MINUTES OF THE SAXMUNDHAM
TOWN COUNCIL MEETING HELD 11 JUNE 2007
AT THE MARKET HALL, 7.15PM
Present:




Cllr J Fisher (Chairman)
Cllr M Andrews
Cllr Sir P Batho
Cllr R Damiral-White
Cllr K Howe
Cllr B Jones
Cllr G Moye
Cllr M Palman
Cllr D Sculley
Cllr Col R.E.Warren

In attendance:

Ms M. Gallop - Town Clerk
6 Members of the public

A PUBLIC FORUM:

* The proprietor of the White Hart who is a representative of the Businesses of Saxmundham requested a donation of £500 from the Town Council towards a Christmas Tree and lights to be placed in Fromus Square to enhance the Town.

The Flood Plain was once again brought to the Council's attention.  A letter has already been written on this subject but it is an Environmental decision.

REPORT FROM THE LOCAL POLICE: PC Gould advised that he is now working a different shift pattern which does not enable him to attend many meetings
* The problem of damage occurring to the Scout Hut is ongoing and an input of cash to improve the building could prove advantageous. The Youth in Saxmundham have insufficient activities to get involved with
* There appears to be a lower number of offences this month compared with the same period last year and PC Gould gave a brief report on Saxmundham (enclosed)
* Incidents of rowdy behaviour in the Albion Street licensed premises area continue

The East Anglian Daily Times had reported four knife incidents in Saxmundham and PC Gould will make enquiries about these and report back to the Council
Damage to the hanging baskets had occurred within two days of them being erected and the tubs outside the front of the Market Hall had also been vandalised

PC Gould was warmly thanked for his assistance

REPORT FROM THE COUNTY COUNCILLOR: Cllr Rae Leighton was unable to attend and did not send a report




REPORT FROM THE DISTRICT COUNCILLORS:

Cllr M Andrews reported: Officers from Suffolk Coastal District Council's Licensing department together with representatives from Environmental Health and the Police have been visiting pubs in the Woodbridge area to check matters out. Cllr Andrews will request visits to the Saxmundham area.
* Cllr Sir Batho had nothing to report

AGENDA

3081. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST:
Members are invited to make any declarations of personal or prejudicial interests that they may have in relation to items on the agenda and are reminded to make any declarations at any stage during the meeting if it becomes apparent that this may be required when a particular item or issue is considered. None declared

3082. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE: Cllr Ms V Burdett, holiday, Cllr G Cooke, holiday, Cllrs Ms C & S Trotter-Langlois, family reasons

3083. MATTERS TO BE RAISED UNDER AGENDA ITEM 18:
3083.1 Vermin - Cllr Damiral- White
3083.2 Award - Cllr Damiral-White
3083.3Update on kerbs near the Chinese Restaurant - Cllr Howe
3083.4 Recycling - Cllr Palman

3084. TO APPROVE AND SIGN AS A TRUE RECORD THE MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL TOWN COUNCIL MEETING FOLLOWED BY THE MINUTES OF THE TOWN COUNCIL MONTHLY MEETING ON 14th MAY 2007 MEETING previously circulated: After one minor amendment, unanimously agreed and signed. Motion carried


3085. MATTERS ARISING THEREFROM:
3085.1 Donation request towards Christmas Lights from Businesses of Saxmundham. This matter had been raised in the Public Forum. Cllr Palman advised that having received a reply from the Business of Saxmundham regarding how the donation would be spent he proposed that the Council went along with the request and donate £500 to BOS towards Christmas lights to be placed on a large tree in the grounds of the White Hart Pub in Fromus Square. Cllr Jones seconded. Unanimously agreed. Motion carried

3085.2 Speed of coaches in Brook Farm Road, Saxmundham - reply from Belle coaches - no reply from Country Travel. The Clerk had written to both companies but as yet Country Travel have not responded. She also informed the Police who are investigating the matter.
3066.1 The Clerk has contacted Mr Elvin who will update the Honours Board. Cllr Fisher will liaise with our caretaker, Alan George, to take the board to Mr Elvin's.
3068 Cllr Warren had been in touch with Highways regarding the kerbing near the Chinese restaurant. They have agreed to paint a white line along the upper kerb.
3077 Cllr Burdett will be removed from the list of the working party of Saxmundham News
C307 Cllr Warren had contacted Mrs Norris regarding the problem of car parking for residents who do not have facilities of their own at South Entrance. One car park at the rear is owned by the Housing Association and the other is behind the old depository. SCDC do not issue car permits and no parking is available at present unless the residents are able to approach the property owners and come to some amicable agreement themselves.



