At the
ANNUAL MEETING of the LEISTON-cum-SIZEWELL TOWN COUNCIL
Held in
the LEISTON COMMUNITY CENTRE, King Georges Avenue, Leiston, on TUESDAY 16 May
2023 at 7.00pm
Councillor Bing Boast
Councillor Tony Cooper
Councillor Nicky Corbett
Councillor David Dix
Councillor Susan Geater
Councillor Lesley Hill
Councillor John Last BEM
Councillor Selena Levermore
Councillor David Morsley
1.
Election of Chairman
It was proposed by Cllr Morsley, seconded by Cllr Cooper that
Cllr Hill be appointed Chairman for 2023/2024.
With no further nominations it was agreed that Cllr Hill be
elected. Cllr Hill on behalf of the
Council thanked the outgoing Chairman Cllr Last for all his hard work over the
past three years and thanked fellow Councillors for their support and
confidence.
2.
Minutes
It was proposed by Cllr
Last, seconded by Cllr Cooper and agreed that the minutes for the meeting of 3 May
2022 be signed as a true record.
3.
Apologies
No apologies were
received.
4.
Chairman’s Report for 2022/2023
(Cllr Last)
Cllr Last gave his
report thus:
As I come to the end of
my 3rd year as Chairman of Leiston-cum Sizewell Town Council, I have to say the
last 12 months has been a challenging, demanding ,historic and enjoyable time.
Once again, I have felt
privileged and honoured to serve as Chairman of the Town Council and work
alongside a great group of Councillors who are very passionate about our town and also
the Council staff who work so hard on our behalf.
I thank Councillors,
who decided not to stand in the forth coming Council and remember our colleague
and friend Councillor Harle who sadly passed away during the year.
I was pleased to welcome Helen
Greengrass as the new Town Clerk and wished former Town Clerk Caroline
Rinder all the best as she moved on to pastures new.
The community has come
together, for a number of events this year including the fantastic Queen’s
Platinum Jubilee celebrations organised by Leiston Events group, the passing of
Her Majesty the Queen and the Proclamation of the King, Moment of Reflection, the
Town Christmas Event and the Coronation of their majesties King
Charles III and Queen Camilla. All those events had heavy involvement from the
Town Council for which I am please we were able to support.
It’s also been a year
where there was great successes with some of the town amenities. The delivery
of the Church Square Project, brought about a new focal point to the Town
Centre which formed the first step of the Town Centre regeneration and to be
awarded East Suffolk District Council’s High Street of the Year Award was a
great achievement and recognition of the work put in by the Community Land
Trust and support from this Council. It was a privilege to be present at the
award ceremony at Snape Maltings, to see Leiston recognised.
The Skatepark upgrade
and refurbishment project, was funded and Project managed by the Town Council
and delivered in time to enable the official opening to be held on the
Town’s Coronation Day celebrations and what a success that was, with members of
the public turning out in numbers, a great occasion which with the T.V.
coverage, once again put Leiston on the map.
It was also pleasing this year to invest further
in the Toddler play equipment at the park
Our assets have
continued to do well, as recovery from Covid continued. The Film Theatre
continued to attract footfall, giving optimism for the future, whilst extensive
works at the Waterloo Centre has been completed, meaning it is now fully
functional again. The Centre will also offering a full range of Health and
Wellbeing Services as the Leiston Live Well Hub is launched very soon.
Our open spaces, such
as Hayling’s Pond have benefitted from continued development and are very much
part of the stock of Open Spaces which offer a lot to this town and we are so
grateful for the voluntary work that’s been put into these areas, including all
the efforts made by LYCAS around the pCllr Hill read and signed the Declaration
of Acceptance of Office of Chairman.
5.
Appointment of
Vice-Chairman
It was proposed by Cllr Levermore, seconded by Cllr Dix and agreed
that Cllr Corbett be elected Vice-Chairman.
6.
Councillor Vacancies Co-option
After a brief
discussion it was proposed by Cllr Last, seconded by Cllr Cooper and agreed to
adopt the SALC policy for co-option of new Councillors. Cllr Last put forward a second proposal that
any applications be considered at our July meeting not June to enable wider
advertising of vacancies, this was seconded by Cllr Cooper and agreed.
7.
Confirmation of Acceptance of Office Forms
The Clerk confirmed all
Confirmation of Acceptance of Office Forms have been signed.
