Full Council Minutes 9th May 2012
MINUTES of the Meeting of HARWICH TOWN COUNCIL held at The 1912 Centre, Cow Lane, Harwich on Wednesday 9th May 2012 commencing at 7.05pm
HARWICH TOWN COUNCIL
Guildhall, Church Street, Harwich, Essex CO12 3DS
Tel: 01255 507211
Present: Councillors C Callender, R Callender, Calver, Day, Double, Flavell,
I Henderson, J Henderson, King, McLeod, Thompson, Thurlow and Todd
In the Chair: Councillor B Brown
Clerk: Mrs Lucy Ballard
Also present: 2 members of the public and 1 member of the press
Prayers were said by Reverend P Mann.
172/11 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies were received from Cllr Gibbins.
173/11 DECLARATIONS OF MEMBERS’ INTERESTS
None
174/11 PUBLIC QUESTIONS
Betty Holbrook referred to the thank you letter sent to Colin Cheesman in relation to the work he did to the phone box and asked if one was sent to Tony Woods. The Clerk confirmed ‘no’ as wasn’t requested but it was agreed to send one.
Dr Rogers referred to the scruffy condition of the concrete images embedded into the grassed area along the Dovercourt promenade and asked if HTC could request TDC revamp these and also appoint one of the ward councillors as a ‘champion’ to hustle TDC to get the work done in a timely manner. Cllr Brown said enquiries would be made with TDC’s Seafronts Manager in this regard but that the request would come from HTC as a whole rather than appointing a ‘champion’.
175/11 MAYOR’S ANNOUNCEMENTS
The Mayor gave an account of some of the 21 engagements attended since the last meeting including the Dovercourt Stroke Club Easter Bonnet Parade and the Easter Fun Day at the Skating Rink; and commented on the work of the RAOB who had improved the lighting and surfacing aswell as making significant donations to other local organisations from the proceeds. He referred to the Archive Film Festival held to raise fund for the Mayoral charities, the Tendring civic service at Brightlingsea and the London Taxi Benevolent Association for war veterans’ events. Cllr Brown commented on it being a great year and a privilege to be Town Mayor.
176/11 MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING
RESOLVED: that the minutes of the meeting of the Town Council held on 28th March 2012 (previously circulated) be approved by the Chairman and signed as a true record.
177/11 MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
None.
178/11 REGENERATION OF HARWICH AND CREATION OF EMPLOYMENT OPPRTUNITES
Cllr Day raised concern over the lack of regeneration and employment opportunities for the Harwich area since the closing of INTEND at TDC and referred to several statistics to support this. Following considerable discussion by members, Cllr Calver personally thanked Cllr Day for raising this issue and it was RESOLVED: To write to TDC to ask they inform HTC of their strategy for regeneration and dealing with the degradation.
179/11 DOVERCOURT REDISCOVERED
The Clerk read aloud the response from TDC Chief Executive, Ian Davison, in response to HTC’s proposal in relation to Dovercourt Rediscovered. Cllr Calver confirmed that TDC’s Cllr Halliday has set policy to consult with ward councillors before spending the residual money from the s.106 agreement. Further discussion took place about the apparent endorsement of the document by HTC during the previous administration and the capability of the existing lamp standards to take the weight of hanging baskets.
RESOLVED: To write to TDC to acknowledge that TDC believed the document had been endorsed by HTC because this had been done by the previous Mayor on behalf of the Council.
180/11 ACCOUNTS
Payments and receipts, current balances, financial activity against budgets and earmarked funds were noted.
RESOLVED: to authorise payments as listed Appendix A
181/11 BRIEF REPORTS FROM MEMBERS
Cllr King referred to her role as HTC rep to the Harwich and District Community Association and asked if they were accountable to HTC in terms of reporting activity because of the grant they receive. Cllr Double said that members need to meet regularly and carry out these actions but was aware that meetings hadn’t been called in some time.
Cllr Flavell raised concern over the parking along The Quay in that TDC are responsible for the area opposite the Pier Hotel but ECC were responsible for the area by the War Memorial and had a different charging structure, although this wasn’t clear. It was further mentioned that ECC didn’t appear to have a Traffic Regulation Order, a requirement for charging for parking on a public highway.
RESOLVED: to write to NEPP for clarification on the charging structure and suggest they harmonize with TDC’s structure for ease, and to raise issue over TRO.
Cllr McLeod confirmed no meeting of the Chamber of Trade and Commerce.
182/11 CORRESPONDENCE RECEIVED IN POST OR RAISED BY MEMBERS
A letter of thanks from the Electric Palace Trust was noted.
183/11 DATE OF NEXT MEETING
Cllr Brown thanked all councillors for their support, advice and help during his year as Mayor.
The next meeting of Harwich Town Council will be held on Wednesday 6th
June 2012 at The 1912 Centre, Cow Lane, Harwich, at 7.00pm, or at the rise of
the Town Planning Committee, whichever is the later.
The Chairman closed the meeting at 8.10pm.