Full Town Council Minutes (Signed) 24-06-2019
Minutes of the Meeting of the Newmarket Town Council held on Monday 24th June 2019 at 6:00 pm
at the Memorial Hall, High Street, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 8JP
Attendance:
Councillor J Lay (Deputy Town Mayor) Councillor W Hirst
Councillor J Borda Councillor P Hulbert
Councillor O Bowen Councillor M Jefferys
Councillor J De’Ath Councillor K Lindsay
Councillor A Drummond Councillor C O’Neill
Councillor R Yarrow
Also Present: Roberta Bennet – TCM, Julie Ashton – Minute Assistant, 1 Member of the Press and 2 Members of the Public.
19/06/1 Fire safety briefing and announcement that proceedings may be filmed or recorded
The Deputy Mayor opened the meeting and read out the Fire Safety Briefing and the announcement that proceedings may be filmed or recorded.
TCM announced that NTC staff had received a BID Local Award for customer service and Members congratulated her and her team for this achievement.
19/06/2 Apologies for absence – LGA 1972, Section 85(1) & (2)
Apologies were received from Cllrs Appleby, Ceasar, Cooke, Hood and Kerby. Cllrs Ali and Anderson were absent.
19/06/3 Declaration of members interests and to remind councillors of the need to keep up to date their register of members interests and to to consider any requests received for members dispensation
None noted.
19/06/4 To receive and confirm the minutes of the public part of the Town Council meeting held on Tuesday 28th May 2019 and matter arising
The Deputy Mayor presented the minutes of the Town Council meeting held on Tuesday 28th May 2019 and the following was agreed:
19/06/4.01 Resolved
That the minutes of the Town Council meeting held on Tuesday 28th May 2019 be adopted and signed as a correct record by the Deputy Mayor.
Matters arising:
Page 5 – 19/05/17 – TCM advised that the Auditor had received the Annual Governance Statement and that his was now available to the public.
19/06/5 Public participation an invitation to members of the public to put questions/statements of not more than 3 minutes duration. No resolutions can be made but councillors are very happy for matter relating to the town to be brought to their attention
A resident asked when a report from the PCSO would be available and what efforts were being made regarding illegal parking – TCM advised that the last report was received in May and included the number of parking tickets issued. She was now on leave but had been concentrating on parking issues in areas close to Town.
The resident also asked when all Cllrs would be allowed to join Committees and for the review of Standing Orders to be transparent – the Chairman advised that this would be discussed near the end of the meeting.
A resident welcomed the addition of air conditioning to the Chamber making it a more comfortable environment.
Cllr Hirst joined the meeting
19/06/6 To receive an update on the Palomino
Members were advised that an application for the property to be listed as a Community asset had been submitted and a decision was expected in mid-August. It was noted that this was a good initiative for the Community and if the application was not successful then events would still be put on until a suitable property could be found. The name of the group was confirmed as the Newmarket Community Arts Centre Creative Forum.
19/06/7 Report from County Councillors
None noted.
19/06/8 Report from District Councillors
None noted.
19/06/9 Ward reports from Town Councillors
The Chairman advised that Cllrs, Drummond, Hood, Lay and Nobbs would be meeting with Ian Gallin and the head of planning at West Suffolk 3rd July 2019 to push for a solution for Queensbury Lodge.
Members were advised that the response form West Suffolk regarding the dangerous tress at Fresh Fields was disappointing and the TCM would follow this up. A large pot hole also at Fresh Fields needed attention and details of the location would be sent to the TCM to report the issue. There were issues with the standard of grass cutting with some patches being left uncut Members were advised to contact District Cllrs. It was suggested that the various grass cutting organisations should be co-ordinated to cut at the same time.
Members were advised that the Churches and Studlands Resident Association had put on a wonderful Community event and should be congratulated for this initiative.
Members were advised that Robin Millar was being consulted regarding a pedestrian crossing on the A142 near Tesco.
Members were advised that there was a rough sleeper using a tent – TCM advised that West Suffolk had made numerous attempts to engage with the individual but this was not taken up. They have a team who try to build trust with rough sleepers to try and meet their needs. Cllr O’Neill offered to be an intermediary in this case if required.
19/06/10 To receive reports from Town Councillors elected as representatives on other bodies
Members were advised that the Town Pastors were continuing to work on the SOS bus project.
