Minutes of ARLESEY TOWN COUNCIL MEETING held in the Village Hall, Arlesey on Tuesday 2 September 2008 at 7pm.

PRESENT:       

            Cllrs:    H Harper (Chairman)                            C Howitt

Mrs D Archer                                      D Page

D Beatham                                         M Rainbow

Mrs H Frost                                        D West

R Harris                                        

Also present:   County Cllr J Saunders                         County Cllr J Street

Mrs E Hare (Town Clerk)  

299 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr J Caffrey, Cllr I Dalgarno, Cllr N Daniels, Cllr Ms C Marshall and Cllr V Williams

No declarations of personal or prejudicial interests were received

Cliff Andrews the Environment Team Leader from Bedfordshire Rural Communities Charities gave a brief outline of what the Green Infrastructure Plans are and said he was seeking the Town Council’s support prior to the consultation events which will take place between February and May 2009.

He said last autumn the BRCC had led some consultation workshops to help develop a Green Infrastructure Plan for Mid Beds and went on to say the District level plan is nearing completion.  To add further detail Mid Beds District Council identified the need to develop parish level Green Infrastructure plans in many of the larger settlements in the District.

Over the next 18 months BRCC would be working with various parishes. Although a vast majority of the work involved in producing the plan would be done by his team, Mr Andrews said it is very important that the Town Council fully supports the plans and said he would like to start work in Arlesey as soon as possible. Base maps of the local community to identify different bits of land that could be used and a mapping exercise would identify a number of aspirations through local groups to put forward for the GIP.   All the GI plans go to support the Bedfordshire and Luton Strategic Green Network to create a high quality green network across the county for people, places and wildlife to eventually deliver a comprehensive strategic network of multi-functional greenspace and linking corridors.

The Chairman thanked Cliff Andrews for coming along and said the Town Council looked forward to working with his team in the near future.   

The Chairman made the following announcements:

(a) Beds County Council – Temporary Closure of Bridleways

Details of the Public Notice published in the local press of temporary closures to enable a new water main to be laid.  The Order came into operation from 11 August 2008 for a period not exceeding six months and will affect bridleways no.18 (Stotfold), no.9 (Arlesey), no.4 (Langford) and no.8 (Langford)

(b) MBDC – Temporary Road Closure on 9 November 2008 

Mid Beds District Council have agreed an Order in respect of the Town Council’s application for a temporary road closure during the Remembrance Service on 9 November 2008 

(c) Town Councillor Vacancy

There has been no response to the advertisement for the Town Councillor vacancy and the Clerk had circulated another vacancy notice and advertised in the local newspapers

(d) Anglian Water – Drinking Water Quality Report

A copy of the Drinking Water Quality Report is available to view in the office.

(e) Stotfold & Arlesey SNT Problem Solving Group representative

There is a vacancy for a Town Council representative on the Stotfold & Arlesey SNT Problem Solving Group

Cllr R Harris said Cllr Ms C Marshall was interested in filling the vacancy

(f) Partnership Bulletin – Issue 8

A copy of the Partnership Bulletin had been placed in councillors personal trays.

(g) MUGA – netball

The Chairman said the MUGA has been booked for a netball tournament on 14 September 2008.  He said he and Cllr Williams would check the netball posts to make sure they are in good order.

(h) Fun Day update

The Family Fun Day had raised £663 towards the Mayor’s Charity, Keech Cottage Children's Hospice.

A resident spoke on the number of incidents involving vehicles in Church Lane and expressed his concern that a more serious accident may happen if traffic did not slow down near St Peters Church. 

The Chairman said the Clerk had contacted the police and the Highways Authority after the resident’s complaint had been received.  He read out the report from the Highways Authority and PC Steve Holbrook gave a police report on the number of recent incidents.

There were no matters arising from the previous meeting

PC Steve Holbrook from the Safer Neighbourhood Team gave his report for August.  Commenting on the number of road traffic incidents in Church Lane he said safety on the roads was for Highways to address.  The Town Council would have to pay for any speed surveys.

·         There were 36 reported incidents of anti-social behaviour and in his view this was good as it did show that people were reporting any anti-social problems to the police. 

