Pre-meeting
Reports
7 January 2020
The Chairman congratulated Cllr John Last on
being awarded the British Empire Medal in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List
and he was given a round of applause. Cllr
Last thanked everyone for all their good wishes.
146. Mr Tom McGarry – Head of Communications at EDF
The Chairman welcomed Mr Tom McGarry from EDF Energy NNB who updated the
meeting on current items regarding the production and submission of the
proposed DCO for Sizewell C. Mr McGarry
announced that Mr Jim Crawford had retired as planned and Mr Paul Morton would
be taking over. A copy of his report is available on request.
Cllr Harle raised concerns regarding the demolition of Coronation Wood
and Mr McGarry confirmed permission had been granted. The trees were at the end of life and will be
replaced by 2,000 saplings. Cllr Morsley
queried the timeline for the decision making for SZC and Mr McGarry said approximately
19 months, possibly by the end of 2021. Cllr
Ginger raised questions on the rail crossings along the East Suffolk Line and
the Green Route and about how the existing roads would cross the proposed
Farnham bypass. Mr McGarry explained that the rail crossings will be subject to
some upgrades and he will feedback information about the Farnham bypass in due
course.
During the
above item, the time reached 7.30pm, it was proposed by Cllr Ginger and seconded
by Cllr Harle and agreed that Standing Orders be suspended to allow the public
session to complete.
147. County Councillor
The Chairman welcomed Cllr Rainger who gave an update on current
activities at the County Council. He reported
Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service received a good report from the Government
based inspection and were congratulated on their performance. Cllr Rainger mentioned he has money available
in his locality budget and highways budget to support groups and organisations
who are looking for funding and encouraged them to get in touch. Cllr Harle raised concerns regarding the
recent flooding problems with traffic going through flooded areas not being able
to see vehicles coming through at the other end creating a dangerous situation
and Cllr Morsley also mentioned the flooding by the pub in Aldringham. Cllr Rainger confirmed Highways were in discussions
with the landlord of the pub and the adjacent farmer to address this
issue. Cllr O’Reilly was impressed with
the online Highways reporting tool and Cllr Rainger confirmed email responses and
updates to reported problems are sent to the person reporting them but offered
to chase if necessary.
148. District Councillor
The District Councillors sent
apologies due to an important Cabinet meeting regarding the SPR application that
they wished to attend at Lowestoft.
149. Public Forum
No questions were raised.
At a meeting of the LEISTON-cum-SIZEWELL TOWN COUNCIL
held in
the COMMUNITY CENTRE, King Georges Avenue, Leiston, on
TUESDAY 7
JANUARY 2020 at 7.45pm
Councillor Mrs L Hill (in the Chair)
Councillor Mrs S Betson
Councillor D Boast
Councillor D Dix
Councillor Mrs S M Geater
Councillor C Ginger
Councillor P Harle
Councillor T Hawkins
Councillor J N Last BEM
Councillor Mrs S Levermore
Councillor D Morsley
Councillor S O’Reilly
Councillor Ms M A Woolf
150. Minutes
It
was proposed by Cllr Last, seconded by Cllr Boast and agreed that the minutes
for the meeting of 3 December 2019 be signed as a true record.
151. Apologies
Apologies
were received from Cllr Bailey and Cllr Cooper.
152. Chairman’s Communications
Cllr Hill reported
as follows:
A
number of councillors together with a few members of the community and two
Norse employees took part in the ‘Big Dig’ event at the Community Orchard on Saturday
7 December. The weather was kind to us and with everyone working together a lot
was achieved in two hours with daffodil bulbs, trees and hedging planted and
mulch spread around. Two trees were planted by residents. I would like to thank
Cllr Levermore for organising the event and I have written to Paul Tynan at
Norse thanking him and his staff for the help in preparing for the event and
their work on the day.
As
the Council’s representative on the Leiston Community Land Trust Board I attended
the Annual General Meeting on 10 December. I have reported on this meeting under
Agenda Item 6.
