|
HALSTEAD TOWN COUNCIL |
|
|
|
MINUTES OF TOWN COUNCIL MEETING PUBLIC SESSION MINUTES 12 August 2024: at 19:15 |
Membership:
| Councillor Andrew Munday | Chairman | Present |
| Councillor James Bond | Vice Chairman | Present |
| Councillor Janet Atkinson | Apologies | |
| Councillor Malcolm Fincken | Present | |
| Councillor Linda Hilton | Present | |
| Councillor Gemma MacAndrews | Present | |
| Councillor Grahame McCoyd | Present | |
| Councillor Paul Nunn | Apologies | |
| Councillor Jackie Pell | Present | |
| Councillor Felix Preston | Present | |
| Councillor Linda Smith | Apologies | |
| Councillor Garry Warren | Apologies |
Also in attendance: Wendy Pickess, Emily Hume, Sarah Greatorex (Town Clerk)
045. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Cllr Smith, Cllr Warren, Cllr Nunn and Cllr Atkinson sent apologies because of work commitments.
Cllr Munday proposed, seconded by Cllr Fincken, acceptance of the apologies. This was unanimously agreed.
046. 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 NPI item 7b & 7b(a), as a member of BDC. Cllr Pell declared NPI item 7b & 7b(a) as a member of BDC and CSGMC, and item 14 as a member of H4C, and a PI item 5a, GGHR/2142 as a family member lives next door. Cllr Hilton declared NPI item 7b& 7b(a) as a member of CSGMC. Cllrs McCoyd and MacAndrews declared NPI, item 5a, HASA2181, as site near to Cllr McCoyd’s home.
047. PUBLIC QUESTION TIME
Wendy Pickess made a presentation about her ideas for a new Town Team, to help the community and tourism.
She outlined her proposal to recreate the Town Team as a one-stop shop to pull together everything that is happening in Halstead. Her aims are to:
- Increase community engagement
- Support local clubs and increase their membership
- Get residents to use the HTC website to find out what is on
- Review the ways we communicate and encourage residents to engage with HTC
- Invite members of charity groups to get involved
- Work collaboratively
She would like to see an HTC magazine with no adverts in it, delivered to every household, and budgeted for by HTC, with a diary of events taking place in Queens Hall, the Shed, the Youth Centre, the Empire.
048. MINUTES To approve the minutes of the Town Council meeting held on 15 July 2024. Minutes had been circulated and proposal to adopt minutes of the Full Town council meeting of 15 July 2024 was put forward by Cllr Fincken, seconded by Cllr Preston and agreed with 2 abstentions.
049. 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.
24/01236/FUL 7 The Centre, Halstead, Essex – Change to shop front to new Aluminium frame and doors with one door and 3 Bi-Fold doors.
Cllr Preston proposed no objection, seconded by Cllr McCoyd, and unanimously agreed.
24/01629/FUL – Halstead Service Station, Trinity Street, Halstead – Demolition of showroom building. Installation of new jet wash bays and customer parking area.
Cllr Bond proposed no objection but noted a potential disruption through noise to the residents of Trinity Court, and the run-off of water which might freeze in winter. The large sign should also be removed as it obscures visibility. This was seconded by Cllr Preston, and unanimously agreed.
24/01646/HH – 6 Bentall Close, Halstead, Essex – Part two/part single storey side extension.
Cllr Preston proposed no objection, seconded by Cllr MacAndrews, and unanimously agreed.
Cllrs Fincken and Munday returned to the meeting.
050. LOCAL PLAN
GGHR2140
Cllr Preston proposed objection to this site on grounds of overdevelopment, seconded by Cllr Hilton, and agreed with one abstention.
GGHR2141
Cllr Bond proposed objection to this site, on the grounds that it is beyond the town boundary, would have an impact on biodiversity and ecology and the rural nature of the town, its amenities and infrastructure. This was seconded by Cllr Preston and agreed unanimously.
GGHR2146
Cllr MacAndrews proposed objection to this site as it is also outside the town boundary and can be regarded as overdevelopment, which has also previously been rejected by the Council. This was seconded by Cllr Preston and unanimously agreed.
HASA2179
Cllr Bond proposed objection to this very large site, on the grounds that it is partially beyond the town boundary, would have an impact on biodiversity and ecology and the rural nature of the town, its amenities and infrastructure. This was seconded by Cllr Preston and agreed unanimously
HASA2180
Cllr Bond proposed no objection to this site, seconded by Cllr MacAndrews and unanimously agreed.
HASA2181
Cllr Bond proposed objection to this site due to significant Highways issues. This was seconded by Cllr Preston and unanimously agreed.
HASA2182
Cllr Bond proposed objection due to significant impact on ecology and environment. This was seconded by Cllr Preston and unanimously agreed.
