Godmanchester Town Council Minutes.

The Minutes of the Godmanchester Town Council are provided simply to increase ease of access for fellow residents here in GMC. The content does not necessarily reflect the views of the webmaster (Stuart Bond) or Godmanchester Community Association. The Minutes are released to the public once they are approved.

Please note that the financial details are not held on this website and that only the entire Minutes as recorded in the Minutes Book have legal standing. Hard copies are posted around the town on the noticeboards and also sent to Huntingdon Library. If you have any queries please contact the Town Clerk by e-mail or telephone / fax 388 870.

PRESENT: W D BUTTERWORTH Town Mayor, M COHEN Deputy Town Mayor
Councillors: D BROWN, Mrs C A GODLEY, A GOFF, L HOLGATE, Mrs H HULL, C R HYAMS, E KYNOCH, Mrs A M LOOKER, C VANE PERCY
Town Clerk: A J WELTON

APOLOGIES: Cllr H R BUTCHER
Mace Bearer: M WILLIAMS
ABSENT: Cllrs: J COXHEAD, Mrs B MOORE

There were 15 members of the public present.

TOWN MAYOR’S ANNOUNCEMENTS.

The MAYOR informed the meeting that he had represented the Town on 13 occasions since the last meeting. The DEPUTY MAYOR had not represented the Town since the last meeting.

The MAYOR announced that it was the Mace Bearer’s 50th birthday and Mr Williams had invited all present to join him in celebrations after this meeting.

The MAYOR mentioned the programme of Town Council meetings for 2005 that was included with the agenda and other paperwork. In particular he drew attention to the Annual Town Meeting, scheduled for 7 April 2005 at which the various Chairmen of the Working parties would be expected to make a short presentation on the previous years activities.

The MAYOR reminded the members of the Town Council that the annual Carol Service would be held on Saturday 18th December 2004 on School Hill, starting at 6.30pm and all were invited to attend.

04/085 MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 18 November 2004 were APPROVED, after the removal of the word “strong” in the paragraph concerning the Post Street cycleway, and signed as a complete and accurate record.

04/086 MATTERS ARISING.

The Outstanding Actions List, dated 16 December 2004 was reviewed.

There was some discussion concerning the revised edition of the proposed ASBO leaflet. Cllr Mrs HULL advised that she had attended a meeting in the past few days that had been attended by the police Sector Commander and had been advised that it was the Police intention to introduce call answering facilities soon. She further advised that production of the leaflet should not be continued without deferring to the Police, thereby not precipitating action before the Police had had the opportunity to initiate their own action. It was AGREED that the leaflet should be distributed throughout Godmanchester but the Town Clerk would first contact the Sector Commander and send him a copy of the proposed leaflet for his endorsement of the wording. Advice would also be sought regarding the timing of distribution.

Cllr BROWN suggested that when the two metal seats on The Avenue were removed, prior to their replacements being installed, it would be appropriate for a notice to be displayed notifying the public that they had been removed by the Town Council. It was also suggested that a press release would be appropriate.

04/087 CORRESPONDENCE.

The correspondence listed at Appendix A, not covered by the WP reports, was addressed.

The MAYOR referred to the letter of complaint received concerning the cleanliness of the QES halls. The Town Clerk had acknowledged the letter and the relevant action was in hand.

Cllr Vane Percy arrived at 7.52pm.

Simon O’Connor had submitted an estimate for the revision of the central heating circuits in QES to allow the small hall to be heated independently from the large. The Town Council APPROVED the expenditure of £690.

The quotation from Ashley & Foster for the roof repairs at Judith’s Field was not founded on a like-for-like basis with the estimate received from Princebuild and a revised quotation was awaited.

B E Welding had submitted an estimate for the cost of repair of the fingerpost at West Street and the Town Council APPROVED the expenditure of £320. Similarly, the same firm had provided an estimate of £420 to manufacture and install a strip for the top of the kick-wall to discourage climbing on the structure. This sum was also APPROVED.

Thistle Security had submitted a quotation for the repair of the CCTV system in the Town Office. After some discussion as to the merits of retaining such a system, it was DECIDED that the Town Council would spend £598 on the project.

There was lively discussion concerning the proposed extension of the restricted parking at the corner of Park Avenue. It was noted that its introduction would remove up to 3 car parking spaces from an area where on road car parking was already limited. Cllr Mrs HULL suggested that the sponsor of the restrictions should consider other ways of providing access to the caravan park and that the CCC traffic department should consider the wider implications of traffic calming proposed for Post Street and take a more holistic view. APPROVED.

Copies of correspondence between the Headmaster of the Community Primary School and CCC concerning a request for zigzags and warning signs in Park Lane had been circulated to all Cllrs. The Town Council considered that the Headmaster had a valid case and, in view of the precedent already agreed for Grainger Avenue, it was AGREED that the Town Clerk would write to the Headmaster to offer support.

04/088 S137 GRANTS. The following grant applications were considered:

Jack & Jill Pre-School - £1000 for a laptop computer with the caveat that if the school had to close due to the lack of pupils, the laptop would be returned to the Town Council for redistribution. APPROVED.
Save the Lakes – no contribution was authorised because the request was to support opposition to the introduction of the Guided Bus system and was not an appropriate matter for S137.
Godmanchester Rovers Youth FC - £500 for a new strip for the Under 13B team. APPROVED.
Godmanchester Community Primary School PTA - £600 for the purchase of 6 tricycles and £500 to provide storage for musical instruments. APPROVED.
Godmanchester Girlguiding - £250 – 300 towards the cost of providing waterproof coats for Rainbows, Guides and Rangers. The Town Council APPROVED the grant of £645 to cover the full cost of provision.
Godmanchester Parish Church - £99.97 to cover the cost of providing CCTV in the church to facilitate the monitoring of actions within the body of the church to enable to organist to have sight of what is going on. The Town Council APPROVED the grant of £100.

