CTC/16.03.21 – 11381 Minutes of a Meeting of CROWBOROUGH
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
CTC/16.03.21 – 11381 Minutes of a meeting of CROWBOROUGH TOWN COUNCIL held remotely on Tuesday 16th March 2021 at 7.30pm Present Councillors Alison Arthur Peter Bucklitsch Martyn Garrett Geoffrey Higginson* Richard Jury Chris Moss* Kay Moss (Also WDC) Dave Neeves Gareth Owen-Williams (Also WDC) Alan Penney Ron Reed (Also WDC) Greg Rose Colin Stocks Matthew Street Neil Waller (Also WDC) Also present Caroline Miles Town Clerk Cllr Richard Stogdon ESCC Cllr Sylvia Tidy ESCC Cllr Philip Lunn WDC *Denotes non attendance APOLOGIES Cllr Geoffrey Higginson DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST None MINUTES Minutes of the meeting held on 18th February 2021 9289 RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 18th February 2021 as confirmed be ratified by the Chairman. TO RECEIVE REPORTS FROM DISTRICT AND COUNTY COUNCILLORS Wealden District Councillors Reports: Cllr Philip Lunn reported that the PCC had received £400,000 in Government funding to tackle domestic abuse in the County. As part of Operation Safety an open day on tackling knife crime will be held. The date of which is on the PCC website. There has been a 6.1% drop in crimes reported for the period February 2020 – January 2021. Anti -social behaviour for the same period has increased however. CTC/16.03.21 – 11382 Cllr Owen – Williams reported that fewer planning applications are being bought before committee and many of those are being called in by Councillors. Officers are working very hard in dealing with applications and are negotiating less with developers. East Sussex County Councillors Reports: Cllr Richard Stogdon reported that ESCC had received £500,00 in funding for decarbonisation from central government. This will allow ESCC to look at ways it can reduce its carbon footprint. Work on the drainage problem at the Jarvis Brook railway bridge will commence in April. The builders are undertaking repair on the badly damaged verge on the junction of Crowborough Hill and Millbrook Road. The Highways Stewards will be monitoring the situation. Cllr Sylvia Tidy reported that Ninfield School will benefit from the decarbonisation fund. The oil boilers will be removed and will be replaced with an air source heat pump system. The school will be used as a pilot for other schools. Cllr Tidy was present at the World Social Worker Day event. Social Workers who had done well in their teams were presented with a certificate and a voucher. Cllr Tidy paid tribute to Social workers who have managed to carry out amazing work during the pandemic in continuing to support families who could stay together and in finding homes for children for whom it was not possible to stay with their birth families. The Council wished to record thanks to both Cllr Tidy and Cllr Stogdon for their many years of service as this will be their CTC final meeting as ESCC Councillors. The enthusiasm and drive that they have put into Crowborough could not be faulted and Council was thankful for their good works. TO RECEIVE REPORTS FROM CTC COUNCILLORS ON OUTSIDE BODIES Councillors noted the report on the CSAG meeting submitted by the Council’s representative, Cllr Kay Moss. It was noted that Sussex Police have a different area to the Council when referring to Crowborough North. Sussex Police divide the Town into 4 areas rather than the council’s 5. Clarity will be obtained on the Police’s definition of Crowborough North. Inspector Jon Gross is retiring and Inspector Kendall Wells will be his replacement. Cllr Garrett attended the WDALC meeting on the 13th January where Inspector Gross gave his final presentation. There has been a lot of activity on social media from the police in terms of stolen dogs which has resulted in owners being reunited with their owners. TO ANSWER QUESTIONS FROM COUNCILLORS There is a fund available for speed monitoring equipment and a request was made for this to be an agenda item for discussion at the next Environment meeting. Barclays Bank is closing in the Town and there is a possibility that Lloyds will follow suit. A Town the size of Crowborough will not be served well in terms of the provision of Banks. Cllrs are asked to make their comments to Cllr Moss who will forward them on to Barclays In her capacity as a Wealden District Councillor. CTC/16.03.21 – 11383 COMMITTEE MINUTES The following committee minutes were received and noted: Environment – 17th November 2020 F & GP – 15th December 2020 Personnel – 26th January, 2nd February, 18th February 2021 Planning & Development – 7th December 2020, 11th January,25th January 15th February 2021. SRC – 24th November 2020 It was noted that the Environment minutes of the 16th February were not included. However, these will not be ratified by the Environment committee until the 27th April so will be included in the Full Council minutes for noting in May. RECOMMENDATIONS FROM COMMITTEE MEETINGS 9290 RESOLVED to approve the Risk Management Policy & Risk Register as amended and as recommended by F & GP (Resolution number 9283) 9291 RESOLVED to approve the planting of a memorial tree, supplied by the Crowborough Bereavement Group, at Pine Grove as recommended by SRC. (Resolution number 9239) TO AUTHORISE THE SEALING OF DOCUMENTS 9292 RESOLVED to authorise the following Grants of Exclusive Right of Burial: CERTIFICATE NAME GRAVE SPACE Q1118 Mrs Wendy Anne ADAMSON & GRH29 & GRH30 Mrs Julie Claire PECKHAM POLICY REVIEW To note the recommended Annual Investment Strategy from the F & GP committee and agree further action. 