I
attended the Sizewell C Community Forum meeting at The Riverside Centre, Stratford
St. Andrew on Monday 16 December in an observer capacity. Cllr Woolf attended
as the Council’s representative. Minutes of the meeting have not yet been
published.
On 17
December, as Chairman of the Leiston Surgery Patient Participation Group, I
attended the All PPG Network meeting organised by the Ipswich & East Suffolk
Clinical Commissioning Group at Endeavour House. This was an opportunity for
all PPG’s to meet, take part in a workshop and give a brief presentation on
their work. I showcased some of our
achievements including the purchase of a BMI and Blood Pressure machine for use
by patients and to the Free CPR training which is due to take place on Saturday
25 January at Leiston Leisure Centre with training provided by the British
Heart Foundation. Mr Hawkins also attended as a member of the Leiston Surgery
PPG.
153. Declarations of Interest
Cllr Hill for Leiston Film Theatre and Cllr Boast for CLT.
154. Leiston
Together Update
Mrs Gibson sent her apologies and the
Clerk informed members that nothing had happened since the update at the December
meeting. The next Leiston Together meeting was scheduled for 18 February.
155. CLT Trustee Board
Cllr Hill updated the
meeting on this item thus:
The Annual General
Meeting was held on 10 December and despite inclement weather, approximately 40
people attended. The meeting included the election of Trustees which in
accordance with the rules of the Society required one third standing down and they
had previously been agreed as Russ Rainger and Bing Boast with both indicating
a willingness to stand again. They were duly re-elected and Tony Cooper who had
been co-opted earlier in the year was formally elected as a Trustee. A further candidate
Phillip Edwards, who brings much needed business and finance experience, was
co-opted onto the Board. As an Associate Member, Phil was not able to become a
full Trustee. Sadly, Barry Norman due to other commitments has stood down from
being a Trustee and was thanked for all his work with the CLT.
A power-point
presentation giving an update on progress since April 2019 and the current
vision for 2020 including Phase 1 the United Church was given by Trustees Simon
Merrett and Jim Florance. Following a
question from the floor the Board were pleased to report that EDF Energy have
set up a Leiston Town Council Transport Working Group with representatives from
Suffolk Highways, ESC Officers and Leiston Town Council. This enables the CLT’s
proposals for the town centre regeneration to be brought to their attention
when looking at traffic modelling and predictions for the town centre. (A
report on the Transport meeting held on 9 December is Item 7 on the agenda.)
It was a very positive AGM
and following the close of the formal proceedings there was an opportunity for
further conversation and networking.
Yesterday, the Board had
a lengthy meeting which included updates on the following items:
Phase 1 - United Church
This project is
progressing with two quotes obtained for a consultant/designer to undertake the
development of the garden area. A further quote is being sought. Once the Trustees
have selected a firm, plans will be shared with the interested parties in order
to seek their views on the plans. A number of possible funding streams have
been identified and once the cost of the project is known applications will be
made to get the project underway. This will be important in gaining the
confidence of the community when they see the first phase of the bigger
development has been achieved.
Phase 2 – Town Square
While progressing the
Church project the Trustees fully intend to keep moving on the Town Square
development. With an opportunity to secure a significant grant aimed at
projects that create ‘transformative’ changes the Trustees had a meeting with
an architect that we had previously met regarding our vision for the area. This
is with a view of finding out the costs of preparing an initial outline design
in order that a bid can be submitted. The Trustees are gathering information as
to the space requirements of current prospective tenants such as the Town
Council and the architect is visiting the site tomorrow. The deadline for the
application is 13 January.
An initial indication of
our plans has also been sent to a National Lottery Adviser who will determine
if we can proceed with an application for Lottery Funding to employ a Project
Manager. As an interim measure we are still working with the ESC officers as to
the possibility of having an intern or mature apprentice to act as a
Construction Project Co-ordinator and a job description is currently being
worked up.