3086. TO CONSIDER CORRESPONDENCE RECEIVED:

A - CORRESPONDENCE TO BE NOTED AND CIRCULATED:

1 Suffolk Coastal - SAVO Free networking lunch & workshop - Tuesday 3rd July Market Hall. There are a number of Councillors attending this luncheon
2 Suffolk Acre - Probert Community Initiative Awards
3 Suffolk County Council - recent developments in Countryside Access
4 Suffolk Coastal Services Ltd - Wheeled bin refuse & recycling service new phases - Saxmundham will not be included in this year
5 SCDC Agenda for Annual Meeting held Thursday 24 May 2007 & minutes of 26 April 07

B - CORRESPONDENCE TO BE DISCUSSED BEFORE REPLY: None



C - OTHER CORRESPONDENCE RECEIVED TO DATE:

C001
Woodward Markwell Insurance Brokers
Quotation of £3,285.51 with extended liability
To P & R on the 2nd July 2007
C002
Bank of Scotland
Deposit accounts
Circulation
C003
Suffolk Local Planning Authorities
Monitoring report 2005/6 summary
Circulation

3087. TO APPROVE THE SALC NOMINATED PERSON TO MINUTE THE JULY MEETING:

It was agreed to ask two ex Councillors to minute the meeting. If neither of them is available the Clerk will contact SALC. Apologies for non-attendance at the July meeting were given by both District Councillors, Cllrs Andrews and Batho.

3088. TO DISCUSS FROMUS SQUARE GARDENING: Cllr Howe declared an interest.
Cllr Sculley advised that urgent attention is needed to the flower borders of Fromus Square. This problem occurs every year and a budget should be included for next years Precept. The caretaker maintains the area but does not have enough time to plant. Judging for Anglia in Bloom will be on 11th July so immediate action is necessary. Cllr Warren offered to arrange a working party but plants will need to be purchased. Colour is essential and a discussion took place on the type of flowers/rose bushes that need to be purchased immediately. For instant colour annuals will have to be bought.

3089. TO DISCUSS WATERING THE HANGING BASKETS AT THE STATION: Cllr Howe declared an interest - he has his own gardening business.
Watering at the station is an ongoing problem with water having to be carried from one side of the platform to the other. The gentleman from SCDC, Rex, who has watered all the hanging baskets including the Station for the last two years does not have enough hours to do the station this year. It is a difficult task as access is limited and water has to be carried on the persons back.
Cllr Moye proposed the Town Council enter an agreement to water the baskets for one month while a solution is sought. Cllr Damiral-White seconded this. All in favour. Motion carried . Cllr Howe had already paid one of his own workmen to water the baskets for the past week. He offered to pay for the watering for one month.


3090. COMMITTEE STRUCTURE: TO PROPOSE REDUCTION IN THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE ON COMMITTEES
Cllr Sir Peter Batho re-iterated his observations at the recent P & R meeting that at the AGM it was noticeable there was a high number of volunteers who wished to be members of certain committees. Any member of the Council can attend any committee meeting and speak with the Chairman's approval but cannot vote. Cllr Sir Peter proposed that next year five people should be the maximum number on the committee with the addition of the Chairman and Vice Chairman who are ex-officio. Seconded by Cllr Fisher and all were in favour. Motion carried.

3091. CHAIRMAN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS: Cllr Fisher informed the Council that he intends to attend meetings of neighbouring towns and parishes.

3092. FINANCE REPORT:
* To approve the monthly finance report to end of May 2007 (as attached) Cllr Moye proposed these as correct, Cllr Howe seconded. All in favour. Motion carried
* To approve the accounts for the year ending 31 March 2007 (figures herewith) to go the Internal Auditor. Cllr Warren advised he had not had time to peruse the figures but proposed that, providing there was nothing untoward after he studied them on Tuesday 12th June, they were declared correct and should be given to the Internal Auditor. Seconded by Cllr Moye. All in favour. Motion carried



