MINUTES OF THE FULL COUNCIL MEETING
HELD ON TUESDAY 13TH JULY 2010
Present: Cllr Cusack (Chair) Cllr Harwood Cllr Hing
Cllr C Roberts Cllr Wardle Cllr M Jones
Cllr Mumford Cllr Hinton Cllr Boulton
County Cllr Theodoulou (part) In attendance: Vanessa Lawrence(Clerk), 5 members of the public Cllr Cusack opened the meeting and advised those attending about fire exits. Before the meeting began the Clerk made a brief statement as follows: “At a meeting earlier in the year a question was put to the Council relating to the Freedom of Information Model Publication Scheme. I replied to the question with good intent and to the best of my knowledge, using the information that I had at the time. It has now been found that this information was incorrect. I would like to apologise for any misunderstanding or inconvenience caused as a result of my error”. Due to a problem regarding agendas being received by all Cllrs. GAPTC were contacted for advice, which was that the meeting could proceed, if all Cllrs. were in agreement. Cllr. Harwood proposed that the meeting should go ahead, seconded Cllr. M Jones – all in favour. 057 10/11 Apologies for Absence
Apologies were received from Cllr Fisher, Cllr S Roberts, Cllr S Jones, Cllr Winney 058 10/11 Declarations of Interest in Items on the Agenda
Declarations were received from:-
Cllr. Harwood – Item 078 (prejudicial interest)
Cllr. Wardle – Item 073 and 074 (prejudicial interest)
Cllr. Cusack – Item 073 and 074 (prejudicial interest) & 084 (prejudicial interest)
Cllr. Mumford – Item 063 (personal interest) 069 (prejudicial interest); 070 (personal interest)
059 10/11 To approve the minutes of the Full Council Meeting held on 8th June 2010 (pp020-024 10/11)
It was RESOLVED to approve the minutes of the Full Council meeting held on 8th June with amendment to Item 054. Proposed Cllr. Harwood, seconded Cllr. M Jones – all in favour. 060 10/11 To agree to adjourn the meeting for Public Question Time – there is a 10 minute time limit
It was RESOLVED to adjourn the meeting for Public Question Time. Q: Miss Ferguson asked if the Council why we needed to have a Town Crier event and were the Council going to lose money on this event.
A: Cllr. M Jones answered Miss Ferguson with a question about whether she disagreed with any events in the Town which brought people together and encouraged community spirit.
A: Cllr. Cusack told Miss Ferguson, that activities such as the Town Crier event and the Xmas Market brought the town together and encouraged tourism and promoted the town. The Council had agreed to go ahead with the Town Crier event and no money would be lost. Q: Mrs. Kinnock asked if the cost for Mr. Doo, the entertainer at the Xmas Market (£300) was necessary and why couldn’t we use local groups and obtain them for free.
A: Cllr. Cusack said that this was organized for the Community and satisfied the majority of people who attended.
Q: Mr Finney asked if the footpath near Lake 104 and the river could be dealt with as it was wearing away considerably, also if the field across the river from the Broadboard’s bridge could be managed as it was extremely overgrown. He suggested that we advertise for people to walk this route to tread it down. The Clerk told Mr. Finney that PROW had already been advised of the situation with the footpath and that the field was also something that PROW was looking at clearing. The Clerk said that she would chase this up with PROW. ACTION: The Clerk to contact PROW as a matter of urgency. Cllr. Roberts also said that the Environment Agency were involved in the footpath work, but they were rather slow to rectify the problem. 061 10/11 To agree to reconvene the meeting following Public Question Time
It was RESOLVED to reconvene the meeting following Public Question Time. Proposed Cllr. Boulton, seconded Cllr. Hinton – all in favour 062 10/11 Chairman’s announcements
1. Cllr. Cusack reminded Cllrs. that they should take advantage of any training courses that are made available by GAPTC.
2. A letter of thanks had been received from Fairford Town Football Club thanking the Council for the grant of £750, which would go some way towards the cost of extra lighting of the pitch.
3. GAPTC – require resolutions for their Annual General Meeting. Cllrs were asked to send in any resolutions by the 30th July. 063 10/11 To consider correspondence/invitations received (list e-mailed) and correspondence requiring a reply (e-mailed)
Letter from Wilmot & Co.- e-mailed 28/6/10
It was agreed that the Clerk should contact the Solicitors to obtain the leases currently held by them. ACTION: Clerk to contact Wilmot & Co.
Cllr. Wardle asked if Cllr. C Roberts could look into Section 106 agreements mentioned in the Planning Portal e-newsletter of 1st July. ACTION: Cllr. C Roberts to report back to Council. 064 10/11 To consider report from District Councillor
Cllr. C Roberts reported as follows:
Integrated Youth Offer Funding – not now available this year. CDC still pursuing this type of funding in the hope that funds will be available at another time.
Waste Collections – new day for waste collection took effect last month. The transition is working smoothly across the District. CDC hopes to save around £70k per year.
