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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, 21st February 2007 at 7.45 p.m.
Present
Chairman – Councillor N Jorgenson
Councillors M M Ahmed, T Chambers, Mrs F M Rolls, C Rowden and Mrs E Spratling.
Apologies for absence were received from Councillors A T Bradley, D D Chopping (due to Town Council business), T A Holton (due to a District Council meeting) and Mrs C Swindells (due to family commitments). ____________________________________________________________________________________
69. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
The Minutes of the meeting held on 10th January 2007 were approved as a true and correct record and signed by the Chairman.
70. COMMUNITY CENTRES
70.1 Maiden Place Community Centre
70.1.1 Main Hall Doors
Councillors were reminded that this Committee had already approved, in principle, the replacement of the external doors to the Main Hall at the Community Centre, and an appropriate sum has been built into the Committee’s 07/08 budget.
Five companies were asked to quote for this work and quotations were received as follows:
Loddon Door Services £4,125.00 (in softwood) ″ ″ ″ £5,200.00 (in hardwood) Woods & Langton £6,595.43 (in hardwood) New Mill Carpentry & Joinery £4,049.00 (in hardwood)
Of the above companies, Loddon Door Services had previously carried out work for the Town Council, which had been very satisfactory but the other Contractors had not done work for this Council in the recent past. However, it was recommended that the new doors should be in hardwood, as they would last longer.
RESOLVED that the quotation of New Mill Carpentry & Joinery in the sum of £4,049.00 be approved.
70.1.2 Air Conditioning
The Town Clerk reported that seven companies had been asked to tender for the installation of air conditioning in the Main Hall only at the Community Centre. The closing date for Tenders was noon on 19th February and the Chairman of this Committee, together with the Town Clerk and the Deputy Town Clerk carried out the official opening of tenders, as required by the Town Council’s Standing Orders, prior to this meeting.
Three Tenders had been received as follows:
Thames Valley Heating Ltd £26.590.00 Thames Valley Temperature Control £16.700.00 Air Volution Ltd £17,000.00
The Town Clerk informed the Committee that any quotation would need to be subject to satisfactory answers to detailed technical questions with regard to the warranty, life expectancy and service costs.
The Town Clerk further informed Members that Planning Consent would be required for the air conditioning units.
RESOLVED that
1. an application be made to Wokingham District Council for Planning Consent
2. subject to satisfactory answers to various technical questions, the quotation of Thames Valley Temperature Control in the sum of £16,700.00 be approved.
71. MAIDEN ERLEGH LOCAL NATURE RESERVE
71.1 Animal and Bird Welfare
Members were reminded that, at Minute 66 of the last meeting of this Committee, when the Revised Estimates for 2006/07 and the Draft Estimates for 2007/08 were recommended for approval to the Policy & Resources Committee, it was also resolved that enquiries be made with Swan Lifeline as to how many call-outs per year were made to Maiden Erlegh Park. A sum had been included in the budget for 2007/08 of £133.25 and this had been adopted by Full Council at the last meeting.
Consequently, contact had been made with a representative from Swan Lifeline, who had indicated that it had been called out to the Local Nature Reserve in the region of seven or eight times in the past twelve months.
Councillors were reminded that this information was requested in order to consider whether the payments to Swan Lifeline, which were in the form of donations, were appropriate to the level of service received.
Members were of the opinion that, due to rising transportation costs and veterinary fees, the Swan Lifeline donation should be increased for 2008/09 and that the Maiden Erlegh Park expenditure be monitored to ascertain the possibility of a virement from the budget in the current year.
The Committee further noted that proceeds from some of the Town Council’s Charity Fishing Matches had, in the past, been donated to Swan Lifeline and it was suggested that the same should apply to the 2007 match.
RESOLVED that
1. at the appropriate time, consideration be given to dedication of the 2007 Town Council Charity Fishing Match being dedicated to Swan Lifeline
2. consideration be given to an increase in the Animal/Bird Welfare budget for 2008/09
3. Maiden Erlegh Park expenditure be monitored to ascertain the possibility of a virement, to Swan Lifeline, from the budget in the current year.
71.2 Dog Control around the Lake
Consideration was given to a report, previously circulated to Members, which related to improved dog control in the Local Nature Reserve and, particularly, the area around the lake.
The Senior Park Ranger further reported that the Town Council’s current policy, that dogs must be kept under control, was seen by some members of the public as a request as opposed to an order and he, also, felt that any new controls should be applicable to the whole of the Reserve and not only the lake.
Whilst Members were of the opinion that the majority of dog owners were responsible people who cleaned up after their dogs and kept them under control, concern was expressed that the current controls were open to misinterpretation.
In addition to the written report, the Town Clerk advised that the Environment Act 2005 allowed Town & Parish Councils to make their own decisions with regard to Dog Control Orders without having to refer to Central Government and they would, also, have the powers of enforcement with regard to fixed penalty notices and Magistrates Court action.
