Town and Larger Parishes Committee

Town and Larger Parishes Committee

29th July 2016

Town and Larger Parishes Committee Secretary: Paula Harding

St Catherines Farm

Old Sherborne Road

Cerne Abbas

Dorset

DT2 7SJ

Tel: 07765 241914

E-mail:

Dorset AssociationofParishandTown Councils

(Affiliated to the National Association of Local Councils)

WEBSITE: www.dorset-aptc.gov.uk

Minutes of the Towns and Larger Parishes Committee held on Friday 29th July 2016
at the Pavilion, West Moors.

Present:

Cllr Page Beaminster Town Council

Cllr White Blandford Town Council

Cllr Johnson Colehill Parish Council

Cllr A Holland Corfe Mullen Parish Council

Cllr P Holland Corfe Mullen Parish Council

Cllr Burns Lytchett Minster and Upton Town Council(from 11.45am)

Trevor Savage Sherborne Town Council (Clerk)

Val Bright Verwood Town Council (Clerk)

Cllr Dedden Verwood Town Council

Cllr Yeo West Moors Parish Council

Judi Weedon West Moors Parish Council (Clerk)

Cllr Dinsdale West Parley Town Council

Cllr Cook Wimborne Minster Town Council

Cllr Bartlett Wimborne Minster Town Council

Cllr March Wimborne Minster Town Council

Cllr Webb Wimborne Minster Town Council

Also Present

Cllr Turner Chairman Towns and Larger Parishes Committee

Cllr Cook Dorset County Councillor

Cllr Smith Dorset County Councillor

Hilary Trevorah Chief Executive DAPTC

Paula Harding Secretary, DAPTC T&LPC Committee

Andrew Martin Head of Highways, Dorset County Council

(and7 members of the Highways Community Liaison team)

21/16 - Apologies

Apologies for their inability to attend the meeting were received from:

Cllr Stayt Blandford Town Council

Cllr Horniman Bridport Town Council

Cllr Dean Chickerell Town Council

Cllr Scriven Colehill Parish Council

Adrian Stuart Dorchester Town Council (Clerk)

Cllr Beckley Gillingham Town Council

Cllr Richards Lytchett Minster and Upton Town Council

Dr Martin Ayres Swanage Town Council (Clerk)

22/16 Speaker – Mr Andrew Martin, Head of Highways, Dorset County Council

The Head of the DCC Highways Team, Mr Andrew Martin, addressed the meeting and introduced the members of his team who were also in attendance.

Mr Martin gave a PowerPoint presentation on the current work of the Highways team and how this would have to change in light of future funding reductions in the Revenue Support Grant (RSG). He reported that £750,000 has already been saved by reducing back office costs.

The other following areas were covered:

1)  Staff Structure

2)  Performance Management

3)  Operational and Service Highlights

4)  Working Together

Staff Structure

The Highways liaison team staff structure was presented and Mr Martin explained that each Parish or Town should be aware of who their particular liaison officer was, if not they can contact the team and they will be given the relevant details. The Community Highways officers should be a Parish or Town Councils first point of contact on all highways issues.

Performance Management

A service plan has been produced and all Councils have been sent a copy, if you do not have one then please contact your Community Highways officer. Targets have been set and clear criteria set for how these are to be measured. The top 12 key performance indicators will be monitored quarterly and forwarded to all DCC councillors and Parish and Town Councils, if you are not getting these you should let the Community Highways team know.

There is also an annual Town and Parish Council Highways survey, this will be issued in the next 6 weeks and all councils should participate if possible to help inform the service interaction in the future.

Operational and Service Highlights

The restructure so far has delivered £750,000 in savings from the back office function – not from the operations itself. Several large projects such as the A338 improvements and Dinah’s Hollow have been completed and major road management for events such as the Great Dorset Steam fair undertaken.

An Asset Management plan has been developed, this is a living document and a clear statement about what can and cannot be carried out within the new budget restrictions. It was made clear that from now on only ‘safety defects’ on the highway would be maintained, proactive work would no longer be carried out.