Kerbside Collection of Plastic – being trialed in various locations such as Cirencester, Quenington, Willersey and Moreton-in-Marsh. Starting 26th July and ending 20th September. This will test the suitability of the new SITA vehicle. Results will be presented to CDC’s cabinet in December.
Free Training from the Red Cross – CDC and the Red Cross have joined forces to launch a new initiative involving Fairford and Lechlade. Free training to 12 volunteers, who in turn will agree to be available for the Fairford Emergency Action Group in the event of a major emergency affecting the town. Training to take place at the beginning of September and if successful be will be rolled out across the district and could even go nationwide. County Cllr Theodoulou arrived Resilience Newsletter – Regular bulletin about resilience work across the District. The first was issued at the end of June. Q: Cllr. Wardle asked why West Oxfordshire were able to provide their waste collection services free of charge and their range of collections was much greater than CDC’s.
A: Cllr. C Roberts said that it was probably because of the type of area covered i.e. Rural to Urban. However she would put this to CDC for a reply. 065 10/11 To consider report from County Councillor
• County Cllr Theodoulou reported that the 1st Cabinet meeting had been held with the new democratic processes being used. He said that 21 questions and 1 petition had been received (not from this area). The petition will lead to a Scrutiny Committee meeting.
• Cuts announced – instruction to reduce budget by £6.7million in the 9 months. The cuts will be in education £4.3 million and £2.4million in integrated transport fund i.e. roads, road repairs, road safety. Awaiting Autumn statement from the government where further cuts are expected, possibly 25-30%.
• GCC own services will have to become more efficient.
• It is expected that access to PWLB with it becoming more difficult to obtain loans, which will affect growth in schools and residential homes.
Q: Cllr. Hing asked why kerbside potholes were not being dealt with, as this is proving
extremely dangerous for cyclists.
A: C.Cllr. Theodoulou said that 2 sections in Fairford were being looked at, Milton Street
and London Road, with money having been set aside for Milton Street
(subject to cuts) but not for London Street. He said that this was Countywide
problem.
Q: Cllr. Cusack said that a petition had been received from residents in Milton Street and asked if a reply had gone out to them from County.
A: C. Cllr. Theodoulou said that he thought Highways had replied to a resident.
ACTION: Cllr C Roberts to advise further.
066 10/11 To receive reports on meetings attended
CDC – Re. FEAG – Cllrs. C Roberts and Hing
As reported in District Cllrs. Report – reference Resilience and Red Cross Training. The dummy incident set in the Bull Hotel recently to test the call out procedures was successful. Thanks to all those that participated.
GMTF - Visit to Faringdon Ecoweek – Cllr. Harwood
GMTF – Meeting. – Cllr. Harwood circulated report on his visit to Faringdon recently. Cllr. Harwood also reported that he had attended another GMTF meeting recently to discuss the future of GMTF, due to the cuts in funding. A decision will be made in due course whether this organisation will be able to continue.
FCC Management Committee Meeting – Cllr. C Roberts and Hinton. Cllr Roberts reported that the codes on the doors had been changed recently following reports of unauthorized entry to the building. Landlords are required to carry out Risk Assessments for their own areas, and Gerry Willis will be carrying out a risk assessment of the whole building. The Council should ensure that anyone entering the building on Council business on their own, should be made aware of their responsibilities whilst in the building and when leaving. A protocol should be in place. It was suggested that the Premises Committee should look at this. The hearing loop has now been set up in the Farmor Room. This has been paid for by FCC Ltd and with funds left over from the Project Group. Income has exceeded expenditure and large bookings are proving to be a problem in respect of cleaning and extra staff have had to be employed to do extra cleaning. This is not be paid for by the Council. A 10% surcharge has been implemented. Due to the increase in revenue, the Committee feel that they are now able to pay 50% of the FCC salaries, therefore the Councils share will be 60% of 50%. Staff appraisals for FCC staff need to be carried out as soon as possible. It was felt that this should be passed to the Staffing Committee for action. Input from FCC should be sought. 067 10/11 Matters arising
(from June Minutes)
Meeting with Matthew Millett – CWPS – 15th July 7.00pm has been organized.
Information regarding Grass cutting in the Plies/Moor Lane – is that it is the responsibility of Fosseway Housing on the left hand side of the road as you approach Moor Lane and of Glos. Highways on the right hand side of the road. PLANNING 068 10/11 To receive the minutes of the Planning Committee Meetings held on 15th June 2010 (pp025–026 10/11) & 6th July (pp 027-028 10/11)
The minutes were received, with no comments. 069 10/11 To discuss request from Coln Park to be involved in a liaison group with Lechlade & Kempsford Councils.
