Full Council Minutes

Minutes of Annual Council Meeting, held on 10th May 2006

1.         ANNUAL REPORT

The Chairman reiterated the report given at the Town Electors’ Meeting on the Council’s activities in 2005/06.

2.         CHAIRMAN OF COUNCIL

The Vice-Chairman elected for the Municipal Year 2005/06 took the Chair and asked for any nominations for the position of Chairman.  On the proposition of Councillor C Edmunds, seconded by Councillor M Deegan, it was

RESOLVED that Councillor D Chopping be re-elected as Chairman of the Council for the ensuing Municipal Year.

3.         VICE-CHAIRMAN

The Chairman asked for nominations for the position of Vice-Chairman.  On the proposition of Councillor C Edmunds, seconded by Councillor M Deegan it was

RESOLVED that Councillor N Jorgensen be elected Vice-Chairman of the Council for the ensuing Municipal Year.

4.         MINUTES OF PREVIOUS MEETING

The Minutes of the meeting of the Town Council held on the 19th April 2006 were confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

5.         CHAIRMAN'S COMMUNICATIONS

5.1.       Wendyhouse Playgroup

            The Chairman reported receipt of a letter from the Wendyhouse Playgroup, which he suggested should be passed to the Chairman of the Amenities and Leisure Committee.

6.         APPOINTMENT OF STANDING COMMITTEES

The Leader of the Council advised that the make up of the Standing Committees would be 6 Conservative and 4 Liberal Democrats, with the exception of the Planning Committee which he was proposing would be 7 Conservative and 4 Liberal Democrats.

The Leader of the Opposition requested a five minute adjournment so that his Group could consider the appointment to the vacancy on the Policy & Resources Committee.  Upon the resumption of the meeting, the Leader of the Opposition advised that the Liberal Democrats’ nominations for the Standing Committees would be as in the previous Municipal Year, with the exception of the vacancy on Policy & Resources which he confirmed would be filled at a future meeting of the Council.  It was

RESOLVED that

1.         the composition of the Standing Committees 2006/07 be as follows:

                        Amenities & Leisure Committee – Councillors A Bradley, T Chambers, D Chopping, T Holton, N Jorgensen, Mrs F Lumbar, Mrs R Rolls, C Rowden, Mrs E Spratling and Mrs C Swindells.

                        Planning Committee – Councillors J Armstrong, Miss T Bauckham, A Bradley, N Jorgensen, Mrs P Jorgensen, Mrs J Lissaman, T Lowe, C Rowden, D Swindells, M Thomas and G Woods.

                        Policy & Resources Committee – Councillors M Ahmed, D Chopping, M Deegan, C Edmunds, M Firmager, N Jorgensen, A Spratling, S Scarrott, K Ward and one Liberal Democrat vacancy.

            2.         Standing Order 43 be suspended until the next Annual Meeting of the Council

7.         CHAIRMEN OF COMMITTEES

7.1.       Amenities & Leisure Committee

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

            RESOLVED that Councillor N Jorgensen be appointed Chairman of the Amenities & Leisure Committee for the ensuing Municipal Year.

7.2.       Planning Committee

            On the proposition of Councillor C Edmunds, seconded by Councillor S. Scarrott , it was

            RESOLVED that Councillor Mrs P Jorgensen be appointed Chairman of the Planning Committee for the ensuing Municipal Year.

7.3.       Policy & Resources Committee

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

            RESOLVED that Councillor M Deegan be appointed Chairman of the Policy & Resources Committee for the ensuing Municipal Year.

            The Leader of the Opposition expressed thanks to all three Chairman of the Standing Committees and especially to the Chairman of the Planning Committee for their work in the past year.

8.         REPRESENTATIVES TO OTHER BODIES

8.1        Appointments

It was

RESOLVED that

1.         the Town Clerk be requested to write to any non-Councillor representatives to thank them for their work on behalf of the Town Council.

