Soham Town Council - Minutes of Meeting

A meeting of the Soham Town Council will be held at the Pavilion, Soham, commencing at 7.30pm on Monday, 13th January 2003, to transact the following business:

Minutes of a meeting of the Soham Town Council held at the Pavilion, Soham, on Monday 16th December 2002.

Present:	Councillors Mrs PA Tuite (Chairman), Mrs RR Aitchison (Vice Chairman), D Bradley, HJ Davies, G Fisher, CK Hempstead, C Palmer, GR Ginn, B Houghton, RS Lane and Mesdames PL Gibbon and FE Ross
In Attendance:	District Councillors CW Fordham and JH Humphreys County Councillor J Powley. PC Kevin Humble, Cambridgeshire Constabulary.
Apologies:	Councillors Mrs J Hobbs and Mrs M Count.
174/02	MINUTES OF MEETING HELD 11th November 2002 RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting be approved and signed as a true record.
175/02	MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES. Policing Strategies (159/02) NOTED that Kate Kent, Community Contact Officer at Ely Police Station had reported that all existing Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinators had agreed to continue and that a further 3 persons had approached her at Soham's Late Night Shopping event, expressing a wish to establish schemes in their area. She also intended to do a leaflet drop in the New Year advertising the need for further expansion of Neighbourhood Watch. NOTED also that the Shop Watch Scheme had received a keen initial reaction from traders and she would be following this up also early in the New Year. PC Humble reported that 32 crimes had been reported for the Soham area during the period 18th November 2002 to 16th December 2002, these included 9 thefts, which were thefts from persons, shoplifting, making off without payment, and theft of motor vehicle. During the same period the police in the Ely area received 700 phone calls from the public, 125 of which came from the Soham area. 37 of these calls related to traffic matters ie. cars that have been abandoned, parking problems, condition of the road surface (mud or oil on road), plus the manner of driving of some drivers/vehicles. CCTV Update and Launch (163/02) Copies of ECDC’s CCTV System, ‘An Overview’ were received. NOTED that the gates at the Fountain Lane Car Park would be closing between 6.30pm and 7.30am from Tuesday, 17th December 2002. Any queries etc. regarding the closure should be addressed with Alison Callaby, Town Centres Co-ordinator, ECDC.
176/02	MINUTES OF MEETINGS OF STANDARD COMMITTEES RESOLVED that the minutes of the following committees, which are printed and attached to these minutes be confirmed and approved and the recommendations contained therein be adopted: Finance & Policy - 11th & 25th November 2002 Planning - 11th November 2002 Allotments - 25th November 2002 Burials & Street Lighting - 25th November 2002 Commons & Footways - 25th November 2002 Recreational Amenities - 25th November 2002 Councillor Bradley disclosed a non-prejudicial interest and Councillor Palmer a personal and prejudicial interest in respect of these minutes in accordance with part two of the Code of Conduct.
177/02	PAYMENTS AND SCHEDULE OF ACCOUNTS - NOVEMBER 2002 RESOLVED that the schedule of payments and statement of balances, as at 30th November 2002, which are printed and attached to these minutes as appendices, be confirmed and approved.
178/02	INTERNAL AUDIT REPORT YEAR ENDED 31st MARCH 2002 The internal audit report conducted in accordance with regulation 5 of the Accounts and Audit Regulations 1996 (as amended) was presented and it was noted that there were no matters arising to report, the records were well maintained, no errors were identified and that the reporting level was adequate.
179/02	PRECEPT 2003/2004 Consideration was given to the anticipated out-turn of Income and Expenditure for 2002/03 and the estimates for 2003/04, details of which are printed and attached to these minutes as an appendix. RESOLVED that the Precept for the ensuing year be set at £103,000 on the basis of the following allocation: £ Commons & Footways - 1,650 General, Administration & Contingencies - 38,800 Litter Control - 7,520 Pavilion and Recreation Grounds - 16,580 Street Lighting - 1,400 Burials & Cemetery - 4,690 Town Centre Development - 22,250 Capital Schemes - 10,110
180/02	VEHICULAR ACCESS ACROSS COMMONS NOTED that the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 and Vehicular Access Across Common and Other Land (England) Regulations 2002 now enabled rights of way to be granted in specific circumstances across common land etc. It was also noted that new rights cannot be granted and that the Town Council is not a “landowner” for these purposes. However, the Town Council has a responsibility under the Scheme of Regulation to prevent encroachment on commons included in that scheme and therefore need to be informed of any such rights of way granted between the property owners and the Lord of the Manor.
