Soham Town Council - Minutes of Meeting

Notice is hereby given that a meeting of Soham Town Council will be held in The Council Chamber, The Walter Gidney Pavilion, Fountain Lane, Soham on Monday 10th July 2006 commencing at 7.15pm with up to 15 minutes of public comment time on Agenda Items, followed by the formal business, and you are summoned to attend for the transaction of the following business:-

Minutes of a meeting of the Soham Town Council held at The Walter Gidney Pavilion, Fountain Lane, Soham on Monday 12th June 2006.

Present:	Councillors Mrs FE Ross (Chairman), Mr C Palmer (Vice-Chairman), Mr PG Beer, Mr HJ Davies, Mr G Fisher, Mr GR Ginn, Mr AJA Hinsley, Mr J Kirkham & Mr PS Lane and Mesdames Mrs RR Aitchison, Mrs M Count and Mrs PL Gibbon.
In Attendance:	County Councillor Mrs J Broadway District Councillors Mr JH Humphreys & Mr Mr C Fordham Mrs Linda Martin, Partnership Manager, Cambridgeshire Libraries Mrs Carol Knappett, Soham Library.
Apologies:	County Councillors Mr J Powley Councillors Mesdames Mrs ME Dwyer & Mrs PA Tuite.
115/06	MINUTES OF MEETING HELD 8TH MAY 2006 RESOLVED that the minutes of the meetings be approved and signed as a true record.
116/06	MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES. Requests for Financial Assistance (109/06) A letter of thanks was received from Soham-On-Line for the donation given towards its running costs for the coming year.
117/06	East Cambridgeshire Neighbourhood News (112/06) The East Cambridgeshire Neighbourhood News, May 2006 issue was received..
118/06	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 - 8th May 2006 Planning - 31st May 2006 Matters Arising Planning Committee - Minutes 31 May 2006 PL35/06 - It was RESOLVED that East Cambridgeshire District Council be advised that the Soham Town Plan should be accepted as the Town Councils formal response to the consultation documents.
119/06	PAYMENTS AND SCHEDULE OF ACCOUNTS - MAY 2006 RESOLVED that the schedule of payments and statement of balances, and Summary of Income and Expenditure as at 31st May 2006, attached to these minutes as appendices, be confirmed and approved, and are in accordance with Council's financial regulations.
120/06	SOHAM LIBRARY Mrs Linda Martin, Partnership Manager, Cambridgeshire Libraries and Mrs Carol Knappett, Soham Library attended for this item. Mrs Martin thanked the Town Council for its support of the Summer Reading Challenge, last year 178 children participated and 134 were awarded medals. She also informed members of current initiatives being run by Cambridgeshire Libraries including storytime sessions at Soham Library held at 10.30am on Friday mornings for the under 5's, the introduction of books from an early age by supplying Book Start packs for 7 to 9 months; Book Start Satchel from 2 years and My Book Start Treasure Chest at 3 years, these were issued free of charge and contained various items and books suitable for the age. It was also hoped that promotional material introducing people to the library could be distributed to all new housing developments in the Town. NOTED that a letter of thanks had been received from Richard Young Children's Services Manager for Town Councils donation of f350 in support of the 2006 Reading Challenge 'The Reading Mission'.
121/06	JOINTLY FUNDED MINOR HIGHWAY IMPROVEMENTS - 2007/2008 BIDDING ROUND NOTED that the community contribution would be £1.00 per elector and that the scoring criteria remained as in previous years. RESOLVED to refer to the July 2006 meeting when Councillors would consider any suggestions put forward. RESOLVED also that a full estimation of any proposed project be obtained from the County Council prior to a formal submission being made.
122/06	TACKLING THE GROWING CHALLENGE OF CONGESTION IN CAMBRIDGESHIRE NOTED that a briefing meeting about the transport challenges Cambridgeshire faces between 2006 and 2021 was being held in the Kreis Viersen Room at Shire Hall, Cambridge on Wednesday 14th June 2006 from 5.45pm - 7.45pm. RESOLVED that the Chairman, Mrs FE Ross and Councillor Mrs PL Gibbon would attend and would put the question of the Southern Ely By-Pass to the committee.
