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Earley Town Council |
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EARLEY TOWN COUNCIL
Minutes of the meeting of Earley Town Council held in the Council Chamber, Council Offices, Radstock Lane, Earley, Berkshire on Wednesday, 7th February 2007 which commenced at 7.55 pm.
Present
Chairman – The Mayor, Councillor D Chopping
Councillors M Ahmed (from 7.55), J Armstrong, T Chambers, M Deegan (from 8.15), M Firmager, T Holton, N Jorgensen, Mrs P Jorgensen, Mrs J Lissaman, T Lowe, Mrs F Rolls, C Rowden, S Scarrott, A Spratling, Mrs E Spratling, D Swindells, K Ward, G Woods.
Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Miss T Bauckham (due to family commitments), A Bradley (District Council meeting), C Edmunds (due to work commitments), Mrs F Lumbar (due to ill health), Mrs C Swindells. __________________________________________________________________________________
69. MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING
The minutes of the meeting of the Town Council held on 29th November 2006 were confirmed as a true record and signed by the Mayor.
70. TOWN MAYOR'S COMMUNICATIONS
70.1 Aldryngton School
The Mayor reported that, accompanied by the Town Clerk, he had attended at Aldryngton School to speak to the senior classes on Local Government.
70.2 Sol Joel Park
Councillor Chopping reported receipt of a letter from the Air Cadets relating to the new pavilion at Sol Joel Park. He continued by confirming that all the neighbours in Church Road had now received letters from the Town Council outlining the proposal to build a new pavilion on the site.
Arrangements were currently in hand to meet with Earley St Peter’s Church. However, the Mayor indicated that he would not be able to attend the date proposed for the meeting, and the Deputy Mayor, Councillor N Jorgensen agreed to attend in his place.
70.3 Visit of HRH Duke of York
The Chairman reported that he had written to the Chairman of Wokingham District Council to complain about the fact that the Town Council had no prior knowledge of the recent visit of HRH Duke of York to the Rockwell-Collins site at Suttons Business Park. The Mayor indicated that a reply had been received from the Chairman of Wokingham District Council indicating that he had been invited to attend at very short notice, and that for security reasons, it had been requested that the visit should not be widely advertised.
71. TOWN COUNCIL COMMITTEES
71.1 Planning Committee
71.1.1 Meeting of 12th December
The minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on 12th December 2006 were presented by the Committee Chairman, Councillor Mrs P Jorgensen. A Member present expressed concern about the future of the Third Thames Council’s Crossing Group, which was detailed in the minutes under consideration. The Mayor reported that the Group was due to be discussed at a meeting of RUALTG on the 7th March.
On the proposition of Councillor Mrs P Jorgensen, seconded by Councillor M Firmager, it was
RESOLVED that the minutes of the Planning Committee held on 12th December 2006 (Minutes 99-110) be approved.
71.1.2 Meeting of 16th January 2007
The minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on 16th January 2007 were presented by the Committee Chairman, Councillor Mrs P Jorgensen. On the proposition of Mrs P Jorgensen, seconded by Councillor J Armstrong, it was
RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on the 16th January 2007 (Minutes 111-122) be approved.
71.2 Amenities & Leisure Committee
The minutes of the meeting of the Amenities & Leisure Committee held on 10th January 2007 were presented by the Committee Chairman, Councillor N Jorgensen. On the proposition of Councillor N Jorgensen, seconded by Councillor T Holton it was
RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Amenities & Leisure Committee held on 10th January 2007 (Minutes 58-68) be approved.
71.3 Policy & Resources Committee
The minutes of the meeting of the Policy & Resources Committee held on 24th January 2007 were presented by the Committee Chairman, Councillor M Deegan.
A Member present questioned the wording of the second part of the resolution under Minute 50.1, concerning the tree planting in Chiltern Crescent. The Mayor confirmed that the wording was correct.
Councillor M Deegan then drew Councillors’ attention to the recommendations at Minutes 50.1 and 50.2 concerning the setting of the Town Council’s Budgets and Precept for 2007/08.
At this point the Acting Leader of the Opposition presented alternative budget proposals to Councillors, which suggested reductions in various revenue expenditure budgets, thus reducing the Precept requirement. At this point the Chairman of the Policy & Resources Committee asked for a suspension of the meeting so that his Group could consider the alternative budget proposals submitted by the Liberal Democrat Group. Upon resumption of the meeting, the Policy & Resources Committee Chairman indicated that, prior to the submission of the alternative budget proposals by the Liberal Democrat Group, he had intended proposing two reductions to the budget figures accompanying the Policy & Resources Committee minutes. These were in the sum of £2,150 from Code 3259 (Maiden Place air conditioning) and £673 from Code 2429 in respect of the production of the Council Tax leaflet. The Chairman indicated that these reductions were being proposed at this stage, because tenders for both of these items had been received since compilation of the draft budget.
The Policy & Resources Committee Chairman then reported to the meeting the Conservative Group’s thoughts on the alternative budget submitted by the Liberal Democrat Group. He reported that, in general, the Conservative Group were against any further reductions in the budget, and particularly where these concerned utility services, over which, the Council had very little control. The Chairman then outlined those items within the Liberal Democrat budget where his group thought reductions could be made as follows:-
Code 2607 - a reduction of £1 to £50 Code 2423 - a reduction of £433 to £900 Code 5125 - a reduction of £25 to £75
At this point the Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group asked for a suspension of the meeting.
Upon resumption of the meeting, the Policy and Resources Chairman confirmed the revisions which had been made to the budget, as detailed above.
Councillor M Deegan proposed, and Councillor K Ward seconded:-
1. that the recommendation at Minute 50.1 be approved subject to the revisions detailed in the preamble to this resolution.
