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HALSTEAD TOWN COUNCIL |
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MINUTES OF TOWN COUNCIL MEETING PUBLIC SESSION MINUTES 15 April 2024: at 19:15 |
Membership:
| Councillor Jackie Pell | Chairman | Present |
| Councillor Andy Munday | Vice Chairman | Present |
| Councillor Janet Atkinson | Apologies | |
| Councillor James Bond | Present | |
| Councillor Malcolm Fincken | Present | |
| Councillor Linda Hilton | Present | |
| Councillor Gemma MacAndrews | Apologies | |
| Councillor Grahame McCoyd | Present | |
| Councillor Paul Nunn | Apologies | |
| Councillor Felix Preston | Apologies | |
| Councillor Linda Smith | Apologies | |
| Councillor Garry Warren | Apologies |
Also in attendance: ECC Councillor Chris Siddall, Cameron Poole, Sarah Greatorex (Town Clerk)
204. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Cllr Smith, Cllr Warren, Cllr MacAndrews and Cllr Preston sent apologies due to work commitments, and Cllr Nunn and Atkinson sent apologies due to ill health.
Cllr Munday proposed, seconded by Cllr Fincken, acceptance of the apologies. This was unanimously agreed.
205. DECLARATIONS OF INTERESTS:
Cllr Fincken declared NPI item 5, as a member of BDC planning committee. Cllr Munday declared NPI item 5, as a member of BDC planning committee, and item 14 as a member of BDC. Cllr Pell declared NPI, item 5 24/00260/FUL, as neighbours of the site are known to her, items 7b and 7b (a), and item 14 as a member of BDC and CSGMC.. Cllr McCoyd declared NPI item 11 as resident making statement is known to him.
206. PUBLIC QUESTION TIME
a) Cllr McCoyd read a statement on behalf of Robert Bell, relating to the overnight parking proposal for motorhomes. Mr Bell was providing more evidence of successful allocation of car park spaces to motor homes overnight in other towns, and said that he had not heard of detrimental effects following the introduction of these opportunities.
b) ECC Cllr Chris Siddall gave his report. He stated that as well as being on the Local Highways panel, he also now will sit on the Chairman’s panel which will look at larger schemes. He is also Vicechair of the Audit, governance and standards committee, which has now completed its 2022 audit. He is also on the transformation board which will work on doing things differently, digitally. The grant scheme is also continuing. He confirmed that funds from the cancellation of HS2 will be spent on the road networks, and that the pothole repair scheme would continue. He said that the foliage on Mount Hill reported by Cllr Warren will be dealt with, and that he would support the acquisition of the old picture for the library.
Cllr Siddall left the meeting.
207. MINUTES To approve the minutes of the Town Council meeting held on 11 March 2024. Minutes had been circulated and proposal to adopt minutes of the Full Town council meeting of 11 March 2024 was put forward by Cllr Fincken, seconded by Cllr Bond, and agreed with one abstention.
Proposal to note the Minutes of the Events meeting of 8 April 2024 was put forward by Cllr Munday, and seconded by Cllr Fincken, with one abstention.
208. PLANNING APPLICATIONS – Cllr Pell, Lead for planning
The following Planning Applications, which were received and circulated electronically, were considered at the Council meeting.
Cllr Fincken and Cllr Munday left the meeting.
24/00503/LBC – 54 Chapel Hill, Halstead, Essex – Installation of aluminium fenestration and bifold doors to the rear of the building
Cllr Bond proposed no objection, seconded by Cllr McCoyd and unanimously agreed.
24/00590/HH & 24/00591/LBC – 6 The Causeway, Halstead, Essex – Proposed first floor internal alteration to accommodate conversion of existing cupboard to an en-suite wc & installation of SVP to rear elevation.
Cllr Bond proposed no objection, seconded by Cllr McCoyd, and unanimously agreed.
24/00260/FUL – Upper Beakley Farm, Oak Road, Halstead – Replacement of agricultural barn with 1 No. dwelling
Cllr Bond proposed no objection, seconded by Cllr Hilton, and unanimously agreed.
Cllr Fincken and Cllr Munday returned to the meeting.
209. MAYOR’S APPOINTMENTS
Cllr Pell stated that she had in addition attended an Eastlight grant awarding event on 28 March.
Cllr Munday proposed that the Mayor’s appointments be noted, seconded by Cllr McCoyd and unanimously agreed.
210. FINANCE
Finance – Cllr Munday, Deputy Lead for Finance, led this part of the meeting.