123/06	MEMORIAL TO RAILWAYMEN NOTED that the Soham Community History Museum were requesting 'formal comments and approval' of the proposed siting of an Interpretive Artwork to commemorate the four men who saved Soham from destruction in June 1944, this followed a meeting attended by members of the History Museum, Town Council and the Royal British Legion to discuss the proposal. RESOLVED that the Community History Museum be informed that no comments or approvals could be made until a full plan and exact dimensions and distance between the existing War Memorial and the proposed Artwork had been supplied and considered by Town Councils Planning Committee.
124/06	TWINNING Councillor Mr J Kirkham reported on the success of the Official Twinning Ceremony with Andrézieux-Bouthéon, which took place as part of the 53rd Soham Carnival Celebrations. There had been criticism from some parishioners with the perceived 'them and us' situation regarding the badge holder/invited guests only arrangement for the actual signing ceremony, which had taken place inside the Pavilion, it was agreed that these comments should be noted and given full consideration in the future for any further such events. Councillor Mr J Kirkham said that some sort of funding support for the Twinning Association may be required from the Town Council on an annual basis. However, the Chairman commented that this should not be an automatic assumption and that the Twinning Association should make every effort to be self funding in the future. Councillor Mr G Fisher raised the question of cost and funding for the additional wording "Twinned with Andrézieux-Bouthéon" on the Market Town Signs at the approaches to Soham. RESOLVED that the total cost of this addition be obtained from Mrs Alison Callaby, East Cambridgeshire District Council.
125/06	SOHAM TOWN FORUM NOTED minutes of a meeting of Soham Town Forum held 18th May 2006 and Agenda for meeting to be held at 7.30pm on 29th June 2006 and The Pavilion, Soham were received.
126/06	CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY Distraction Burglaries Information on the increase of burglaries targeted at older people were received from Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Distraction Burglary and Rogue Trader Task Force. Any assistance the Town Council can provide to reduce the incidence of burglary against older people would be considered or if any Councillor interested in attending a meeting of the above team they would be most welcome. Local Police Surgeries NOTED that local Police Surgeries would be held outside the Co-op, High Street, Soham by PCSO Gaynor Foster on Thursday 15th June 2006 between 7.00pm - 8.00pm and PSCO Kieran Moran on Sunday 25th June 2006 and Sunday 16th July 2006 between 1.00pm - 2.00pm.
127/06	CAMBRIDGE CITY COUNCIL'S CCTV SYSTEM The Annual Report 1st April 2005 to 31st March 2006 was received.
128/06	EAST CAMBRIDGESHIRE COMMUNITY SAFETY PARTNERSHIP Details of the CCTV Texting Alert System for Cambridge, Ely and Soham were received.
129/06	CAMBRIDGESHIRE COUNTY COUNCIL - DEVELOPMENT IN HEAVY COMMERCIAL VEHICLE CONTROLS. Details of Cambridgeshire County Council's Heavy Commercial vehicle route mapping service were received. Access to the website can be gained at www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/transport/managing then follow the link to 'commercial vehicles'.
130/06	ELY AND SOHAM DIAL-A-RIDE A letter of thanks was received from Ely and Soham Dial-a-ride for Town Councils grant of £1,000 towards essential running costs.
131/06	EAST CAMBS FAMILY PROJECT A letter of thanks was received from East Cambs. Family Project for Town Councils donation of £500 towards it work.
132/06	PAPERS TABLED Councillor Richard Hobbs - Highlights of the Week 12/5/06 - 9/6/06. European Union Regional Policy - Inforegio News, No. 144 March 2006 & Inforegio Panorama, No.19 April 2006 ROSPA - Play Area Safety Inspection Report, 13th April 2006. Cambridgeshire County Council - Family Directory of Childcare & Children's Services in Cambridgeshire MAGPAS, Friends of Magpas - May 2006 East Cambridgeshire District Council - In2 Sport & Play, Issue 5, April 2006 Andrézieux-Bouthéon - No. 86 May 2006
133/06	LODESTAR NOTED that Councillor Mr GR Ginn agreed to contribute the regular 'Councillors Comments' in 'Lodestar', the St. Andrew's Church Magazine.
134/06	DATE OF NEXT REGULAR MEETING NOTED that the next regular meeting of the Council would be held at 7.15pm, Monday 10th July 2006.