Minutes / Agenda – January 29th 2008
Agenda
Public Forum
108. To accept apologies
109. To receive declarations of interests
110. To approve the minutes of meeting held on Tuesday 18 December 2007 and Wednesday 16 January 2008
111. To note matter arising from minutes of Tuesday 18 December 2007 and Wednesday 16 January 2008
112. To decide how the Council can help influence the regeneration of Coleford speaker District Cllr Patrick Molynuex
113. To agree the submission to the Planning Inspector regarding the appeal for the planning application on Angel Farm.
114. To agree how the Council can support the Police campaign to upgrade the CCTV cameras to a digital system.
115. To agree the building works to join No 1 & No 2 the Town Houses.
116. To agree which Councillors will attend the MCTi review of the partnership strategic plan
117. To agree the contribution of the Town council to the Street Warden provision
118. To note reports from members (for information only)
119. To note reports from District and County Councillors (for information only)
120. To agree the recommendation of the Amenities Committee for the contractor to take on the grass cutting and town centre flower contracts
121. To note the decisions of the Planning Committee
122. To note correspondence (for information only, see attached list)
123. To agree payments (see attached list)
Minutes
At a Meeting of the Coleford Town Council held at the Town House, Lords Hill Walk, Coleford on Tuesday 29th January 2008, there were present:
Councillor Mr C Elsmore (Mayor)
Mrs C Allaway-Martin
Mr C Howell
Mr P Kay
Mr C Lusty
Mrs H Lusty
Mrs S Merrikin
Miss J Nicholson
Also present: County Councillor P Chamberlain,
PS Sara Sleeman, PC David McCoy
PUBLIC FORUM
A number of members of the public were present to discuss the appeal for the planning application for housing at Angel Farm. A member said that an action group was being formed and enquired whether it would be possible to use the Council offices to hold its meetings. The Mayor agreed to this on the proviso that the offices were not being used by the Council. There would be no charge for the use of the offices and contact should be made through the Clerk.
The Mayor advised the public that the Town Council would be submitting a fresh response to the District Council and it would contain, wherever possible, new information. Notably this would centre on sewage and drainage, poor access and lack of healthcare provisions.
The Town Council had a meeting planned with Welsh Water on 23rd February to discuss sewage and floodwater problems. This would be used in the response to the District Council to highlight the fact that the Town Council was actively engaged in trying to resolve the current difficulties.
Members of the public said they would be carrying out a transport survey on a similar sized estate in Coleford in order to demonstrate the impact any development at Angel Farm would have.
Councillor Chamberlain advised that he would lobby Newland Parish Council as any additional sewage and drainage water from Coleford would pass through that parish.
The Mayor thanked the public for attending and said that the Council would continue to work in close contact on this issue. The Public Forum was then closed.
108. APOLOGIES
Apologies were received from Councillors Atherley, Collins, Phelps, Weston and Thorne.
109. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
A prejudicial declaration of interest with regard to Items 113 and 117 was made by Cllr Allaway-Martin.
Personal declarations of interest with regard to Item 117 were made by Cllrs C Lusty, H Lusty and Merrikin.
110. APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The minutes of the meetings held on 18 December 2007 and 16 January 2008 were approved by those present.
111. MATTERS ARISING
There were no matters arising from the minutes.
112. ANGEL FARM PLANNING APPEAL
It was agreed that the Clerk should draft a letter to the District Council drawing together all the points of objection raised by Councillors. The letter would be emailed to Councillors before submission to the District Council.
It was agreed that photographs of previous flooding problems in Coleford should also be submitted as evidence that the present infrastructure could not cope with any additional rainwater or sewerage.
113. CCTV CAMERAS
Cllr Allaway-Martin left the meeting for the duration of this agenda item.
PC McCoy advised the Council of the current needs for upgrading the CCTV cameras in Coleford. New cameras would greatly enhance the ability to identify offenders and the upgrade was now urgently required. The cost had to be match funded which meant that £30,000 had to be raised. Any letter of support from the Town Council would be very welcomed by the Coleford Police Division.
PC McCoy advised that while new cameras could not combat poor light levels, they would give much sharper images in reasonable lighting conditions.
It was proposed that a letter of support be sent by the District Council.
Proposed: Cllr Kay Seconded: Cllr H Lusty
The proposal was agreed unanimously.
114. REGENERATION IN COLEFORD
The Mayor welcomed District Councillor Molyneaux to the meeting and invited him to talk to the Council about future proposals for the regeneration of Coleford.
Cllr Molyneaux said that he was now the portfolio holder for regeneration in the Forest of Dean. Plans were already well advanced for regeneration in Cinderford and Newent. Lydney and Coleford were next. The District Council was currently undergoing a period of internal change and had no firm plans for Coleford at the moment. He asked members of the Council for their preferred list of priorities.
