Notes on Camelford town Council meeting held on 17th October 2006
Present: Mayor Jenny Finch (JF), Deputy Mayor Bonnie Grills (BG), Brian Lush (BL),
Bob Ireland (BI), Phil Clark (PC), David Pierce (DP), Michael Williams (MW), Andy Shaw (AS).
Minutes taken by: Barry Jordan (Town Clerk) (BJ)
Public Participation
A letter had been received from CAR regarding the proposal for an ‘official’ Town Guide (Author’s note: Shouldn’t this have been dealt with under ‘Correspondence’?).
JF replied stating that the only contribution from the Council is time – there is/will be no financial outlay by CTC – advertisers pay for the production of the guide to be produced by Burrows. JF went on to quote from past Council minutes which showed that organisations/businesses/individuals had either not replied to requests for inclusion or had shown very low levels of interest. JF stated that CAR’s letter was a series of unfounded ‘accusations’. (Author’s note: CAR’s letter, and the questions therein, was raised at the request of concerned individuals and business owners in the town who attended the CAR AGM on 5th October 2006).
1- Apologies
Received from Cllrs: L. Crockford (working), S. Elford (on holiday) and J. Bass (nee Sanders) (sick).
Proposed for acceptance by AS, seconded by MW, 6 for, PC against, 1 abstention (BL).
2 - Declarations of Interest – Item 7(b) BL, Personal (Blue Badge holder)
3 – Minutes of 5th Oct 2006 – Amendments notified to BJ before BI raised a question regarding the order of events and requested a further amendment. The amendment was agreed and will appear in the revised minutes. Proposed for acceptance by AS, seconded by DP, 5 for, 3 abstained (BL, BI & PC).
4 – Items carried forward from last meeting
(i) Traffic Monitoring – Letter from P. Allen (Highways Dept., CCC), refused new traffic signals for Clease Road and top of High St.
(ii) Information Signs – Letter from P. Allen, - some signs had been cleaned but more need doing.
AS stated that the raising of the pavement at the Co-op might still go ahead.
(iii) A meeting to discuss the precept for 2007/8 would be held at the NCDC Offices in College Road on November 1st at 7 p.m.
(iv) Salt/Grit Bins – Area Supervisor states bins will be fitted/repaired/replaced as necessary (although the bin at the Countryman Hotel is disputed). AS said he remembers a grit bin at Trefrew Road. BG agreed. It was decided that a letter should go to CCC stating potential hazard due to lack of pavement and potential hazard to pedestrians who might slip on Trefrew Road if it is left untreated, also Clease Road.
5 – Answers to Public Participation of 5th Oct 2006 – None
6 – Question fron Councillors – None
7 – Items requiring a decision
(i) CTC considering applying for a ‘.gov’ web address. – BJ had investigated the possibility of a grant to fund the set-up costs but had been informed that none was available. BJ stated that an initial outlay of £600 plus annual costs of over £100 would be required. He also stated that this expenditure would give the Council access to over £27,000 worth of software to enable them to run the site.
BI asked why CTC need a ‘.gov’ address at this cost. He recalled that the original idea had been to give Councillors individual e-mail addresses to allow for the passing of confidential items securely between Councillors and the Clerk, but, since several members of Council are not linked to the internet, and that he (BI) had recently been banned from contacting the Clerk via e-mail, why would this expense be justified?
BJ said in reply that the site would allow free advertising etc. to promote the town. AS stated that 2 sites already exist, one at ‘camelford.org’ and the other via the ‘tintagelweb’ site hosted by David Flower.
PC asked whether a discussion was required before spending this amount of money on a ‘woolly idea’.
BJ replied that ‘.gov’ is not a ‘woolly idea’ but that a small committee should be set up to decide how the site would be run, also that Councils should ‘get in now before costs escalate’.
BI stated that it was still a lot of money. PC asked just how many Councillors present had actually seen the sites suggested by the Clerk at earlier meetings such as Bodmin and Wadebridge (The answer was only 2 Councillors had seen the sites before being asked to approve significant expenditure). DP stated that Camelford should not be left behind but should look at the other sites before deciding.
BG suggested leaving the item over to the next meeting. This was agreed.
(ii) Town Trust Land – draft lease for land between Darlington and Library, disabled bays outside the Town Hall/Pop-In and the disabled bays at the Liberal Club/Nat West Bank had been sent by BJ to Mr Len Mabson. In reply Mr Mabson had asked for clarification and amendments before proceeding further.
[At this point JF interrupted the discussion to ask PC to make aloud any comments he might have, as he was pointing out something to BI. ]
(iii) Tree Safety – A report was received in respect of the large sycamore tree in Enfield Park which needs urgent attention and lopping. BJ has received a quote of £600 to make the tree safe. Councillors suggested several other contractors whose names will be given to the Clerk so he can contact them for possible cheaper quotes. [During this a discussion between AS and MW was taking place and the clerk looked to the Chair to interrupt it, but she did not.]
8 - Items for Information
(i) Local Maintenance Partnership – details of the presentation given on 27th September were given. A list of ‘gold’, ‘silver’ and ‘bronze’ paths is available from the Clerk’s office, a map of the relevant area is also available.
