Council Agends & Reports 20 January 2014
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Chesham Town Council Bill Richards Town Clerk Tel: 01494 774842 Fax: 01494 582908 www.chesham.gov.uk Email: [email protected] 10th January 2014 Dear Councillor, You are SUMMONED to attend a meeting of the CHESHAM TOWN COUNCIL to be held in the Council Chamber, The Town Hall, Chesham, on MONDAY 20th JANUARY 2014 AT 7.30pm. AGENDA 1. Apologies for absence. 2. To confirm Minutes of the Meeting of the Council held on 18th November 2013. 3. Declarations of Interest. 4. Public Question Time: A period of up to 15 minutes or less, as the case may be, will be allowed for members of the public present, who are electors or residents in the parish of Chesham, to ask questions primarily in respect of items on the agenda of this Town Council meeting but also in the interests of wider public discussion. 5. To receive the Mayoral engagements and any other announcements as the Town Mayor may wish to lay before the Council. 6. To receive and consider the Minutes of the under mentioned Committees. Recreation and the Arts of the 25th November 2013. Development Control of the 9th December 2013 & 6th January 2014. Policy & Resources of the 9th December 2013. 7. Revised Estimates 2013/14; Estimates 2014/15 and setting of Precept (to follow) . 8. Green Flag Award Entry for 2014. 9. Mayoral Awards. 10. Smoke Free Policy. 11. Buckinghamshire County Councillors feedback to Council. 12. Council’s position on HS2. 13. Late donations request. 14. To receive and consider Payments No: 4. 15. Information Item. 16. Exclusion of the Public and the Press. 17. Deed of Easement. Yours sincerely Bill Richards Town Clerk Circulation: To All Members of the Council Publication Date: 10th January 2014. Chesham Town Council, Town Hall, Chesham, Bucks HP5 1DS Twinned with Friedrichsdorf Germany; Houilles France; Archena Spain Chesham Town Council Bill Richards Town Clerk Tel: 01494 774842 Fax: 01494 582908 The Mayoral Engagements – 18th November - 20th January 2014. www.chesham.gov.uk Email: [email protected] November 2013 Monday 25th PPOP Xmas Party – Hiving’s Free Church. Flood Exhibition – Chesham Library. Friday 29th Interview with Digital Chesham. Fire Manager Farewell – Chartridge Golf Club. Draw tickets – Chesham Museum. Christmas in Chesham. Saturday 30th Open Truly Scrumptious. Brushwood Xmas Fayre – Brushwood School. Guides OAP Xmas Party – Hiving’s Free Church. RNA Dinner – White Hill Centre. December 2013 Monday 2nd Xmas Lunch – Blind Club – Emmanuel Church. Wednesday 4th Xmas Fayre – Chesham Skills & Enterprise Centre. Thursday 5th launch of Older Persons Register – Christ Church, Waterside. Newtown Baptist Church Christmas Lunch. Saturday 7th Newtown School Fayre. Diabetes Event – White Hill. Pantomime Charity Night – Elgiva. Sunday 8th Waterside Christmas Fayre. Our Lady’s School Xmas Fayre. Tuesday 10th Presentation to Pond Park Rangers – Hiving’s Church. Wednesday 11th Laying of bricks – Alfred Burt VC Close – Berkhampstead Road. Christmas Lunch – Trinity Baptist Church. Christmas Carols Bucks Fire Brigade – St Mary’s, Beaconsfield. Chesham Town Council, Town Hall, Chesham, Bucks HP5 1DS Twinned with Friedrichsdorf Germany; Houilles France; Archena Spain Chesham Town Council continued . Thursday 12th Presentation to PPR – Hiving’s Free Church. Chesham Society Drinks – Chesham Town Hall. Friday 13th Elmtree School Christmas Play. Saturday 14th Hartbeeps Xmas Party – Guide Hut. Parcel packing C & A Lions – Amersham Community Centre. Act as Father Christmas – Chesham Library. Sunday 15th Carol Singing – Sainsbury’s Chesham with Shed@thepark. Monday 16th Newtown School Xmas Play. Beaver Colony Xmas Party – Trinity Baptist Church. Tuesday 17th Christmas Draw for British Cardiomyopathy Org – Asheridge Rd. Best Xmas Decorations- 7 Benham Close. Seniors Prize Giving – Chesham Grammar School. Wednesday 18th Town Carol Service – St Mary’s. Thursday 19th Newtown Child Centre Christmas Party. Presentation Best Xmas Decorated House – Wallington House. Church View Carol Service – Town Hall. Friday 20th Photo Shoot – Sainsbury’s. Rotary Xmas Lunch – Chartridge Golf Club. Carol Singing – 57 Broadlands Avenue. Saturday 21st Christmas Party – The Croft, Amersham. Tuesday 24th Collection for Mayoral Charity – Elgiva Theatre. Wednesday 25th Xmas Day Lunch – Douglas McMinn Centre. Saturday 28th Draw raffle for Pednor Run – Café Nero. Sunday 29th Arctic One Pednor Run – 1879 Club. January 2013 Monday 6th Grand Opening – Herbal Life – Asheridge Road. Thursday 16th Launch W Herts Palliative Rehabilitation & Wellbeing Service – The Peace Hospice, Watford. - 2 - Report of the Officers to a meeting of the Council on Monday 20th January 2014 AGENDA ITEM NO: 8 - GREEN FLAG AWARD ENTRY FOR 2014 Reporting Officer: Kathryn Graves (01494 583798) Summary 1. To decide whether Lowndes Park should be entered for the Green Flag award for 2014. Background Information 2. The Council has applied for the Green Flag Award for Lowndes Park every year since 2007. The park failed to achieve the award in 2007 and 2009, but obtained the award in 2008 and 2010-13. The deadline for entries is the 31st January 2014. Financial Implications 3. The Green Flag application cost for 2013 was £299 (excluding VAT). Strategic Objectives 4. Achieving Green Flag status is in accordance with Strategic Objective 1, ‘To enable residents to enjoy high-quality social, recreational, and cultural facilities within the town and to seek the continuing improvement and development of these facilities in accordance with the desires expressed by the residents.’ Equality Act Implications 5. The Green Flag judging scheme takes into account how accessible green spaces are. Detailed Consideration 6. The park’s entry into the Green Flag scheme for 2013 was fraught with difficulty, through no fault of officers, Members, or the Friends of Lowndes Park. Despite having submitted the electronic application well within the deadline, and paying Keep Britain Tidy’s (the managing organisation) invoice for the entry fee, Lowndes Park was missed from the 2013 round of judging. Our entry appears to have been lost in their online system, although Keep Britain Tidy has never offered an explanation. Your officers were not aware of the problem until the Green Flag results were announced in July, as we had been told to expect ‘mystery shopper’ style judging for 2013. 7. After considerable protests from your officers to Keep Britain Tidy, Lowndes Park was finally judged in October 2013. Your officers were required to first spend time re-creating the original online submission, as Keep Britain Tidy had lost the data. Having heard nothing further from Keep Britain Tidy for several weeks after judging, the Town Clerk contacted the administrator and the judge concerned. Lowndes Park was finally awarded Green Flag status on the 9th December 2013, meaning Lowndes Park missed out on the press coverage accorded to Green Flag winners when the results were revealed in July. Lowndes Park is still not included as a Green Flag winner on the Green Flag web site and your officers have requested that this is rectified as soon as possible. 8. The judge’s feedback included many positive comments, commending the park’s safety, the large contribution made by the Friends of Lowndes Park and the clarity of the management plan (see attached). However, as the judge’s feedback was not received until the 9th December 2013, it has provided very little time for your officers to attempt to consider and incorporate the substantial feedback provided into the Parks and Premises team’s 2014 workload and the significant restructuring of the 2014 park management plan, which is still in production owing to the delay in feedback. 9. In light of the cost of the application, the significant amount of time required from officers and volunteers to make the application and undergo judging, and the poor value that the Green Flag scheme has offered in 2013, your officers strongly recommend that Lowndes Park is not entered into the Green Flag Award scheme for 2014. This is particularly in light of the fact that it is likely that the park would be judged as little as seven months after the last judging. 10. Officers, Members and Friends volunteers have had the benefit of seven years of feedback from Green Flag judges to help steer the management of the park. The positive feedback from the last four years of winning applications indicates that the park’s management is appropriate. Recommendation That Lowndes Park is not entered into the Green Flag Award for 2014. Green Flag Award Feedback Field assessment Comments Criteria Strengths Recommendations A Welcoming Place Good safe access from the main shopping Try to get district council to improve there area with pedestrian crossing into park. Sign maintenance of the roadside. just inside the gate Think longer term how you would get sign to stand out Healthy, Safe The park felt very safe ,and had good sight Some of the safety equipment needs to be and Secure lines checked, the ramp under the cable slide. The geese are a concern which you are the topping up of bark in play area as you trying to address, with various methods, could see the membrane wires and maintenance. Clean and That you have a presence in the park should The toilets could do with some Well Maintained allow for close monitoring of the area it is improvement. They smelt and had various only a question of looking at it with different fittings missing. Attention should be given to eyes the detail, filling in where roots have been taken out, renovate sides of paths access into the play area, tarmac holes in paths Sustainability Rain capture system. no green waste taken from site Conservation Have had surveys done for the wildlife and Would look to join the old paddling pool and and Heritage have had an archaeological dig wildlife area together by cutting a ride through.Look to interpret those things of interest. Community Very good friends group who are constituted Involvement and run a number of activities and are involved in the management and maintenance of the area.