MINUTES of the Meeting of Wivenhoe Town Council held in the Council Chamber on Monday 16th September 2013. ______

Present: The Town Mayor, Cllr. A. Vaughan (Chairman), Cllrs: A. Aldis, I. Endean, K. Hall, D. Henley, N. Lodge, P. Kraft, R. Needham, K. Read, F. Richards, B. Sinclair, N. Tile and A. Stinson. Borough Cllrs. S. Ford and C.Liddy, Mrs. A. Stinson (Town Clerk) Peter Kay

Prior to commencement of business safety announcements were given

1. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE. Apologies for absence were received from County Cllr. J. Young and Cllr. J. Manning. No apologies received from Cllr. M. Cory.

2. MINUTES. RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Meeting of the Town Council held on 19 August 2013 be confirmed and signed as a correct record.

3. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES. a) Review of Standing Orders: An electronic copy would be circulated to all members in preparation for a review which would be adopted at the AGM in May 2014. b) Rosabelle Avenue: Cllr. Ford advised that Borough Planning officers would be submitting a planning application for the 5 houses in due course. c) Vine Parade Parking: The application to the Local Highway Panel had been submitted.

4. POINTS RAISED BY MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC. None.

5. REPORTS FROM MEMBERS OF THE COUNTY AND BOROUGH COUNCILS. a) Essex County Council: Cllr. Sinclair read out the report of Cllr. Young – items of note: ECC had been asked to consider retaining the Philip Road Centre to convert the site to become a Health and Community Centre. This was backed by Bernard Jenkin, MP; the poor access to the Clacton bound platform at Wivenhoe Station received little response from Network Rail but ECC had promised to contact the East Anglian Rail Franchise to see if they would fund a ramp to replace the steps up into Clifton Terrace; ECC will be switching off street lights from 12pm to 5am as of 1 November, consideration will be given to keeping lights on in certain areas, representations to reach ECC by 27 September at [email protected]. A local bus consultation will start on 16 September and run for 12 weeks; The revised plans for the cycle path formally planned to run alongside Colchester Road had now been proposed to be constructed across the fields, following the footpath behind Broomgrove School.

Members raised the following concerns on Cllr. Young’s report:

Street Lighting: It was considered that the street lights would need to be on at least until 1.00am as the last train reached Wivenhoe quite late. Agreed that the spinal route, viz: Colchester Road, The Avenue, High Street, Station Road, Belle Vue Road and Rectory Road needed to retain lighting all night.

Cyclepath: Members requested more clarification such as lighting on the new path; more information on where the money is being spent and is the University aware of the

1 proposals. Cllr. Young would also be asked to find out from ECC Highways what the true width of the footway alongside Colchester Road was as the overgrowing vegetation masked the width of the footway, making it very narrow. b) Borough Council: Cllr. Ford reported on the DP4 policy which resulted in an unsatisfactory result for Wivenhoe concerning the St. John Ambulance Hall. Cllr. Sinclair thanked Borough Cllrs Liddy and Ford for their support and work on this issue. Cllr. Ford would find out the way forward should the Town Council wish to formally raise their concern on whether CBC followed their own Code of Practice on Planning Policy and followed procedures correctly.

Cllr. Liddy also reported that he had contacted the Chair of CBC Planning and Karen Syrett concerning the policies contained in DP4, which were outdated and virtually meaningless. A full review of DP4 was to be carried out under the Local Plan for 2014. c) Public Transport Representative. Peter Kay reported on the ECC Bus Review, of which an online consultation was taking place. The matter of the bus lay-by by Cedrics needed to be kept an eye on as the planning application for the site had now been withdrawn. There is a section on public transport in the Neighbourhood Plan and Peter Kay would be kept in the loop on this.

Members noted that Cllr. Cory had sent no apologies or reports.

6. COMMITTEE REPORTS. 6.1 Planning a) Minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on Tuesday 27 August 2013 were received and noted. b) Cooks’ Shipyard Working Group: Cook’s Development Parking Strategy: The draft Service Local Agreement had now been considered. PROPOSED and SECONDED that the SLA of CBC for the Parking Strategy on the new car parks within the Cook’s development be Accepted. AGREED by all with a vote of one against. Slipway: Concerning the matter of pre-planning advice for a new slipway it was PROPOSED by Cllr. Read and AGREED that an amount of up to £1000 be set aside to pursue this project, which could result in funding being obtained for a new slipway. Canoe Rack: It was noted that some members of the public had concerns over safety with its location. However it was felt that it did not present any greater safety issues than a boat trailer and was not on the highway. Also once it was full of canoes visibility would increase. Fisherman’s store: This had now been tiled and decorated and advice would be obtained on the suitable rental value. c) Health Centre: Nothing to report.

6.2 Personnel Committee. The date of the next meeting had been rescheduled for 30 October at 7.30pm.

6.3 Finance and Administration Committee. a) Date of next meeting 19 September 2013.

6.4 Estates Committee.

2 a) Minutes of the meeting of the Estates Committee held on 29 July 2013 were received and noted. b) Rospa report: Cllr. Richards reported that the recent Rospa report contained some anomalies in it and following advice from CBC it was decided to have a second report carried out by a different company. CBC used a different company every four years and this worked very well.

