Allotments Minutes 29th January 2013
MINUTES of the Meeting of the ALLOTMENTS COMMITTEE
held at
The Guildhall, Church Street, Harwich
on
Tuesday, 29 January 2013 at 7p.m
| Present: | Cllrs J Henderson, M Fowler, A Todd, C. Callender and H Thompson |
| In the Chair: | Cllr King |
| Co-opted Members | Mr N Inglis, Mr M Button, Miss J Clark, Mr B McCoy |
| Clerk: | Assistant Clerk Kate Mayhew |
| Also present: | 1 member of the public and no press. |
Public Question Time: Mr Russell expressed his feelings regards one particular tenant on Boatswains Call site and handed to the Clerk 2 letters of complaint from other tenants.
| A50/12 | APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE Apologies received from Cllr Gibbins, Cllr McLeod, Cllr Thurlow and Co-opted Members Mr F Mesher & Mr T Steward. |
| A51/12 | DECLARATIONS OF MEMBERS’ INTERESTS None |
| A52/12 | MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING RESOLVED that the minutes of the Allotments meeting held on 29th November 2012 (previously circulated) be approved by the Committee and signed by the Chairman as a true record. |
| A53/12 | MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES Plot 53 The Redoubt is still in progress, the trees are down but the stumps have yet to be removed. The fencing query has now been resolved and overall it’s going well. |
| A54/12 | VACANT PLOTS/WAITING LIST/NOTICES TO QUIT The Clerk informed members that there are 2 half plots vacant and 8 people on the waiting list. |
| A55/12 | REPORTS OF CO-OPTED MEMBERS M. Button – 33 break-in’s had occurred recently in one night, he was disappointed HTC didn’t do more to assist and queried where the contact numbers were for tenants and why did he not have a copy of them. Cllr King made reference to the fact that 7 Cllrs and a PCSO had visited the site as soon as they were aware of the break-in’s and had spoken with some of the tenants and liaised with the Police and questioned what more could they do at the time, after the event. Cllr Todd agreed reps should have a list of contact details for tenants. Clerk to look into it. N. Inglis – Advised the 2 vacancies had now been allocated. B McCoy – All in order. J. Clarke – All in order, barbed wire has now been removed from gate – noted. |
| A56/12 | MATTERS RECEIVED IN POST OR INFORMATION RAISED BY MEMBERS None |
| A57/12 | ALLOTMENT TRAINING Members discussed and agreed for the Assistant Clerk and 1 Councillor to attend the training course. Cllr Alan Todd to attend. |
| A58/12 | EMERGENCY ITEM – SECURITY AT BOATSWAINS CALL SITE Members discussed the security of the site in response to the recent thefts and break–in’s at the site. It was proposed by Cllr Thompson that new security padlocks be fitted to the gates at Boatswains Call, Seconded by Cllr C Callender – all agreed. Mr Button to look at the type of padlocks used for other sites and a budget of £300 was agreed to be used. Prior to the exclusion of the public Mr Russell was thanked for his assistance in clearing the mound of rubbish at Boatswains Call. |
| A59/12 | EXCLUSION OF PUBLIC AND PRESS Pursuant to Sub-Section 2 of Section 1 of the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 it was agreed to close the meeting to the press and public for the purposes of discussing quotations received for maintenance work to allotment sites. |
| A60/12 | DATE OF NEXT MEETING The next meeting of the Allotments Committee will be held at 7pm on Thursday 21st March 2013 at The Guildhall, Church Street, Harwich. |
The Chairman closed the meeting at 8.00p.m