MINUTES OF A MEETING OF
SAXMUNDHAM TOWN COUNCIL HELD ON
MONDAY 11th JULY 2011
IN THE MARKET HALL AT 7:15pm

Present:
Cllr. Mrs M Andrews
Cllr. Sir. P Batho
Cllr J.Cassells
Cllr. Mrs R Damiral-White
Cllr. J. Fisher
Cllr. K. Howe
Cllr. Mrs. D Sculley
Cllr. Ms. C. Trotter-Langlois
Cllr. D. Willett



In attendance:


Mrs M. Gallop, Clerk to the Council
County Cllr Rae Leighton
8 members of the public







PUBLIC FORUM : Clarification was sought regarding the future of the library. The Town Council has written to SCC regarding the future of the library and have received an acknowledgement. There has been a change of leader at S.C.C. and they are in the process of formulating a policy. A 155 page report was published last Thursday and the matter will be debated at the Cabinet meeting on the 19th July. Apparently the library was closed last Wednesday, the busiest day, due to lack of staff. No staff cover was available. Cllr Leighton reiterated that there are no plans to close the library in Saxmundham. However if SCC relocate from the Street Farm offices which are not ideal, the library would have to move. The Library is not a building – it is a service provided to the community and avid campaigning is ongoing regarding the future of the libraries. The Town Council need to be more proactive in this and the Clerk will write further to the County Council for clarification. There is a meeting at Endeavour House on 14th July to hear the petitions and there will be a demonstration outside the building.

REPORT FROM THE COUNTY COUNCILLOR: Cllr Leighton advised there had been subtle changes since Mark Bee has taken over as the leader of SCC and the Chief Executive has now moved on. There has been a reduction of approximately 800 staff from Directors to office workers.

REPORT FROM THE DISTRICT COUNCILLORS: Cllr Mrs Andrews attended a Cabinet meeting at Suffolk Coastal and the following topics were discussed:
* A long debate ensued regarding the Local Development Framework and this discussion will continue at full Council next week.
* Discussions took place regarding gypsies and travellers
* Cllr Mrs Andrews was part of a judging team for the Village of the Year. Five villages were considered from large to very small. Boyton which has only 50 houses were chosen as they include the entire community and will go forward to the next round of the competition.

Cllr Mrs Andrews spent four days in Birmingham last week at the Local Government Conference where many politicians attended. A young man from Cambridge won the £10,000 for a project in his local authority in the Local Government Challenge. A film was shown about ‘Getting families off Benefit” as one particular family had never worked but the young daughter was the most concerned about this situation and voluntary work was being encouraged.
The Deputy Prime Minister, Nick Clegg, proposed that business rates should stay locally in the community and legislation will follow.
Local Development Framework – Cllr Mrs Andrews passed the paperwork on this to Cllr Mrs Damiral-White for consideration by the planning committee as new build will inevitably occur in our town in the future.

Cllr Sir Peter had nothing to report at present.

REPORT FROM THE LOCAL POLICE: Sgt Goddard had sent her apologies and the report was read out by the Clerk. There had been 20 incidents in June. Cllr Sir Peter advised that everyone should report all incidents as there has been a spate of mindless vandalism to cars.


AGENDA

3904. 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.

3905. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE: Cllr G. Cooke, holiday

3906. MATTERS TO BE RAISED UNDER AGENDA ITEM 16:
3906.1 Jubilee – Cllr Howe
3906.2 Sign for the Webster Room – Cllr Fisher

3907. TO APPROVE AND SIGN AS A TRUE RECORD THE MINUTES OF THE 13th JUNE TOWN COUNCIL MEETING previously circulated: After a minor amendment the minutes were unanimously agreed and signed. Motion carried.

3908. MATTERS ARISING THEREFROM NOT COVERED ON THE AGENDA:
Cellar cover, Bell Hotel – this has been replaced.
B 158 – Problems regarding safety at the top of Harpers Lane have been brought to the attention of Highways.
C264– Cllr Howe has hand delivered a letter to the occupant of 38 Saxon Road regarding the state of the garden.
C266 – Cllrs Mrs Andrews and Sir Peter attended the lunch at the Gannon Rooms at the invitation of Saxmundham & District Welfare Association. Fortunately funds have been found and the shortfall of over £7000 has been settled.
C267 Potholes have been filled
Cllr Ms Trotter-Langlois advised that she went to a site visit at Seaman Avenue with the Clerk, Cllr Fisher and Jennie Catling from SCDC to meet up with the representative from Wicksteed as the newly erected swings are causing injury and discomfort. Discussions took place regarding the way forward and Wicksteed will come back to us shortly.

