WISBECH TOWN COUNCIL 16 December 2019 – 7.30pm MINUTES OF MEETING Present: Councillor Hill, Chairman (and Town Mayor); Councillors Balsevics, Miss Hoy, Human, Ketteringham, Lynn, Maul, Mrs Pehlivanova, Prest, Rackley, Tibbs, Tierney, Topgood and Mrs Wallwork. Apologies: Councillors Meekins, Oliver and Patrick. Public participation: None requested. 111/19 Remembrance Councillor Tierney reminded members that six years ago it had been agreed that Wisbech Town Council would use its December meeting each year to stand for one minute’s silence to remember those who had died during the year. He made the point that members would be standing in silence for those whose names are well-known to many but also for those who, while not famous or well- known, are nonetheless sadly missed by those who knew and loved them. Councillor Tierney had produced a list of those to be remembered, which he read to council and consisted of the following: Irv Williams (American jazz saxophonist), James Ingrams (soul singer), Peter Tork (singer with the band The Monkees), Andre Previn (German composer), Keith Flint (singer with the band The Prodigy), Scott Walker (of the Walker Brothers), Ranking Roger (Ska and Two Tone legend), Boon Gould (of the band Level 42), LaShawn Daniels (songwriter and producer), Ric Ocasek (frontman of the band The Cars), Andy Anderson (drummer of the band The Cure), Cadet (British rapper), Eddie Money (singer-songwriter), Windsor Davies (actor, most famous for his appearances in the TV series “It Ain’t Half Hot Mum”), Jeremy Hardy (comedian), Clive Swift (actor), Albert Finney (actor), Luke Perry (actor), Peter Mayhew (actor who played the role of Chewbacca in Star Wars films), Freddie Starr (comedian), Andrew Hall (actor), Paul Darrow (actor, appeared in TV series Blakes 7), Rip Torn (actor), Freddie Jones (actor), Leah Bracknell (actor, best known for roles in Emmerdale), Rutger Hauer (Blade Runner and action star), Peter Fonda (actor), Dick Miller (actor), Jan-Michael Vincent (actor, who played the role of Stringfellow Hawke in the US TV series Airwolf), Brendan Grace (actor, who appeared in the TV series Father Ted), Doris Day (actor and Hollywood icon), Gordon Banks (England’s World Cup goalkeeper), Moondog Rex (American professional wrestler), Niki Lauda (Formula One motor racing legend), Peter Sissons (TV newsreader), Ginger Baker (drummer, most famously with the band Cream), Tommy Smith (Liverpool football legend), Gary Rhodes (chef), David Bellamy (English environmental activist and broadcaster), Brian Walden (broadcaster and former Labour MP), Gloria Vanderbilt (US fashion icon), Jose Antonio Reyes (ex- Arsenal striker), Harold 'Hal' Prince (known as the "King of the Broadway musical"), Toni Morrison (Nobel Prize winner who was the first black woman to receive the prize for literature in 1993), Jacques Chirac (former French president), Marieke Vervoort (Belgian paralympian), Terry O'Neill (photographer), Clive James (critic and broadcaster), Irving Burgie (co-writer of the Harry Belafonte hit “Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)”, Grumpy Cat (Internet hero), Judith Kerr (author who wrote “The Tiger Who Came To Tea”), Michel Legrand (music composer), Carol Channing (Broadway star), “Boo” (the world’s cutest dog), Karl Lagerfeld (fashion designer), Mike Thalassitis, (footballer and Love Island star). Councillor Tierney made the point that this is not a complete or exhaustive list and for any people who may have been missed, it was certainly not intentional and the council’s minute’s silence includes those un-named as well as those named. 72 Councillor Tierney commented that the council would also be standing in silence for those local people who had passed away during the year, including those whose family members or friends had asked the council to mention, as follows: David Williamson. All of those present at the meeting stood in silence for one minute for all of those people who had passed away during the year, remembering that each and every individual who is no longer with us, whether they died through natural causes or otherwise, is a loss to us all. 112/19 Cambridgeshire Constabulary Although no officer of Cambridgeshire Constabulary attended the meeting, the Constabulary had provided to the Clerk, via e-mail, the new Fenland Neighbourhood Policing Team Monthly Review report (minute 4/18 refers) on recent incidents of crime and disorder and other matters in Wisbech and the northern villages in Fenland. The Clerk summarised briefly the report. The report mentions that the Neighbourhood Policing Team’s priorities over the last month had been: 1. officer patrols, as a means of continuing to tackle anti-social behaviour (ASB), in the town centre 2. tackling cycle thefts. The report mentions that the Neighbourhood Policing Team had continued to develop intelligence regarding the large number of cycle thefts in and around Wisbech and had carried out disruption visits to known offenders and associates. An event had taken place at the