KINGSTEIGNTON TOWN COUNCIL
FULL COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON WEDNESDAY 2 OCTOBER 2013
Present:
Mayor: Councillor J Foxwell
Deputy Mayor: Councillor C Meathrel
Councillors: B Austen, L Foxwell, R Harris, K Howard, K Jones, A Lonsdale, J Morris, R Peart, B Thorne, G Wickham
Hannah Reynolds, Chair of Exeter Community Centre
Nemo Shaw, Devon Association of Local Councils
Ellen Grindlay, Mid Devon Advertiser
Phil Stanley, KCPIG
Mrs Carol Lakin, Town Clerk
Police Report
There was no police report at the meeting, but a report was received the following day. September had been a good month but vehicle crime was on the up, particularly number plate thefts. Problems were also being experienced with boy racers in both retail parks.
Representation from Hannah Reynolds, Chairman, Exeter Community Centre
Cllr Foxwell welcomed Hannah Reynolds to the meeting and thanked her for giving up her time to come and talk to the Town Council.
Hannah Reynolds said that she was the Chair of the Exeter Community Centre Trust and she was going to talk to the council on how the community of St David’s took over the Community Centre as an Asset Transfer from DCC. She provided councillors with a handout explaining the history of the Community Centre, from its ownership by Exeter City Council, passing to the ownership of DCC who ran the facility for 30 years as an Adult Learning Centre. As competing priorities for investment arose, the building became shabby, difficult to run and expensive to maintain and the community ceased to be involved in its day to day running. Devon County Council determined to sell the building for private development. Residents rallied around and set up St David’s Residents and Businesses Association and campaigned to save the centre and developed their own community Vision and priorities for the neighbourhood. Their campaign was to save the centre from development.
In 2010 a Trust, registered charity was set up and negotiations began with DCC about the potential for community control and ownership of the Centre. £1.5 million in grants and loans was raised to refurbish the centre and in 2011 the Association took over the freehold from DCC with a dowry from the County of £200,000 and refurbishment began in early 2011. Serious structural issues were identified which nearly closed the project but with a committed local community, officers, councillors and funders behind them the centre re-opened under Community Management in June 2012.
Two-thirds of the centre is leased to community groups and social enterprises with one third available for hourly or sessional lets for meetings, classes and activities.
The trust is now working on creating a community garden in the grounds of the centre.
Cllr Foxwell thanked Hannah Reynolds for a very interesting and informative talk.
Representation from Nemo Shaw, DALC
Cllr Foxwell welcomed Mr Nemo Shaw, DALC to the meeting. Mr Shaw is a Community Enterprise Advisor. He spoke about the considerations around Asset Transfer and Developing a Community Enterprise. He said this was a two stage process: 1) to establish a viable plan for using the asset and 2) securing the asset.
Mr Shaw said that preliminary considerations were what condition the asset is in, what is its value and what works would need doing before it could be used. It is crucial for the owners of the asset and the council to have a good relationship and for the owner to know that the community is serious and is kept informed of progress being made. The asset should be financially viable and care needs to be taken to keep track on your mission. The council should also have a vision of what the future of the building is, the way that this will be achieved and the underlying beliefs of the organisation. He said that a Community Consultation should be held with a positive response to the referendum. The project should be feasible and viable.
Mr Shaw said that guidance is available from My Locality and grants available to support work. Additional support can be given from Community Council of Devon and Catalyst Consultancy (can do specific pieces of work fee based, including a feasibility study and/or business plan).
Cllr Foxwell thanked Mr Shaw for his presentation which was very informative.
County Councillor Report
Apologies were received from Cllr Dempster.
District Councillors Reports
Councillor Mike Walters
The Environment Agency (EA) cleared the Rydon Stream of gravel last week. It is estimated close to 30T of material was removed from the stream in this section, one of the culverts that took the water under the bus stop was completely blocked, they have now all been cleared and the flow has been reinstated. The whole section looks much better and the EA had quite a lot of positive feedback from residents while this was being carried out. They also rescued close to 500 fish from the stream on the Monday morning, including Salmon, Trout, Eels, Sticklebacks and Bullhead Minnows
Certain members of the Council are constantly making trouble in the Press, with comments which are not giving the complete picture and are being used to stir the public into a state of confusion. The irrational comments about toilets are unnecessary particularly as a comprehensive survey has taken place and consideration given to the public about the conveniences. I was able to save the toilets at the Fountain in Kingsteignton. Life is not easy and TDC is doing well in spite of the cuts imposed on L/A funding from central government. If the critics looked at the CCTV problem with a view to the complete reporting and not making the sensational comments that it is the Executive's choice to close down the CCTV facility without considering the public at large and the value of the system, they need a sharp reminder that all avenues for funding have not yet been fully explored. It has already been demonstrated that Dawlish, Teignmouth and Chudleigh Town Councils run their own systems and they rely a great deal on enthusiastic volunteers who take pressure off the responsibility. These matters are being referred to the O&S Committee in TDC for further scrutiny.
Newton Abbot TC should look at CCTV in its widest context and remember that no one wishes to withdraw this facility without fully exploring every aspect of the use of CCTV in the town, particularly as the equipment and installation will not be a charge to the town if sponsorship is maintained. It must be said that Austin's Departmental Store is a great example of support, particularly with finance, for CCTV in the town and that ASDA being such a large retailer in the town should also contribute readily to the system. My comments do not exclude smaller businesses that have supported CCTV as well.