(ii) Notice of Road closure – overnight – A39 Allen Valley from St. Kew Highway to Valley Truckle on 6th November 19.00 to 24.00.
9 – Finance
(i) Cheques as per the agenda, with amendments, were proposed for acceptance by DP, seconded by MW, 5 in favour, PC & BI against, BL abstained.
(ii) Auditors Report – BJ reported a ‘clean bill of health’, the fidelity guarantee at £75,000 now covers Councillors as well as CTC employees and should be for £109,000, but at an increased cost of £160 will apply. Copies of the Auditors Report will be available from the Clerk at a charge of £1.
10 – Resolutions or recommendations from Councillors
(i) From JF - JF proposed a working group be set up with other bodies/organisations from the town with regard to the Parks for People project and the play area. MW suggested limiting the number of members to no more than 7. JF asked which organisations should be contacted. Among those suggested were Church, Youth Club, Forum & Schools. AS suggested separate sub-committees but JF replied that the plans would cover all age groups. BJ agreed with AS’s suggestion. DP recommended that the Council appoint 2 members and then ask the Town Forum to supply the rest of the committee because other town bodies are represented within the Forum.
(ii) From JF – re complaint received – JF proposed that a grievance committee be set up in accordance with ACAS code of practise – however as the full Council was not present she requested that this be left on the table until the next meeting. BL said he thought that the council was the grievance committee as a whole. BJ said he would let him have a copy of the ACAS report with the relevant passage highlighted. BI said that the employer is the corporate body, not the individual councillors. BI asked how many times recently had the full Council been present at meetings, in other words this item could remain unresolved if JF’s comments were valid (which BI thought was not the case). BI said he had read the ACAS document and it was unnecessary to hold the item over but this was over-ruled by JF. JF offered to read out the complaint but BJ said she should not as she had withdrawn the item.
11 – Correspondence – Head-teacher applications/presentations would take place on 30th October. MW will be present as a School governor, JF and DP will also attend.
12 – Planning Application – T. Tague, 11 Trefrew Road – Withdrawn
13 - Committee Reports – None
14 – Reports
Town Forum – AGM tomorrow (18/10/06) – JF proposed that BG attend in place of Cllr. Elford.
CDCDT – AS reported re ‘Butterfly’ project which lacks funds.
Youth Club – MW reported that Junior Club has been split in to 2 parts due to increased numbers.
It appears the Police presence in Camelford is to be reduced. The new officer appears to be very good and had monitored youths on Friday who had been dropped off at Soul’s Harbour only to leave moments later. The officer indicated his presence and the youths dispersed shortly afterwards. JF said she appreciated the new higher profile adopted. AS thanked the Committee on behalf of the Council. BL had attended the Club today (17/10/06) and noted that all present seemed very well behaved. MW commented that the current membership enjoyed the Club as it is but would be seeking funds to help towards another portakabin in the near future.
HERS – No report
Mayor’s report – JF thanked Charles Whitehead for his contribution and DP for the loan of his gazebo, she hoped to hold another presentation in the New Year. The traffic sign by the Co-op has been repaired but other signs still remain filthy. The Mayor of Liskeard will not be able to make the proposed walk due to ill-health. JF’s attendance at several civic ceremonies was also mentioned.
Other reports – BL re the Police Liaison meeting at Wadebridge amongst others. The new Chief Constable will be appointed shortly. PCSO’s (Police Community Support Officers) will probably be given powers to enforce traffic regulations due to replacing Traffic Wardens. Camelford is to lose 2 Police beat-officers – this contradicts information previously supplied which said the town would retain and improve upon the police presence.
BL also reported that he had been elected as Chairman of the North Cornwall committee of CALC (Cornwall Association of Local Councils). In addition, Mrs Clare Ireland had been appointed as Secretary to the same committee.
After BL completed his report AS asked if the Police presence is to be reduced then can people expect a reduction in their Council Tax. It was decided to send a letter to the Chief Executive of Cornwall County Council for an answer.
15 – Newsletters & Circulars – as CTC agenda
16 – Items for 2nd November meeting
(i) From BL – discussion of issues relating to distributor road which was originally promised for inclusion on this night’s agenda.
(ii) From BL – seat preservation – BJ reported that this was in the process of being done but, if incomplete, would go on next agenda.
(iii) From PC – PC requested that all Councillors receive a copy of the grievance (see Item 10(ii) above). BJ said he would have to check – if the panel was going to be formed then members would be contaminated. BL said that in industry if you have a grievance you go to your line manager. If they cannot deal with it then it goes before the council.
(iv) From MW – will be requesting 10% towards cost of improvements/provision of portakabin for Youth Club.
17 – Exempt Information
Court Summons – that Council employ a solicitor in respect of a summons issued due to dispute over an alleged parking infringement (on advice from CALC).
(Press and Public were excluded – Proposed by AS, seconded by MW, 6 for, PC & BI against)
------------------------------ End of notes (notes taken by E. McCormick and C. Ireland) ---------------------------