Mrs Elsie Hare (Town Clerk) and Mrs Lesley Rowe (Assistant Clerk)     

46 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Mrs L Bowskill, Cllr N Daniels, Cllr C Howitt, Cllr M Rainbow and Central Bedfordshire Councillors Mrs R Drinkwater and R Wenham.  

47 MEMBERS’ INTEREST

Cllr Mrs H Frost declared a personal interest in agenda item 3 (a) St Peter’s Church under Chairman’s Announcements, as she is Church Warden of St Peter’s Church. Cllr Mrs Frost took no part in the discussion or voting.    

Cllr I Dalgarno declared a personal interest in agenda item 10 (c) Financial Assistance, as he is Chairman of 1^st Arlesey Scout Group.  Cllr Dalgarno took no part in the voting.

Cllr A White declared a personal interest in agenda item 10 (c) Financial Assistance, as he is associated with the 1^st Arlesey Scout Group.  Cllr White took no part in the discussion or voting. 

There were no other declarations of:

(a) Personal interests    

There were no declarations of:

(b) Prejudicial interests  

48 CHAIRMAN’S ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Chairman made the following announcements:

(a) St Peter’s Church

The Chairman said he would like to bring to the attention of the Council that St Peter’s Church is in need of some serious structural repair work.   

(b) Family Fun Day

The preparations for the Fun Day are almost complete.  The grounds maintenance staff will be managing the parking this year.

(c) Central Bedfordshire Ward Profiles 2011

A copy of the Ward Profile 2011 publication from Central Bedfordshire Council has been placed in councillors’ individual trays

49 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

There was no public participation for this meeting.

50 MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING

Prior to the meeting Members’ received a copy of the minutes of the Town Council meeting held on 7 June 2011.

It was RESOLVED

that the minutes of the meeting of the Town Council held on 7 June 2011 be confirmed and signed by the Chairman as a true record.    

51 MATTERS ARISING

There were no matters arising from the last meeting. 

52 POLICE - REPORT FROM THE LOCAL BEAT MANAGER

PCSO Laura Wilson gave crime report figures to the meeting for June:

ASB: There were a total of 12 ASB incidents for the month, which is a drop of 11 incidents from last month. There are no patterns or real issue areas in the town either.

Crime: There were a total of 16 crimes recorded for June, which is a rise of two recorded crimes on the previous month. The crimes are as follows:

Other Theft: By far the largest crime area for the month.  There were 8 offences recorded.

Criminal Damage: There were a total of 3 offences recorded for June  

Violence Against the Person: June saw five offences being recorded.

Burglary other: There was 1 recorded for June.

Theft of vehicle: There was 1 offence recorded for June 

53 REPORTS FROM CENTRAL BEDFORDSHIRE COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES

Cllr Ian Dalgarno as Councillor for Central Bedfordshire Council reported: 

§         On 15 and 22 July he will be going out with two other CBC councillors and Amey to look at highway issues

§         He is sitting on the Bedfordshire and River Ivel Internal Drainage Board, and a £20,000 budget has been set aside for work to mitigate flooding happening again in the same area as last year.  They will also look at S106 monies to help with the funding of the project.

§         He is on the Deputy Executive for Sustainable Communities Committee - Services which covers the theatre, country parks, walks and open spaces.

§         A highways depot in Biggleswade will hold extra salt for the roads for this coming winter 

54 SCHOOL/NURSERY GOVERNOR REPORTS

There were no reports for Gothic Mede Lower School or the Arlesey Nursery.

55 FINANCE

(a) Detailed Income and Expenditure for May 2011         

Prior to the meeting Members’ received a copy of the detailed Income and Expenditure for May 2011.  

It was RESOLVED

that the detailed report of Income and Expenditure for Month 2 – May 2011 be accepted      

(b) Petty Cash for May 2011

Prior to the meeting Members’ received a copy of the petty cash details for the Resource Centre and the Town Council for month 2 – May 2011

It was RESOLVED

to approve the petty cash for the Resource Centre and the Town Council for month 2 – May 2011

(c) Financial Assistance

The Chairman said an application for financial assistance had been received from the 1^st Arlesey Scout Group.  The finance is required to support some of the fundraising already done by 16 scouts for the group’s exchange trip with Danish Scouting.  Because the trip was imminent this application for £250 came direct to the Town Council meeting.

The Chairman said prior to the meeting all Members would have received a copy of the financial assistance application and a set of accounts from the 1^st Arlesey Scout Group.

It was RESOLVED

to support the application and give a donation of £250 to the 1^st Arlesey Scout Group

This is awarded as the provision under S.137 of the Local Government Act 1972

(d) HM Revenue & Customs

The Chairman reported a VAT refund of £7,429.35 had been received. 

It was AGREED to note the VAT refund of £7,429.35 for 2010/2011 had been received 

(e) Quotation for Skate Park Grind Rail Installation

The Chairman reported that following the request to have the grind rail re-installed at the Skate Park a quotation of £180 had been obtained to carry out the work. 

It was proposed that the grounds maintenance staff should carry out the work.

It was RESOLVED

not to accept the quotation for £180 and that the grounds maintenance staff will re-install the Grind Rail at the skate park

(f) Quotation for MUGA Goal Set

The Chairman asked members to approve the purchase of a goal set for the MUGA court.  He presented a quotation of £300 for a goal set plus a delivery charge of £90 plus VAT to Members for consideration.