2. that the Town Council’s Precept for 07/08 be set at £620,328.30.
3. the Town Clerk be requested to arrange for the printing of the appropriate number of Council Tax leaflets.
4. that the Minutes of the Policy & Resources Committee held on 24th January 2007 (Minutes 48-58) be approved and the recommendations at Minutes 50.1 and 50.2, as amended, be adopted.
An amendment, proposed by Councillor S Scarrott and seconded by Councillor D Swindells was proposed that the Town Council’s budget for 07/08 should be set as detailed in the proposals circulated by the Liberal Democrat Group, with the addition of £5,000 to retain the Capital Renewals Reserve, which would lead to a Town Council Precept for the year of £616,885.80.
There then followed considerable discussion on the amendment proposed by Councillor Scarrott, which resulted in the request for a further brief suspension of the meeting.
Upon resumption of the meeting Councillor S Scarrott indicated that he wished to withdraw the amendment which he had proposed.
Discussion then returned to the substantive motion.
Upon the proposition of Councillor Mrs P Jorgensen, seconded by Councillor N Jorgensen, it was
RESOLVED that the vote on the Motion be recorded.
Voting then took place on the substantive motion, which was carried. The voting recorded was:-
Councillor M Ahmed - against Councillor J Armstrong - for Councillor T Chambers - for Councillor D Chopping - for Councillor M Deegan - for Councillor M Firmager - for Councillor T Holton - for Councillor N Jorgensen - for Councillor Mrs P Jorgensen - for Councillor Mrs J Lissaman - against Councillor T Lowe - against Councillor Mrs F Rolls - against Councillor C Rowden - for Councillor S Scarrott - against Councillor A Spratling - against Councillor Mrs E Spratling - against Councillor D Swindells - against Councillor K Ward - for Councillor G Woods - for
Councillors’ attention was then drawn to Minute 49.3 of the minutes of 24th January which concerned the discussions on the level of grant to Just Around the Corner and the Wokingham District Council Outreach Youth Service.
On the proposition of Councillor M Deegan, seconded by Councillor K Ward it was
RESOLVED that in accordance of the provisions of the Local Government Act 1972, Section 137, as amended by the Local Government Housing Act 1989, Section 36, contributions be made from the 2007/08 Budget as follows:-
Just Around the Corner - £3,000 WDC Outreach Youth Work - £7,000
72. REPORTS OF REPRESENTATIVES
72.1 Reports of Representatives
72.1.1 Wokingham District Sports Council
Councillor Tim Holton reported that he had attended two meetings of the Sports Council. Notes of a meeting on 11th December were circulated for Councillors’ consideration. Councillor Holton reported that since then he had also attended the AGM, and the Sports Council had requested that its thanks be extended to Earley Town Council for its support.
72.1.2 CResCent
Councillor Mrs E Spratling reported that she had attended a Trustees meeting on 7th February. She advised that week commencing 2nd June was Volunteer Week which coincided with the announcement of the results of the applications for a Queen’s Award. The Trustees were planning a number of activities during that week.
72.1.3 The Waterside Centre
Following a request from a Member, Councillor N Jorgensen reported on his attendance at a meeting of the Waterside Centre in January. He advised that the lease had not been completely sorted. However, the Centre was financially sound and because of the increase in use of its facilities, two additional staff members had been appointed in 2006.
73. CLOSURE OF RYEISH GREEN SCHOOL
Councillors were reminded that at Minute 63, it had been resolved that the Town Council’s responses to the Consultation Document on the Proposed Closure of Ryeish Green School be communicated to the District Council. This communication included a number of questions a response to which had been received and was appended to the Agenda for Councillor’s consideration.
It was
RESOLVED that the following specific questions be further communicated to the District Council:-
(a) Comparison of the distances Earley children attending Ryeish Green School currently have to travel, and how this compares to the new schools allocated to them.
(b) Have all children who would be displaced from Ryeish Green School been allocated an alternative school.
(c) A request that the catchment areas for local schools should be thoroughly examined to see whether any changes could be made and specifically in minimising travelling distance.
(d) A request for details of travel patterns to the school, and how any congestion may be alleviated by the use of school buses.
(e) Any available data about the potential for pupils attending Whiteknights School moving onto the Reading Academy, rather than attending Maiden Erlegh School.
(f) Confirmation that Bulmershe School is happy to receive pupils from Ryeish Green.
74. MODEL CODE OF CONDUCT FOR LOCAL AUTHORITY MEMBERS
Councillors were advised that the Government had published a revised Consultation Draft on 22nd January. Councillors were reminded that previous representations on the Code of Conduct had been made to the Department of Communities & Local Government and that the Consultation Paper now presented incorporated the Government's responses to the submissions received.
The Consultation Paper, which had been circulated with the Agenda, was noted.
75. DRAFT TOWN PLAN
It was
RESOLVED that in view of the lateness of the hour, consideration of this item be postponed until the next meeting of the Town Council.
76. APPLICATION FOR STREET TRADING CONSENT
RESOLVED that no objection to the application be made.
77. ORDERS FOR PAYMENT
RESOLVED that the various accounts as set out in the list attached to these minutes (Vouchers 501-520) be paid in the sums as stated and details of the Imprest Vouchers (Vouchers 239-247) be noted.
78. PUBLICATIONS
It was noted that the following publications had been received and were held in the Council Offices:
79. PRESS RELEASES
It was
RESOLVED that the level of the Town Council’s Precept for 2007/08 should receive special press attention.
80. TERMINATION OF MEETING
The meeting was declared closed by the Mayor at 11.27pm.
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