2.         the following persons be appointed as the Town Council’s representatives to the various bodies as shown:

Arc (1)

Arts Forum (1) (formerly Wokingham District Arts Council)

Campaign Against Waste (1)

Councillor Mrs P Jorgensen

CResCent Community Association (1)

Councillor J Armstrong

Earley Community Bus Management Committee (1)

Councillor T Chambers

Earley Volunteer Care Bureau (1)

Councillor Mrs E Spratling

Highwood Management Conference (2)

Councillors Mrs F M Rolls and Mrs J Lissaman

Keep Mobile (1)

Kenton Road Day Centre Management Committee (2)

Councillors Mrs F Lumbar & S Scarrott

Police Neighbourhood Action Group (1) (formerly Police Consultative Group)

Councillor A Bradley

Public Transport Forums (1 each)

Wokingham:    Councillor A Bradley

Reading:          Councillor A Bradley

Readibus Management Committee (1)

Councillor T Chambers with Councillor T Lowe as Deputy

Sonning & District Educational and Welfare Trusts (1)

Mr A Eastwood

Trustees of Earley Charities (2)

Mrs M Eastwell and Mr R Ames

WDALC/NALC (2)

            No representatives

Waterside Management Committee (1)

Wokingham District Access Group (1)

Councillor D Chopping

Wokingham District Area Youth Committee (2)

Councillors D Swindells and K Ward

Wokingham District/Parish Liaison Conference (2)

Councillors J Armstrong and Mrs P Jorgensen

Wokingham District Sports Council (1)

Councillor T Holton and Councillor M Firmager as deputy.

Wokingham Job Support Centre (1)

8.2        Reports of Representatives

8.2.1     Earley Volunteer Care Bureau

Councillor Mrs E Spratling gave a brief report of her attendance at the most recent meeting of Earley Volunteer Care Bureau

8.3        Earley Forum

Councillors were reminded that Minute 92 of the meeting of the Town Council held on the 19 April had requested the Town Clerk to obtain further information about the Earley Forum and, in particular, to obtain a copy of the Terms of Reference.

Councillors were advised that the Town Clerk had sought this further information and had been informed that the Earley Forum was originally set up in the late 1980s to bring together people who were active in their communities in all areas of social care.  A need to re-launch the Forum had been identified and, therefore, it was proposed that a lunchtime networking event be held on Thursday, 18th May 2006 at 12 noon at the CResCent Resource Centre.

Councillors were further advised that it was not necessary for the Town Council to nominate a representative to serve on the Forum because it was primarily aimed at voluntary organisations involved with community care.  Nevertheless, it might be appropriate for one or more representatives from the Town Council to attend the networking event.  It was

RESOLVED that

1.         the Chairman of Council be asked to attend the networking lunch on the 18th May

2.         a representative of the Forum be invited to join the Youth & Community Sub-Committee.

9.         FINANCIAL INFORMATION

A first draft of an Income and Expenditure account for the financial year 2005/2006 had been circulated with the agenda for Councillors’ information.  Councillors were advised that, at this stage, this document was purely for information and noting and that the figures may be subject to some amendment prior to presentation of the final accounts of the Town Council.

            A copy of the accounts in question is appended to these Minutes.

            The Town Clerk was asked to produce a summary of actual expenditure against revised Budget for consideration at the next meeting of the Policy & Resources Committee.

10.       FINANCIAL REGULATIONS RELATING TO CONTRACTS

Councillors were advised that financial regulation 11.1 (e) provided that where it was intended to enter into a contract for the supply of goods or materials or for the execution of works for an amount exceeding that fixed by the Council, a defined tender procedure should be followed.  It was

RESOLVED that the £10,000 limit be retained

11.       DEEDS

In accordance with Standing Orders it was noted that the various deeds relating to the Council’s interests in land were held by the Town Clerk and were available for inspection at the closure of the meeting.