181/02	ST ANDREW’S CHURCHYARD TREES The Clerk reported that following recent storm damage an inspection of all the trees within the churchyard had been conducted by the Trees Officer. The trees are within the conservation area and it has been suggested that a tree management report be obtained, as from the initial inspection felling, re-pollarding and pruning will be necessary over a three year programme. RESOLVED that the Recreational Amenities Committee should take the necessary action.
	It is hereby resolved in accordance with Section 1(2) of the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 that as publicity would be prejudicial to the public interest by reason of the confidential or special nature of the business about to be transacted at Agenda Item 9 namely Applications for Financial Assistance it is advisable in the public interest that the public and press be temporarily excluded from this meeting and they are herewith instructed to withdraw. Meeting was closed to press and public at 8.20pm.
182/02	APPLICATIONS FOR FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE Consideration was given to application for financial assistance from Ely & District Citizens Advice Bureau, Townsend Music Makers, Viva Youth Theatre towards their running costs and Time 4 Me towards the costs of a Family Fun Day to be held during the Summer of 2003. RESOLVED that the Council in accordance with its powers under sections 137 and 1 39 of the Local Government Act, 1972, should incur the following expenditure which, in the opinion of the Council, is in the interests of the area or its inhabitants and will benefit them in a manner commensurate with the expenditure:- Ely & District Citizens Advice Bureau - £500 Townsend Music Makers - £100 Viva Youth Theatre - £500 Time 4 Me to be given Town Council’s full support for its event and to be allowed, in principle, use of the facilities at the Recreation Ground and Pavilion free of charge.
	The meeting re-opened to the press and public at 8.35pm.
183/02	ANGLIAN WATER - BARWAY NOTED that Anglian Water have appointed Atkins Water Consultants to carry out public survey following an application from Barway residents and Soham Town Council for the provision of sewerage system.
184/02	CAMBRIDGESHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL NOTED that Cambridgeshire County Council has been judged a ‘good’ Council by the Audit Commission following a Comprehensive Performance Assessment carried out earlier in the year.
185/02	SOHAM UNITED CHARITIES RESOLVED to nominate Councillor D Bradley as the Council’s Nominative Trustee to Soham United Charities.
186/02	FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT 2000 NOTED that the Information Commission has accepted the Town Council’s Model Scheme as an appropriate scheme for this organisation to adopt.
187/02	PARISH FORUM NOTED that a special meeting of the Parish Forum to discuss East Cambridgeshire District Council’s budget proposals for 2003/04 will be held at The Grange, Ely on Monday 6th January 2003 at 7.30pm. RESOLVED that the Chairman, Councillors RR Aitchison and FE Ross and also the Clerk will attend.
188/02	COMMUNITY AND VOLUNTARY FORUM NOTED the first meeting of the Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire Workforce Development Confederation will take place on Tuesday 10th December 2002 at Tattersalls Conference Rooms, Newmarket between 10am and 3.30pm.
189/02	PAPERS TABLED East Cambridgeshire District Council - Best Value Performance Plan 2002 The Standards Board for England - Bulletin, November 2002 East of England Development Agency - ‘Win Broadband for your Area' East Cambridgeshire District Council - Local Agenda 21 Newsletter East Cambridgeshire District Council - ‘Swings & Roundabouts’ Newsletter. Soham Design Group - Minutes, meeting 1 6/1 0/02 Soham Community History Museum - Newsletter, November 2002 Cambridgeshire County Council - ‘Preparing for Floods’ Cambs. Fire & Rescue Service - Annual Report 2001/2002 Cambs. & Peterborough Joint Waste - ‘The Strategy’, November 2002 Strategy Partnership & The ‘Rubbish’ Consultation. Parish Paths Partnership - P3 Bulletin Autumn 2002 Association of Burial Authorities - ‘Information’ Oct-Dec. 2002 Swings and Roundabouts - Newsletter No.4, November ‘02 East Cambs. & Fen land Primary Care - Agenda, meeting 4 Dec. 2002 & Trust. Minutes, meeting 23 Oct. 2002 East Cambridgeshire District Council - Business Update, Winter 2002 Hereward Housing Association - Home & Away, December 2002 Hereward Housing Association - Hereward Herald, Nov. 2002 Cambridgeshire ACRE - Harvest, Nov.-Dec. 2002 Cambridgeshire ACRE - Annual Review 2001 -2002 Macmillan Cancer Relief - Newsletter, November 2002
190/02	DATE OF NEXT REGULAR MEETING NOTED that the next regular meeting of the Council would be held at 7.30pm, Monday 13th January 2003.