Working together

A working together document has been drafted and will be finalised in the next few weeks which looks at how the DCC highways team can work closer with Parish and Town Councils to provide the service requirements. Within the document there is a list of possible activities that Parish and Town Councils can agree to take on which the Highways team can no longer afford to provide.

There are 3 ways in which a Parish or Town Council can take on some of the work previously undertaken by Highways.

Option 1) By using volunteers or an in-house workforce

This is where a council develops a programme of works that they will undertake in their area which will be co-ordinated by the Highways team. It is important to liaise before works are carried out in case they are already included in the main DCC Highways repairs schedule.

The legality of power to carry out these works, insurance and health and safety are currently being finalised and further details will be issued as soon as they are clarified.

Option 2) Directly commissioning a contractor or partnering with a neighbouring council.

A programme will be set up after liaison with the Highways team and a contractor would do the work. Again the legal basis for this is being clarified.

Option 3) Commission DCC highways to carry out works.

Works such as gully clearing and grass cutting can be commissioned directly. A list of charges and indicative work for each charge e.g.: 10 gully’s a day for £x.

Other community involvement opportunities are also listed such as flood prevention, snow planning, drain clearance and litter picking. These can be co-ordinated and managed with Dorset Highways.

Members then asked the following questions:

What happens if a road crosses a county boundary – do you only complete work on your bit?

Mr Martin responded that more work was being undertaken in partnership with other councils such as the recent A338 work. Were possible agreements are reached to ensure that the whole of a stretch of road is treated the same. An example of this is the gritting on the A37 which doesn’t stop at the Dorset boundary but continues until the roundabout.

Are the Highways team telling the public that they are no longer cutting verges etc?

There will be no specific publicity to say that specific work will not be done, only the working document which outlines what the Council can no longer afford to do. It may be the case that the local Parish or Town Council works with the Highways team to arrange for specific items to be undertaken in place of services that are no longer automatically provided – therefore a blanket statement would not necessarily be correct.

How are you going to plan staff levels to ensure that personnel are available if we decide to contract work?

The highways team work with a number of partners such as Hanson’s who can provide extra personnel for supervising teams of volunteers if required. Obviously it is preferable that as much notice as possible is given for the requirement of supervision, however extra people can be pulled in as short notice. This would include weekends when most volunteer parties are used.

How are you planning on training Parish Volunteers who would like to undertake regular maintenance in their Parish or Town?

Mr Martin replied that the jobs which would be considered for volunteers to do unsupervised would be of low skill and therefore would require little or no training. Anything more where more skill is required would be carried out with a trained supervisor from the highways team.

How will Parish and Town Councils tackle the need to get various quotes or estimates as required by their financial regulations?

The Dorset County Council Legal team is currently looking at whether DCC highways can be listed as a form of approved supplier in order that the requirement for multiple quotes for highways work is not required.

Mr Martin summarised his time by adding that they are developing a website where all of the key documents will be held. This will give Parish and Town Councils direct access via a web link.

23/16 - Minutes of the meeting held on 15th April2016.

The minutes of the meeting held on 15th April were approved by the meeting and signed by the Chairman.

24/16 –Updates from the Minutes of the 15th April 2016.

Cllr Yeo asked if a list of Statutory Services had been obtained from the County and District Councils to assist Town and Parish Councils in their preparations for devolution. The secretary reported that she was not aware that anything had been received. Cllr Dedden reported that East Dorset already has a statutory list and that this may give some guidance.

Cllr White suggested that the Working Together project team at DAPTC be asked to try and pull something together from each of the authorities. He did however warn that the interpretation of what is and isn’t statutory may differ at each authority. For example there is a requirement to provide a youth service, but to what level and how is open to interpretation.

25/16- DAPTC Chief Executive’s Report

The Chief Executive presented her report which can be seen as Appendix A to these minutes.

