Seaton Town Council
COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES
26th February 2007
PRESENT:
- Cllr J Meakin (Chairman)
- Cllrs. P. Burrows
- W Buskin
- R Farlow
- L Garner
- Mrs S Jones
- R Morgan
- R Parry
- Mrs R Partridge-Hogbin
- J Pigott
- J Seward
IN ATTENDANCE:
Cllr Mrs M Rogers, PC Luke Owen
APOLOGIES
Cllr J Knight (unwell)
QUESTIONS FROM THE PUBLIC
Mrs Cotterall requested the opportunity to thank the Clerk publicly for the work undertaken on the response to the regeneration proposals in the town. She also thanked the Council office staff for their courtesy and helpfulness in all matters.
Cllr Burrows replied by saying that she was welcome to attend as many meetings of the Council as possible.
Mr Greenyer asked members and District Councillors to seek support from EDDC for the provision of a youth facility, specifically help to re-open the youth centre. He quoted from the Audit Commission report on EDDC, from the DCC website and from the Welsh Labour party conference, all of which stated the commitment to provide for youth but none of which was taking steps to meet that obligation.
Mr Beardsell expressed dissatisfaction with newspaper reports on some councillors.
Young people John Hale and Basil Dean raised the problems of lack of facilities in the town for the youth. They were both congratulated on addressing the meeting and were urged to contact the Youth Town Council. They were assured that the Town Council would continue to press for youth provision. Cllr Mrs Rogers advised that DCC were not able to enter into an agreement requiring the expenditure of £10-20,000 on what was likely to be a short-term lease. However, the DCC Principal Youth Officer was hopeful of securing a Senior Area Youth worker in the next financial year whose role would include the development of youth work in Seaton. This appointment would initially be street based using the mobile youth centre. She said she would keep the Council informed of progress.
Cllr Seward responded to Mr Beardsell’s comments by pointing out to him that he had no knowledge of what individual councillors did in terms of support for other organisations.
483/06APOLOGIES
Apologies were accepted and approved.
484/06BEAT MANAGER’S REPORT
PC Owen reported that there had been 26 reported crimes in February, showing a significant drop over the previous month with the most worrying problem being the rise in burglaries. He referred to the successful drugs operation which had resulted in 7 arrests and the seizure of money and drugs.
He said there were on-going problems with youth, as a result of which additional staff have been requested to patrol the town during the week-ends. He said the local police presence at Branscombe beach following the Napoli incident had now finished, thus releasing staff to return to other duties.
PC Owen was asked to seek a greater police presence at the skateboard park to ensure that those who wished to enjoy the facilities there were not prevented from doing so by others who just wished to cause disruption.
PC Owen confirmed that the wheelchair stolen from an elderly resident had been recovered and information received on the offender.
PC Owen was thanked for attending and then left the meeting.
485/06COUNTY COUNCILLOR’S WRITTEN REPORT
Cllr Mrs Rogers was questioned on DCC’s budget in respect of youth facilities in Seaton. She reiterated what had been said during public question time prior to the start of the meeting, and replied that additional provision for youth had been made in the budget for 2007/8.
486/06MINUTES
Minutes of the meetings held on 15th January 2007 and 29th January 2007 were confirmed and signed by the chairman
497/06COMMITTEE MINUTES
The following committee meeting minutes were received and adopted:
a) Planning, 22nd January 2007
b) Finance & General Purposes, 8th January 2007
c) Allotments, 11 December 2006
d) Cliff Field Gardens & Seaton in Bloom, 6th November 2006
498/06DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Cllr Mrs Partridge-Hogbin declared a personal interest in EDDC road closures, being a member of all the organisations concerned;
Cllr Burrows declared a personal interest in EDDC road closures on behalf of Seaton Carnival, being a member of the carnival committee,
Cllr Burrows declared a personal interest in agenda item 11 EDDC Casino Policy, being an employee within the betting industry.
499/06CHAIRMAN’S OFFICIAL ENGAGEMENTS
For next meeting
500/06TO RECEIVE Cllr BURROWS’S REPORT ON MATTERS FROM THE DISTRICT COUNCIL RELEVANT TO THE TOWN COUNCIL
Cllr Burrows was questioned as to why provision for a Seaton Town Manager and a Seaton Destination Market Research Survey had been removed from the budget. Cllr Burrows replied that these items may be reintroduced if a planning application for the regeneration site was approved.
Cllr Burrows said Seaton’s district councillors would be seeking security lighting for the Cliff Field Strip and reinstatement for provision to repair the waterfall and landscaping at Jubilee Gardens.
Cllr Burrows referred to the theft of a wheelchair from an elderly resident and invited members to contribute to a gift for the resident if they wished to.
501/06TO CONSIDER AWARDING A GRANT TO AGE CONCERN
It was Resolved by 11 votes and 1 abstention (Cllr Buskin) to award a grant of £100 towards the work of Age Concern, Seaton.