HASA2183
Cllr Hilton proposed no objection, seconded by Cllr McCoyd and agreed with 1 abstention.
HATR2200
Cllr MacAndrews proposed objection to this site, on highways grounds relating to ingress and egress, and loss of trees. This was seconded by Cllr Preston and agreed with one abstention.
HATR2201
Cllr Preston proposed no objection to this site, seconded by Cllr McCoyd and unanimously agreed.
HATR2202
Cllr Bond proposed objection to this site on grounds of overdevelopment of a small site, seconded by Cllr Preston and agreed with one abstention.
HATR2203
Cllr MacAndrews proposed objection to this site on the grounds that it is a heritage site and outside the town boundary. This was seconded by Cllr Preston and unanimously agreed.
HATR2204
Cllr Bond proposed no objection to this site, seconded by Cllr Preston and unanimously agreed.
HATR2205
Cllr Bond proposed objection to this site, due to damage to natural habitat and a visual amenity and ecology. This was seconded by Cllr Preston and agreed with one abstention.
COLE2100
Cllr Pell proposed no objection to the industrial development, but proposed objection to the housing, as it is isolated, beyond the town boundary, away from amenities and has a potential impact on the planned cycle route. This was seconded by Cllr Preston and unanimously agreed.
GGHR2142
Cllr Bond proposed objection to this site on highways ground due to poor visibility, and as it is outside the town boundary. Cllr Preston seconded this and it was unanimously agreed.
GGHR2143
Cllr Bond proposed objection to this site, as it represents significant overdevelopment outside the town boundary and has an impact on heritage as it involves a Grade II listed building. This was seconded by Cllr Preston and unanimously agreed.
GGHR2145
Cllr Pell proposed objection to this site, as it is outside the town boundary, has no connection with other properties and would create difficulty in access. This was seconded by Cllr Preston and agreed with one abstention.
051. MAYOR’S APPOINTMENTS
Cllr Munday proposed that council note that there was no report due to technical difficulties. This was seconded by Cllr Preston and unanimously agreed.
052. 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 August 2024
Cllr Preston proposed, seconded by Cllr Bond, approval of the income and expenditure report for July 2024. This was agreed with 2 abstentions.
b) To approve the List of payments and the supplementary list of payments.
Cllr Munday proposed, seconded by Cllr Bond, approval of the lists of payments. This was agreed with 1 abstention.
c) To consider a repair to the Hedingham Road carpark
Cllr Pell proposed, seconded by Cllr Preston, approval of quote 1, option 1. This was agreed with 1 abstention.
d) To consider a repair to the locking system on the public toilets
Cllr Preston proposed, seconded by Cllr Bond, approval of quote 1. This was agreed with 1 abstention.
e) To consider replacing the floodlights on the roof at St Andrews church with LED lights
Cllr MacAndrews proposed acceptance of quote 3, on health and safety grounds, seconded by Cllr Preston. This was agreed unanimously.
f) To consider repainting the internal walls at Queens Hall
Cllr Preston proposed acceptance of quote 1, seconded by Cllr Bond, and agreed with 1 abstention.
Cllr Munday suggested that the Clerk set up a timetable of property maintenance.
053. DISTRICT COUNCILLOR REPORTS
Cllr Pell said that she had attended Full Council, and had had a 1:1 with Kim Mayo, and had attended a meeting on preparing BDC for its future responsibilities.
Cllr Fincken said that he had been away and able only to attend a planning meeting.
Cllr Munday said he had attended a Members’ evening, Full Council, Governance and Audit, planning members’ forum and a planning meeting.
Cllr Bond said he had attended Full council, and the Corporate Policy Development committee.
054. To receive reports from Champions
Doctors’ surgery – no report
Education – no report
Police – no report
Open Spaces – Cllr Fincken reminded HTC of the Skate Park Open Day on 24 August at Ramsey Road.
Tourism – Cllr Pell stated that Route 66 band in the park had been a success.
055. To consider requesting that the Stansted Airport Bus stops in Halstead
Cllr MacAndrews proposed that a Stansted airport bus should serve Halstead. This was seconded by Cllr Pell, and was unanimously agreed.
056. To consider re-registering HTC for the Local Council Gold award
Cllr Bond proposed, seconded by Cllr Hilton that HTC re-register for the Local Council Gold award. This was unanimously agreed.
Cllr Munday proposed extension of Standing Orders until close of business, seconded by Cllr Preston and unanimously agreed.
057. Councillors were asked to propose items for future agendas.
Cllr Bond proposed 2 additional items for the Agenda in future:
- A Chairman’s statement at the beginning of the meeting (to include information from the Clerk)
- A request for suggestions from councillors of items to be included on the agenda
Cllr Preston seconded this, and it was unanimously agreed.
058. 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”.
059. Follow-up action from a recent meeting was discussed.
There being no further business, the meeting closed at 21.44