3093. TO RECEIVE A REPORT FROM THE PLANNING COMMITTEE: Cllr Damiral-White reported the following:

C07 0570 - Chestnuts, Church Street, Saxmundham - application withdrawn
C07 0302 - 10 High Street, Saxmundham - SCDC refused consent for the display of advertisements

C07 0703 Capital Associates Land between Rendham Road and A12 Saxmundham - the Committee had received 2 copy letters, one from Dr Havard who is making good progress on the original site for the Saxmundham Health One Stop Shop and the second from Suffolk Preservation Society who suggested that the proposal had too much wrong with it for it to be approved. Concern was expressed regarding what would happen to the land if the Health Centre were not built there. Further negotiation needed between the Doctors and the developers. The committee objected to the proposal because of the uncertainty of the location of the Medical Centre.

C07 0837
The Diocese of St. Edmundsbury
St John The Baptist Church, Church Street, Saxmundham
Provision of area for disabled car parking
The committee unanimously supported this application. Motion carried
C07 0879
Mrs J Sherry
34 Thurlow Close, Saxmundham
Erection of single-storey conservatory
The committee had no objections to this proposal


To consider the following applications: The Councillors were requested to look at this proposal.

C07 0786
Doreen Roberts
38 Albion Street, Saxmundham
Use of land for the erection of one dwelling (renewal of outline planning permission C04 1080)

No objections had been received from neighbouring properties and it was concluded that the Councillors had no objections to this application. Motion carried.
The Planning Committee consists of four Councillors plus the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman ex-officio. It was felt that a further member could be included. Unanimously agreed that Cllr Barry Jones would be on the Planning Committee. Motion carried.

3094. TO RECEIVE A REPORT FROM THE POLICY & RESOURCES COMMITTEE: Cllr Warren had been appointed Acting Chairman for the meeting on the 4th June 2007 and reported as follows:

3094.1 Consultation on a Unitary Council for Ipswich. The Town Council had received a letter from SCC on proposals for a Unitary Council for Ipswich and they requested our views. Whitehall will make the final decision.
The P & R committee was generally in favour of the views of the Chief Executive in his accompanying letter and Cllr Warren had circulated a draft letter as requested for the Council's approval. Cllr Warren proposed the draft letter was approved and sent to the appropriate Authorities. Seconded by Cllr Damiral-White. All in favour apart from one abstention. Motion carried

Cllr Jones had agreed to advertise in the BFRA newsletter at the end of June about the proposed Litter Pick.


Cllr Andrews declared an interest in Saxmundham Museum


Consideration of grants to voluntary bodies for 2007/ 2008 (£1,200.00 available)

                                                         2007/2008                        2006/2007

The Willows (Suffolk Mind)                      £150.00                          £100.00

Saxmundham Museum                           £150.00                          £100.00

Adventure Playground                            £300.00                          £300.00

Saxmundham 1st Responders                 £100.00                               Nil

Air Ambulance                                          Nil                                £100.00

Citizens Advice Bureau                           £200.00                           £150.00

Leiston, Aldeburgh & Saxmundham
Volunteer Centre                                      Nil                                 £ 50.00

CATs                                                    £100.00                           £ 100.00

Suffolk Accident Rescue Srvs                     Nil                                £ 100.00

Brook Farm Playgroup                           £100.00                                  Nil

Unallocated                                            100.00 

TOTAL                                                £1,200.00                          £1,000.00

* The above was recommended to the full Council by the P & R Committee. Cllr Moye proposed that we distribute the unallocated £100 equally between the Air Ambulance and Suffolk Ambulance Rescue Services and approve these grants. Seconded by Cllr Damiral-White. Seven voted for 2 against and 1 abstention. Motion carried
* To consider the purchase of a bench for Harpers Lane: Recommended by the P & R committee to purchase a heavy duty, recycled plastic seat. All agreed. Motion carried
* Quality parish status report: Requisite action is ongoing
* Fromus Square situation report: Email received informing us that the situation is the same as given in SCDC's last communication. Another letter will be sent to Suffolk Coastal District Council.
* Skate board park - future action: Cllr Burdett is in the process of completing a form for a lottery bid from the Playspace Fund. An event will be planned for fundraising and ' awareness maker'.

