Pre-meeting Reports
04 January 2022
198. County Councillor
County Cllr
Haworth-Culf sent apologies and a report had been previously circulated.
Cllr Levermore asked if
the Katch travel service detailed in the report is going to be expanded to
cover the Leiston area. Cllr Cooper
confirmed he is hopeful this will happen soon and
discussions are in place.
199. District Councillor
District Cllr Rainger
submitted apologies. District Cllr Cooper was in
attendance and had no updates, a report will be circulated later this week.
Cllr
Boast requested that a letter of thanks be sent to Mark Lye, Refuge/Street
Cleaning Assistant Manager.
Nothing raised.
At a meeting of the
LEISTON-cum-SIZEWELL TOWN COUNCIL
held in the COMMUNITY
CENTRE, King Georges Avenue, Leiston, on
TUESDAY 04 January 2022
at 7.30pm
Councillor J N Last BEM (in the Chair)
Councillor D Bailey
Councillor D Boast
Councillor T Cooper
Councillor N Corbett
Councillor D Dix
Councillor S Geater
Councillor C Ginger
Councillor T Hawkins
Councillor Mrs L Hill
Councillor Mrs S Levermore
Councillor D Morsley
Councillor M Woolf
201. Minutes
It was proposed by Cllr Hill,
seconded by Cllr Boast and agreed that the minutes for
the meeting of 07 December 2021 be signed as a true record.
202. Apologies
Apologies
were received from Cllr Harle and Cllr Kyle.
203. Chairman’s Communications
The Chairman reported thus:
First of all, I hope councillors and residents
were able to have an enjoyable Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all. I wish you all the best for the year ahead.
As you can guess there is not much to report on since our last meeting
due to the Christmas period.
I know volunteers were busy on the lead up to Christmas through the Leiston Good Neighbourhood Scheme supporting some of our residents and making sure they were
helped with any Christmas preparations or requirements. I thank all the
volunteers for their efforts with that.
Also, I thank Framlingham Rotary Club for arranging the visit to Leiston
of Santa and all the roads Santa managed to visit. I know this went down very well with the
parents and children alike.
204. Declarations of Interest
Cllr Hill for CLT and
Leiston Film Theatre, Cllr Boast for CLT, Cllr Geater item 15a, Cllr Levermore
for CLT, Leiston Film Theatre and item 15a and Cllr Cooper for item 17.
205. Leiston
Together Update
Mrs
Greengrass sent her apologies and a report had been previously circulated.
Cllr Levermore asked if the Town Council will have
any input in to where the planters are positioned and who will be responsible
for the management and upkeep of them.
The Clerk will liaise with Mrs Greengrass.
206. Net Zero Update
The Net Zero Leiston Steering
Group met on 8 December. The publication
for the route map technical manual will be w/c 10 January and the final
documents will be circulated later this week.
Work is still ongoing regarding the potential project relating to
community ground source heat pumps but as a guide the trial would require a
minimum of 250 homes at a chosen site, possibly a collection of roads or an
estate. More updates will follow as the project develops.
207. CLT
Trustee Board Report
Councillors noted the previously
circulated report.
Cllr Last asked if it
is still the intention for the housing included in the market square proposal
to be affordable housing for Leiston residents.
Cllr Boast confirmed that this is the case.
208. Transport
Strategy Update
Cllr Last confirmed
that the members briefing will go ahead on Tuesday 11 January and councillors
confirmed that a face to face meeting would be preferred. The Clerk will circulate briefing papers
later this week.
209. EDF
Transport Group Minutes of 15 November 2021
Councillors noted the
previously circulated report.
Cllr Ginger raised a
point about the surveys being conducted on Sizewell Common and Beach as
mentioned in last months presentation from EDF.
Cllr Last confirmed the purpose of the surveys and informed Cllr Ginger
that the surveys weren't covered by the EDF Traffic Meeting minutes.
210. Leiston
Events Group Christmas Fair Update
Councillors noted the
previously circulated report.
Cllr Morsley advised he
will be standing down from the Events group following the Jubilee Events being
held in June 2022 as will Cllr Levermore.
