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 MEETING HELD IN THE GODMANCHESTER TOWN HALL ON THURSDAY 15 SEPTEMBER 2005

PRESENT: H R BUTCHER, Town Mayor, M COHEN Deputy Town Mayor
Councillors: W D BUTTERWORTH, J COXHEAD, Mrs C A GODLEY, L HOLGATE, Mrs H HULL, Mrs A M LOOKER, Mrs B MOORE, Mrs E TREHARNE-JONES, C VANE PERCY

Mace Bearer: M WILLIAMS

Town Clerk: A J WELTON

APOLOGIES: Cllrs: D BROWN, A GOFF, C R HYAMS, E KYNOCH

There were no members of the public present.

TOWN MAYOR’S ANNOUNCEMENTS.

The MAYOR advised that he had represented the Town on 4 occasions since the last meeting. The DEPUTY MAYOR had not represented the Town since the previous meeting.

The MAYOR gave details of the arrangements for the Civic Service on Sunday 18 September 2005. He asked the Town Clerk to ensure that the Union Flag was raised for the duration of the Civic event.

The Town Clerk advised that a replacement Town Clerk’s Assistant, Mr David Roffe, had been appointed and was due to start work on Monday 19 September 2005. The Town Council APPROVED the appointment for a six-month probationary period.

05/061 MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 18 August 2005 were APPROVED and signed as a complete and accurate record.

05/062 MATTERS ARISING.

The Outstanding Actions List, dated 15 September 2005 was reviewed. Zurich Insurance had not yet replied to the matter of insurance valuation of fixed assets. The Town Clerk was to hasten a response.

05/063 CORRESPONDENCE.

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

The MAYOR explained the contents of the letter from Fattorini. Notwithstanding that the cost of the previous medallion had included the preparatory art-work, material costs had risen and Fattorini had indicated that the price they had quoted for the new medallion was not negotiable further. Purchase of the new medallion was APPROVED by a majority vote 7:4. It was also DECIDED that both medallions should be added to the insurance schedule.

Addressing the letter received from HDC concerning the state of the skate park at Judith’s Field, it was DECIDED that the Town Clerk was to seek more information about the Skatelite Pro material to discover whether it was non-flammable. Additionally, he was to seek information about sources of alternative funding. It was necessary that the Town Clerk made it clear to HDC that if it was decided to proceed that any financial contribution made by Godmanchester Town Council was to be identified as a contribution to a capital upgrade programme and that any associated maintenance thereafter would continue to be the responsibility of HDC as in the current arrangements.

The letter from Mrs Johnson provoked wide discussion. It was AGREED that she should receive a full refund for plots numbered C169 and C170 and that the Town Council would grant plots C194 and C195 to her in lieu, free of charge. However, before any new deeds were issued to her, the Town Clerk was to insist on the return of those related to plots C169 and C170. The Town Council could not see any correlation between the rewording of the headstone and the location of the burial plots and was, therefore, not prepared to make any payment for this matter.

The letter from Campbell Rees Associates concerning the provision of a ramp for disabled access to the Town Hall was discussed. It was DECIDED that alternative sources of funding to meet the estimated costs of £20000 should be investigated. In the meantime, Listed Building Consent and Full planning applications should be submitted to HDC.

The MAYOR invited Cllrs Mrs MOORE, Mrs LOOKER and BUTTERWORTH to inspect the proposed lease related to the Senior Citizens Club and to advise the Town Clerk of its suitability. If considered suitable, the Town Clerk was to return it to the solicitors for the insertion of the relevant dates and back to the Town Council for signature.

The letter from the Jack and Jill Pre-School group was discussed. As there had been no formal response to an earlier request to them to remove play and other materials from cupboards in the Judith’s Field building, the Town Council was not inclined to allow use of the changing rooms as additional storage. The Town Clerk was to write again to the Pre-School management to remind them that they did not have permission for the use of 2 external storage rooms and that the changing rooms were not to be used for that purpose. Additionally, the Town Clerk was to request the return of the duplicate key to the external storage room.

HDC had written to deny all knowledge of the public conveniences located next to QES. This matter had arisen because the Town Clerk had written to HDC requesting details of any work carried out on the drainage system that ran from those conveniences and across the QES car park. Because previous inspection of those drains had revealed that there was some structural damage, it had been suspected that the floor of the small hall in QES had been damaged due to the water from those drains getting under the foundations of the building. It transpired that it could also have been caused by the leakage of water from the guttering in the “V” of the building roof.

The Town Clerk advised that there had been 23 enquiries following the job advertisement but that that had resulted in only 6 full job applications. It was AGREED that all 6 applicants would be interviewed on Thursday 22 September 2005 in the Town Hall, starting at 6.00pm. The interview panel would be comprised of the MAYOR, and Cllrs Mrs MOORE and BUTTERWORTH. The Town Clerk was to be in attendance. The DEPUTY MAYOR agreed to meet and greet candidates on arrival.

05/064 ACCOUNTS.

The accounts set out in Appendix B were APPROVED.

05/065 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.

05/066 DISTRICT COUNCIL REPORTS.

Cllr Mrs GODLEY passed out proposals for bulky refuse item collections in Godmanchester. It was DECIDED that, as no one had had time to read them, the matter would be discussed at the next meeting in October.