The Council felt that the group already set up (ECSP) would be the most appropriate body to act as liaison for discussions relating to the Coln Park development. It was agreed to contact other local Councils to get their opinion. It was felt that there was no need to join the Liaison Group. Cllr Wardle said that he would contact other neighbouring Councils. ACTION: Cllr Wardle to contact Lechlade and Whelford. 070 10/11 To agree attendance at site visit to Coln Park on 14th July 2010.
Cllr Cusack, Hing and S. Jones would be attending this site visit. Cllr Theodoulou left.
FACILITIES
071 10/11 To receive the minutes of the Facilities Committee Meeting held on 6th July 2010 (pp 029-03010/11)
The minutes of the Facilities Committee meeting were received. Cllr Harwood said that the item relating to Horizon 2015 would be discussed in details at an extra-ordinary Facilities meeting on the 31st August and other Cllrs. should attend if possible. Cllr Wardle said that when reviewing Forest Textiles agreement with Council, the Car Park Lease should also be looked at due to the clauses held within it relating to the Market. It was agreed to look at this again in the August Facilities Committee meeting. ACTION: Clerk to add this item to the agenda for August Facilities meeting.
072 10/11 Update on CCTV project.
The Clerk informed the Council that Redhand had been asked to submit details of fixings, scale drawings and other information required for the Listed Building consent. The Clerk was waiting to hear from the owner of a property where it was felt the cameras could be situated. ACTION: Clerk to send application for listed building consent to CDC when all relevant information gathered.
HIGHWAYS
Cllrs Wardle and Cusack left the room 073 10/11 To discuss and agree options for parking restrictions along High Street and Market Place and which options to include on public questionnaire.
It was agreed that that there should be parking restrictions. All four options should be put onto the questionnaire, with times showing, and this should be made available to residents, businesses and visitors to respond. Forms should be put into shops with notices displaying their availability. Cllr C Roberts proposed that the questionnaire should be set out as stated above together with other small amendments and that this should go to Cllrs for final approval before being published, seconded Cllr Hing, 6 in favour 1 against. 074 10/11 To discuss revised size and number of parking signs in High Street and Market Place.
It was agreed that this matter does not need to be discussed at the sizes were statutory. Proposed Cllr Harwood, seconded Cllr M Jones – all in favour. Cllrs Wardle and Cusack returned. FINANCE
075 10/11 To approve retrospectively cheque payments for May and June 2010
It was RESOLVED to approve retrospectively cheque payments for May and June 2010. Proposed Cllr Harwood, seconded Cllr Wardle, 8 in favour, 1 abstention. 076 10/11 To receive payments & receipts report to end of July 2010
It was agreed to defer this to the next Full Council meeting. 077 10/11 To consider sale of sandbags to members of the public
It was RESOLVED that the Council should not sell any sandbags, but that details of where to obtain the bags should be made available if required, and that if sufficient people want these they may be purchased through the council as a bulk purchase and then sold to the individuals, to afford them the best possible price. Proposed Cllr Harwood, seconded Cllr C Roberts – all in favour. Cllr Harwood left the room 078 10/11 To agree annual subscription payment for GAPTC - £610.34 & GMTF £473.80.
It was RESOLVED to continue with the subscriptions for GAPTC and GMTF and that a letter should be sent to GAPTC to ask that more support is given to individual Cllrs. when they require assistance on issues that they may have.
Proposed Cllr Mumford, seconded Cllr Boulton – all in favour. OTHER BUSINESS
079 10/11 To agree template for Council Decisions
The template has been designed in order to facilitate the decision making process of the Council for projects. It was agreed that amendments should be made. It was RESOLVED to use this template for projects over £500, on a trial basis (3 months). Proposed Cllr Mumford, seconded Cllr Wardle – all in favour. A final draft sent to Cllrs. for approval. ACTION: Clerk to amend template and send out to Cllrs. for final approval. 080 10/11 To agree copy of Annual Report for publication
It was RESOLVED to publish the Annual Report with amendments. Cllrs. to send any further amendments by the end of the week. ACTION: Clerk to action amendments and circulate to confirm amendments. It was agreed that Item 082 should be taken at this point as 081 and 084 should be held “In Camera” 082 10/11 To discuss how to deal with fly posting.
It was thought that fly posting was illegal and the Clerk was asked to check with CDC if this is the case and to seek guidance from them as to responsibility for dealing with this. It was agreed that “fly posting” should be added to the newsletter when information from CDC has been received. Cllr. M Jones said that he felt that the Council should put up more notice boards, as genuine events need to publicized. POST-MEETING NOTE: The Clerk has contacted CDC and it has been confirmed that fly posting is illegal. Responsibility for dealing with this lies with CDC and they should be notified. Fines ranging from £75 - £1000 can be imposed. 081 10/11 Update on progress with 3 London Street (IN CAMERA)
083 10/11 Date of next meeting 10th August 2010 The Clerk and the Mayor left the meeting. 084 10/11 To endorse Deputy Mayor’s letter in response to complaint (IN CAMERA)
…………………………………………Chairman
…………………………………..2010
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