Councillors offered the following
Too many new café/sandwich bars, putting pressure on existing businesses.
Too many charity shops.
Need to get a major chain store in the town.
Fear that car parking charges may drive business away.
Need to attract European money for regeneration.
Setting up a people’s cooperative along European lines.
Better access for disabled shoppers.
Cllr Molyneaux welcomed the views expressed but advised that there were no quick solutions to regeneration. The right signals had to be sent out to developers and it was vital that the District Council took a broad look in order to develop a firm stance.
It was unlikely that a major retailer could be attracted to Coleford as there was not enough floorspace in the town centre and probably insufficient customer footfall.
The issue of car parking charges was more complex than appeared. There was evidence to suggest that introducing charges discouraged workers from parking all day in central car parks thus freeing up spaces for a greater turnover of genuine shoppers. On the other hand charges could, in the future, be seen as an easy way of increasing much needed revenue.
The Mayor thanked Cllr Molyneaux for coming to the meeting and ended by saying that the need for regeneration was now and he hoped that action would be taken quickly.
115. THE TOWN HOUSE BUILDING WORKS
The Clerk presented a quotation for alterations to the Town House submitted by Bren and Son, at a total cost of £1100.00. It was proposed that the quotation should be accepted.
Proposed: Cllr Howell Seconded: Cllr Kay
The Clerk advised that work would begin during the first week in February and there would be some disruption to services whilst it was being carried out.
116. REVIEW OF PARTNERSHIP STRATEGIC PLAN
Cllrs Howell, C Lusty, H Lusty and Nicholson said that they would attend the meeting being held on Monday 4th February.
117. CONTRIBUTION TO STREET WARDEN PROVISION
Cllr Allaway-Martin left the meeting for the duration of this agenda item.
The Clerk confirmed that no response had been received from the District Council to the request for information about the current costs of Street Wardens. It was agreed unanimously to defer a decision on this matter until such time as a response was received and to withhold payments to the District Council in the meantime.
118. REPORTS FROM MEMBERS
Cllr H Lusty reported that as a member of the Office and Finance Committee, she had spent some time working in the office becoming familiar with the day to day running. This had given her a very useful understanding of the daily routine.
Cllr Howell reported that he had attended a meeting of the Gloucestershire Market Towns Forum. These were very useful meetings and some interesting visits were planned in the near future to see how market towns in other areas were being developed. He advised that subscription rates were due to rise in 2008. He stated that councillors present at the meeting had requested that future rises should be announced in September so that they can be properly incorporated into budgets.
Cllr Howell had also attended an Emergency Planning meeting at Barnwood. This had been interesting and he had emailed information to Councillors.
119. REPORTS FROM DISTRICT AND COUNTY COUNCILLORS
Cllr Allaway-Martin advised Councillors that the District Council was going through a period of considerable internal change and it may take some time for things to properly settle down.
Cllr Chamberlain said that a number of important environmental initiatives had been agreed at a recent County Council.
Members had agreed not to use plastic bags and to encourage retailers to stop their distribution. Two local Councils in Gloucestershire had already adopted this policy and Cllr Chamberlain encouraged the Town Council to do the same. Requesting that this item was placed on the next Town Council agenda
The County Council had agreed that there should be more cohesion between local councils in the way in which waste is managed.
In future all County Council sites should incorporate a useful alternative energy source contributing at least 10% of energy needs.
120. AMENITIES COMMITTEE
Members considered the recommendation of the Amenities Committee to accept a quotation from Mowtech for grass cutting and planted of flowers. It was proposed that the quotation be accepted.
Proposed: Cllr Kay Seconded: Cllr C Lusty
In view of the success of the Coleford Town Football Club it was agreed that the Council should sponsor a cup to be presented to the team. This was agreed by all members.
121. PLANNING COMMITTEE
The decisions of the Planning Committee taken at the meeting held on 8 January were noted by the Council
Cllr Howell proposed that a meeting be held to agree a planning policy to be submitted for inclusion in the District Council Plan. Consultation on the Plan closes on 5th March. It was agreed to hold a full Council meeting on Tuesday 19th February at 7.00pm to discuss this one item.
122. CORRESPONDENCE
The items of correspondence received during the month of January were noted by the Council.
123. PAYMENTS
The list of payments due for the month of January were noted by the Council. The Clerk pointed out a bill for the first instalment of work at the cemetery. Comments had been received saying the cemetery was already looking much better as a result.
It was proposed that the payments should be made.
Proposed: Cllr Kay Seconded: Cllr C Lusty
The meeting closed at 8.45pm
The next meeting will be on Tuesday 26 February 2008