05/067 WORKING PARTY (WP) REPORTS.

Cemetery. Cllr COHEN had received correspondence concerning the safety of memorials but, as there were no memorials in the London Road Cemetery, he felt that there was no need for concern at this stage.

He announced that there was now a new tap in the Cemetery car park and that it was working effectively.

There were a number of graves spaces that now needed turfing. As he had mentioned at the previous meeting, early next spring appeared to be the appropriate time for such work to be carried out. In the meantime, it would be necessary to write to the relatives of those buried recently to remind them that London Road Cemetery is a Lawn Cemetery.

In discussing the letter from HTC concerning the methods of preparing their Primrose Lane Cemetery, Cllr COHEN said that a rough calculation suggested some 18 graves per row. When the time was right, he suggested that HTC be approached to prepare 3 rows thus providing capacity for some 50 graves.

Environment. In discussing the letter from the Environment Agency concerning the River Great Ouse, the MAYOR, in his capacity as Chairman of the Environment WP, explained that recent refurbishment of the sluices had only involved the replacement of motors and winding gear and nothing had been changed with respect to the river level monitoring. The sluice was operating exactly as it had before refurbishment. The general reduction in flow, and the concomitant increase in the occurrence of algae were due to the prolonged spell of lower than average rainfall.

The MAYOR explained that, after a delay of almost a year, the Town Council had received another letter from OCA UK Ltd concerning tree root damage to a building in the Chord Park Business Park. Following discussion it was DECIDED that the Town Clerk would write to Zurich Insurance for advice.

A Mrs Sheppard had written to the Town Council requesting their agreement to the installation of a memorial bench on the vacant concrete base in the Recreation Ground. It was AGREED that such a bench could be installed and Mrs Sheppard had been put in touch with Ashley & Foster. In the meantime, the spare bench currently being stored by Ashley & Foster would be installed adjacent to the new play equipment in Devana Park. The Town Clerk was to advise Ashley & Foster. Additionally, he was to order a new waste bin for installation at the same location.

Following success with photographic evidence of blocked drains along London Road, the MAYOR had asked the Town Clerk to write again to HDC concerning drains in Silver Street and St Anne’s Lane, all of which were also backed up by photographic evidence.

The Town Clerk had also written to the Highways Department to request the clearance of accumulated rubbish along The Stiles, particularly between Pinfold Lane and Pipers Lane. Additionally, he had requested that overhanging foliage be cut back so that light from the various lamp standards shone into The Stiles, thus making it less attractive as a meeting place.

Cllr Mrs TREHARNE-JONES advised that her promised list of observations concerning the various play areas had been forwarded.

The MAYOR advised that he had received only positive feedback about the new play equipment in the Devana Play Area.

Finance. The WP had not met so there was nothing to report.

Flood Defences. The WP had not met so there was nothing to report.

Health & Safety. Cllr Mrs TREHARNE-JONES reported that, as instructed at the last meeting, she and Cllr Mrs MOORE had met to make the necessary amendments to the Town Clerk’s job description and these had been forwarded to the Town Clerk, who had made the necessary amendments in time to incorporate them in job descriptions forwarded to those who had made job enquiries for the post of Town Clerk.

It was AGREED that the next Health & Safety WP meeting would be held in the Town Hall on Thursday 29 September 2005 starting at 7.30pm.

Cllr Mrs GODLEY left the meeting at 9.25pm.

Judith’s Field. Cllr GOFF had presented his apologies for this meeting but had provided a brief for the MAYOR to present concerning his proposals for the protection of the fabric of the building. As the Town Council had not had the opportunity to absorb the proposals and because the proposed solutions varied in that the estimates were not on a like for like basis, it was DECIDED that the Town Clerk would write to HDC to enquire what methods they employed for the protection of buildings and also he was to write to Earth Anchors to request the relevant catalogue.

Other Representative Groups/Twinning/Youth Focus Group.

Twinning. Cllr Mrs LOOKER had attended the latest meeting of the HGTA and had circulated her notes from the meeting to all Cllrs, via the Town Clerk.

She advised that 2006 was likely to be an expensive year from a Twinning point of view, with the Business Meeting (hosted by Godmanchester) in February 2006, a 25th anniversary and a Sportsfest in September 2006 and she suggested that it would be appropriate for there to be a meeting with the Chairman of the HGTA and with HTC to sort out a framework and order of costs, underlining the agreed ratio of 3:1 with Huntingdon. It was further suggested that such a meeting should be held in October 2005.

Youth Focus Group. The next meeting would be on 12 October 2005, timing and location to be confirmed.

ANY OTHER BUSINESS.

Cllr Mrs TREHARNE-JONES advised that the Allotment Association had been advised about the application for a S137 grant towards the cost of the installation of CCTV at the Allotments.

She also confirmed that she had discussed with the Association about maintaining the planters in front of the “Welcome to Godmanchester” sign, once the new sign and planters were in place.

Cllr Mrs LOOKER mentioned that it was somewhat of a tradition for the Mayor to judge the Guy Fawkes effigies prior to their incineration on bonfire night. The MAYOR advised that he would not be available and asked for a volunteer to substitute.

THE NEXT COUNCIL MEETING WILL BE HELD ON 20 OCTOBER 2005.

The meeting ended at 9.52pm Mayor

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