Clarification was sought about the timeline for local government reorganisation. It was confirmed that there will be a public consultation and each local authority will then debate and put forward its preferred option. This is likely to happen in January 2017 after which of the Dorset Councils will present their plan to Central Government. It is expected that a single unitary or dual unitary option will be decided upon and be operational in 2019.

26/16– Towns and Larger Parishes Committee - Chairman’s Report

The Chairman raised two topics for discussion the first being an update on the Youth Centre provision in members areas. Several members updated the meeting on progress and closures in their area.

Secondly Cllr Turner asked if those present had concerns about the potential increase in fly tipping following the removal of a number of community recycling centres and the charges for some forms of household waste. There was a mixed reaction from those present, some of whom has said the removal of containers had tidied up the area, others of which noted that fly tipping had increased/

All members were encouraged to report any fly tipping and increase in litter to the Dorset Waste Partnership in order that a clear picture can be seen of any consequences of the new arrangements.

27/16 – NALC Report (Cllr Dedden)

Cllr Dedden reported that she had been unable to attend the last NALC meeting but that John Parker had gone in her place. He is currently compiling a report and this will hopefully be forwarded to all members soon.

Cllr Dedden did however attend the LGA conference in Bournemouth and spent time on the NALC stand. The NALC conference will be held on the 19th and 20th October.

28/16– Members’ updates

Blandford

The Youth Club provision in the town is under threat. The club is attached to the school, which has recently become an academy and requires the room back. There will therefore not be a youth centre in Blandford from the 1st September as things stand.

Colehill

Colehill Youth and Community centre will be having an ‘opening’ day event on 3rd September.

A consultation is being carried out with residents relating to the disposal of the Furzehill site. There are various issues with this including tree preservation orders (TPO’s) and traffic calming measures.

Beaminster

The management of the Leisure Centre has just been taken over by 1610 (the same company that run the Dorchester Sports Centre).

The youth centre is currently being run by volunteers in a building with the Children’s Centre courtesy of Dorset County Council.

The town council is planning to refurbish the local hall and make it into a Town Hall with the Council offices.

West Moors

A whole week of 60th anniversary celebrations for the Queen’s birthday has been planned in West Moors.

The first apprentice training grant has been issued to a young man who needed £250 towards tools to learn his trade. Four grants per year have been budgeted.

The library has new windows and has been renovated. An increase in footfall has been noted.

The allotments are now in use and all rented out.

Wimborne Minster

There has been a delay in relocating the allotments as planning has been delayed.

Verwood

Two new councillors have been co-opted so the council is now back to full strength.

There is concern about the youth centre and its location as the school in which it is held are requiring more use of the building for themselves.

The issues with the poor workmanship in the play area are due to be resolved in September free of charge, thanks to a change in management at the play installation company.

Corfe Mullen

Youth Centre provision in Corfe Mullen is uncertain although the Parish Council has put money aside to assist with future issues. The youth centre committee is now also a registered charity.

Funding is in place to get the skate park renewal underway.

The Leisure Club is being rebuilt and has been taken over by BHLive a not for profit organisation. The proposed reopening is scheduled for October 2016.

There has been an increase in traffic since the closure of Gravel Hill.

The allotments are to be re-located, but the developer who was going to donate the land to the Parish Council is now looking to loan the land instead, leaving it available to build on in the future.

Lytchett Minster and Upton

The Town Council was approached and had agreed to fund the youth centre for a year to give them space to consider the future. This period is now up and the youth centre is closing. The building will fall back to the Town Council.

There has been a proposal to redevelop the allotment area, but the majority of residents consulted did not want to see this happen. A decision was made that in light of this the project could not proceed and they are now looking at alternatives.

29/16 – Next Meeting

The meeting closed at 12.45pm with notice that the next meeting (the AGM) would be held onFriday 21st October2016, 10amat Sturminster Newton Town Council

Signed______Date______

Cllr Chris Turner

Chairman

Chairman: Cllr Haydn White President: David Jenkins DL Chief Executive: Hilary Trevorah

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