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HALSTEAD TOWN COUNCIL |
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MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL TOWN MEETING HALSTEAD, Essex. CO9 2BY
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| Councillor Mrs S A Diver – Chairman | Present | |
| Councillor A Munday – Vice Chairman | Present | |
| Councillor Mrs J Allen | Apologies | |
| Councillor M Day | Apologies | |
| Councillor Mrs S Dingle | Present | |
| Councillor C Fox | Apologies | |
| Councillor D Gronland | Present | |
| Councillor D Hume | Present | |
| Councillor Mrs J A Pell | Present | |
| Councillor Mrs E Penn | Present | |
| Councillor M Radley | Present | |
| Councillor Mrs J Sutton | Present |
Also in attendance: Public – Mr Martin Walker; Mr Sean Davies (Press), Mr R G Richmond,
M A Jat, V L Dunkley, Garry Warren, Malcolm Fincken, Cllr David Finch, Jennifer Smith,
John Hunter, Rachel Hunter, Willow Hunter, Cllr Steve Kirby
Mrs S Greatorex – Town Clerk
Mrs J Smith – Minute Clerk
237. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE received from Cllr Mrs Allen, Cllr Day, and Cllr Fox
238. MINUTES To approve the minutes of the Annual Town meeting held on 16th May 2016. Minutes were unanimously adopted.
239 HALSTEAD TOWN COUNCIL’S REPORT. Halstead Mayor, Cllr Mrs Shirley Diver, gave the annual Town Council report.
240. DISTRICT COUNCILLORS’ REPORTS. Cllr Mrs Pell spoke on behalf of the four Councillors representing Halstead on the District Council.
Cllr Mrs Allen gave a report on her duties at District Council.
Cllr Kirby reported on his duties at District Council; he said that in particular Planning items had been difficult in the past year and said that where possible brownfield sites should be used for development. He said that for the past year he had been Vice Chairman of the Council and his role had been to support the Chairman where required. Cllr Kirby was pleased to announce that as from 24th April 2017 he had been made Chairman of Braintree District Council and was pleased to be able to support Halstead in this role although he must remain unbiased in all decisions. He announced that he would support two charities during his year in office – Care in the Community and Mental Health. Cllr Kirby said that during the past year he had supported Halstead Cricket Club with some Member Grant money as this would assist young players. Cllr Kirby said that his aim for the coming year would be to support Halstead when possible, and that he would continue to speak at Planning meetings about the Town’s needs. He asked that residents with concerns should contact him.
Cllr Hume said that he had sat on the Local Plan sub committee and that he had attended various member development and skills workshops. Cllr Hume said that he, too, had supported Halstead Cricket Club using his members’ grant.
Cllr Mrs Pell asked that the Council recognise the commitment of Cllr Hume who was undertaking his Council duties despite his ongoing ill health. Chairman and Council recognised this dedication.
241. COUNTY COUNCILLOR’S REPORT. Cllr David Finch spoke as Essex County Council member for Hedingham but who had taken responsibilities for Halstead during the illness of Halstead’s Councillor Joe Pike who had subsequently died.
Cllr Finch said that all Councils are struggling with difficult financial positions at present and gave some figures about monies received from National Government. He said that the current financial position would not ease in the near future and that there had been considerable effort given to finding new ways to deliver services. The youth service and children’s services in particular had seen new ways of working but the largest issue was the increase in the elderly population in the county. Government was being lobbied hard to find some long term solutions to social care. It was hoped to grow the economy of the County to give more employment opportunities. Education remained a vital focus for the County and Cllr Finch was pleased with the excellent education standard in Essex.
Cllr Finch announced that in October a County Lottery would be announced and the proceeds of this lottery would help local charities and activities.
Essex County Council has recently released some land that would be used for housing for those with special needs; it was envisaged that 2000 homes could be built.
Cllr Finch said that Essex Children’s Services are an exemplar and that in the whole County less that 1000 children are in care.
Questions to Cllr Finch from the Public:
Jennifer Smith said that she was a Trustee of H4C (Halstead’s Community Hub Trust) and asked that if Essex County Council is looking to support community projects the Halstead Hub be noted as a worthy recipient.
Cllr Finch replied that Essex County Council is pleased to support hubs and libraries across the County but that at this time he could not commit to support of any particular project.
Cllr Finch was thanked for his report.
242. POLICE REPORT. Mayor Cllr Mrs Diver announced that no Police was present at the meeting, but read a message that at present Police do not have enough staff to attend Parish and Town Council Meetings.
Questions from the Public:
Mr Fincken asked if there was a commitment to a written report. Mayor replied that no report had been received.
Mr Richmond said that there were 300 or so parishes in the County all of whom had their Annual Meeting within a 3 month window so that this would require about 60 Police Officers to cover all of these meetings. Mr Richmond felt that Police time would be better spent deterring crime and catching criminals and felt that the decision not to attend meetings was correct.
243. COMMUNITY HALL – Cllr Mrs Pell gave a report on the dealings of volunteer members of the H4C group. Report attached.
244. PUBLIC QUESTION TIME.
Mr M Fincken spoke about the Community Hall project and said that this was a most important project and should be supported by all. However, he and various residents he had spoken to were disappointed with the lack of progress in bringing the project to fruition and said that some people, including Town Councillors, had voiced the opinion that it would never happen. He asked for reassurance that Halstead Town Council is fully committed to the building of the Community Hub. He said that the move of Halstead Town Council Office to Queen’s Hall was seen as a move away from commitment to the Hub and some organisations were unhappy with the proposed changes to the Hall.
Mayor Cllr Mrs Diver said that it was unfortunate that the Town Council had been given notice to leave their current premises at Mill House by the new owner and that the date for removal was March 2018. With the new Hub not built and the necessity to find new premises for Town Council Office it was decided that the move to the Queen’s Hall was the best transitional measure. Cllr Hume said that he was invited to join some of the meetings of the H4C committee and that he had attended to give Town Council support on several occasions. Cllr Munday, Vice Chairman of Halstead TC said that the move to Queen’s Hall was seen as a transitional stage to moving to the new Hub, and that the Council remained fully committed to the Hub..
Mr M Walker spoke for the Hands off Halstead group and said that 1250 objections to the proposed development off Sudbury Road had been delivered to Braintree District Council before the cut off deadline. He said that the proposed development was unsustainable and asked for Town Council support against this development.
Cllr Hume replied that the Local Development Plan was in draft form and there would be public consultation on the draft in the near future.
Mr Walker replied that the developer was opportunistic and was targeting Councils without a Local Development Plan in place.
Mr R Richmond asked why no Annual Report was in place despite his written request that one be supplied. He said that he had written two or three times to request an Annual Report.
Town Clerk said that she would make writing an annual report an aim for the coming year.
Mr Richmond asked why the Annual Report did not appear on Council Agenda and asked that it be placed on June Agenda.
Mayor Cllr Mrs Diver said that discussions would take place after the meeting.
There being no further business, Chairman closed the meeting at 08.21 p.m