8.
Composition of Working
Parties and Representation on Other Bodies
Members gave their
preferences to the Clerk before this meeting as to which Working Parties or
organisations requiring representation from the Council that they wished to be
involved with for the coming year. The
Clerk circulated in advance of this meeting the revised compositions. Councillors noted the revised compositions,
and it was proposed by Cllr Cooper, seconded by Cllr Morsley and agreed to
approve the new compositions.
9.
Review Arrangements for
General Power of Competency
The freedom of GPC is available to local councils that meet two criteria
for eligibility (LA 2011 s8) set out in a statutory instrument known as the
parish councils (General Power of Competence) (Prescribed Conditions) Order
2012 that came into force in April 2012.
The Two Criteria for Eligibility
1. Elected Councillors
2. Qualified Clerk
Council records its ineligibility to exercise the General Power of
Competency. It notes that 2 members of
staff are currently progressing with their CILCA qualification. The Town Clerk has completed Unit 1 and is
near completion of Unit 2 which includes Learning Outcome 7 General Power of
Competency.
Council would like to direct the Town Clerk to identify on each budget
cost code the relevant Power or Duty and to identify where it is exercising
restricted S137 monies.
10. Signatories for Banking/Cheques
Barclays
Current Signatories: Cllr Cooper, Cllr Hill, RFO
Parochial
Charities
Current Signatories:
Cllr Cooper, Cllr Geater
It was proposed by Cllr
Corbett, seconded by Cllr Last and agreed the current signatories for the
Parochial Charities account remain the same.
CCLA
Current Signatories: Cllr Boast, Cllr Cooper,
Cllr Bailey, Town Clerk
It was proposed by Cllr Last, seconded by Cllr Geater and agreed to
remove former Cllr Bailey and add Cllr Levermore as a signatory for the CCLA
account.
Coop
Current Signatories:
Cllr Boast, Cllr Cooper, Cllr Dix, Cllr Hill, Cllr Geater, Town Clerk, RFO
It was proposed by Cllr
Levermore, seconded by Cllr Corbett and agreed the current signatories for the
Coop remain the same.
11. Appoint Member to be
responsible for verifying bank reconciliations in accordance with Finance Order
2.2
It was proposed by Cllr
Cooper, seconded by Cllr Dix and agreed that Cllr Levermore retains the
responsibilities required by Order 2.2.
12. To approve use of
variable Direct Debits in respect of all utilities, software contracts, NEST
pensions, rates and photocopier hire
It was proposed by Cllr
Last, seconded by Cllr Levermore and agreed that current bills signed up to
direct debit contracts continue.
13. To approve the continued
use of BACS transfer for all wages, salaries, pensions and all invoices
It
was proposed by Cllr Levermore, seconded by Cllr Last and agreed that BACS payments
be used for all invoices, salaries, wages and pensions.
14. Loan of Artefacts
The Clerk reported that
various artefacts, including a working model steam tractor in a glass case, a
wooden model steam lorry, a Garrett bust on a plinth, a collection of Garrett
hats and a trunk, were on loan at the Long Shop Steam Museum. She further
reported that the
School Bell from the former Church of England Elementary School in Waterloo
Avenue was similarly on loan at Leiston Primary School. Cllr
Last asked for confirmation that these items are still accounted for. Fraser Harle, Long Shop Museum Manager was in
attendance and confirmed that all items listed above are still in existence and
on display in the museum, Cllr Cooper confirmed that the School Bell is still
on display at Leiston Primary School. It
was proposed by Cllr Last, seconded by Cllr Morsley and agreed that these loans
should continue.
There
being no more business the meeting closed at 7.25pm
Chairman _______________________________
Dated _______________________________
LEISTON-CUM-SIZEWELL
TOWN MEETING
HELD IN THE COMMUNITY
CENTRE, KING GEORGES AVENUE, LEISTON
TUESDAY 16 MAY 2023
The
Town meeting was attended by 7 residents and 9 councillors.
The
meeting was chaired by Cllr Hill.
The
meeting received reports from:
Fraser
Hale on behalf of the Long Shop
Bing
Boast on behalf of Leiston Community Land Trust
Richard
Knight of behalf of SZC
Stuart
Smith and Will Mayhew on behalf of Leiston Air Cadets