The Committee was further informed that, if adopted, the Order for failing to remove faeces would require Wokingham District Council approval and, with regard to the other Orders, appropriate notices would need to be posted to warn dog owners of the offences.
RESOLVED that
1. the vote for Dog Control Orders 2 & 3 be taken as one item
2. Orders 1 and 2/3 be adopted
3. the adopted Orders be applied to the whole of the Nature Reserve
3. the decision regarding the specified maximum lead length be delegated to Officers
4. following consultation with Wokingham District Council, Dog Control policy notices be posted as appropriate
5. the Dog Control Orders be reviewed in six months time.
72. SOL JOEL PARK
72.1 Minutes of the Sol Joel Park Sub-Committee held on 17th January 2007
Consideration was given to the Minutes of the Sub-Committee meeting held on 17th January 2007, a copy of which is attached to these Minutes for the information of Members only.
RESOLVED that
1. the report be received and approved
2. the confidential report of the Town Clerk in respect of the Pavilion be considered within the closed section of the meeting.
73. BMX TRACK/SKATEPARK - RIVERSIDE PARK
Further to Minute 62 of the last meeting of this Committee, the Town Clerk reported that it was disappointing that only minor progress had been made with the Environment Agency over the site, despite the best efforts of the Town Council’s appointed architect. The new flood level data, contained within the report released by the Agency on 8th January, had been received but there was no confirmation of the Agency’s acceptance of the proposals and whether any compensatory flood remediation would need to be offered by the Town Council to allow the project to proceed.
Since the last meeting of this Committee, work had been done to alleviate concerns of the residents, which had been expressed at the public meeting, with regard to parking and the District Council’s Highways Department had given permission for the bus lay-by in Rushey Way to be used for this purpose (as it was not used for a regular bus service, other than the Night Bus in the early hours of the morning). Additionally meetings had been held with representatives of the youth service and JAC concerning security of the site, and the results of these discussions were being pursued further. There had also been discussions with various CCTV companies regarding the options available, and informal discussions with officers at the District Council and others concerning funding sources which might be open to the Town Council to meet the balance of the capital costs, and potentially some of the running costs.
A forum website had been set up by one of the residents attending the Public Meeting on 8th January which was accessible at www.bmxskatepark.co.uk for interested Councillors, and, particularly, for anyone wishing to post comments.
It had been anticipated that the Committee would be asked to confirm the final details of the proposal and resolve to allow the Planning Applications to be submitted. However, with regard to the Environment Agency’s mapping of the area, it had been noted that, because there was a significant difference to the historical Wokingham District Council records, more substantive information was required and, in view of the lack of response from the Environment Agency to the Town Council’s enquiries, the final plans were unable to be confirmed. Furthermore, until a response was received, it would not be possible to produce the special edition of the Town Council Newsletter as resolved at the last meeting of this Committee.
Members were informed that a local resident wished to speak to the Committee and was invited to speak to the meeting accordingly.
The resident submitted a copy of the Environment Agency’s “flood risk” map for the Lower Loddon and re-iterated his comments as outlined at the public meeting. He, also, expressed concern that, according to the map, the area now had a “1 in 5” risk of flooding and not “1 in 100” as previously understood and, should the project go ahead, he believed it could exacerbate the situation and cause flooding to nearby residential properties. In respect of car parking, he stated that the bus lay-by only had a capacity for a maximum of eight cars. He was further concerned with regard to the safety factor due to the heavy traffic on Rushey Way and stated that the area was notorious for traffic accidents. He, also, added that he was of the opinion that his concerns expressed at the public meeting had not been properly addressed by Officers and was duly informed by the Chairman that this Committee would make the final decisions.
74. FINANCIAL REVIEW
74.1 Allotments
Members were reminded that this formed part of the ongoing review of amenities previously agreed by the Committee.
The income and expenditure for the allotments was as follows:
The Town Clerk further reported that the water rates for 2006/07 had been revised upwards since the budget based on actual use.
Estimated expenditure was expected to fall in 2007/08 because the maintenance costs were budgeted lower. It was probable that the revised estimated maintenance cost for 2006/07 was likely to be under spent.
The income estimate for this year had been revised upwards since the budget, based on actual uptake.
The estimated income for 2007/08 was based upon the expectation of uptake of allotment plots. The allotment year ran from 1st October and, therefore, the estimate had to be made almost one year in advance. At the current time, there were no vacant plots and there was a long waiting list that had temporarily been closed.
RESOLVED that consideration be given to an increase in allotment rental at the next budget meeting.
75. PUBLICATIONS
The Committee noted that no publications had been received since the last meeting of this Committee.
76. ONGOING MATTERS
RESOLVED that the item in respect of Maiden Place Community Centre Air Conditioning be removed from future Agendas.
77. PRESS RELEASES
RESOLVED that the item relating to Dog Control should receive emphasis at the appropriate time.
78. TERMINATION OF MEETING
The meeting was declared closed by the Chairman at 9.25pm.
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