19/06/11 To receive the Town Mayor’s and Deputy Mayor’s announcements
TBA
19/06/12 To receive the minutes and consider any recommendations from the D&P committee meeting held on 3rd & 17th June 2019
The Chairman of the Development and Planning Committee presented the report and recommendations from the Development & Planning Committee meetings held on 3rd & 17th June 2019.
19/06/13 To receive the minutes and any recommendations from the Leisure Services committee meetings held on 3rd June 2019
The Chairman of the Leisure Services Committee presented the report and recommendations from the Leisure Services Committee meeting held on 3rd June 2019.
19/06/14 To receive the minutes and any recommendations from the Community Services committee meeting held on 10th June 2019
The Deputy Mayor presented the report and recommendations from the Community Services Committee meeting held on 10th June 2019.
19/06/14.01 Resolved (C/19/06/7.01 Recommendation)
That the Terms of Reference of the Community Services Committee be adopted.
19/06/15 To receive the minutes and any recommendations from the Human Resources committee meeting held on 10th June 2019
The Deputy Mayor presented the report and recommendations from the Human Resources Committee meeting held on 10th June 2019.
Clarification was sought regarding the membership of this Committee and the following was agreed:
19/06/15.01 Resolved (C/19/06/6.01 Recommendation)
That adopting the Terms of Reference of the Human Resources Committee be deferred to seek clarification of the membership of the Committee.
19/06/16 To receive the minutes and any recommendations from the Finance & Policy committee meeting held on 17th June 2019
The Chairman of the Finance & Policy Committee presented the report and recommendations from the Finance & Policy Committee meeting held on 17th June 2019.
19/06/16.01 Resolved (F/19/06/6.01 Recommendation)
That the ratification of the schedules of payments for the period 01/05/2019 – 31/05/2019 (Cash Book 1, 2 and 4) be received and adopted.
Members discussed the membership of Committees and the proposed amendment to Standing Orders to restrict the number of Cllrs to 12 per Committee and the recommendation was amended to remove this condition. The following was agreed:
19/06/16.02 Resolved (F/19/06/9.01 Recommendation)
That the Standing Orders be amended to allow any Committee (except Finance & Policy and Human Resources) to be made up on a volunteer basis.
Volunteers will be accepted at the following full Council meeting to add new members to the existing Committees.
19/06/16.03 Resolved (F/19/06/9.02 Recommendation)
That the Customer Care and Complaints Policy be adopted.
19/06/16.04 Resolved (F/19/06/9.03 Recommendation)
That the Procurement Policy be adopted.
19/06/16.05 Resolved (F/19/06/9.04 Recommendation)
That the Environment Policy be adopted.
19/06/16.06 Resolved (F/19/06/9.05 Recommendation)
That the Equality Policy be adopted.
19/06/16.07 Resolved (F/19/06/9.06 Recommendation)
That the Information and Email Policy be adopted.
19/06/17 To receive an update on the Soap Box Race
The Chairman advised that donations of £4,000 had been received and that an ex member of staff from the Cambridge Evening News was helping to find additional sponsors. Thanks were given to the Newmarket Journal for their favourable article about the event and to Love Newmarket. The flyers were ready to be distributed to local businesses and it was hoped that more entrants form Newmarket would build carts. Organisations were being approached to find volunteers to manage the event. TCM would look for a video for instructions on how to build a cart to put on the website. Additional parking would be made available on the Severals and at the top of the Heath.
19/06/18 To consider correspondence
a. High Street Heritage Action Zone fund – TCM advised that the deadline for submitting a bid for the grant was 12th July 2019 and would require quite a bit of work. The following was agreed:
19/06/18.01 Resolved
That a bid for the High Street Historical Action Zone be submitted and that a local historical expert be asked to help submit the bid for a nominal fee.
b. Mental and Physical Health – the report from Public Health SCC was noted and a presentation would be given at the next full Council meeting.
c. A request for support had been received from Newmarket Joggers who were struggling to continue training at the Academy due to the recent fire. TCM advised that the use of the Severals and facilities had been offered to support them.
19/06/19 Date of the next meeting of the Town Council
Monday 22nd July 2019
Meeting closed at 6:58pm
Signed : __________________ Date : ____________________