It was RESOLVED

to purchase a goal set for £300 plus delivery charge of £90

(g) Urban Grass Cutting Agreement – 2011/2012

The Chairman reported that notification had been received from Central Bedfordshire Council of their contribution towards the urban grass cutting for 2011/2012.  The amount is £2,426.34 the same as 2010/2011

It was RESOLVED

to accept Central Bedfordshire Council’s contribution of £2,426.34 towards urban grass cutting and to sign and return the agreement

(h) Internal Auditor

The Chairman reported that approval of an internal auditor was required for 2011/2012.  The Clerk had obtained a list of independent internal auditors and it was proposed to have a change of auditor

It was RESOLVED

to ask Ms C Brown if she would be the Town Council’s internal auditor for 2011/2012

(i) NIC Virement

The Chairman reported that under the advice of the RBS accountant all NIC should be within the budgets that relate to the staff wages costs and asked Members to approve the virement of the NIC budgets from the 101 budget into the relevant cost centres.

It was RESOLVED

to vire the appropriate amount of NIC from the 101 cost centre to the cost centres relating to staff wages   

56 GROUND STAFF DUTIES CARRIED OUT MAY/JUNE 2011    

The Chairman reported that he had looked at the timesheets that the grounds maintenance staff had completed for May/June 2011.  He felt that their reported duties on the time sheets could be documented to reflect their workload better.  The Clerk said she would re-design their time sheets.

It was RESOLVED

the Clerk continues to manage the duties of the grounds maintenance staff and create an alternative time sheet to show more details of their tasks undertaken                           

57 HICCA WAY PLANNING APPLICATION

The Chairman reported he had attended two meetings recently concerning the Hicca Way planning application.

On 16 June he met with Cliff Andrews, Andrew Gwillan and Roger Watson.  Prior to this he had met with the archaeologist who was satisfied with the results of the study and had no objections to a planning application.  A meeting with the planning officer would now proceed.  The Wildlife Trust would be contacted to ensure they were in agreement.  The main bridge over the moat would be a construction of a wooden walkway with one handrail.  The two ditches to the Millpits would become culverts.    

On 5 July a meeting took place to look at the permissive rights of way from the moat to the Millpits.  It was decided that a fence would be erected to separate the walkway from the meadow to the Millpits.  The Rights of Way Officer would supply and install the culverts.

It was AGREED to note the Chairman’s progress report for Hicca Way 

58 ARLESEY LANDFILL SITE

The Chairman read out a letter to the meeting that was printed in the local news column.  The letter was written to assure residents the Landfill site had not re-opened and that the lorries coming and going through the town were carrying landscaping materials to the site and this would carry on for about two years.  He added Highways had been contacted regarding the signs that the company managing the lorries wanted to display on lighting columns, but there had been no response.

It was AGREED to note the Chairman’s report  

59 ALLOTMENT SITE – STOTFOLD ROAD

The Clerk reported that she had contacted Anglian Water for an update on the water connection to the new allotment site and was waiting for them to get back to her.

She reported she had also contacted the Town Council’s solicitor on the 30 June 2011 regarding progress with the registration of the Council’s title at the Land Registry and no one had replied before the meeting.   

It was AGREED to note the details in the Clerk’s report 

60 CENTRAL BEDFORDSHIRE COUNCIL – MAINTENANCE OF PUBLIC PATHS

The Chairman said all Members should have received a copy of the correspondence from the Rights of Way Team Leader informing the Town Council that the ROW Team had organised a works team under the Community Payback scheme.  Footpath number 5 was the designated Arlesey footpath included in the Payback scheme which the team will carry out a mix of surface and side vegetation clearance. 

It was RESOLVED

there were no comments to make on the Community Payback scheme         

61 CORRESPONDENCE

The Chairman said that the correspondence received concerning the land lying to the east of 128-134 High Street was from the owner who was in negotiation with the Town Council over the Deed of Easement.  It was proposed to give assistance as mentioned in the correspondence but the Town council would have to make new arrangements with the company who are interested in developing the land.

It was RESOLVED

the Town Council would give assistance if they are approached by the company mentioned in the correspondence  

62 LOCAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK

The Chairman gave an update report on the Local Development Framework and said he attended a meeting on 23 June to discuss the Master Plan.  It was proposed that the senior architect will draw up a plan for the relief road and the town centre.  It is hoped by November the Master Plan will be ready to be displayed in the Village Hall.  He added he would like to see as many local groups as possible having an input into the Master Plan.  Councillors will be asked to deliver leaflets advertising the event.

It was AGREED to note the Chairman’s report 

63 TEMPORARY ROAD CLOSURE – STOTFOLD ROAD

Prior to the meeting Members received a copy of the details of a request for a proposed Temporary Road Closure for Stotfold Road, Arlesey to enable carriageway patching works to be carried out in safety.  The closure is expected to take place on two days between Monday 2 August and Friday 12 August 2011.  Any observations should be sent to the Senior Technician

It was RESOLVED

there were no observations to make and to note the reason for the proposed Temporary Road Closure for Stotfold Road. 

Prior to the meeting Members’ received a copy of the correspondence received from the Director of Operations informing the Town Council they have finalised their maintenance programme for 2011/2012.  Members viewed a copy of their Maintenance Plan and that the proposed works consisted of; flailing, clearing, weed cutting, pollarding and dredging, as necessary.  The Town Council was invited to offer any information that would be useful in scheduling the works programme, such as access issues, problem areas and environmental constraints.

It was RESOLVED

that there were no comments to make on access issues, problem areas and environmental constraints and to note the Board’s maintenance programme for 2011/2012 

65 MINUTES FROM COMMITTEES

Members received reports from the following Committees:

Environmental Committee – 21 June 2011                    

Property Committee – 21 June 2011                                 

General Purpose/Finance Committee –21 June 2011    

It was RESOLVED

that the minutes of the above committees are accepted and these would be approved and signed by the Chair of those committees at their next meeting 

66 REPRESENTATIVES’ REPORTS

There were no reports.

                                                                                                                                                         CHAIRMAN

                                                                                                                        Date