·         There were 11 recorded crimes for Arlesey

·         3 house burglaries reported

·         1 theft of a motor vehicle and 8 thefts from motor vehicles

·         7 reports of criminal damage  

·         4 violent crime reports

 P C Holbrook said a number of cars had been identified for various offences; some of the drivers were already being dealt with 

County Councillor John Street reported:

·         There had not been any meetings or decisions made in August

·         All councils are working together in a joint effort to ensure the change to the new Central Bedfordshire Council happens on time 

308 REPORTS FROM DISTRICT COUNCILLORS

Cllr Hugh Harper as District Councillor reported: 

·         That Cllr Ian Dalgarno was recovering after his operation

·         August had been a quiet month and the only update was on Central Bedfordshire.  Two directors had been appointed and there will interviews for two more directors

309 SCHOOL GOVERNOR REPORT

No report

Prior to the meeting Members received a copy of the Budget Summary of Income and Expenditure for month 3 June and month 4 July 2008 

(a) Budget Summary of Income and Expenditure – June 2008    

RESOLVED

the Budget Summary for June 2008 be noted

(b) Budget Summary of Income and Expenditure – July 2008 

RESOLVED

the Budget Summary for July 2008 be noted

(c) To approve accounts payments during August

RESOLVED

the August invoices be approved for payment

(d) Arlesey Youth Football Club under 9’s

A grant of £150 was recommended by the General Purpose/Finance Committee at their meeting on 15 July 2008 for approval by full council

RESOLVED

to grant £150 to Arlesey Youth Football Club under 9’s

311 SYNTHETIC PITCH FEASIBILTY STUDY

The Chairman, Cllr Hugh Harper reported that he attended a meeting with the Arlesey Town Football Club, the Youth Football Club, Mid Beds District Council and the Football Association on 9 July 2008 and the outcome of the meeting was that ATFC wanted two more pitches for their use and for the Town Council to contribute.  At the meeting it was expressed that Stotfold may be awarded the grant for the astro pitches for their new leisure centre.  Cllr Harper proposed that the Town Council should now work towards improving the MUGA facilities.

AGREED to note this information  

312 MUGA

The Chairman said the final drawings for the MUGA project had been received from the architect and presented an overview of the proposed alterations to the building to Members for approval.

RESOLVED 

1.            to approve the final drawing ready for planning application 

2.            to approve payment of £167.50 to accompany the planning application     

313 MBDC – ARTS ALOUD – COMMUNITY TOURING SCHEME

Cllr Hugh Harper reported that the Town Plan Committee had investigated the possibility of showing films in the village hall during the winter months.  This may not be a feasible option and he said they would work towards having a live show instead.

AGREED to note this information

314 CREATING CENTRAL BEDFORDSHIRE COUNCIL

Prior to the meeting Members received a copy of the second Stakeholder update newsletter on the work of creating the new Central Bedfordshire Council. 

The newsletter will be posted on the website and Town Council’s notice boards with copies available in the office.

RESOLVED to note this information

315 PARKING ENFORCEMENT

Prior to the meeting Members were given a copy of the Breakdown of On Street Penalty Notices from 3^rd quarter of 2006/07 to the 1st quarter of 2008/09. 

A member queried the cost and how many hours were spent in the town by enforcement.  Cllr Harper replied that the enforcement was managed by Mid Beds District Council and the Town Council had no control over how many hours were spent in Arlesey.  He said he would ask in what areas enforcement is carried out.

AGREED to note this information

316 MBDC - LOCAL DEMOCRACY WEEK

The correspondence from Katy Henman, Youth Participation Officer at Mid Beds District Council enclosed details of the activities taking place during the Local Democracy Week which commences on Monday 13 October 2008.  Prior to the meeting Members were given a copy of the week’s activities which was aiming to get young people more involved with, and aware of, their local council by breaking down the barriers between young people and councillors.  The Chairman said Members could notify the Clerk if they wanted to confirm a place at any of the events by the 5 September 2008.

