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.

GODMANCHESTER TOWN COUNCIL
MINUTES OF THE TOWN COUNCIL MEETING HELD IN THE
TOWN HALL ON THURSDAY 10 DECEMBER 2009

PRESENT: M COHEN Town Mayor, D BROWN, Deputy Mayor
Councillors: R BUTCHER, Mrs H HULL, C HYAMS, Ms D MIDDLETON, N PAULEY, C RICHARDSON, D TAYLOR, C VANE PERCY, N WELLS, A WELTON, Mrs S WORTHINGTON, G WILSON

Town Clerk: Mrs M LIDDIARD
Mace Bearer: Mr M WILLIAMS

1 member of the public was in attendance

09/170 TO RECEIVE APOLOGIES AND REASONS FOR ABSENCE

CLLR CANT: attending Cllr Professional Development Training.

09/171 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST:

CLLR Mrs WORTHINGTON: discussions relating to 2012 as her neighbour has been appointed chair of the working committee; CLLR Mrs HULL: planning application from GMC Primary School as she is a Governor; CLLR HYAMS: Planning application from GMC Primary School as he is a former Governor; CLLR Ms MIDDLETON: correspondence from SmithsGore as they act as her landlord. In relation to applications received for grants the following interests were declared: CLLR WELTON/CLLR BROWN/CLLR COHEN – GMC Charities; CLLR WILSON/CLLR COHEN – GMC in Bloom; CLLR PAULEY – GMC Cricket Club; CLLR TAYLOR – Churches Together

09/172 MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

The Minutes of the meeting held on 19th November were duly APPPROVED and signed as a complete and accurate record. CLLR HYAMS commented that there had not been a reference to the Flood Forum in the minutes.

09/173 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION SESSION:

CLLR WILSON was asked to investigate the delay in repairs to street lights in the Crowhill area by a resident.

09/174 TOWN MAYOR’S ANNOUNCEMENTS:

THE MAYOR had represented the Town on 11 occasions since the last meeting and the DEPUTY MAYOR on 2 occasions.

THE MAYOR recorded his thanks to CLLR DUTTON who had stepped down as a Town Councillor and welcomed CLLR WELTON to his first meeting.

THE MAYOR confirmed the Town Council would consider applications to fill the 2 casual vacancies at the January meeting.

THE MAYOR reported the switch on of Christmas lights had gone well despite the awful weather and the next event would be the skating evening laid on by the Coop, which would take place on Friday 18th December 4.00pm – 8.30pm at Judith’s Field. Donations to the Mayor’s Charities and the Coop’s charity: RNID.

THE MAYOR advised a new sign had been displayed noting the new opening hours for the Town Office. He also advised that the Town Clerk would be out of the office for the following 2 Mondays.

09/175 TOWN CLERK’S REPORT ON MATTERS ARISING:

Play Pathfinder: CLLR TAYLOR advised a meeting would be held on 17th December with representatives from the Town Council, GMC in Bloom, HDC, Fenland Leisure to discuss the next steps. The aim was to complete the scheme and hold an official opening on 27th March 2010.

Fishing Platforms: CLLR BROWN confirmed he had been liaising with Kye Jerom from the Environment Agency and CLLR HYAMS to resolve queries, and it was hoped a formal proposal could be brought to the Council for consideration at the January meeting.

09/176 DISTRICT/COUNTY COUNCIL REPORTS

CLLR WILSON reported, as many were aware, that the guided bus was not opening on time and there was a potential overspend on the project.

CLLR WILSON advised CCC were debating bidding for money from the Government, for transport improvements. The programme of measures includes improvements for the park and ride system and public transport in Cambridge, but is likely to be conditional on the introduction of congestion charging. There will be further consultation, but CLLR WILSON welcomes early views and opinions.

CLLR WILSON confirmed PCSOs would be in the QES on Saturday 19th December at 11am to provide information and training on the Speedwatch initiative. All are welcome.

CLLR HYAMS reported the application to extend the operating period for the landfill site at Cow Lane had been given approval although various conditions had been imposed.

09/177 CORRESPONDENCE

The list of correspondence in Appendix A was considered.

CLLR COHEN confirmed a letter had been sent on behalf of the Town Council to Mrs Kenna at St Anne’s School to thank her for her contribution to the community during her time as Head Teacher and to wish her happiness and success in her new appointment.

CLLR COHEN advised a request had been made through HDC Diversity Officer to hold an event on the Recreation Ground in May 2010. A reply would be sent seeking further information and confirming details of our license.

CLLR COHEN reported HDC had approved their budget and the Town Council had been offered a long lease on the public toilets at a peppercorn rent. The Town Clerk would respond confirming the Town Council would not take up this offer at this time.

CLLR BUTCHER confirmed we had been invited to renew our membership of the Parish Path Partnership initiative. If anyone was aware of any paths, gates, stiles in need of attention repair or renewal, please let him know.

CLLR MRS WORTHINGTON reported a further letter had been received from Leeds Day (acting on behalf of Mr Sursham) which supported the view that the wall between the Community Primary School and the Non Conformist Burial Ground did belong to the school and was therefore the responsibility of the County Council. CLLR WORTHINGTON would continue to progress this matter.

A letter from the Huntingdon and Godmanchester Civic Society requested our views on the repair and reinstatement of the 2 wrought iron benches, previously sited on The Avenue. As we had stated in our reply to a resident with the same enquiry, these benches were thought to be beyond economical repair and had been replaced with hard wearing benches, which were in regular use. A reply would be sent to the Society to confirm this.

CLLR MRS HULL reported Safer Neighbourhood Panels were being replaced with Neighbourhood forums. Members from County and District Councils, NHS, Police, Fire and Rescue, Luminus will be represented and the forums will meet quarterly. CLLR MRS HULL has attended the briefing session and will attend the first meeting on behalf of the Town Council in January.