Membership made the 200
target that I hoped we would have by the end of 2019. Currently we have 206 and
Bing Boast and I are charged with increasing the number of members and I have
rashly thrown out the figure of 400 by the end of 2020. Three organisations as well
as Alde Valley Academy have expressed an interest in hearing about the plans
for the town and we intend to have another stand in the Co-op and articles will
be in the next town council newsletter and local press.
Once the marketing
strategy including the construction of a website is in place this will greatly
assist us in promoting the CLT and allowing access to information about our proposals.
An advert seeking CLT members is also to
be displayed on screen at the Film Theatre.
156. Transport
Meeting with EDF - 9 December 2019
Councillors
noted the Clerk’s report and the official minutes, received yesterday, of the
recent meeting with Mr Bull from EDF Energy. One of the items that was raised was what
mitigation might be practical in the town centre to alleviate the expected
increase in traffic with SZC with regard to pedestrian amenity etc. Suggestions
have been for shared space (like Hamilton Road in Felixstowe) or even a one-way
system. After lengthy discussion, members generally felt shared space would not
work with the volume of traffic during construction unless combined with a one
way system but, equally, the whole idea was to make traversing the town centre unattractive
to rat runners and to make it more welcoming for visitors so more thought was
required. The Clerk asked councillors to consider making Kemps Hill a pedestrian
access only, which is in our Neighbourhood Plan. On a proposition from Cllr Betson, seconded
by Cllr Morsley this was agreed.
157. Waterloo
Centre Steering Group Meeting - 12 December 2019
Councillors
noted the minutes and discussed the items raised for approval. Mr Driver
(Hoopers Architect’s) had produced some useful and relevant plans now which
could be taken forward for fundraising. They just needed a Quantity Surveyor to
cost the project which would mean releasing some more of the funding set aside
for this stage. It was proposed by Cllr Betson, seconded by Cllr O’Reilly and
agreed that up to £2,000 be released to get a Cost Forecast. It was further proposed by Cllr O’Reilly, seconded
by Cllr Boast and agreed that £820 be used from the reserve to mark out the car
park correctly.
158. Elect
SALC Representative
Members
were canvassed to see if anyone wished to be the SALC representative and to attend
the quarterly area meetings. Cllr O’Reilly expressed an interest and it was
proposed by Cllr Last, seconded by Cllr Betson and agreed for Cllr O’Reilly to
be our SALC representative. It was noted
that all councillors were welcome to attend the area meetings if they wished to.
159. Proposed
Hinkley Visit
Councillors
noted that this was now set for the week commencing 9 March. The Clerk advised that
Mr Downes from Somerset West and Taunton Council was looking at a programme for
us and members were asked which days that week allowed them to participate in
the visit. Cllrs Betson, Last, Hawkins,
Woolf, Harle, Hill, Bailey (noted previously) and Boast expressed an interest
in attending.
160. VE Day preparations
A
report was tabled and Cllr Levermore and Cllr Last updated members on the plans
for this year’s event weekend which would include the new bank holiday to
commemorate the 75th anniversary of VE Day. Cllr Levermore outlined
the financial projections for the event and how EDF had promised £5,000 to support
the Cinema in the Park element of the proceedings. On the VE Day itself however,
although funding was being applied for, it was requested that the Council consider
contributing £1,800 toward the celebrations to enable plans to be made. It was also requested that, should the Council
expect a surplus from the cinema again this year, that £1,200 be vied from that
to purchase the film licence for the event which is not covered by the EDF
funding. It was proposed by Cllr
Morsley, seconded by Cllr Betson and agreed to contribute £1,800 for VE Day and
on a further proposal by Cllr Betson, seconded by Cllr Geater it was agreed to use
surplus from the cinema turnover at the end of the year to cover the £1,200
licence.
161. Finance
and Personnel
a) Accounts for Payment
It was proposed by Cllr Levermore, seconded by Cllr Boast and agreed that
accounts presented in the sum of £23,030.73 along with £26,270.39 paid since the
last meeting, be approved for payment.