All members of the Council are members of the Finance section
a) Income and expenditure for March 2024
Cllr Munday proposed, seconded by Cllr Bond, approval of the income and expenditure report for March. This was unanimously agreed.
b) To approve the Lists of payments to be made in April
Cllr Munday proposed, seconded by Cllr Bond, approval of the lists of payments. This was unanimously agreed.
c) To approve the reconciliation of bank accounts to 31/03/24
Cllr Munday proposed that HTC approve the reconciliation of banks to 31/03/24 This was seconded by Cllr Fincken and unanimously agreed.
d) To consider buying a bleedkit for emergency treatment in the High Street
Cllr Munday proposed, seconded by Cllr Fincken, that a bleedkit should be bought for the High Street, and that the Clerk should decide who should monitor it. This was unanimously agreed.
e) To consider running a Traffic Management for Community Event course for Marshals
Cllr Fincken proposed, seconded by Cllr Munday, that HTC seeks a more appropriate and less expensive course on Traffic Management for Community Events for Marshals, to be attended by the Clerk and the Chief Marshal. This was unanimously agreed.
211. To receive reports from District councillors
Cllr Bond said that he had attended the Scrutiny committee, and confirmed that works on the Town Centre are due to start in July 2024.
Cllr Fincken had attended a small group considering a community strategy for the district, but that the administration had decided that this should not go ahead as it would mean yet another layer of decision making. He had also attended a waste management meeting
Cllr Pell had also attended the community strategy meeting, Full Council and the developing democracy group.
Cllr Munday had attended Full Council, Planning Members’ Forum and a Members’ skills evening.
Cllr Fincken proposed that the reports were noted, seconded by Cllr Munday and unanimously agreed.
212. To receive reports from Champions
a) Doctors’ surgery – no report
b) Education.- no report.
c) Police – no report
d) Open Spaces – Cllr Fincken reported that there would be a meeting on the Tennis courts to be installed at Courtaulds sports ground on 26 April. There should be enough S106 funds remaining to pay for a gate entry system. The floodlighting may be an issue.
e) Tourism – no report
213. To consider secure email for councillors
Cllr McCoyd proposed, seconded by Cllr Bond, that HTC asks Onsite to set up .gov.uk emails for all councillors in order to increase security for the council, and ensuring that Onsite assist councillors to manage their emails. This was unanimously agreed.
214. To reconsider the request for overnight parking for motorhomes at Butler Road carpark
Cllr Fincken proposed, seconded by Cllr Munday, that the plan for motorhome parking should not go ahead. This was agreed with 4 in favour and 2 against..
215. To receive an update on the Safer Streets project
Cllr Fincken proposed that the Safer Streets report be noted. This was seconded by Cllr Munday and unanimously agreed.
216. To receive an update on the Greenway walking and cycling group for Halstead.
Cllr Munday proposed, seconded by Cllr Fincken, that the Update on Greenway walking and cycling be noted. This was unanimously agreed.
217. To consider improving parking in Colne Road
- Cllr Munday proposed, seconded by Cllr Fincken, that HTC supports the idea of resident parking permits in Colne Road, if this receives the support of the residents. This was agreed with one abstention
- Cllr Fincken proposed that HTC does not recommend to the LHP the possibility of calming measures on Colne Road, in view of the existing heavy traffic. This was seconded by Cllr Pell and unanimously agreed.
- Cllr Fincken proposed, seconded by Cllr Bond, that HTC does not recommend providing parking accessible across the rugby pitch, as this would seriously interfere with the functioning of Courtaulds Sports Ground. This was unanimously agreed.
218. To consider helping the police with the purchase of a new kind of speed camera
Cllr Fincken proposed, seconded by Cllr Munday, that HTC should not pay funds towards the police speed camera. Cllr Munday also stated that he does not support speeding, but he felt that the town would not benefit from spending these funds. This was unanimously agreed.
219. To update the GDPR Privacy policy
Cllr Munday proposed, seconded by Cllr Bond, that the GDPR privacy policy be updated. This was unanimously agreed.
220. To update the Subject access requests Policy
Cllr Bond proposed, seconded by Cllr Fincken, that the Subject Access requests policy be updated. This was unanimously agreed.
221. To update the Data Protection policy
Cllr Munday proposed, seconded by Cllr Fincken, that the Data Protection policy be updated. This was unanimously agreed.
222. To approve Christmas Office hours 2024
Cllr Munday proposed, seconded by Cllr Bond, that the Christmas office hours for 2024 be approved. This was unanimously agreed.
223. EXCLUSION OF PUBLIC AND PRESS
To give consideration to adopting the following resolution: – “That in view of the confidential nature of the business about to be transacted and pursuant to the provisions of section 1(2)-of the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960, as amended, the public and the press be temporarily excluded from the meeting”.
Cllr Bond proposed that the public be excluded from the private session, seconded by Cllr Munday, and unanimously agreed.
224. A staff matter was discussed.
There being no further business, the meeting closed at 20.43