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Earley Town Council |
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AMENITIES & LEISURE COMMITTEE
Minutes of a meeting of the Amenities & Leisure Committee held in the Council Chamber at the Council Offices, Radstock Lane, Earley, Reading on Wednesday, 4th July 2007 at 7.45 p.m.
Present
Chairman – Vice Chairman Councillor T A Holton in the Chair
Councillors A T Bradley, Pamela Dunn, N Jorgensen, S Khan and K J Miall.
Apologies for absence were received from Councillors DD Chopping (Holiday) and W P Gothard (Holiday). ____________________________________________________________________________________
17. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
The Minutes of the meeting held on 30th May 2007 were amended in accordance with the Resolution at Minute 26.2 of Council meeting held on 27th June 2007, approved as a true record and signed by the Chairman.
18. COMMUNITY CENTRES
18.1 Radstock Lane Community Centre
18.1.1 Bar/Lounge Area
Members were reminded that, in recent months, the Bar/Lounge area in the Earley Radstock Social Club had been broken into on two occasions. The Social Club was keen to improve security to that area of the Centre and had obtained a quotation for the supply and installation of ‘Seceuroguard 1,000’ security concertina grilles to be fitted across the main entrance into the Bar/Lounge area, from the Centre’s foyer, and the emergency exit.
The quotation obtained by the Social Club for the supply and fitting of the grilles was follows:
Emergency Exit £764 + VAT Main Door £786 + VAT Both Doors fitted together £1,450 + VAT
The Social Club had previously met the cost of some security improvements to the Bar/Lounge area which included more substantial locks to the main entrance. However, the Club remained concerned with regard to the security of that part of the building and had requested that the Town Council should consider meeting the cost of fitting the security grilles detailed above.
Members were further advised that the Radstock Centre had an overall Maintenance budget of £5,600 this year and to date £1,600 of this had been spent.
The Chairman reported that two Social Club representatives, Mr M Lamb (Chairman) and Mrs I Ballantine (Secretary), were present at the meeting and invited them to speak to the Committee.
The representatives reported that, although one of the break-ins had occurred overnight, the second one had taken place during the day and, on both occasions access had been gained via the doors. They were of the opinion that security concertina grilles would be the best option.
Consideration was, therefore, given to the request from the Social Club that the Town Council meet the cost of installation of the security grilles. It was noted that, if the Committee agreed to the installation of both grilles, it would be necessary to suspend Financial Standing Orders to allow only the one quotation to be considered.
In response to a question from a Member, the Town Clerk advised that there were no approved security grille installers on the Council’s ‘Approved Contractor’ list.
The Committee was of the opinion that further advice regarding the security of the doors should be sought from the Police Crime Prevention Officer and, if the grilles were the best option, two further quotations should be obtained. Accordingly it was
RESOLVED that
1. the Social Club’s request be refused
2. advice be sought from the Crime Prevention Officer
3. subject to the advice received from the Crime Prevention Officer, further quotations be obtained.
18.2 Maiden Place Community Centre
18.2.1 Security Cages to Air Conditioning
The Town Clerk reported that the air conditioning to the main hall at the Maiden Place Centre had been installed and commissioned.
He further advised that the external elements of the air conditioning fitted to the Radstock Lane Centre were protected by galvanised steel cages and it had been recommended that the units installed at Maiden Place should be similarly protected.
One of the problems with the Radstock Lane Centre installation was that the cages did not allow for easy access to the units and the whole cage, weighing around 50Kg, had to be removed by the engineers for regular maintenance of the units. However, the cages were very robust, well made and had been very effective to date.
The cages at the Radstock Lane Centre were made and installed by Speedweld Engineering. In view of the excellent quality of these cages, the company had been asked to quote for constructing cages for installation over the new units at the Maiden Place Centre. However, to avoid the problems experienced at Radstock, Speedweld were asked to liaise with the air conditioning Contractors to ensure that the design, construction and installation of the cages would allow easy access to the units for general maintenance. The consultation had taken place and Speedweld had submitted a quotation for the manufacture, supply and installation, to a specification agreed by the air conditioning Contractors, of galvanised metal cages for installation over the new air conditioning units at Maiden Place, in the sum of £2,415 + VAT.
It was noted that, prior to the commencement of this meeting, some Members of this Committee had viewed the cages at the Radstock Centre.
The 2007/08 budget for installation of the air conditioning at Maiden Place was set at £21,850 and the quotation accepted by Council for the work was £16,700, which left sufficient funds within this budget to meet the cost of the protective cages.
Consideration was, therefore given to the acceptance of the quotation from Speedweld Engineering and, also the suspension of Financial Standing Orders to allow only one quotation to be considered in view of the specialist nature of this work, the proven quality of the work carried out by Speedweld Engineering and the Company’s co-operation to date in liaising with the air conditioning Contractors over the design of the cages. In response to a question from a Member as to the size of the cages required it was
RESOLVED that the matter be deferred pending a site visit by the Committee.