162. Setting the Precept for 2020/2021
Members noted the report
from the RFO which covered the increased tax base of 4.2%. The tax base
is effectively a summation of the equivalent number of Band D properties expected
to contribute Council Tax in the town over the next year. Any increase means that
if the same precept is demanded this year (£283,980) then the Band D figure is
less for each property due to more properties contributing. This was helpful
as, to continue to conduct all the Council’s business for the next year needed
an increase in precept to £299,480. With the increase in tax base this meant an
increase of only 1% or 3p per week on a Band D property. The RFO gave details of
how an increase of 2.88% to £305,000 would allow members to precept a further
£5,500 to be used for any desired specific capital projects as the £299,480 only
allowed business to continue and certain earmarked reserves to have the needed
annual increment. She did however report that, with the Film Theatre doing so
well this year (again) there may well be a possible surplus of around £25,000
to be allocated elsewhere at year end if the allocated deficit is not needed.
The RFO reminded members that the Council was now
receiving CIL (Community infrastructure Levy) from the various building
projects around the town and this was currently £48,700. The application for the pedestrian crossing had
been turned down but she was hopeful additional work could be done to support
this project. Further CIL funding would
be received in April and October which could be used for this project or other eligible
projects, ie real time bus information and could provide matched funding for
larger projects, ie the pedestrian crossing.
The RFO advised councillors that an extra £2,000 provision
for CYDS had been included in the precept for Grants, raising it to £9,000. This would help cover any further funding
requests.
The RFO informed councillors that the District
Council was likely to increase their element of the Council Tax by 3%, the
County by 4% but the Police and Crime Commissioner had not yet indicated what
increase he was considering. With that
in mind, if the Town Council raised its precept by 3%, it would have little
effect on the overall rise in the final Council Tax bill in April (9p of the
expected £1.30 weekly rise).
After some discussion on whether to raise the
precept by 1% or 3% it was proposed by Cllr Ginger, seconded by Cllr Betson and
agreed (7 for, 5 against, 1 abstained) that, to allow the Town Council to continue
making improvements to the town, that Leiston-cum-Sizewell Town Council precept
East Suffolk Council for £305,000 for 2020/21, which is a 2.88% increase.
163. Planning Matters
No applications had
been received.
The Clerk had circulated
a draft ‘relevant representation’ on behalf of the Council to register as an
interested party for the SPR examinations which Council agreed and he will
submit before 27 January.
164. County Matters
No questions were
raised.
165. District Matters
No questions were
raised.
166. Correspondence
Funding Request from
Suffolk Accident Rescue Service
Councillors
noted the request from SARS to support their running costs. The RFO informed councillors only £250
remained in the grant fund. It was therefore
proposed by Cllr Morsley, seconded by Cllr Boast and agreed to grant £500, with
£250 vied from the general reserve.
Hanging
Baskets
The
clerk reported that Norse have agreed to continue watering the baskets based on
a maximum of 40. Norse also requested we
purchase self-watering baskets with a 7-day reservoir to reduce watering visits
and support climate change issues. Cllr
Last suggested this item be on the Grounds Maintenance agenda for discussion next
week.
Public
Open Spaces – Persimmon Homes Development, Saxmundham Road
Councillors
noted the email from Persimmon Homes asking if the Town Council would consider
adopting the public open spaces on the site.
Usually the developer employs a management company to cover this and
councillors unanimously agreed not to take this on.
167. Questions to the Chairman
Cllr
Betson commented that the Leiston Works Railway project and support they
received from the Army became a feature in a steam railway magazine which is
distributed all over the world. Cllr
Last mentioned Suffolk Day and ask if the Council would consider doing anything. Cllr Hill felt it was too close to the LBW
but a litter pick could be arranged if members wished to organise it. Cllr Harle asked if any further news had been
received regarding the telephone box in the Post Office Square but the Clerk had
heard nothing further. Cllr Harle suggested
that a street name as a memorial to Cllr Hodgson be proposed for the new
housing development. The Clerk will speak
directly to Persimmon Homes and on a request from Cllr Ginger will also contact
East Suffolk Council.
The meeting finished at 9.20pm.
Chair ---------------------------------------------
Dated ---------------------------------------------