The Town Clerk was to write to all applicants advising them of the Town Council’s decisions.

The meeting was adjourned at 9.00pm to allow questions from the public.

The representative of the Community Association, a member of the public, was asked to explain why the request for financial support for Picnic in Park 2005 appeared to be significantly more than that for previous years. It was explained that the increase reflected the increase in wet weather insurance, minor changes in configuration, security, barriers and inflation. The total increase was £1300.

Rather than questions, a spokesman for 13 of the public attendees gave a number of objections to the proposed cycleway along Post Street. He advised that there had been a public meeting, hastily called the previous evening, at which their various concerns had been discussed for presentation at this meeting. Their concerns were that the proposed cycleway would be hazardous to pedestrians, cyclists and the elderly. They were also concerned that there were implications for some of the properties because they were in an area prone to flooding. Additionally they were concerned that narrowing the roadway by the introduction of the cycleway would make this very busy road more difficult for emergency vehicles that used Post Street as the preferred route to the A14 in the event of road traffic accidents. Finally, they were concerned about the impact the proposal might have on what is a conservation area.

The meeting reconvened at 9.37pm.

Cllr Mrs HULL advised that she had spoken to PC G Murray who is responsible for consultation with the Highways Authority and had been told by PC Murray that there had been no consultation with the emergency services about the road narrowing associated with the construction of the proposed cycleway.

Each Cllr was invited to make comments on what had been discussed during the open part of the meeting. Cllrs KYNOCH, VANE PERCY and Mrs HULL all declared a personal interest as they live on Post Street. The MAYOR summarised their comments and Cllr VANE PERCY proposed that the Town Council should turn down the proposed cycleway along Post Street in its present form. CARRIED.

It became apparent during discussions that the proprietor of the Black Bull Public House had not been made aware of the proposed “build out” to further reduce parking in front of his building. In an area where parking is already at a premium this was considered inappropriate. Cllr BROWN proposed that the Town Council should recommend refusal to the proposed “build out”. APPROVED.

Cllr Mrs Godley left at 10.10pm

The MAYOR returned to the discussion about funding for Picnic in the Park 2005. Having heard the explanation from the Community Association concerning the increase in the amount, the Town Council voted to APPROVE the sum of £8000 from next year’s budget.

04/088 ACCOUNTS.

The accounts set out in Appendix B were APPROVED.

04/089 PLANNING APPLICATIONS AND CORRESPONDENCE.

The applications and correspondence set out in Appendix C were considered. The Town Clerk was to advise HDC of the Council’s recommendations.

Cllr Vane Percy left at 10.30pm

04/090 DISTRICT COUNCIL REPORTS.

Cllr HYAMS reported that the objections he had raised about the SUSTRANS cycleway had not been supported by HDC.

He reported that a site at Little Paxton had been singled out for the development of an extra 436 houses in an area prone to flooding.

Cllr HYAMS had attended a meeting on the presentation of a revised Development Plan in which the criteria were changing with smaller policies being re-written as they developed.

04/091 WORKING PARTY (WP) REPORTS.

CHUMMS and A14. There was nothing to report.

Cemetery. The Town Clerk advised that he had written to two more contractors requesting estimates for the cost of resurfacing the Cemetery car park. To date one reply had been received. The DEPUTY MAYOR, in his capacity as chair of the Cemetery WP, advised that he had produced a spreadsheet with details from the Burial Register. The details were now held on floppy disk in the safe in the Town Office. Returfing would take place as soon as the weather allowed. When it became necessary to begin interments in the newer part of the cemetery, Cllr COHEN would consider the facilities provided at the Primrose Lane Cemetery in Huntingdon with a view to introducing something similar in Godmanchester.

Environment. In the absence of Cllr BUTCHER, the WP had not met and there was nothing further to report. However, the Town Clerk outlined a request that had been received for the installation of a memorial bench on Coronation Walk. The Town Council AGREED to the request and the Town Clerk was to inform the applicant.

Finance. The Finance WP had not met.

Flood Defences. The Town Clerk advised that he had written to the Environment Agency to hasten the update promised for June/July 2004. To date no reply had been received.

Property/Judith’s Field.

Health & Safety. Details of the work carried out by former Cllr R Coxhead had not been received and it was assumed that nothing would now be forthcoming. The MAYOR stated that a new Chair for the H & S WP would be required.

Other Representative Groups/Twinning/Inter Town Forum/Detached Youth Initiative.

Detached Youth Initiative. The scheme was still on going. The video project would be shown shortly and would indicate the desire for a drop-in centre. There would be a requirement for 2 youth workers for 10-week “terms” three times a year. There was an anticipated cost of £600 per 10-week period and it was assumed that the use of the Judith’s Field would be free. Both matters were APPROVED for an initial period of 12 months. Cllr Mrs HULL asked that further discussion on the matter be deferred until the January 2005 Town Council meeting.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS. Discussion of the Christmas lights on QES and the Town Hall was deferred to the next meeting, as was discussion on the willow trees on Coronation Walk and the area alongside Coronation Walk. Cllr KYNOCH asked for discussion on the declaration of “interests” also be deferred.

THE NEXT COUNCIL MEETING WILL BE HELD ON 20 JANUARY 2004.

The meeting ended at 10.55pm Mayor

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