full Planning committee and the Town Council and District members intend to put forward a strong case for overturning Policy DIS1 in the Local Plan in order to allow Vince’s Road to be opened up to Frenze Hall Lane to ease congestion for the 300 homes and 50+ businesses and the town in general. He also stated that he had attended the official launch of the Woodland Planting Scheme by the Rotary Club at the Diss Junior School the previous evening and that he was supporting the fight to save All Hallows Hospital and had attended many meetings in regard to this. He attended a briefing for District Councillors by the Head of Finance, Andy Radford, who outlined the way in which the budget is put together. Mr Radford stated that bigger projects are funded by capital loans. Cllr Palmer established from Mr Radford that the District Council could loan funds for capital projects to the Town Council at favourable rates. On inviting questions from members, Councillor Thurston raised his concerns about the shortage of industrial sites in the town and the loss of some sites in recent years for housing development, stating that future planning applications for housing development on industrial sites must be carefully considered.

District Councillor Clark-Taylor stated that he had attended the Medical Centre’s Open Evening where the plans for the development of the Centre were on display to the public and the Doctors from the surgery were available to answer questions. He felt that this development was essential for the town and goes some way toward addressing the infrastructure issues of the town. He also attended the Fledglings After School Club as part of his ‘young people and the community’ theme for his Mayoral year.

A report from County Councillor Mrs J. Chamberlin was tabled at the meeting outlining progress in regard to issues raised. See attached report.

Suffolk County Councillor Charles Michell joined the meeting.

The Town Mayor resumed the Chair and welcomed Cllr Michell to the meeting and advised members that he would bring forward the agenda item 0364. Donation of Diss Town Coin as Cllr Michell had another function to attend.

0364. DONATION OF DISS TOWN COIN Councillor Michell thanked Cllr Clark-Taylor for the invitation to attend the meeting to officially present the Coin to the Council. He stated that the coin was a token to the value of one shilling minted in 1811 by a local auction house, which was common at that time because there was a shortage of government-minted coins and they could be exchanged for goods in the local shops. He purchased it many years ago at auction and it had been his intention to wait until 2011 to present the coin to the town, however because Cllr Clark-Taylor was well known to him he wished to hand it over to the Council during his Mayoral year. Councillor Clark-Taylor thanked Councillor Michell for his donation of the coin to the town. It was

RESOLVED: that the coin would be officially handed over to the Diss Museum.

0354. REPORTS OF COMMITTEES a) Councillor Wenman invited questions from Councillors with regard to the minutes of the Planning Committee meetings held on 20th September and 4th October 2006, (copies of the minutes with the Agenda and coloured blue). There were none. b) Councillor Oxley invited questions from Councillors with regard to the minutes of the Properties Committee held on 4th October 2006 (copy of the minutes herewith and coloured gold). Cllr Palmer commented that the redecoration of the Assembly Hall is superb. c) Councillor Palmer invited questions from Councillors in regard to the minutes of the Highways committee meetings held on 26th July and 27th September 2006. A number of issues were raised including the need for more yellow lines in Vinces’ Road, the confusion for motorists at the new Morrison’s roundabout with signs being inadequate, inaccurate and misleading although it was noted that traffic flow is generally much better on Victoria Road since the roundabout has been instated. Councillors felt the comments in the local press by Norfolk County Council to ‘bear with us’ in regard to the plight of traders in Mavery House whose businesses have been severely affected by the works to the roundabout were not helpful. The Mayor stated that he had met with the traders and it was intended to re-launch the businesses once the work was complete next month and he would support them. These issues are to be raised on the next agenda of the Highways committee. d) In regard to the minutes of the Cittaslow Committee held on 5th October 2006 (copy with the agenda and coloured peach), Councillor Palmer stated that a survey was held at the Farmer’s

Full Council 18.10.06 Page 2 of 5 Market on Saturday to gain a measure of the current level of Cittaslow awareness in the town prior to any of the projects from LEADER+ funding being implemented to determine how much the profile of Cittalsow has been raised by the projects at the end. e) Councillor Clark-Taylor invited questions from Councillors with regard to the minutes of the Highways and Planning Committee meeting held on 11th October 2006. Cllr Palmer stated that it should be acknowledged that it was Cllr Olander who made the inspired suggestion to swap the Park Road car park and the bus station. It was noted that a letter had now been received from Richard Cooper, Senior Planning Officer at South Norfolk Council answering some of the questions raised at the meeting. This issue is to be raised on the next agenda of the Highways committee.

0355. FINANCE a) PAYMENT OF SUNDRY CREDITORS’ ACCOUNTS Members considered a summary of accounts (a copy having been distributed to all members of the Council). It was therefore

RESOLVED: that the Sundry Creditors’ accounts amounting to £34,821.79 and Wages and Petty Cash payments of £10,110.23 accrued since the last meeting of the Council, be approved for payment. b) SUMMARY OF RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS Councillors noted the summary of receipts and payments to the end of September 2006 (copy with the Agenda). c) APPLICATIONS FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE Councillors considered Report reference 70/0607 with regard to the above and it was

RESOLVED: a) to grant the sum of £100 to the Norfolk Accident Rescue Service as permitted under section 137 of the Local Government Act 1972 b) not to grant monies to the Norfolk Autistic Society as there was no evidence provided that it would benefit the people of Diss as required under the Council’s regulations for grant funding and under the legislation noted above.

0356. CORRESPONDENCE Councillors received and noted the following correspondence.

 E-mail from South Norfolk Council advising that 10-year battery smoke detectors were being made available free of charge, and could be fitted free by Fire Officer. The Fire Service needed help to identify local residents who would benefit from this service.