3909. TO CONSIDER CORRESPONDENCE RECEIVED:

A – CORRESPONDENCE TO BE NOTED AND CIRCULATED:

626 Town Telegraph
627 Sizewell Parishes Liaison Group minutes of meeting 14th June 2011
628 email NALC – Should the forthcoming neighbourhood plans have greater weight that the local plans of principal authorities. If you would like to send your thoughts to them please do so by 1 August. Marie.dill@nalc.gov.uk
629 Suffolk Coastal Resource Network newsletter
630 ESTA agenda meeting 27 July 2011
631 Sizewell Parishes Liaison Group – minutes of meeting Tuesday 14th June
632 email Joe Cassels report back from the Greener Sax meeting
633 SALC Newsletter of the year 2011 competition
634 SALC – e – bulletin Public Service Reform White Paper
635 SCDC – Magical Marshes at Snape Sunday 24th July 11am-5pm
636 Proludic – Funding & Community Engagement Guide
637 email Tony Barrett – Please help Otley Green get to the next stage of Energyshare
638 Suffolk Neighbourhood Watch Association newsletter

B – CORRESPONDENCE TO BE DISCUSSED BEFORE REPLY:

160 email Suffolk Coastal Resource Network – free networking lunch Monday 18th July at Yoxford Village Hall 12 noon until 2pm – Cllr Willett to attend
161 SALC – Request from SALC to formally support proposal agreed by Leiston Town Council
The Sustainable Act enables us to make requests to the Government Ministers. If a large planning application comes within the parish the parish can ask for a substantial sum of money for someone to look at the documents. Leiston have asked us to support them in this request. Cllr Mrs Damiral-White proposed we formally support the proposal agreed by Leiston Town Council, seconded by Cllr Cassells. Cllr Sir Peter abstained but the remaining Councillors agreed with the proposal. Motion carried on majority.



C – OTHER CORRESPONDENCE RECEIVED TO DATE:

C278 EDF Newsletter Circulation
C279  ESTA Members’ Bulletin Circulation
C280 Inn-House Technology Ltd
Fully installed & supported 4 camera CCTV system for £15.50 per week
This letter to be forwarded to the Businesses of Saxmundham.


3910. CHAIRMAN’S/ TOWN CLERK’S ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Cllr Sir Peter attended a meeting with the Town Clerk, Cllr Fisher, Sgt Goddard with SCC Highways. One aspect that is being looked at is parking in South Entrance. It may be proposed that there will be an additional 5 car parking spaces on the West side of South Entrance. Cllr Sir Peter declared a personal interest. The road width would be reduced and could possibly cause a bottleneck with the increased traffic to Waitrose, the proposed Tesco and the Factory Shop. The increased volume of traffic could easily reduce the amount of speeding in that area towards the traffic lights. Other areas that require yellow lining were discussed in detail and Highways will get back to us when they come to a decision.

3911. FINANCE REPORT:
* To approve the monthly finance report to end of June 2011. Cllr Willett proposed these as correct, seconded by Cllr Mrs Sculley. Unanimously agreed. Motion carried.

3912. TO DISCUSS SAXMUNDHAM TOWN PLAN: Deferred until September as Cllr Tricker was absent

3913. TO REVIEW THE STANDING ORDERS & FINANCIAL STANDING ORDERS: A minor amendment to page two of the financial standing orders - P & R committee will be replaced with Finance Committee. After a brief discussion on seeking tenders Cllr Mrs Damiral-White proposed that the standing orders and the financial standing orders have been reviewed and unanimously adopted by the Council. Seconded by Cllr Cassels. Unanimously agreed. Motion carried.

