Harwich Town Council

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Full Council Minutes 18th September 2013

MINUTES of the Meeting of the HARWICH TOWN COUNCIL
held at
The 1912 Centre, Cow Lane, Harwich
on Wednesday 18th September 2013 at 7.00pm

Present: Councillors Brown, Calver, Day, Fowler, J Henderson,
I Henderson, King, Morrison, Nicholson, C Powell, F Powell, Thurlow and Todd
In the Chair: Councillor McLeod
Clerk: Mrs Lucy Ballard
Also present: 1 member of the public and 0 members of the press
Prayers were said by Janet Heath
072/13 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Cllrs Flavell and Thompson
073/13 DECLARATIONS OF MEMBERS’ INTERESTS
Cllr Thurlow declared a non-pecuniary interest the Item 13 in relation to the grant application from the Harwich & District Community Association as Chairman of the grant applicant body.
074/13 PUBLIC QUESTIONS
Betty Holbrook raised concern over a large vehicle regularly parking in the Wellington Road car park, which was taking up 4 parking spaces and limiting other potential visitors to the area from using the car park.   She asked if the Council could do anything to prevent this. Following a brief discussion, Cllr McLeod asked Mrs Holbrook to provide photographs and then he would liaise with the District Council who own the car park.
A Written question from a member of the public was read aloud by the Clerk and which highlighted concern over the proposals to introduce part-night street lighting from January 2014 and asked whether the street light situated by her residence in Little Church Street would be affected. It was agreed to address this under item 11.
075/13 MAYORS ANNOUNCEMENTS
The Mayor gave an account of some of his engagements since the last meeting, which included attending a Bobbits Hole event, Strawberry Tea at Alexandra House, the Haven Gateway AGM, Motorcycle Rally and the TSB opening. Referring to the launch of the Dovercourt & Historic Harwich brochure, Cllr McLeod thanked the Town Tourism Team for all their efforts and hard work.   He also thanked Harwich Town Council staff for their support in recent weeks.
076/13 MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING
RESOLVED: That the minutes and confidential minutes of the meeting of the Town Council held on 7th August 2013 (previously circulated) be approved by the Chairman and signed as a true record.
FURTHER RESOLVED: that the minutes of the Extraordinary meeting held on 28th August 2013 (previously circulated) be approved by the Chairman and signed as a true record.
FURTHER RESOLVED: that the minutes and confidential minutes of the Extraordinary meeting held on 3rd September 2013 (previously circulated) be approved by the Chairman and signed as a true record.
077/13 MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
Cllr Todd updated members on the measures taken or in progress to address the problems raised during the last Public Questions segment of Full Council, in relation to overgrown vegetation between Haven House and Flats in Albemarle Street, Raised walkway in Stour Way, and the Bathside cross alleyways.
078/13 A120
Cllr McLeod read aloud the response from Essex County Highways that suggested that the condition of the A120 was the responsibility of the Highways Agency.
RESOLVED: to write to Bernard Jenkin MP to explain the situation and ask for him to clarify on HTC’s behalf which authority is responsible for the A120.
079/13 TOWN TOURISM WORKING PARTY
Cllr I Henderson provided an update to members on the success of the Dovercourt & Historic Harwich brochure and officially thanked those involved, namely Lesley Pollard, Richard Colley, Colin Farnell, Trevor Williams and Rachel Fryer. A special thanks went to Simon at Autoprint for his services and attentiveness in producing the final product.
080/13 VESSELS ENTERING UK WATERS
Cllr Todd provided an update to members regarding the effect of the impending EU regulations on sulphur emissions. He reported that the draft regulations should be released to him at the beginning of October but in the meantime StenaLine had fitted scrubbers to their ships and the Port would be requesting an exemption from the regulations. The alternative is to convert to using diesel which is far more costly.
081/13 1ST WORLD WAR CENTENARY
Members discussed various options for commemorating WW1 and whether to seek funding for associated activities.
RESOLVED: to set up a working party to progress ideas, consisting of Cllrs Calver, Fowler, C Powell, Nicholson and Day.
082/13 PART NIGHT STREET LIGHTING IN ESSEX
Members discussed, in-depth, the information received from Essex County Council in relation to introducing part night street lighting in the Tendring area from January 2014. Various suggestions were made as to how to respond.
RESOLVED: write to Cllr Rodney Bass, Cabinet Member for Highways & Transportation, and request an exemption to the proposals, using Harwich as a comparator to other areas in the Tendring district in respect of crime, RTAs and safety, but if this is not possible then to request an extension to the deadline for comments so as to formulate a reasonable response.
FURTHER RESOLVED: to request an urgent briefing with Insp. Willis to gain comparators on crime and RTAs in the district.
083/13 TOWN GUIDE
The Clerk briefed members on the arrangements for producing the Town Guide and the work required to provide new information every year. Cllr Day confirmed that the increased frequency of its production was due to the revenue gained in doing so. RESOLVED: To refer this to F&GP for consideration.
084/13 MINUTES OF THE LAST FINANCE & GENERAL PURPOSES COMMITTEE MEETING
RESOLVED: that the minutes of the meeting of the Finance & General Purposes Committee held on 14th August 2013 (previously circulated) be received.
FURTHER RESOLVED: that the confidential minutes of the meeting of the Finance & General Purposes Committee held on 14th August 2013 (previously circulated) be received.
Cllr Thurlow left the room during the discussions and vote in relation to The Harwich & District Community Association grant application.
FURTHER RESOLVED: To accept the recommendations of the F&GP Committee and grant funding applications in accordance with imposed conditions.
085/13 MINUTES OF THE LAST ENVIRONMENT & COMMUNITY COMMITTEE MEETING
RESOLVED: that the minutes of the meeting of the Environment & Community Committee held on 4th September 2013 (previously circulated) be received.
FURTHER RESOLVED: that the confidential minutes of the meeting of the Environment & Community Committee held on 4th September 2013 (previously circulated) be received.
086/13 MINUTES OF THE LAST ALLOTMENTS COMMITTEE MEETING
RESOLVED: that the minutes of the meeting of the Allotments Committee held on 27th August 2013 (previously circulated) be received.
087/13 ACCOUNTS
Payments and receipts, current balances, financial activity against budgets and earmarked funds were noted.
RESOLVED: to authorise payments as presented
088/13 BRIEF REPORTS BY MEMBERS
Cllr J Henderson reported her attendance at the Teen Talk AGM and commented on what a great job they were doing and that they had seen 972 young people in the last year.
Cllr I Henderson attended the Port Liaison Committee and reported increased activity on the Hoek route freight superferries but a reduction in services operated by DFDS. 42 Cruise ships are already booked for next season. He also reported on a legal challenge over the extension to commence the Bathside Bay developments.
089/13 CORRESPONDENCE RECEIVED IN THE POST OR RAISED BY MEMBERS
Members noted some correspondence from local youth organisation Teen Talk.
090/13 DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting of Harwich Town Council will be held on Wednesday 30th October 2013 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 8.35pm.