Horsefair Shopping Centre, with Fenland Volunteer Police Cadets, to provide information to the public about registering their cycles with Immobilise and offering security advice; in addition, signs had been located in “hotspot” locations, reminding people to lock-up their cycles. Mention is made in the report that there had been a force-wide campaign, which had operated between 20 and 22 November 2019, named Operation Astragal. The campaign had been in relation to Road Safety Week; vehicles had been stopped for traffic offences such as speeding, drink and drug driving, using mobiles phones etc. The campaign had been a success, with positive responses not only direct the public but also via posts on social media. Comment is made in the report that youth-related anti-social behaviour (ASB) is still an ongoing priority for the Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT); however, a large increase in high visibility patrols had helped to reduce the impact of the groups in Wisbech. There had been a reduction in calls for service in respect of youth-related ASB. The 3 Community Protection Warnings (CPW) which had been issued to the main perpetrators appear to have had a positive impact upon the whole; however, one youth breached the conditions of his CPW, which had resulted in a Community Protection Notice being issued. There is work ongoing in the background around ASB legislation being implemented to those causing the highest harm. NPT officers had been present during the council’s Christmas lights switch on event, and patrolled the town centre along with other youth- related ASB “hotspots”. There had been no youth-related ASB issues during the event. The report mentions that PCs within the NPT had visited local businesses around the town centre to offer advice regarding shoplifting in the lead-up to Christmas. The NPT for Wisbech had welcomed two new members during the first week of December 2019 and these officers are now “getting up to speed” with the way that things work. The Neighbourhood Policing Sergeant comments that the plan is to utilise the number of staff to add to the visibility of the team out in the community. There will be a further increase in staff in the New Year, for which a recruitment process is underway. 73 Members decided that the situation be noted. 113/19 Fenland District Council (1) Information The Clerk reported that information in respect of CCTV performance, Section 106 Planning Obligations details and the council’s Environment newsletter, had been forwarded, last week by e-mail, to all members of the council. Members decided that the situation be noted. (2) Littering Enforcement Contract Members received a presentation from Miss C Pilson and Mrs A Tighe, officers of Fenland District Council, for the purposes of updating Wisbech Town Council on the District Council’s littering enforcement contract, operated currently by Kingdom, and informing the Town Council of the potential next steps in that regard. Miss Pilson informed the council that Kingdom may no longer be operating the littering enforcement contact after the end of January 2020 and, consequently, there had been discussions between officers of the District Council and members of its Cabinet as to what actions could be taken to facilitate continuance of litter enforcement across the district in the future. She mentioned that the current contractual arrangement is cost-neutral to Fenland District Council, as Kingdom’s work is funded through the fines that it levies. The council was informed by Miss Pilson that Fenland District Council wishes to take into account the views of the Town Councils in Fenland in the design of arrangements for the future delivery of this service and, consequently, she invited members to give their opinions. Councillor Tierney expressed the opinion, based upon what he heard from members of the public, that the majority of people are happy with the current arrangements but a few outspoken residents of the town had expressed the opinion that not enough is being done to tackle littering. He commented that he would like to see Fenland District Council deliver the enforcement service “in-house” – not use contractors – and linked, if implemented, to Civil Parking Enforcement. He expressed the belief that the District Council would still be able to operate this as a cost-neutral service; in fact, perhaps the District Council would be able to “bundle together” a number of enforcement activities, such as street drinking, anti-social behaviour, licensing, littering, dog fouling and on-street parking issues. Councillor Human expressed the opinion that the public simply wish to see litter-free streets; they have no preferences as to how that would be achieved. Councillor Lynn stated his concurrence with the comments which had been made by Councillor Tierney and suggested that perhaps there could be an arrangement whereby the Town Council would provide funding towards the cost of the enforcement arrangement and, in return, receive a share of the fines levied.