211. Consider
Cllr Corbett as SZC/Energy Projects Representative for LTC
After a brief
discussion it was proposed by Cllr Cooper, seconded by Cllr Levermore
and agreed to elect Cllr Corbett as the SZC/Energy Projects Representative for
Leiston Town Council.
212. East Suffolk Council Cycling and Walking
Strategy Consultation Response
Cllr Levermore and the
Clerk will meet later this week to draft a response to the consultation on
behalf of the Town Council. The Clerk
asked councillors if they had any suggestions they
would like included to let her know as soon as possible as the response needs
to be submitted by 10 January.
213. ALS
Community Partnership of 15 December 2021
Councillors noted the
previously circulated report.
Cllr Dix reported that he has
been attending the SALC forum virtual meetings on a monthly
basis. There is currently nothing
to report back but he will continue to attend and keep councillors updated as
required.
215. Finance and Personnel
a) Accounts for Payment
It was proposed by Cllr Cooper, seconded by Cllr Hill
and agreed that accounts paid since the last meeting of £43,162.47 be approved
for payment.
216. Set the Precept for 2022/23
Councillors noted the
detailed report previously circulated which covered the increased
tax base of 5.4%. 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. The tax base increased this year (5.4%) which
has allowed for an increase in our precept figure to £312,466 with no extra
charge to our residents.
The Clerk advised that
the General Reserve is healthy and remains on track, albeit there may be some
Government restrictions imposed over the coming weeks which may impact the Film
Theatre, Waterloo Centre and Community Centre.
The Clerk mentioned at
the end of her report some further projects which could be pursued in the
coming year to which the CIL (Community Infrastructure Levy) reserve and
Divestment Contingency is available and no need to add to the precept. The Film
Theatre balcony being one and as the cinema has done so well over the past few
years it would be good to reinvest some funds back into the theatre.
The Clerk informed
councillors that Suffolk County Council were increasing their element of the
Council Tax by 3%, East Suffolk Council by 2.9% and the Police yet to confirm
but likely to be 5/6%
After some discussion it was proposed by
Cllr Ginger, seconded by Cllr Morsley and agreed that
Leiston-cum-Sizewell Town Council precept East Suffolk Council for £312,466 for
2022/23, which is a 0% increase.
On a second proposal from Cllr Cooper,
seconded by Cllr Morsley it was agreed that £10,000 from the divestment
contingency reserve be put aside in to a reserve account for the Leiston Film
Theatre balcony project.
217. Planning Matters
a) DC/21/5139/FUL
- Change of Use from former Public House to HMO providing
a total of 11 rooms – The Crown, King Georges Avenue, Leiston, IP16 4JX
RECOMMEND
REFUSAL
218. County Matters
219. District Matters
No questions were raised.
220. Correspondence
Talking Benches
After a lengthy discussion
councillors felt it would be good to have two talking benches in the town one
to the north and one to the south. Cllr
Cooper agreed that he would fund one from the locality budget. On a proposal from Cllr Hill, seconded by
Cllr Geater it was agreed to apply for two talking benches, one to be situated
by the library and the other to be sited to the south of the town, exact
location to be confirmed.
Toothless in Suffolk
After a brief discussion it was
proposed by Cllr Hill, seconded by Cllr Cooper and
agreed to let Toothless in Suffolk use the Waterloo Centre free of charge on 2
February for Dentaid.
Beyond One Bar Open Water
Swimming Club
After a short discussion it was
decided more information was needed about the Swimming Club ie numbers attending and any fees associated with
being a member. The Clerk will seek
clarity on these issues and the application was deferred to the February
meeting.
221. Questions to the Chairman
Cllr Bailey asked if the bottle bank would
be moving from the High Street carpark to the Sizewell Road carpark. The Chairman confirmed that this had been
discussed as one option to help solve the parking issues at the High Street
carpark, East Suffolk Council are looking into the options available to
relocate the bottle bank. Once any
viable options have been found these will be presented to councillors.
The meeting finished at
9.15pm
Chair
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Dated ---------------------------------------------