Myland Parish Council s3
Myland Community Council
Minutes of the meeting of the Community Council held on Wednesday 30th March 2016, 7.30pm, at Mile End Methodist Church Hall, Nayland Road, Colchester.
Present: / Cllr Pete Hewitt (Chair) / Cllr John DicksonCllr John Stewart (Vice Chair) / Cllr Martin Goss
Cllr Richard Beauchamp / Cllr Liz Gray
Cllr Catherine Clouston / Cllr Carolyne Hurst
Cllr David Clouston / Cllr Robert Johnstone
Cllr Jean Dickinson
There were three members of the public present.
Colchester Borough Cllrs Gerard Oxford and Beverly Oxford and Essex County Cllr Anne Turrell attended the meeting.
Before the meeting opened, the Chair paid tribute to Cllr John Sutcliffe, who had died while away in Zambia. He said that Cllr Sutcliffe had joined the Council in 2003. He said that Cllr Sutcliffe had served on a number of committees and working groups during his time as a Councillor, most recently on both the Planning & Development Policy Committee and the Finance and Staffing Committee. He asked all present to join him in a minute’s silence to remember Cllr Sutcliffe.
230-15/16 Apologies
Apologies were accepted from Cllrs Agyekum, Cardle and Pipik.
231-15/16 Declarations of Interest
There were none.
232-15/16 Have your say
Mrs White said that while Cllr Sutcliffe had not been a friend to Thomas Wakley Close she had respected him as he was a man who spoke his mind. She said she hoped that MCC considered freedom of speech important and that she had concerns about what had happened at the last meeting of the Community Working Group. She said Cllr Sutcliffe had ruffled feathers and was therefore not being considered for a posthumous award. She said Cllr Sutcliffe had done a lot for local charities and that he had a very good attendance record at MCC meetings and that despite his frail health, his attendance was second to none. She said he deserved a posthumous award because he spoke his mind. She said she held anyone who did this in great esteem. She said she was surprised that MCC had not considered Cllr Sutcliffe for a posthumous award as she felt he should have this award. She said ruffling feathers should be considered a plus, and she hoped that MCC would take this into consideration.
Cllr Hurst said that the process for awarding the Myland Order of Merit had already been well under way when news of Cllr Sutcliffe’s death had been received. She said that no disrespect to Cllr Sutcliffe had been intended by comments made at the Community Group meeting. She said that it had simply been mentioned that he could ruffle feathers. She said no Myland Community Councillor would ever be disrespectful about a fellow Councillor. She said MCC would be looking at recognising Cllr Sutcliffe’s contribution to the local community posthumously and that MCC would also support the Friends of Myland in any way possible.
Mr Thompson said he would also like to pay tribute to Cllr Sutcliffe who had worked very hard for the community.
233-15/16 Minutes of the Meeting of the Council held on 24th February 2016 to be approved as a true record and signed by the Chairman.
The minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 24th February 2016 were approved as a true record and signed by the Chairman.
Proposed: Cllr Dickson Seconded: Cllr Stewart (8 For; 3 Abstensions)
234-15/16 Update on progress of resolutions made at the last meeting
There were no updates.
235-15/16 Chairman’s Report
The Chairman gave the following report:
“The sad loss of John and the resignation of Ciaran leaves us with two vacancies. If you have any good possible candidates please encourage them and let Helen, Katherine, John Stewart or myself know.
The Chesterwell development is now well underway. There have been some issues and concerns raised by local residents. These are dealt with quickly, often by Councillor Goss, but also re-visited, along with updates and general news on progress during regular liaison meetings with the developers. We have decided to provide a brief overview of the items covered at those meetings on the MCC website. The first update is now available and will be advised to residents via the Mylander.
This Council has now received two presentations on community centres. The subject has become somewhat confused and certainly the second presentation embraced community facilities on a much broader scale than just community halls. It is now time to take a pause. We know the community will receive two halls, one on Chesterwell and one on Severalls. We know both will need fitting out and we have a comprehensive list of the services the halls could provide.