The suggestion of the establishment of a bus shelter at the bus stop, on the Newton Abbot-bound side of Greenhill Way, opposite the entrance to Kings Court, is still awaited with considerations being made on the future of the bus stop on Vicarage Hill.
As Chairman of the Kingsteignton Friends of the Library, last month I asked the P/H for Libraries in DCC for assurance that the library will not be closed under the new financial constraints being experienced in DCC. He stated that there is no intention to close our library. We are very aware of cuts and will obviously make it known to the Authority of all the other activities that take place under the auspices of the library, such as “Bounce and Rhyme” with the toddlers, book sales, book club, use of computers, coffee mornings and others.
Codex and the application for the further development on Penns Mount have not been raised again of late and it is hoped that the opposition to the idea has made Codex think very seriously of the preservation of the green belt on top of Penns Mount.
Councillor Beryl Austen
The Overview & Scrutiny Committee will be considering next week the proposal for Teignbridge to opt out of CCTV provision in Newton Abbot and the proposal for the closure of some toilets in the District. There is some concern with regard to both proposals and it should be an interesting debate.
Membership of the Independent Group of Councillors now exceeds the Lib Dem Group, four members from Conservatives and Lib Dems having become Independents. There is also an Election in Bovey Tracey in the offing so that situation could change yet again in the near future.
Teignbridge has had a major management reorganisation and quite a lot of office accommodation has been left vacant due to reduction in staff. This is being reallocated for best use and management and it may well be that some of the remaining offices could become available to other organisations. There are already Police and Registry Office facilities at Teignbridge. Considerable savings have been achieved now and for the future.
There continues to be problems with the Model Aircraft Flying at Whiteway Barton and the latest application to extend the times and days was refused at last week’s Planning meeting by 15 votes to 2. Protestations continue from the representative of the Flying Club to Teignbridge, the press and District Councillors. As the representative of local people who suffer considerably because of these activities I shall continue to support them. What they are living with when entitled to quiet enjoyment of their homes is unacceptable. I have met several local residents over the past weeks and they are pleased at the result of the Referendum.
Councillor Anne Lonsdale
CCTV
Loss of funding from DCC could mean that CCTV throughout Teignbridge could be under threat of closure from March 2014.
Businesses are being called upon to fund CCTV within their own areas. It has also been suggested that the Police Department take some responsibility for the service and Parishes are also called upon to contribute. The debate will continue at Overview and Scrutiny on 8 October, 2013.
Council Tax Scheme
A consultation is underway into Teignbridge’s proposals to change the rules on how much council tax reduction is given to those residents on the lowest incomes. Government is continuing to reduce funding with the Council’s overall budget due to be cut 2014 to 2016.
The options are:
· To introduce a minimum council tax payment of 25% for all working age households who are eligible to receive Council Tax benefit to pay the balance of their bill
· To limit the amount of council tax reduction to households with over £6000 in savings.
· Support for special cases of hardship
· A six week consultation is underway starting 16 September to 18 October, 2013
· Survey on line www.teignbridge.gov.uk/ctreduction
MINUTES OF THE FULL COUNCIL MEETING HELD IN THE COMMUNITY HALL, RYDON ROAD, KINGSTEIGNTON ON WEDNESDAY 2 OCTOBER, 2013 AT 8.10 PM
107/13 Apologies
Apologies were received from County Councillor Tony Dempster and District Councillors Mike Walters and Joan Lambert.
108/13 Declaration of Interest
Cllr Wickham declared an interest in item no: 114/13 Elector Fund as he is the Vice Chairman of Kingscare
109/13 Mayor’s Report
September was a relatively quiet month not without its normal dramas.
I helped with the Garden and Craft show on the 7th of September which proved to be bigger and better than other years with even the rain not stopping the people attending. We had a varied programme of entertainers and exhibits. One of the most talked about exhibits was the Animal Lecturing Service in Plymouth who brought along a range of large molluscs, a lizard, a rabbit and an albino hedgehog that looked like a large Ferrero Rocher. I asked him about keeping the animals clean and he explained that as hedgehogs curl up so quickly they put warm water in a lid and get the hedgehog to walk through it, once their feet are wet they wash themselves and the warm water evaporates. They have said they look forward to coming next year and are trying to arrange a reindeer to come to the children’s Christmas party. I’d like to say a thank you to Jill, Liz, Beryl, Ron, Ken, Bruce, Mick and Dave, and not forgetting Graham and Edna who as always were the stalwarts as gate keepers. These all came to help for most of the day they put so much work in to make the day a success.
I still find it surprising that many councillors do not support their colleagues or the town when Council events are on. They turn up and leave without considering whether their colleagues need a break or whether there are things to do.
We (Liz, Ron and Tony) have been to view the CRC again with a view to assigning rooms for activities to aid in the creation of the business plan. I asked those that volunteered to help to find the relevant targets at DCC and TDC level to give the plan more relevance and I hope achieve a greater discount. We are meeting on Thursday morning at 10 am to start putting the plan together.
I visited Dawlish and represented KTC at their Civic Service. It was held at St Agatha’s Church followed by afternoon tea at the Manor House. It was a very well executed event with immaculate planning and everyone knowing their role. Their Clerk did an excellent job in managing the formality and friendliness of the occasion.
Liz and I also went along to the Army Benevolent Fund lunch organised by Cllr. Joan Lambert at the Pensioners Hall, Oakford Lawn. It was well attended with Lord Clifford being the guest of honour. He auctioned a bottle of wine off with great humour, selling it to the person that had just won it and donated it back to the raffle.