EARLEY TOWN COUNCIL

Minutes of a meeting of Earley Town Council held in the Council Chamber, Council Offices, Radstock Lane, Earley, Berkshire on Wednesday, 9^thApril 2008 which commenced at 7.45 pm.

Present

Chairman – Mayor, Councillor N Jorgensen

Councillors J Armstrong, A Bradley, Mrs L Chambers, T Chambers, D Chopping, Ms T Christidis, M Deegan, Ms P Dunn, C Edmunds, M Firmager, T Holton (from 8.07pm), G Hughes, I Hussain, Mrs J Lissaman, T Maher, K Miall, N Preston, P Willis, G Woods.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mrs A Ames (ill health), W Gothard (work commitments), Mrs P Jorgensen (work commitments), S Khan (work commitments), Ms C Mitchell (ill health).

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82.       MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

The minutes of the meeting of the Town Council held on 6^th February 2008 were confirmed as a true record and signed by the mayor.

83.       TOWN MAYOR'S COMMUNICATIONS

The Mayor had nothing to report.

84.       TOWN COUNCIL COMMITTEES

84.1      Planning Committee

84.1.1   Meeting of 12^th February 2008

In presenting the minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on 12^th February 2008, Councillor G Woods, the Committee Vice-Chairman, drew attention to the various appeal decisions contained in the Minutes.  Attention was also drawn to the recommendation at Minute 136.6.

On the proposition of Councillor G Woods, seconded by J Armstrong, it was

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on 12^th February 2008 (Minutes 132 – 142) be approved and the recommendation at Minute 136.6 be adopted.

84.1.2   Meeting of 11^th March 2008

In presenting the minutes of the meeting of 11^th March 2008, the Committee Vice-Chairman, Councillor G Woods, drew attention to a correction at Minute 153 where the date of the April meeting should be shown as the 15^th and not the 12^th.  Attention was also drawn to the recommendation at Minute 153.

On the proposition of Councillor G Woods, seconded by Councillor J Armstrong it was

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Planning Committee held on 11^th March 2008 (Minutes 143 – 157), as amended, be approved and the recommendation at Minute 153 be adopted.

84.2      Amenities & Leisure Committee

In presenting the minutes of the meeting of the Amenities & Leisure Committee held on 27^th February 2008 the Committee Chairman, Councillor D Chopping, drew particular attention to the approval of various works at Sol Joel Park and Mays Lane Cemetery.

On the proposition of Councillor D Chopping, seconded by Councillor T Chambers it was,

RESOLVED that the minutes of the Amenities and Leisure Committee held on 27^th February 2008 (Minutes 71 – 83) be approved. 

84.3      Policy & Resources Committee

In presenting the minutes of the Policy & Resources Committee meeting held on 19^th March 2008, the Committee Chairman, Councillor M Deegan, drew particular attention to the recommendation at Minute 53.1.2 concerning the dates for the meetings of the Youth & Community Sub-Committee being published on the Town Council’s Schedule of Meetings.

The Town Clerk advised that this listing on the main Schedule of Meetings needed some care, since the meetings of the Youth & Community Sub-Committee were not open to the general public.

Attention was also drawn to Minute 56, concerning the audit of the 2007/08 Accounts, and Councillor Deegan said that he was pleased to report that the Audit had been completed and there were no matters of concern.

 On the proposition of Councillor M Deegan, seconded by Councillor C Edmunds, it was

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Policy & Resources Committee held on 19^th March 2008 (Minutes 52 – 59) be approved and the recommendation at Minute 53.1.2 be adopted. 

85.       REPRESENTATIVES TO OUTSIDE BODIES

85.1      Reports of Representatives

            No reports were given at the meeting.

85.2      Keep Mobile

Councillors were advised that a notification had been received from Keep Mobile that the time of its Management Team meetings had changed from 19.00 hrs to 14.00 hrs.  Unfortunately, the Town Council’s current representative, Cllr Mrs P Jorgensen, was unable to attend meetings at this time of day due to work commitments. It was

RESOLVED that Councillor G Hughes, with Councillor Ms T Christidis as reserve, should be appointed as the Town Council’s representatives to the Keep Mobile Management Team.

85.3            Wokingham Borough Council: Town and Parish Council Meeting – 3^rd April 2008

Councillor K Miall gave a verbal report on his attendance at a meeting of the Borough with Town and Parish Councillors which had taken place on 3^rd April.  Councillor Miall indicated that two areas of particular interest were the Borough Council’s Vision Statement, and also proposed changes to the method of awarding Section 106 monies.

