Neighbourhood Plan Minutes (signed) 10-08-2020

Minutes of a Meeting of the Neighbourhood Plan Committee
Held on Monday 10th August 2020 at 6:00 pm via Zoom

Attendance:
Councillor A Appleby                                    Councillor P Hulbert
Councillor A Drummond                             Councillor M Jefferys
Councillor R Hood                                        Councillor C O’Neill
Councillor K Yarrow

Also Present: Debbie Baines – Town Clerk, Cathy Whitaker – RFO, Julie Ashton – Minute Assistant, Philippa Winter, 1 Member of the Press and 4 Members of the Public.

The Mayor reported that Cllr Hirst had sadly resigned due to ill health and his time and achievements at the Council since 2003 were noted. He would be missed, but it was hoped that he would be seen around Town for a catch up.

N/20/08/1 Chairman to read fire safety notice and announce that proceedings may be filmed or recorded.
The Chairman opened the meeting and announced that proceedings are being recorded and to advise that all participants will be muted by the host of the meeting who will unmute the individual the Chairman has invited to speak.

N/20/08/2 Apologies for absence
Apologies were received from Cllr Bowen & Kerby. Cllr De’Ath was absent.

N/20/08/3 Declaration of members interests and to remind councillors of the need to keep up to date their register of members interests and to consider any requests received for members dispensation
None noted.

N/20/08/4 To receive and confirm for accuracy the minutes of the meeting held on Monday 13th July 2020 and any matter arising
Members received the minutes of the Neighbourhood Plan Committee Meeting held on Monday 13th July 2020 and the following was agreed:

H/20/08/4.01 Resolved
That the minutes of the Neighbourhood Plan Committee meeting held on Monday 13th July 2020 be adopted and would be signed as a true record by the Chairman of the Neighbourhood Plan Committee after the meeting.

There were no matters arising.

N/20/08/5 Chairman opening remarks
The Chairman advised that it would be very easy to have a plethora of Working Groups doing a lot of talking and not achieving very much. Often, with Action Plans you get a lot of plans and little action and this should be avoided. He would like to see solutions being found for problems rather than just identify them.

Some Community Actions would not require multi membership Working Groups and could be tackled by one or two Members to report back to Committee to seek to expedite solutions. It was noted that all Members have special interests and knowledge and sharing this would best help the Committee, Council and Town.

The Mayor added that it was hoped the Committee could be launched at a full Council Workshop but this had not been possible. Members were asked to indicate which Community Actions should be prioritised.

N/20/08/6 Public participation an invitation to members of the public to put questions/statements of not more that 3 minutes duration. No resolutions can be made but councillor are very happy for matters relating to the town to be brought to their attention
Douglas Hall asked how open forums would work and would it apply to the whole agenda. The Chairman would investigate and report back.

Douglas also suggested that someone with cycling experience should join the Working Group for Cycling and Public Transport.

N/20/08/7 To receive the accounts for July 2020
RFO advised that the expenditure related to fees for changing the website. The accounts for July 2020 were received and noted.

N/20/08/8 Community actions working group
The Membership and Terms of Reference for the following Working Groups were considered and the following was agreed:

N/20/08/8.01 Recommendation
Community Actions F3 & C3 – Public Realm & Associated Initiatives, that the membership of the Working Group be comprised of Cllr De’Ath and residents Phillipa Winter, Alison Hayes and Rachel Wood. That the Terms of Reference be to consider locations which could benefit from planting of trees, bushes, shrubs and flowers and report back.

N/20/08/8.02 Recommendation
Community Action E10 – Parking Strategy – that this Community Action be deferred to the Parking Working Group to consider problems and suggest possible solutions re parking & transport strategies and report back.

N/02/08/8.03 Recommendation
Community Actions E4 & E9 – Cycling & Public Transport, that the membership of the Working Group be comprised of Cllrs Appleby, Hulbert, O’Neill & resident Douglas Hall. That the Terms of Reference be to consider requirements for improved services and provision of same and report back.

N/02/08/8.04 Recommendation
Community Action C7 – Yellow Brick Road, that the membership of the Working Group be comprised of Cllrs Jefferys & Yarrow. That the Terms of Reference be to consider improvements for the Yellow Brick Road and report back.

The Mayor would seek to resurrect the Friends of the Yellow Brick Road group and report back at the next meeting,

N/02/08/7.05 Recommendation –
Community Actions B3i – SEND provision, that the membership of the Working Group be comprised of Cllrs Hood & Hulbert. That the Terms of Reference be to draw up a report of SEND provision in the Town and report back.

It was noted that Opendoor and Cllr Drummond had been seeking options for a private enterprise to take on the recycling site and an item would be added to the next full Council meeting.

Philippa Winter reported that she would be meeting with West Suffolk to look at planting options for the Town.

N/20/08/9 Pedestrian crossing
The additional pedestrian crossings suggested by the Community & Leisure Committee were discussed. Owing to the high cost of pedestrian crossings, it was noted that courtesy crossings would be better than nothing. After further debate, the following was agreed:

N/20/08/9.01 Recommendation
That a letter be sent to SCC Highways to seek their views on improving safety at junctions (Community Action E2) and the costs for courtesy crossings.

N/20/08/10 Future matters
Cleaning of the Town signs and grass cutting by community volunteers were discussed. Cllr Appleby offered to circulate details of the Volunteer Initiative. Phillipa Winter would look at matters relating to community grass cutting at her SLA meeting with West Suffolk and report back.

N/20/08/11 Date of next meeting
Monday 14th September 2020 via Zoom.

N/20/08/12 Items for next agenda
• Working Group reports
• Voluntary community initiatives
• Grass cutting protocols

Meeting closed at 6:51pm

Signed ______________________________ Date ______________________