7. WORKING PARTY REPORTS.

7.1 William Loveless Hall Working Party a) The date of the next meeting was Wednesday 18 September 2013 in the Wyvern Room.

7.2 Wivenhoe Wood Working Party: Cllr. Sinclair reported that the annual walk around would take place on 24th September at 5.00pm. There was some coppicing being done behind Dixon Way and this was ongoing maintenance to do with protecting the properties.

7.3. Minibus Working Group: Nothing to report.

7.4 Youth Facilities Working Party. Nothing to report.

7.5 Community Opportunities Group. Cllr. Needham reported that the group was in suspension at the moment.

7.6 Diamond Jubilee Gardens Working Group. Cllr. Sinclair reported that he was awaiting the result of some assistance from S106 monies and had recently engaged Bob Penny to visit the site.

7.7 Pavilion, Offices, Yard and Police Houses Working Group. The report of the meeting held on 11 September 2013 was received and noted. Cllr. Needham reported that the five-year lease had been signed and dated as of 22 August 2013 with a rent review to take place in 2015. The cladding had all been completed, following three quotes being obtained, and the contractor had done a very good job on the building, working around the alignment problem very well. All was done within budget and within the time scale. The front door of 81 High Street needed replacing and an offer of a new tenant for 81a had been received today, which was very good news.

7.8 Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group. a) Minutes of the meeting held on 7 August were received and noted. b) Date of the next meeting would be on 17 September 2013.

7.9 Members' Individual Proposals or Reports: a) Mayoral Activities: Cllr. Vaughan reported on attendances at the Wivenhoe Crabbing Competition on Sunday 8 September and at WAGA show and lunch on Saturday 14 September in the William Loveless Hall. Total of 2 engagements. b) Wivenhoe Community Safety and Neighbourhood Watch report: Nothing to report.

8. TOWN CLERK'S REPORT. 8.1 Burial Grants and approval of memorials. The Town Clerk reported that two Burial Grants had been issued and no memorials had

3 been approved since the last meeting. Two burials and one interment of ashes had taken place.

8.2 NALC/EALC Communications. August DIS had been circulated electronically and Making the Links communications were being circulated electronically when received.

8.3 Work Management. a) The Town Clerk reported that footpaths and hedges had been cut back. The cycle racks had been reinstalled at the Cook’s shipyard site. Grass cutting was still continuing in all areas. Improvements to the pavilion had been carried out by contractors. Allotment rents had all been issued and two new noticeboards installed at the allotments and the soakaway completed. The number of visitors to the Council Offices for the month of August totalled 245.

9. FINANCE. 9.1 Current Financial Report a) The July and August spending and income report was received and noted.

9.2 List of cheques numbered 503984-504015 drawn since the last Town Council Meeting was approved and signed. 9.3 List of Payments made from the Imprest Account since the last Town Council Meeting was approved.

9.4 Motions Under Standing Orders Recommending Expenditure.

9.5 Appeals for Financial Support.

10.1 Correspondence. a) County wide Consultation on Part Night Street Lighting across Essex – circulated by email – already taken under item 5. b) Domain name of wivenhoetowncouncil.co.uk – AGREED to renew all URL’s in the Town Council’s name.

10.2 Conferences/Seminars. Noted the following:

CPRE AGM Saturday 5 October 2013 with guided tour of Thaxted Windmill and a talk. 2.15pm for tour and 5.00pm for AGM. Free to all members of CPRE

RCCE – Village Halls and Community Buildings Conference, Courtauld Memorial Hall, Colne Engaine, Saturday 12 October 9.30 – 3.00pm. Cllrs. Kraft and Richards to attend.

EALC AGM Thursday 26 September at Foakes Hall, Gt. Dunmow. 4.45pm for Awards Ceremony followed by meeting at 7.00pm.

10.3 Notices.

4 Civic Service Sunday 20 October 2013 10.30am at St. Mary’s Church.

10.4 Licences. a) Variation to existing licence: 7- 9 High Street, Wivenhoe – To increase the hours for the provision of recorded music Sundays to Thursdays from 07.00 to 00.00 and Fridays and Saturdays from 07.00 to 00.30; and the sale of alcohol Sundays to Thursdays from 11.00 to 00.00 and Fridays and Saturdays from 11.00 to 00.30. Premises to be open Sundays to Thursdays from 07.00 to 00.00 and Fridays and Saturdays from 07.00 to 00.30. The existing licence provides for the sale of alcohol Mondays to Sundays from 11.00 to 22.00; the playing of recorded music Mondays to Sundays from 07.00 to 22.00.

Members considered the above and responded that the proposed increase in hours should be in line with comparable businesses with similar facilities in the immediate vicinity.

10.5 Highway Matters. Nothing to report.

10.6 Press Releases.

The meeting closed at 9.20pm

CHAIRMAN

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