3095. TO RECEIVE A REPORT FROM THE MARKET HALL COMMITTEE: Cllr G Moye reported:
Alan Wilkinson WPP Architects Ipswich had sent his report after his initial free consultation to ascertain the way any major refurbishment project should proceed. Obviously other quotations will be sought.
Cllr Moye proposed we apply for a grant for a feasibility study with the objective of doing refurbishment using grant money. Seconded by Cllr Fisher. All in favour. Motion carried

3096. TO RECEIVE A REPORT FROM SAXMUNDHAM NEWS AND THE WEBSITE: Cllr Andrews reported that she had already received a number of articles for the next edition of Saxmundham News. The working party met ten days ago with the result that three companies have been asked for estimates for producing a revised format for Saxmundham News from A4 to A5 with some colour. No replies as yet have been received. Some features in the News will be retained and some will be changed. There will probably be a children's page. It was noted that the BFRA Newsletter came out the same time as Saxmundham News but it would prove difficult to change this due to dates of various events although Cllr Jones will raise this at the next BFRA committee meeting. The final report regarding the revised publication will be presented at the next P & R meeting in July.
The working party for the website have to arrange a meeting.

3097. TO RECEIVE REPORTS FROM REPRESENTATIVES OF VARIOUS COMMITTEES including working parties:
* Cllr Howe attended an ESTA meeting on the 30th May and circulated notes on this
* Cllr Col Warren attended the AGM of the Sizewell A and B Stakeholders Group last Friday. The outgoing Chairman Richard Smith handed over to Trevor Hawkins. Richard Smith having been our representative is no longer a member but there is a plan to co-opt Richard for committee membership. It was a long meeting covering the closing down measures for Sizewell 'A', progress on Sizewell 'B' and a report regarding how the recent emergency was handled.
* Cllr Andrews attended an extremely interesting meeting regarding Gypsy and Traveller sites with people from all over Suffolk and beyond. Gypsy sites have to pay Council tax. There are over 4000 caravans in the East of England which is the highest number in the whole country. There are over 1000 unauthorised sites, some with the consent of the owners of the land. Child deaths are 17.6% compared with 0.9% in the rest of the country and their life expectancy is far lower. Suffolk need the least number of pitches whereas Cambridgeshire and Essex need the

most. The Government are providing 100% funding to Councils that are willing to have more gypsy sites and Suffolk will have to have more sites. New Age Travellers are completely separate to Gypsies. A number live in social housing but they prefer a nomadic life well documented in East Anglia. There is a travellers site at Leiston in Victory Road especially for travelling showmen e.g. circuses and travelling shows.
* Cllr Howe advised that the sponsorship labels had been placed on the hanging baskets and the portfolio is being undertaken by Joanna Townsend. Both schools are doing projects for the portfolio and the White Hart and The Bell Hotel are informing us about the work carried out in their back gardens. Judging Day for Anglia in Bloom is 11th July starting at The Bell at 2pm and finishing at the Bistro at 4pm. Joanna Townsend along with Cllrs Sculley and Warren will accompany the judges. A litter pick will be arranged before then and another meeting for Saxmundham in Bloom will take place this coming Wednesday. Safety chains are needed for the baskets at the Hart and two brackets will be erected outside Wells.
* Cllr Andrews gave a report (enclosed) on St. Georges Day. It was a great success despite the fact there was a small financial loss.
* Cllr Fisher reported that Cllr Burdett had attended a meeting of the Crime and Disorder Partnership on Wednesday 16th May 2007. Notes of the meeting will be in the circulation folder.


3098. OTHER MATTERS TO BE DISCUSSED AT THE CHAIRMAN'S DISCRETION as notified under Agenda item 3:
3083.1 Vermin - Cllr Damiral- White reported to Suffolk Coastal District Council that she had seen two very large rats in the Market Place near the car park entrance
3083.2 Award - Cllr Damiral-White and Cllr Moye thought that an Annual Award, perhaps called SABRE (Saxmundham Award for Businesses' or Residents' Enterprise), should be presented to acknowledge the good work of people. Agenda item next month.
3083.3 Update on kerbs near the Chinese Restaurant - Cllr Howe - previously covered.
3083.4 Recycling - Cllr Palman reported that he had written to SCDC regarding the implementation of plastic recycling. This is being implemented in stages and we are not due to have facilities here for three to five years from the start of the programme. The logistics and costs are for the kerb side operation with correct transportation is extremely high and it is unlikely that we will have these facilities before that period.

3099. DATE OF NEXT MEETINGS: MONDAY 9th JULY at 7.15pm







Signed....................................... Dated...........................................