AGREED to note this information

317 ENVIRONMENT AGENCY

Members received a copy of the letter from Rob Bakewell, Team Leader, and Flood Incident Management, which clarified how the Environment Agency provides information to partner organisations about flooding on local roads.  It did make clear that the Environment Agency does not have the power to close roads and cannot take responsibility for road closures.  Decisions to close roads are made by the County Highways Authority or the Police based on the information provided by the Environment Agency about river conditions and the situation on the ground.  Where possible, in future the Environment Agency will broadcast additional information on road closures supplied by the County Highways Authority, via their Floodline service.

AGREED to note this information  

318 MBDC – NATIONAL FRAUD INITIATIVE

The Chairman read a letter out to the meeting from Peter Jones, Licensing Manager at Mid Beds District Council with regard to the Licensing Act 2003, and the licence issued to the Town Council.  MBDC was currently participating in a national anti-fraud initiative organised by the Audit Commission and being carried out under part 2A of the Audit Commission Act 1988.  Under this, MBDC was providing the Audit Commission with details of all licences issued by the council, so that they could compare this information with other public bodies.  The letter assured the Town Council that all information will be exchanged and retained strictly in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998.

RESOLVED

the Town Council had no concerns to express and agreed to note this information

319 BEDFORDSHIRE HIGHWAYS

The Chairman gave an overview of the correspondence received from Bedfordshire Highways which informed the Town Council of the process and timescales for producing the draft 5 year programme (2009-2014) and to commence the consultation on this.  He said any schemes or requests for consideration should be returned by 26 September 2008. 

Concerns were raised over the pedestrian crossing outside the Community Centre in the High Street as this was scheduled beyond the 5 year programme when it was to come from Development Control S106 monies.  The Chairman said he would follow this up with MBDC.  On the work with the Safer Routes to School Schemes Gothic Mede School was planned for 2011/2012 and Arlesey Nursery was planned beyond the 5 year programme.

RESOLVED  

1. The Chairman to ask MBDC why the planned pedestrian crossing had not been linked with the St Johns Road development S106 to enable the pedestrian crossing to be installed much sooner than beyond the 5 year programme  

2. To suggest the Safer Routes to School Schemes for Gothic Mede Lower School and Arlesey Nursery School are done at the same time

320 TOWN AND PARISH SURVEY

The Chairman said the correspondence from Clive Jones at MBDC enclosed a survey which seeked to gain a better understanding of the needs, aspirations and requirements of town and parish councils throughout Central Bedfordshire. This is the start of Central Bedfordshire’s consultation with all stakeholders in the community.

The Chairman went through the survey with members and said it must be returned by 19 September 2008

RESOLVED

the survey be completed by the Clerk and Cllr Harper 

321 LOCAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK

Cllr Hugh Harper gave a report on the latest update with the revised site allocations to go into the Local Development Framework.  

Cllr Harper said Vision 21, employed by Mid Beds District Council to carry out public consultations, had booked the Village Hall for Monday 20 October 2008 from 1pm to 8pm to get the views of residents on the proposed Gypsy and Traveller sites. 

Reports from the following Committees:

Environmental Committee – 15 July 2008

General Purpose/Finance – 15 July 2008

RESOLVED

the Resource Centre Strategy Group meeting notes for 15 May 2008 be accepted

324 MID BEDS DISTRICT COUNCIL – LICENSING

A Notice of Application was received for a variation of Premises Licence for the Old Oak, Church Lane, Arlesey SG15 6UX.  Members considered the application with the view that representations must relate to one of four licensing objectives, to prevent crime and disorder, public safety, prevent public nuisance and to protect children from harm and must be made in writing by 19 September 2008

RESOLVED

The Town Council OBJECTS to the application as the premises already has a public nuisance history

325 REPRESENTATIVES’ REPORTS

Arlesey Landfill Liaison Group 

·         Cllr Harper reported from a meeting that had taken place prior to the Town Council meeting

·         Despite this year’s weather conditions the capping target is expected to be completed within a fortnight and seeding will take place in October/November

·         The whole area will be completed in 2 years

·         Data for noise monitoring had been carried out between January to July 2008 and confirmed permitted levels had not been exceeded

·         There had been no dust complaints received from local residents and there were satisfactory reports from the monitoring.  Next monitoring visit will take place in November 2008

·         The Environment Agency had received one odour complaint since the January meeting but this was unsubstantiated