9293 RESOLVED to approve the Annual Investment Strategy as recommended by F&GP (Resolution number 9283) RESTRUCTURE OF SRC COMMITTEE To note the Officer’s report and recommendation from the SRC committee and agree further action. 9294 RESOLVED to approve the restructure of the SRC committee and that a new committee, the Allotments and Cemeteries committee is formed. CTC/16.03.21 – 11384 MEETINGS SCHEDULE To note the NALC advice regarding the holding of face to face meetings and agree further action 9295 RESOLVED to bring the ASM forward to the 5th May. To note the proposed meeting schedule for 2021-22 and agree any action 9296 RESOLVED to accept the meetings schedule for 2021 – 22 with ASM 2021 scheduled for the 5th May. WEALDEN DEMENTIA ACTION ALLIANCE CHARTER To note the correspondence received and agree any action. Cllr Kay Moss declared a personal interest as the Council’s representative on the group. Cllr Alan Penney declared a personal interest as a member of Crowborough Community Church. 9297 RESOLVED to that the Council signs up the Wealden Dementia Action Alliance Charter. FINANCIAL MATTERS To note the payments for the period January and February 2021 Payments were noted. To approve the recommended Internal Controls System 9298 RESOLVED to approve the internal controls and that statements 2,5,6 and 7 of the Annual Governance Statement have been complied with. To note the Internal Auditors report and Officer’s comments Members noted the Internal auditors report and the related comments. To approve the removal of an entry in the asset register It was noted that the £1.00 entry annotated as CCA hall may have been entered twice. This will be investigated and if entered twice will be rectified. 9299 RESOLVED to approve the removal of the entry for Summersales in Appendix 4 in the asset register. PINE GROVE To note the officer’s report on the building. It was agreed to discuss 15.3 under closed session following Urgent Matters. The Officer’s report was noted. CTC/16.03.21 – 11385 To note the Financial report. The financial report was noted. To discuss whether Council requires a full investigation into Pine Grove spending and to agree any action. A member requested that a financial breakdown of the expenditure for Pine Grove in terms of how funds had been spent, why the initial estimate for the project increased and where these areas were, the current cost of the building and the possible costs moving forward. This would benefit new members of the council and also future members. It would also assist in decision making in 7 years’ time when the break clause arises. It was noted that the decisions made on spending and costings associated with those spends are available in the minutes of Full Council meetings. No decision was made on Pine Grove costs without being approved by the Council of the time. The break Clause applies to Basepoint and not to CTC. A proposal was made and seconded that the RFO provides a synopsis of the capital expenditure and the revenue expenditure of the Pine Grove Project. The motion was not carried. URGENT MATTERS AT THE DISCRETION OF THE CHAIRMAN FOR NOTING Councillors who are signatories were asked to respond to the Finance Assistant when a call is made to authorise payments. It was noted that, if possible, more notice could be given to Councillors when authorisation is required. A member noted that the reports and agendas on the website may not be clear. Staff are currently printing and scanning documents to be uploaded onto the website when there is software available that is cheap and easy to use. To be investigated. Members were reminded that the virtual Town Conference will be taking place on the 21st April. No applications had been received for co-option and the position will continue to be advertised. The Mayor asked members to note that this would be his final meeting as Mayor of Crowborough Town Council and that other members should consider taking up the mantle from May. 9300 RESOLVED that in view of the confidential nature of the discussion of some items on this agenda, the press and public are excluded under section 1(2) of the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 An investigation will take place as to whether documentation or test data is missing from the Pine Grove O & M manuals.