The presentations tell us we should pursue not just a hall but a facility complex on Chesterwell and /or another complex on the Northern Gateway where the current Rugby Club building sits. There are therefore lots of careful decisions to be made by us, here, around these tables. But we have key partners in all of this. One is CBC and the other in respect of the Northern Gateway is Highwoods Ward. We cannot therefore just carry on making our own decisions in splendid isolation from those partners. Following the Community Working Group and an extended debate when setting this meeting’s agenda it was concluded that it is right to pause and to engage with CBC and Highwoods. And that is what we will do. Councillor Stewart and I are meeting Gerard Oxford next week and will be arranging a meeting with CBC as a matter of urgency.”
Cllr Dickinson said she would like to emphasise that the presentations had made it clear that she and the Assistant Clerk had been looking at ways in which services could be delivered. She said they had concentrated on services for a new generation. She said community centres were only one way of delivering services. She said they had only wanted Cllrs to think about how services might be delivered, and had not asked them to commit to anything at all. She said her wish was that options were not closed down. She said it was important to continue work with the intention of moving holistically.
Cllr D Clouston said that from one perspective the new Community Centres were a long way away. He said that however, last month he had heard almost a requiem for lost community spaces and a regret for that state of affairs. He said if MCC felt that, it was likely to be felt by the wider community. He said it would be possible for him, for example, to do something as a private resident but it would be so much easier for MCC. He said MCC had regular meetings, were kept in the loop, and had governance in place, so that it would be infinitely preferable for MCC to take the initiative. He said the time was approaching for MCC to make their decision.
The Assistant Clerk said that she would like to endorse all that Cllr Clouston had said. She said she would also like to say that MCC had been looking at this issue for the past 15 years and that in that time little progress had been made, so that although 2024 sounded a long time away, it would pass very quickly.
The Chair asked if Cllr G Oxford had any comments he would like to make.
Cllr Oxford said that he would be meeting Cllrs Hewitt and Stewart on Wednesday 6th April to discuss some issues. He said that he would like as much of the Rugby Club site as possible to be retained as open space. He said he had a problem with the sale of the site having to fund new sports facilities. He said the wider community should fund these facilities, which would enable the Rugby Club site to be retained. He said he would like to ask the public what they would like to happen to the site. He said the Diocese of Chelmsford would like to see a new church in Highwoods, that the Rugby Club site was now in Highwoods Ward and that the rest of the ward was already under concrete. He said there might be some ramifications for the St Johns and Highwoods Community Association.
236-15/16 Clerks Report
The Assistant Clerk said that the Clerk was on two weeks’ leave from the office.
She said that the Clerk had completed her CilCA portfolio which had now been sent off to be assessed.
237-15/16 Finance - To consider and possibly resolve to approve details of expenditure and income to date.
It was resolved to approve details of expenditure and income to date.
Proposed: Cllr Dickinson Seconded: Cllr Johnstone (9 For; 2 Abstentions)
Income
Date / Amount / Received from / Type7-Mar-16 / 6.34 / Barclays / Bank Interest
18-Mar-16 / 320.00 / Myland Community Crew / Other Income
30-Mar-16 / 976.00 / Colchester Borough Council / Other Income
30-Mar-16 / 1,200.00 / Barchester - Woodland View Care Home / Mylander
Expenses
Date / Amount / Paid to / Type4-Mar-16 / 59.66 / Npower / Electricity
15-Mar-16 / 34.34 / Anglian Water / Water
15-Mar-16 / 20.00 / Contract Services / Cleaning
21-Mar-16 / 84.95 / CNG Ltd / Gas
24-Mar-16 / 18.76 / Titan Telecom / Phone
29-Mar-16 / 23.69 / E-on / Electricity
29-Mar-16 / 34.50 / Mile End Methodist Church / Community Council Meeting
29-Mar-16 / 24.35 / Copy IT / Office Equipment & Mtce
29-Mar-16 / 75.00 / EALC / Councillor Training
29-Mar-16 / 149.69 / Shaw & Sons Ltd / Stationery
29-Mar-16 / 600.00 / Daniel Connal Partnership / Professional fees
29-Mar-16 / 30.00 / M&K Gardens / Gardening
31-Mar-16 / 11.00 / H Harris / Office sundries
31-Mar-16 / 3964.71 / Various / Staff costs
238-15/16 To consider and possibly resolve to respond to the Essex County Council Children’s Centres consultation – Closing date 10th April 2016 – Cllr Stewart
It was resolved to respond to the Essex County Council Children’s Centres consultation – Closing date 10th April 2016.