3914. TO RECEIVE A REPORT FROM THE PLANNING COMMITTEE: Cllr Mrs Damiral-White advised that it
had not been necessary to have a meeting this month. However the Town Council had received
notification from Suffolk Coastal District Council that the following two applications will be discussed by
the Council’s North Sub-Committee at its meeting on the 20th July at 9am:-

C11 1060 Former County Primary School, Fairfield Road, Saxmundham – Application for new planning
permission to replace extant planning permission C07 2196 for the conversion of former school to six
residential units & use of land for erection of 17 residential units, provision of access & parking areas
off Fairfield Road & St. Johns Road
C11 1211 45 High Street, Saxmundham – Conversion of the front section to a new dwelling & shop
Unit. Demolition of the rear main hall and erection of 2 no. new dwellings with garden space.

3915. TO RECEIVE A REPORT FROM THE MARKET HALL COMMITTEE: Cllr Mrs Sculley advised that discussions took place on whether we need a caretaker or just a cleaner. Further debate will continue in September.

3916. TO RECEIVE A REPORT FROM SAVVY: Cllr Ms Trotter-Langlois advised that £285.25 had been
raised from a 25 mile sponsored walk and £101 from the proceeds of a table top sale. The next fundraising will take place at the Brook Farm Residents Association fun day. An Art Class will commence at CYDS in Leiston next week. Discussions on a ‘walk in movie’ are ongoing and prices are being sought. The final draft for the letter to seek funding from Trusts is being processed.


3917. TO RECEIVE A REPORT FROM SAXMUNDHAM NEWS AND THE WEBSITE: The first edition of the monthly Saxmundham News has been distributed today. There were a few teething problems that will hopefully be rectified next month but generally it was an excellent production. Copy deadline is midday on Monday 1st August for the next issue.

3918. TO RECEIVE REPORTS FROM REPRESENTATIVES OF VARIOUS COMMITTEES including working parties:
Cllr Mrs Damiral-White advised that to date the newly built Scout Hut has cost £110,000. Essex & Suffolk Water are requesting £790 for the leaking water in January due to the vandalism of the Hut. It is hoped that this will be amicably sorted out. The Primary School raised £140 towards the new build and it is hoped that the Scout Hut will open in September. A new Beaver colony will be starting together with Cubs, Scouts, Brownies and Guides.
Cllr Cassels had attended the public meeting organised by the Sizewell Stakeholder Group to hear concerns regarding the recent disaster in Japan.
Cllr Mrs Sculley visited the Citizens Advice Bureau who would like to move their office into the centre of Saxmundham. If anyone hears of a vacancy perhaps they would contact Cllr Sculley or the Clerk.
Cllr Mrs Andrews attended the Sizewell Parishes Liaison meeting where the former Chairman was unable to continue because he was not actually elected onto the Parish Council. A letter of complaint will be written protesting that SCDC did not invite a representative from the Parishes Liaison meeting to be on the Sizewell Task Group.
Cllr Howe advised that BOS will take over the responsibilities of the four sinks in the town and his business will maintain them. Hopefully these will be completed next week. The Clerk had previously ordered new plants for the sinks and the work was scheduled to be done when the community worker returned. She advised that she will use the purchased plants in Fromus Square and in the tower planter near the old Post Office.
Cllr Mrs Andrews reported that planning for next years St. George’s weekend was already under way.


3919. OTHER MATTERS TO BE DISCUSSED AT THE CHAIRMAN’S DISCRETION as notified under Agenda item 3:
3906.1 Jubilee – Cllr Howe reminded everyone that the Jubilee festivities from the 2nd June 2012 were only eleven months away and consideration should be given to the kind of celebrations we intend to have. Cllr Mrs Sculley suggested a letter should be written to all representatives in the town and invite them to a meeting. Closure of the High Street would be an option if a street party is organised.
3906.2 Sign for the Webster Room – Cllr Fisher proposed we obtain quotations for a sign for the Webster Room. Further signs are needed for Seaman Avenue Play Area.


3920. DATE OF NEXT MEETING: 12 SEPTEMBER 2011. There will not be a meeting in August.

Meeting closed at 9.30 pm





Signed………………………………………… Dated…………………………………..……….
* Page 4 of 4 Town Council Minutes 11th July 2011

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