 Institute of Cemetery & Crematorium Management – Notice of annual General Meeting 16 th October 2006, Annual Report and notice of Annual Conference.

 Campaign to Protect Rural England – Issue No 8 September 2006. A big decision is about to be made on how the East of England will develop. Have your say today.

 NALC Direct Information Service – Issue No’s 640 & 641.

 NCAPTC Annual Report.

 NCAPTC AGM Saturday 4th November 2006 at County Hall, Norwich 9am to 1pm. Any Councillor wishing to attend please advise the Clerk.

 Norfolk County Council – Temporary Traffic Order – Temporary closure of part of Mere Street expected to be 2 Sundays within the period 22nd October to 12th November 2006, for resurfacing works. (Copy attached).

Councillor Palmer noted that this Council usually sends at least two members to the Norfolk County Association of Parish and Town Council’s (NCAPTC) AGM and it was therefore

RESOLVED: That Councillors Clark-Taylor, Palmer and Talbot would attend the NCAPTC AGM as representatives of Diss Town Council.

Full Council 18.10.06 Page 3 of 5 0357. TOWN CLERK’S REPORT Councillors considered the Town Clerk’s report reference 71/0607. The Clerk asked Councillors to give consideration to the suggestion to offer the retiring room as office space for the Cittaslow Co-ordinator and Finance Officer. Councillors felt that it would not be a feasible option and it was therefore

RESOLVED: not to offer the retiring room as office space for the Cittaslow Co-ordinator and Finance Officer but instead to investigate other possible space that could be made available.

0358. COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP Councillors noted that no election had been called and Council will therefore co-opt a new member at the next meeting of Full Council. The vacancy is to be advertised.

0359. DISS HIGH SCHOOL REPRESENTATIVES Two representatives from Diss High School Council spoke about the role of the School Council, which facilitates two-way communication between students and staff which the students have found to be very useful and productive. It has a small budget which students can spend on items which improve their enjoyment of facilities including more rubbish bins and seats around the school amongst other items. It also introduces students to democracy. Changes in the future will include the chairing of School Council meetings by students rather than staff and a website to facilitate communication with the Council for all students.

Alice Baillie, the South Norfolk Youth Parliament representative presented a lively and interesting speech on the role of the Youth Parliament which was introduced in 1999 to give a voice to young people in the 11- 18 age group, what is involved for her and the issues that she is particularly interested in including the image of young people in the media and transport issues, amongst others. She also spoke on her views in regard to the future possibility of a Youth Town Council. She said that several issues would need to be explored such as who would fund it and run it, how it would be organised, would members be elected, what would be the length of term of office, what ages would be involved, and what would it achieve. She stated that it could be worthwhile and beneficial if young people were interested in getting involved and recommended that informal discussions should be held with young people to discuss the possibility.

The Mayor thanked Miss Baillie and the School Council representatives for enlightening the Council, stated his commitment to introducing a Youth Council but indicated that this was unlikely to happen during his term in office. He offered the use of the Council Chamber for a School Council meeting.

0360. MID SUFFOLK DISTRICT COUNCIL LOCAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK CONSULTATION Councillors considered the consultation document. There were no comments.

0361. SAFER NEIGHBOURHOODS The Safer Neighbourhoods Public Meeting to be held on Wednesday 1st November at 7.30pm at the Park Hotel was to have been attended by Councillor Oxley who advised that he would not now be available. It was

RESOLVED: that Councillor Wenman would represent Diss Town Council at the Safer Neighbourhoods Public Meeting.

0362. CITTASLOW COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP Cllr Palmer advised that at least four Councillors needed to be members of the Cittàslow committee and that the meeting was now to be held on Wednesday evenings in line with other committees of the Town Council. The next meeting is to be held on 22nd November 2006 and it was

RESOLVED: that Councillors Palmer, Olander, Kitchen and Clark-Taylor were delegated to be the Town Council members of the Cittàslow committee.

Councillor Palmer stated that all members of the Council and public are welcome to attend the meetings of the Cittàslow committee and that under the adopted Terms of Reference, it was the policy of this committee that members must nominate substitutes to attend in the event they were unable to. This is particularly useful when committees struggle to be quorate and it was felt that this would be useful for the rest of the Council committees and it was

RESOLVED: to review Standing Orders at the next meeting of Full Council.

Full Council 18.10.06 Page 4 of 5 0363. CAR PARK MANAGEMENT In regard to report reference 72/0607, Councillor Oxley proposed that this item be deferred until further information was available. Councillor Palmer seconded stating that the issues raised in the report should be discussed with the Councillors with delegated responsibility for negotiating the take-over of Car Park Management first and the report should be sent back. It was

RESOLVED: That the item be deferred for further discussion and until further information is available.

0365. ITEMS OF URGENT BUSINESS. The Clerk informed the Council that a letter just to hand had been received from the Christmas Lights Committee (Councillor Talbot declared an interest as Chair of the Committee) formally requesting permission to hold the switch-on event for the Christmas Lights on Saturday 2 nd December 2006. It was unanimously

RESOLVED: that the request by the Christmas Lights Switch On event in the Market Place be granted.

PUBLIC BODIES (ADMISSION TO MEETINGS) ACT 1960

Pursuant to section 1 (2) of the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960, that because of the confidential nature of the business to be transacted, the public and press leave the room for the remainder of the meeting.

Meeting Closed: 9.07pm Councillor B. Clark-Taylor TOWN MAYOR

The next meeting of Full Council will be held on Wednesday 15th November 2006.

Full Council 18.10.06 Page 5 of 5