Proposed: Cllr Stewart Seconded: Cllr Hurst (Unanimous)
239-15/16 If 238-15/16 is resolved, to consider and possibly resolve who to delegate the response to the Essex County Council Children’s Centres consultation to – Cllr Stewart
It was resolved to delegate the response to the Essex County Council Children’s Centres consultation to Cllr Hurst as MCC’s Education Champion with support from Cllr Dickinson.
Proposed: Cllr Stewart Seconded: Cllr Goss (Unanimous)
240-15/16 To consider and possibly resolve to respond to the Colchester Borough Council Recycling and Waste Services Consultation – Closing date 3rd June 2016 – Cllr Stewart
Proposed: Cllr Stewart Seconded: No seconder
The motion could therefore not proceed.
241-15/16 If 240-15/16 is resolved, to consider and possibly resolve who to delegate the response to the Colchester Borough Council Recycling and Waste Services Consultation to – Cllr Stewart
As 240-15/16 was not resolved, this Item was withdrawn.
242-15/16 To gain commitment from every MCC Councillor that they will help with the Fete, either on the day or to contribute to the pre-event organisation. Councillors to advise the Clerk of their commitment/contribution by 15th April 2016 – Cllr Hurst
An amendment to the Item was proposed as follows:
To gain commitment from every MCC Councillor that they will help with the Fete, either on the day or to contribute to the pre-event organisation. Councillors to advise the Assistant Clerk of their commitment/contribution by 15th April 2016 – Cllr Hurst
Proposed: Cllr Hurst Seconded: Cllr Hewitt (10 For; 1 Abstention)
Cllr Hurst said that she would like the organisation of the Fete to be a team effort. She said this year this would be particularly important as the residents who had chaired the Fete Committee for the past three years and had run the raffle had stepped down. She said she would like every Councillor to commit to a contribution to the Fete, either on the day or beforehand, as she appreciated some people would not be able to be available on the day of the Fete itself.
243-15/16 To receive reports from Councillors including updates from Champions
Cllr Dickson thanked Cllr Goss for the allocation of £4,000 to causes within the ward.
Cllr Beauchamp said he had attended the Colchester Parish Transport meeting. He said that they had committed to promoting public transport and making information more accessible. He said it was important that MCC kept watch to make sure that this happened.
Cllr Beauchamp said that new bus timetables would come into force on 10th April 2016. He said there would be a new service on Sundays and in the evenings that would travel from Great Horkesley down Nayland Road but that unfortunately there was a dearth of stops and this was also a change of route. He said that sites for potential new stops could be near the Parish Office for the southbound journey and near the Dog & Pheasant for the northbound journey. He said that ECC thought that there was a stop opposite the entrance to Link Close but this was in fact not the case.
Cllr Stewart said he had been at the launch of the Wildlife Service at Highwoods Country Park, which had been well-attended by the public.
Cllr Johnstone said the construction of the new cycle route down Mile End Road was now under way. He said he had received an email from Alan Lindsay at ECC that day which said dimensions would be provided. He said that he was shocked that dimensions were not available even though work was already underway. He said that CBC, the Colchester Cycling Campaign and Mile End Road residents were concerned about the scheme.
Cllr Johnstone said he would be involved with the “Walking To School” campaign with Pam Nelson.