12.       BANK ACCOUNTS

Councillors were reminded that four Councillors were required as signatories to the Town Council’s main bank accounts.  It was

RESOLVED that the signatories to the Town Council’s main bank account and the National Savings Account should be Councillors A Bradley, D Chopping, M Deegan and Mrs E Spratling.

13.       PLANNING COMMITTEE

In presenting the Minutes of the Planning Committee meeting held on the 11 April 2006, the Committee Vice-Chairman drew attention to one amendment on page 5 where, under the Town Council’s observations on planning application F/2006/7078, in the final line of paragraph 3, the house number referred to which would loose its garage as a result of this application should be number 28 and not number 40 as stated.

On the proposition of Councillor A Bradley, seconded by Councillor C Rowden, it was

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Planning Committee held on the 11th April 2006 (Minute Nos. 157-169), as amended, be adopted.

14.       TOWN MAYOR

Councillors were reminded that at Minute 97.2 of the Town Council Meeting held on 27th April 2005, it was resolved that the matter of the Town Mayor be referred to the Public Relations Working Party.  Members of the Working Party considered the proposal that the Chairman and the Vice Chairman of the Town Council be renamed Town Mayor and Deputy Town Mayor respectively at Minute 10 of the meeting held on 1st February 2006.  At that meeting, it was recommended to ask the Town Clerk to prepare for consideration, at Policy & Resources Committee, three options:

1.         To merely change the name of the Chairman to Town Mayor and consequential changes for Vice Chairman. This could be achieved at minimal cost.

2.         To investigate the cost of a ceremonial robe for the Town Mayor only.

3.         The cost of a fully robed Council with regalia.

When discussed at Policy & Resources Committee at Minute 62.1, on Wednesday 1st February 2006, it was resolved that the third recommendation be deleted.

At the request of a Member, this matter had now been brought to the Town Council agenda for further discussion and, if Members were so disposed, for a decision.  Councillors were, therefore, reminded that the items under consideration were items 1 and 2 detailed above since, as stated, item 3 had been removed by the Policy & Resources Committee

There was considerable discussion on this item, with concern being expressed about the perception this move may have with local residents, and, particularly, if it was felt that costs would be incurred by the Town Council.

Councillors were, however, advised that the fact that the Town Council did not call its Chairman Mayor sometimes left the Council at a disadvantage, since Chairman of Council, whilst fulfilling the same role, was sometimes not seen to be on the same level as Mayor.  After further considerable discussion, it was

RESOLVED that

1.          by majority vote the Town Council was in favour of changing the title given to the Chairman to Mayor

2.          by majority vote the Town Council was in favour of the title for Vice-Chairman to be changed to Deputy Mayor

3.          both positions should be unrobed positions

4.          the Public Relations Working Party be requested to consider the content of a press release to be issued advising residents of the proposed changes

5.          consideration of amendments to the Town Council’s Standing Orders, to facilitate the change of name of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman to Mayor and Deputy Mayor respectively, be considered at the meeting of the Town Council on the 21 June 2006

15.       ORDERS FOR PAYMENT

RESOLVED that the various accounts as set out in the list attached to these Minutes (Vouchers 668 – 679 and 1 - 52) be paid in the sums as stated and details of Imprest (Voucher 267), be noted.

16.       COUNCILLORS' ATTENDANCE  

Councillors noted details of the Schedule of Attendance at meetings of the Town Council during 2005/06 Municipal Year which had been circulated with the agenda and which was appended to these Minutes. 

17.       APPROVED CONTRACTORS

A list of the Town Council’s currently approved contractors was circulated with the agenda for Councillors’ consideration.  It was

RESOLVED that the list, as appended to these Minutes, be adopted as the Council’s approved contractors.

18.       PUBLICATIONS

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

19.       PRESS RELEASES

It was

RESOLVED that the re-appointment of the Chairman of Council, the recipients of the Service to Earley Awards, the By-Election results and the launch of the Draft Town Plan should receive special press attention.

20.       TERMINATION OF MEETING

            The meeting was declared closed by the Chairman at 9.42 pm.