Full Council Meeting Minutes 14th August 2014

22nd August 2014

HALSTEAD TOWN COUNCIL

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  MINUTES OF FULL COUNCIL MEETING
14th August 2014
Held at
Mill House, The Causeway

HALSTEAD, Essex. CO9 1ET

 

 

Membership:

Councillor D Hume Chairman  

Present

Councillor Mrs J A Pell Vice Chairman Present
Councillor Mrs J Allen   Apologies
Councillor Mrs B Carr   Apologies
Councillor Mrs H W Catley   Present
Councillor Mrs S A Diver   Present
Councillor M J Fincken      Apologies
Councillor Mrs L J Hilton   Present
Councillor S Kirby   Present
Councillor Mrs K A Little   Apologies
Councillor A Munday   Present
Councillor K Paisley   Present from item 59
     
   

 

Also in attendance:            Mr P Penn and Mrs E Penn – Public

                                       Mr M C Murkin – Town Clerk

               Mrs L Dover – Minute Clerk

 

56. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

There were apologies for absence from Cllr Mrs J Allen, Cllr Mrs B Carr, Cllr M Fincken and Cllr Mrs K Little. Apologies from Cllr K Paisley who will be arriving late.

 

 

57. DECLARATION OF INTERESTS

Cllr D Hume declared a non-pecuniary interest in Agenda item no.13 Home-Start Request for a Grant, as he is a friend of Home-Start

Cllr S Kirby declared a non-pecuniary interest in all planning as he is a member of Braintree District Council Planning Committee

Cllr A Munday declared a pecuniary interest in Agenda item no.8A List of Payments to Be Approved, as he is a payee for reimbursement of Expenses from Halstead Youth Council

Cllr Mrs J Pell declared a non pecuniary interest in Agenda item no.6 14/00964/FUL, as she is a Trustee of the Day Centre and another Trustee owns a building in the same street , 14/01052/FUL as she is a friend of a fellow Trustee who lives next door and Agenda item no.9 Community Hall, as she is Chairman of the Halstead Community Centre Charitable Company

 

58. PUBLIC QUESTION TIME

There were no questions from the public

Cllr K Paisley arrived at the meeting

 

 

59. MINUTES.

To approve the minutes of the Council meeting held on 17th July 2014

Minutes were approved

 

 

60. PLANNING APPLICATIONS.

Cllr A Munday took the chair for this part of the meeting

Cllr S Kirby left the meeting

14/00964/FUL – 23 – 24 Bridge Street, Halstead, Essex – Replacement of windows and cladding. Members raised no objection

 

14/00982/FUL – 44 Parsonage Street, Halstead, CO9 2JZ – Erection of ground/first floor side extension. Members raised no objection

 

14/01038/MMA – 76 Hedingham Road. Halstead, CO9 2DJ – Application for a minor material amendment to approved application. Members raised no objection

14/00108/FUL – Inclusion of steps to front entrance. Members raised no objection

 

14/01052/FUL – 25 Sudbury Road, Halstead, Essex CO9 2BB – Erection of first floor side extension. Members raised no objection

 

14/01036/LBC – 33 Head Street, Halstead, Essex, CO9 2AU – Construction of dwarf wall, railings and handrails to the front elevation. Members raised no objection

14/01044/FUL – Land Adjacent 4 Blue Bridge Cottages, Colchester Road, Halstead, Essex – Erection of 1 no. single storey dwelling and improvements to existing vehicular access. Members object on the grounds of back land development and increase to traffic on a busy main road

Cllr D Hume resumed Chair of the meeting

Cllr Kirby returned to the meeting

 

 

61. MAYOR’S APPOINTMENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

Cllr Hume said that Cllr Mrs J Pell will be attending the Anglia In Bloom awards ceremony on 9th September. Cllr Hume notified that with great regret the Fun Run is not going to happen as the only dates available would have been November, but the Halstead Road Runners are happy to work with the Council in 2015. Cllr Mrs L Hilton expressed disappointment that the council did not arrange the event without the Road Runners and that the Events committee has not met recently.

Report was noted

 

62. FINANCE

A) Financial Monitoring

Whilst both income and expenditure are currently below the anticipated level, the overall position remains positive.
Report was noted
B)   Monthly Performance (Car Parks).

Car parking has picked up well

Report was noted

C) Monthly Performance (Lettings/Sickness)

Mill House bookings are holding up well

Report was noted

D) PDQ Transactions

There is an upward trend for payments using PDQ transactions

Report was noted

 

 

63. LIST OF PAYMENTS TO BE APPROVED

Payments were unanimously approved.

 

 

64. COMMUNITY HALL

Cllr Mrs J Pell Chairman of the Trust reported that the Trust has now appointed Bird Luckin as VAT Advisors. The Design Brief is now out with Architects and will go to tender by the end of the week. The Trust is still waiting to hear about grants. The Business plan is nearly completed and will be ready by next week. Cllr Mrs Pell thanked the Town Clerk and Cllr Hume for their help with the Business Plan.

Report was noted

 

 

65. COMMONWEALTH FLAG

Cllr D Hume has attended the Commonwealth Observance at Westminster Abbey on several occasions and would support the current plans. Discussion took place regarding where the flag would be flown and the Halstead Public Gardens currently has a flag pole.

Members were in favour of The Town Council participating in the event

 

 

 

 

66. YOUTH

Cllr Mrs L Hilton gave a verbal report. The Youth Council went to Southend. The trip went well, with no problems. The Youth Council’s next meeting is in September. The Skate Park was discussed along with the possibility of Paul Partridge (Braintree District Council) attending a Council Meeting to give an update. An official invite from the Town Council to the Youth Council to attend the October Full Council meeting is to be issued.

Report was noted

67. TOWN TEAM

The Town Team have not had a meeting. The next meeting is in September. Sara Prince is training the Administrators for the new website. David Gronland is to be invited to the next Council Meeting.

Report was noted

 

 

68. HOME-START – REQUEST FOR A GRANT

Members discussed the request and agreed to make a grant of £2,000 for 2014/15. Home-Start to be advised that this grant is for one year and they should not rely on a similar grant in future years.

 

 

69. POLLING DISTRICT AND POLLING PLACES REVIEW

Members discussed the consultation and drew attention to the mistake in the Schedule of Polling Places still showing the Senior Citizens Centre in New Street. Members also felt that better maps showing the wards were needed

Report was noted

 

 

70. TRINITY STREET – ROAD SIGNS

Members discussed the need for Duck Crossing signs in Trinity Street.

Members agreed to support the request

 

 

71. TOILETS UPDATE

Report was noted

 

 

72. LOCAL GOVERNMENT PENSION SCHEME DISCRETIONS

Members discussed the report and agreed to prepare the statement along the ‘no cost’ Essex County Council Statement.

Report was noted

 

 

73. INVESTMENTS

Report was noted

 

 

 

 

74. EXCLUSION OF PUBLIC AND PRESS

To give consideration to adopting the following resolution: – “That pursuant to the provisions of section 1 (2) – of the Admission to Meetings Act 1960, in view of the next item to be conducted, the press and public to be excluded from the meeting.”

 

There were no items to be discussed in private session

 

Chairman closed the meeting at 8.02 p.m.