Councillors were advised that a report of the meeting had been prepared by the Borough Council and was available for perusal in the Council Offices.

86.       SERVICE TO EARLEY AWARDS

Councillors were advised that the Service to Earley Awards Panel had met prior to this meeting of the Town Council and had proposed one recipient for the award in 2008.

It was

RESOLVED that Mr Tony Henty should be the recipient of a Service to Earley Award in 2008.

87.       BOROUGH PARISH CONFERENCE

Members were advised that the Town & Parish Working Group had suggested that the Vision Documents produced by Wokingham Borough Council should be used as a theme for the Annual Borough Parish Conference to be held on 8^th October this year.  The Working Group has suggested that the Conference be held at Shute End with the main activity being in Committee Rooms 1 and 2, but with the option of breaking out into workshops in other rooms.  The proposed agenda would be to start at 6.30pm and would include a keynote presentation of the Vision by the Chief Executive, Susan Law.  It was suggested that the meeting would then break out into groups to discuss certain elements of the Vision and how Towns and Parishes could influence it and be involved.

Members were further advised that any burning issues should not be saved for the Conference but be raised during the year.  However, any Borough wide issues which came to attention later in the year could be added to the Conference agenda.

Councillors were asked for their views on these proposals, including the main theme and suggested option themes for the breakouts, or anything else they felt should be considered as a topic for discussion.

A Member present expressed concern at the proposal by the Borough Council to promote a Vision for the Borough, since she felt the more practical solutions to the issues facing the Borough should receive attention.

The supporting information received from the Borough Council indicated that any input into its proposals for the Borough/Parish Conference were required in time for the next meeting of the Working Group on 14^th April.  It was

RESOLVED that no comments be made to the Borough Council.

88.       WOKINGHAM ASSOCIATION OF LOCAL COUNCILS

Councillors were advised that the Town Clerk had received a communication from the Secretary of the Wokingham Association of Local Councils with an invitation to all Town and Parish Councils in Wokingham, whether members or non-members of the National Association of Local Councils, to attend the next meeting of the Wokingham Association.  A copy of the agenda for that meeting had been circulated with the agenda.  Councillors were further advised that there would also be a discussion relating to the new administrative arrangements for the Berkshire Association of Local Councils.  On the proposition of Councillor D Chopping, seconded by Councillor P Willis it was

RESOLVED that Councillor K Miall should represent the Town Council on the Wokingham Association of Local Councils.

89.       INVITATION TO CHIEF CONSTABLE

Councillors were reminded that last year it had been suggested that the Town Council should invite the Chief Constable to the first available meeting.  A reply had been received back in October 2007 from the Chief Constable saying that she was not available on the dates provided by the Town Council but her Chief Inspector, Inspector Tony Ismay, the Wokingham District Commander, would be attending on her behalf at the meeting on 9^th April 2008.

Councillors were advised that Chief Inspector Ismay had moved on as a result of promotion and, would, therefore, not be attending.  His replacement, Inspector John Simkin, had contacted the Town Clerk to say that he had recently become aware of the offer from the previous Chief Inspector, but he was not available for this meeting.

Concern was expressed that a representative of Thames Valley Police had not attended recent meetings of the Youth & Community Sub-Committee.  The Town Clerk was able to report that, following informal discussions with Inspector John Simkin, an assurance had been received that a representative of the Police would be present at the next meeting.

The Town Clerk further reported that Inspector Simkin had indicated that the current Neighbourhood Action Group would be dissolved and reconstituted.

Members present felt that it would be extremely useful to have discussions with the new Inspector and, on the proposition of Councillor A Bradley, seconded by Councillor P Willis, it was

RESOLVED that Inspector John Simkin be invited to attend a future meeting of the Town Council.

The Town Clerk requested that he should be advised of any particular topics which Councillors wished to discuss with Inspector Simkin, prior to his attendance at the Council meeting.

90.       ORDERS FOR PAYMENT

RESOLVED that the various accounts as set out in the list attached to these minutes (Vouchers 481 – 491) be paid in the sums as stated.

91.       PUBLICATIONS

It was noted that the following publications had been received and were held in the Council Offices:

92.       PRESS RELEASES

            No Press Releases were requested.

93.       CONFIDENTIAL ITEMS

RESOLVED that the press and public be excluded from the meeting during the discussion of confidential matters relating to the provision of a BMX track.

94.       TERMINATION OF MEETING

            The meeting was declared closed by the Chairman at 8.43 pm.

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