19. MAIDEN ERLEGH LOCAL NATURE RESERVE
19.1 Dog Control around the Lake
Councillors were reminded that, at Minute 7.5 of the last meeting of this Committee, Members had been advised that the Committee had previously considered a report which related to improved dog control in the Reserve. It was subsequently resolved to proceed with the process of securing Dog Control Orders for the whole of the Nature Reserve, in relation to dog faeces and the keeping of dogs on a lead in a designated area.
Members were further informed that formal notices had been posted at locations around the Reserve on 17th May 2007, which allowed a period for representations to be made to the Town Council by 15th June 2007. Furthermore, as required by the Clean Neighbourhoods & Environment Act 2005 and the Dog Control Orders (Procedures) Regulations 2006, the appropriate notice had been placed in all editions of the Reading Chronicle, also dated 17th May.
The period for formal representations was now closed, and, therefore, the Committee was requested to consider whether to proceed with the Order.
Consideration was, also, given to a petition of 88 signatories against the Orders, of which only 13 were valid, presented to the Town Council meeting held on 16th May 2007 and two further petitions, one containing 163 signatories, against, and one with 45 valid signatures in favour of the Orders, presented to the Town Council at its meeting on 27th June. It was noted that the number of responses received during the formal representation period amounted to 10 in favour of the Orders and 69 against.
The Town Council had also consulted with the Kennel Club which, as part of its external affairs activities, ran a Dog Owners' Group. A response had been received from its Public Affairs Officer advising that there was not usually any contention in respect of the Dog Faeces Orders but there was more generally more controversy with regard to the keeping of dogs on leads in a designated area due to the rights of dogs to have exercise as contained in the Animal Act.
The Chairman reported that there were a number of local residents present who wished to speak to the meeting and, accordingly, asked for a maximum of two persons in favour and two persons against the introduction of Dog Control Orders to speak to the Committee.
The spokesperson in favour of the introduction of Orders felt that, as much of Earley’s open spaces had disappeared over the years, the Local Nature Reserve was a wonderful asset and offered a sanctuary for vulnerable and fragile wildlife to thrive undisturbed in a very small part of the Town.
The spokespersons against the introduction of Orders were of the opinion that dogs did not interfere with wildlife, did not ruin the Reserve and should be allowed the freedom to run through the woods. They felt that more damage was caused by children climbing trees and making camps.
In response to a question from a Member as to the extent of damage to wildlife caused by dogs, the Senior Park Ranger stated that it was difficult to quantify, but much research had been carried out by English Nature which suggested that, amongst other things, chicks were vulnerable to predators when leaving their nests particularly if the adult birds had been frightened off by dogs. He felt that dog faeces caused more of a problem, mainly, to the regular volunteer groups which included people with disabilities. The Committee felt that there was a need to look at what had changed since the introduction of the current Bye-laws and was of the opinion that there did not appear to be sufficient change to warrant the additional Orders.
RESOLVED that
1. Dog Control Orders not be implemented at the present time and the matter be reviewed in one year
2. complaints and incidents be monitored in the meantime
3. the Town Clerk be requested to consider advisory signage and continue with the public education process.
19.2 Proposal for Sculptural Work
Members were reminded that, at Minute 7.7 of the last meeting of this Committee, it was resolved that the concept of a sculpture suitable for installation on Swan Island be approved in principle and that the Town Clerk advise MERA of the parameters for this work.
The Committee noted that a meeting took place on 25th June at the Lake between representatives of Maiden Erlegh School, MERA and Officers of the Town Council to further consider the feasibility of the project, and to decide on parameters.
It was further noted that the Schools proposals would be forwarded to MERA in due course.
20 SOL JOEL PARK
20.1 Sub-Committee
Consideration was given to the Minutes of the Sol Joel Park Sub-Committee meeting held on 6th June 2007, a copy of which is appended to these Minutes for the information of Members.
RESOLVED that the report be received and the Recommendations contained therein be adopted.
20.2 Condition of Park
The Town Clerk reported that the Amenities & Leisure Manager had written a report, outlining the proposed Management Plan for the park, which would be presented to the next meeting of the Sol Joel Park Sub-Committee.
21. EARLEY FUN DAY
The Town Clerk reported that preparations for the involvement of Earley Town Council in the Fun Day had been progressing. It was noted that the gates would open at 12noon on Saturday, 7th July and the Town Mayor had been invited to be present at the official opening of the event at 12.30pm and to draw the first prize in the raffle at 4.00pm.
RESOLVED that consideration be given to future involvement in the Fun Day at the next meeting of this Committee.
22. GREEN FAIR
The Committee noted that the annual Green Fair was due to be held on Saturday, 4th August, from 10.00am to 3.00pm and that stall sales were going well.
23. FINANCIAL REVIEW
23.1 Maiden Erlegh Local Nature Reserve
The Committee noted details of the financial information is as follows:
INCOME
EXPENDITURE
TOTALS
Members further noted that the net expenditure for 2005/06 was lower than the budget figure of £52,670 due principally to the Environment Agency grant. The majority of this funding was spent during 2006/07, thus causing the out-turn to be over the original budget for that year. In addition, £2,020 was spent out of the Capital budget on improvements to pathways at the Nature Reserve in 2006/07.
24. PUBLICATIONS
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