502/06TO PROPOSE THAT WHERE ANY ITEMS ON AGENDAS OF COUNCIL MEETINGS ALLUDE TO A COUNCILLOR, THAT COUNCILLOR SHOULD BE NAMED TO ENABLE HIM/HER THE RIGHT OF REPLY (Cllr Knight)
It was so Resolved
503/06TO PROPOSE THAT THIS COUNCIL URGES EAST DEVON DISTRICT COUNCIL TO RECONSIDER THEIR OPPOSITION TO A ‘NO CASINO’ POLICY AS RECOMMENDED BY THEIR LICENSING COMMITTEE (Cllr Burrows and Cllr Garner)
Cllr Burrows referred to the last meeting of EDDC full Council at which an amendment was put by Cllr Moulding to overturn EDDC’s policy of pposition to casinos in East Devon. The amendment was passed by a small majority but because it had not been placed on the agenda, there had not been time to fully consider the implications of the amendment. He said that if an application for a casino were submitted and was refused then the applicant could now appeal against that decision and was likely to win on appeal.
Members echoed Cllr Burrows’s concerns at the detrimental effect on towns and their residents where casinos were run, as evidenced in official government statistics. They Resolved by 9 votes in favour and 2 against, that the Clerk write to EDDC opposing their amended policy and urging them to reinstate a “No Casino” policy.
504/06TO APPROVE PROPOSALS FOR NEW “JURASSIC COAST” SIGNS BENEATH SEATON TOWN PLATES
Details of the proposed new signs had been circulated. Members approved these signs but requested the wording “Seaton Welcomes You” in place of “Please Drive Slowly”.
Cllr Mrs Rogers left the meeting
505/06TO RECEIVE PROPOSALS FOR SPEAKER AT ANNUAL TOWN MEETING
It was agreed that members of the Youth Town Council should be invited to speak at the Annual Town Meeting
506/06TO CONSIDER REVISED MODEL CODE OF CONDUCT FOR LOCAL AUTHORITY MEMBERS
Cllr Mrs Partridge-Hogbin undertook to read the Revised Model and report back at the next meeting.
507/06TO CONFIRM BEST FRONT GARDENS COMPETITION FOR 2007
It was agreed that this competition should continue in 2007 and should be referred to the Cliff Field Gardens and Seaton in Bloom committee for further discussion.
508/06TO RE-AFFIRM STANDING ORDERS 3, 20, 38 (Cllr Buskin)
Cllr Buskin withdrew this item.
509/06CORRESPONDENCE
a) EDDC Road Closures
Members supported the application for road closures for:
(i) Seaton Carnival, 25th August
(ii) Seaton Carnival, 26th August
(iii) Seaton Carnival, 27th August
(iv) Seaton Carnival, 1st September
(v) Seaton & District Lions, 25th May
(vi) RBL, 7th May
It was agreed that the Clerk write to all the organisations thanking them for their work for the town.
b) Mrs C Wise, CO2 emissions
Members supported Mrs Wise’s call for all new homes to be built CO2 neutral within 5 years, and also supported her concern at the emissions that would result from the lorries bringing the infill to the regeneration site if the current outline planning application were approved. The Clerk was requested to respond accordingly.
c) Crossroad Christian Fellowship
Members expressed their support of the event planned for 24th March in Windsor Gardens called Stop the Traffik, which was to raise awareness of the problem of human trafficking.
d) EDDC – Street collections for 2007
Noted
510/06 TO PROPOSE THAT IN VIEW OF THE CONFIDENTIAL NATURE OF THE BUSINESS ABOUT TO BE TRANSACTED, IT IS ADVISABLE IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST THAT THE PUBLIC AND THE PRESS BE TEMPORARILY EXCLUDED AND THEY ARE INSTRUCTED TO WITHDRAW
It was so Resolved
511/06 CITIZEN OF THE YEAR
Cllr Mrs Partridge-Hogbin confirmed that she was finalising arrangements for the Citizen of the Year award, and was requested to pass details to the Clerk as soon as possible to enable the badge to be ordered.
512/06 TO APPROVE RECOMMENDATIONS OF PERSONNEL COMMITTEE
The recommendations of the Personnel Committee agreed at their meeting of 12th February 2007 were discussed.
a) It was unanimously Resolved to approve proposed staff salary increases for 2007/8;
b) It was Resolved by 10 votes in favour and 1 abstention (Cllr Burrows) to close the Town Council office on Mondays and Fridays with effect from lst April 2007
The meeting closed at 8.57 pm
Archived Copies of Minutes
Copies of all Minutes of all the Council's meetings are held in the Council Office and copies are sent to Seaton Library once they have been signed by the chairman as a true record of proceedings at the subsequent meeting.