A letter was received from First Strokes. Based at Godmanchester swimming pool, it is a new swimming club and they have written requesting a grant. Following discussions on grant applications, it was AGREED to send First Strokes an application for a grant, which would be considered at the January meeting.

09/178 FINANCIAL/ACCOUNTS

The list of payments to be made in Appendix B was approved. A payment was made in respect of the traffic calming scheme on London Road. It was felt the scheme was ineffective as the road narrowing did not go far enough. Highways have advised a survey of traffic speeds would be undertaken so that a comparison could be made of the pre calming speeds with post calming speeds. The Town Clerk would write requesting a copy of the survey details and results.

Councillors received a copy of the Petty Cash Reconciliation for the period to 10th December 2009; a copy of the budget report on the year to date, and a copy of the monthly bank reconciliation as verified by THE MAYOR.

CLLR VANE PERCY arrived at 8.32pm

09/179 PLANNING APPLICATIONS AND CORRESPONDENCE

CLLR VANE PERCY declared an interest in the planning application relating to the Community Primary School and abstained from voting on the Town Council’s recommendation. The applications and correspondence set out in Appendix C were considered. The Town Clerk would advise HDC of the Council’s recommendations.

A response on the HCV County Advisory Freight Map had been drafted and was approved and would be sent.

It was AGREED to hold a public meeting at the end of January 2010 to receive views from members of the public on the options relating to Judith’s Field. CLLR WELLS AGREED to lead this meeting and collate responses. An agenda would be drawn up at the next Planning working party meeting and it was proposed to hold the meeting at Judith’s Field on the afternoon of Saturday 30th January 2010. The Town Council would publicise the public meeting through local newspapers, posters and local radio and invite local community groups to attend.

CLLR HYAMS had prepared a draft response to be sent to HDC, Jonathan Djanogly and the Highways Agency stating the Town Council’s position on the A14. CLLR WILSON questioned some of the details in the draft, stating they either did not make sense or were not relevant. It was AGREED that CLLR HYAMS would re-draft the letter, taking into account comments made by fellow Cllrs and that the draft would be circulated for approval, prior to being sent from the Town Office.

09/180 2012

CLLR PAULEY stated that the chair of the 2012 committee was passed from Mrs Ann Looker (who had originally held the chair in her capacity as Cllr) to Mr Spencer (Chair of the Community Association). As the Town Council have agreed to commit funds to mark 2012 it was AGREED that a meeting should be held between Town Council and Community Association representatives to draw up guidelines for any future allocation of Town Council funds, identifying items the Town Council would support and preparing a clear plan of action. CLLR PAULEY would organise this meeting.

CLLR RICHARDSON arrived at 9.40pm

09/181 LINK

CLLR RICHARDSON provided a report on the work of LINK which is a Government initiative to provide a stronger voice in social care and health services from the community. Approximately 50 members participate in a variety of working groups looking at the services provided from the perspective of the end users. Examples of these groups include: ambulance services; nursing care; hygiene; nutrition; and mental health services. The members are seeking and representing view points from members of the public on all areas of social and health care and any comments on any of these issues can be passed to CLLR RICHARDSON.

09/182 APPLICATIONS FOR GRANTS

Applications for grants as listed in Appendix D were considered. Town Clerk would write to advise applicants of the outcome and confirm cheques would be issued in January. As stated, First Strokes swimming club will be given the opportunity to apply for a grant in January, as their letter had been received too late for consideration at this meeting.

The cooker purchased for Churches Together earlier in the year had been located in the Salvation Army hall. As the Salvation Army no longer has a presence in Godmanchester the cooker has been relocated for use by the lunch club, and has been moved to the church hall at St Mary the Virgin.

The Baptist Church confirmed the football project has now ceased and they advised they had not used the full amount of grant issued to them in June 2009. It was AGREED that the balance of £151.40 could be used by the Baptist Church for a residential weekend for young people, taking place in March 2010. Town Clerk would write to confirm.

09/183 GODMANCHESTER IN BLOOM

The Town Clerk confirmed, on behalf of the Council, that although GMC in Bloom had not been awarded a grant on this occasion, the Town Council was still happy to support the many efforts of GMC in Bloom. It was confirmed that the 20 hanging baskets that had been put up this year would be included in the Town Council ground maintenance contract for the next 3 years, thereby allowing any fundraising undertaken by the GMC in Bloom committee to be spent elsewhere. The Town Council would continue to support the initiative, but had not been able to allocate specific funds as part of the budget for the following financial year. It was hoped that other benefits in kind would continue to be achieved by working in partnership with the many other organisations also involved in the Anglia in Bloom scheme.

MISCELLEANOUS

CLLR BROWN offered the suggestion that, as the Chinese Bridge would be removed and temporarily located in the Town Hall car park, should anyone want a memento they might like a piece of the old bridge, and could perhaps be asked to make a donation to the 2012 funds?

CLLR PAULEY advised he had made contact with Mrs Kynoch and found out more about the work of the Friends of the Queen Elizabeth School.

CLLR HYAMS recommended a visit to the recycling centre in Waterbeach, and suggested this could be arranged for the Spring.

Town Clerk reported the gullies around the Exhibition public house in London Road would be jetted the following week.

Town Clerk had been approached by the Baptist Church who would be interested in taking over organisation of the annual switch on of Christmas lights and carol service. This met with approval and Town Clerk would liaise with the Baptist Church.

THE NEXT COUNCIL MEETING WILL BE HELD ON 14 JANUARY 2010 IN THE TOWN HALL

The meeting ended at 11.15pm Mayor

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