551PRESENT Cllr Berry (Chairman), Cllr Mrs V Baldwin, Cllr Mrs R Beeny, Cllr Body

BEAMINSTER TOWN COUNCIL

Minutes of the Town Council meeting held on Monday 19th December 2011 in the Skyrm Room at the Public Hall, Beaminster at 6.30pm

551PRESENT – Cllr Berry (Chairman), Cllr Mrs V Baldwin, Cllr Mrs R Beeny, Cllr Body,

Cllr Cheeseman, Cllr Elliott, Cllr Mrs R Knox, Cllr Mrs J Page, Cllr Mrs S Samuel,

Cllr Spooner and Cllr Turner

552IN ATTENDANCE – Mrs Christine Bright (Town Clerk), District Councillor Mrs C Payne and one member of the public.

553REPORTS FROM AND QUESTIONS FOR:

(a) Dorset Police Representative

In the absence of a police representative no report was received.

(b) West Dorset District Councillors

Cllr Mrs Payne advised that:

Following BDUK funding allocations announced in August 2011, Dorset

needed to find approx. £10m gap funding in order to be successful in any bid

for superfast broadband in Dorset. The District Council had recently agreed

to allocate £1.3m towards this project.

In response to a question regarding the introduction of wheelie bins Cllr Mrs Payne advised that further consideration would be given to the proposal.

Cllr Mrs Page advised that early indications were that the amalgamation of Weymouth & Portland Borough and West Dorset District Councils would achieve a budget saving of £1m nett in the first year.

(c) Dorset County Councillor

Cllr Mrs Knox reported that:

discussions with school transport providers continued
The library service review group had now been given the remit to investigate improvements to the existing mobile library service

with the introduction of local Highway Community Teams the future of the

Parish Maintenance Units would be reviewed

554APOLOGIES – No apologies for absence were received.

555 MINUTES OF THE TOWN COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON 28TH NOVEMBER 2011

The minutes of the Town Council meeting held on 28th November 2011 having previously been circulated were amended to read Progress Reports – “under this heading Cllr Mrs

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Page requested dropped kerbs outside the Red Lion be added to the list to be discussed

with the County Council” following which were confirmed and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

556DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

No declarations of interest were received.

557REPORTS FOR OUTSIDE ORGANISATIONS

(a) BAVLAP – Cllr Mrs Beeny advised she had been unable to attend a recent West

Dorset Partnership meeting. BAVLAP had received correspondence from Wessex

Water in which they advised that the authority were investigating the possibility of

upgrading the sewerage pumping station in Southgate.

(b) DORBAG – Cllr Mrs Knox urged support for Radio Dorset

(c) CRIME PREVENTION PANEL – Cllr Mrs Baldwin reported two issues discussed at a recent meeting and were causing concern:

computer fraud
uplifting of vehicles

(d) FLOOD WARDEN SCHEME – Cllr Mrs Beeny reported that blocked grids in Abbots

Close and in Monmouth Gardens had recently been cleared.

558 PAYMENTS AND RECEIPTS

Members RESOLVED payments totalling £7,640.89 and receipts totalling £1,572.17 as detailed in the report to the meeting. A copy of which is attached.

559FINANCE & GENERAL PURPOSES COMMITTEE

Members had previously been circulated with the minutes of the Finance & General Purposes Committee meeting held on 22nd November 2011 and considered the recommendations therein.

Terms of Reference for Finance & General Purposes Committee – members RESOLVED to remove the current restriction with regard to the election of Chairman and amend the Terms of Reference to read “to elect a Chairman annually”

Cemetery and Public Hall hire charges for 2012/2013 – members RESOLVED to adopt the charges for 2012/2013 as presented, a copy of which are attached

Budget 2012/2013 – members RESOLVED to adopt the budget framework for 2012/2013 as presented, a copy of which is attached.

560WDDC – TOWN & PARISH PRECEPT FOR 2012/2013

Cllr Mrs Knox proposed the Town Council accept the recommendation to levy a stand still

precept of £113,500 for the financial year 2012/2013, seconded by Cllr Body and

AGREED.

561GRANT APPLICATIONS

Members had previously been circulated with the detail of two grant applications however

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as the budget had been spent for the current financial year it was AGREED to defer further consideration until April 2012.

562CORRESPONDENCE

Significant items of correspondence received since the last meeting were:

Beaminster & District Twinning Association – members NOTED a letter of thanks received from the Association for the grant to assist with costs involved in hosting the French families from St James during 2011 visit
Axe Valley and West Dorset Ring & Ride – members NOTED a letter of thanks received from the Ring & Ride Service for the grant to assist with operation costs.

563 PROGRESS REPORTS

Members had previously been circulated with a written progress report on all outstanding

issues. NOTED.

Under this heading Cllr Mrs Page highlighted the need for remedial work to the stonewall at the closed churchyard at Shortmoor. NOTED.

The Chairman advised that he had recently spoken with the County Council’s Libraries Manager and a meeting would be pursued early in the New Year.

564 FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS

Items identified for inclusion on the January agenda were:

Presentation by the Chairman of Beaminster Chamber of Commerce, Mr

Nigel Reeve

Town Plan

565 DATE OF NEXT MEETING - The date of the next Council meeting was NOTED

as Monday 23rd January 2012.

566 MEETING - The meeting which started at 6.30pm closed at 7.30pm.

CHAIRMAN

23 January 2012

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