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KEYNSHAM TOWN COUNCIL

Minutes of the Town Council meeting held on Tuesday 15th December 2015 at 7.30 pm at the Community Space, Civic Centre, Market Walk, Keynsham.

PRESENT: Councillors K Baker, D Biddleston, J Cron, T Crouch, J Douglas, C Fricker, S Edwards, L O'Brien (Chair), B Simmons, K Simmons, A Sinclair (until 9pm) and S Waite.

IN ATTENDANCE: J Swift – Town Clerk, 13 members of the public.

219.  APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies were received from Councillors C Duckett and Z Wilkins.

220.  DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

There were none.

221. NON DISCLOSABLE PECUNIARY INTERESTS

There were none.

222. DISPENSATIONS

There were none.

223. CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting of the Town Council held on 17th November 2015 are confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

224. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

A member of the public asked a question regarding the Leisure Centre and if the Town Council will support refurbishment of all the current facilities in situ.

The Chair replied and said that at the last Town Council meeting Councillor Veal did welcome the Town Council’s involvement in driving the customer survey which is going to be a key influence on the format and content of the new leisure centre. The Chair and Town Clerk have a meeting arranged in January to start discussions. Therefore what the residents of Keynsham want will be identified in that survey and it would be premature for the Town Council to give such a commitment at this stage in response to the question. The Town Council have indicated their support and intend to push very hard and ensure that Keynsham gets the leisure centre that it deserves. Any planning application will go to the Town Council’s Planning and Development Committee and therefore to ensure that the consideration and judgement on the application is not bias the Councillors that sit on that Committee would not want to make any pre-judgements at this stage.

225. CHAIRMANS ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Chair said that all her activities over the last month were related to the Winter Festival, she took great pleasure in entertaining the Chair of B&NES Council, Councillor Ian Gilchrist and the Mayor of Midsomer Norton, Councillor Paul Myers, who were both impressed with the content of the event and in the way it was organised and the enthusiasm of the residents and businesses who participated. It was particularly pleasing that businesses and retailers up and down the High Street opened late and if they didn’t open they left their lights on as requested. The Chair said that had she had recently taken part in a photo shoot for the colouring competition winners and today with the window competition winners.

226. QUESTIONS ON NOTICE BY MEMBERS

A question from Councillor A Sinclair was received:

Why are the enforcement officers making periodic inspections and taking photographs, without Wimpey first being notified?
I am proposing to canvas the new residents in K2 about the access issues as they have also expressed the need for the 2 sites to be connected and a proper 2 way carriage way connecting them to Charlton Road.
Where do the Council and BANES stand on the issue of access improvement and enforcement of speed limits?

In terms of the general anti-social behaviour there was a multi-agency meeting last week, the ASB team, youth teams etc. to discuss the situation not only in the Memorial Park but also in other areas. It was established that there is a monthly ASB meeting and it has been agreed that going forward there would be a specific section to discuss Keynsham only and Councillor Baker has been appointed to that group.

Some detailed notes have been produced and will be forwarded to all Councillors once permission has been given to do so. These concerns have also been escalated to Jo Farrar at B&NES Council and she has had discussions with Senior Police personnel. Strong representations have been made that Keynsham does not have adequate policing.

In terms of Taylor Wimpey, there was a recent meeting where the issues were discussed and one of the problems is that a contract was allowed to go through that contractors are only allowed to work during certain hours but this could be overridden by management. This type of contract will not be allowed in the future.

227. MINUTES OF MEETINGS

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting of the Keynsham Winter Festival – 10th November and the Planning Development Committee – 23rd November are received and noted.

228. YOUTH COUNCIL

Millie Harris and Jacob Gregg-Harris were present and gave an update on what the Youth Council has been doing. They decided to make a political statement on whether or not 16-17 year olds should be able to vote and it was decided that 16-17 year olds should be able to vote.

There have been discussions about booking the Community Space for the Youth Council meetings; this has been successfully dealt with. There has recently been a connection with Butterflies Haven. At the Winter Festival a cake stall and face painting took place and £72 was raised for Butterflies. A lot of people came in and were interested in the Youth Council so it was a good exercise in terms of raising the profile.

229. "YOUR CARE YOUR WAY" (CCG)

Sue Blackman, programme manager gave a presentation on ‘Your Care, Your Way Making It Happen’. Councillors were given handouts of the presentation and questions were taken at the end of the presentation.

230. VISIT SOMERSET - MEMBERSHIP

RESOLVED:

That the Town Council joins ‘Visit Somerset’ and have Platinum Membership at a cost of £1,000 per annum.

231. WEEKEND LITTER PICKER

RESOLVED:

That a weekend litter picker is employed for 2 days during the summer from Easter to the end of October.

232. KEYNSHAM IN BLOOM - BUDGET REQUEST 2016/2017

RESOLVED:

That £3,500 is given to the Keynsham In Bloom Community Group for 2016/17.

Councillor A Sinclair left the meeting.

233. 2016/2017 DRAFT BUDGET

RESOLVED:

That £20,000 is taken from 4119 Youth Service (for future) from earmarked reserves and put into general reserves.

234. SCHEDULE OF EXPENDITURE – MONTH 8 (November 2015)

RESOLVED:

That the attached Schedule of Expenditure is approved.

235. BANK RECONCILIATION – MONTH 8 (November 2015)

RESOLVED:

That the attached Bank Reconciliation is received and noted.

236. PETTY CASH EXPENDITURE – MONTH 8 (November 2015)

RESOLVED:

That the attached Petty Cash Expenditure sheet is approved.

237. JOURNALS

There were none.

238. BUDGET MONITORING REPORT – MONTH 8 (November 2015)

RESOLVED:

That the attached Budget Monitoring Report is received and noted.

239. YOUTH FINANCES (November 2015)

RESOLVED:

That the attached Youth Expenditure sheet for November be received and noted.

240. TIMEOUT ATTENDANCE COMPARISON NOVEMBER 2014/NOVEMBER 2015

RESOLVED:

That the monthly comparison sheet be received and noted.

241. WEST OF ENGLAND JOINT TRANSPORT STUDY

The Town Clerk is to re-send the e-mail to Councillors previously sent on 3.12.15 and Councillors will look at the information to enable a response to be put together at the January Town Council meeting.

RESOLVED:

That this item be put back on the agenda for the January Town Council meeting.

242. THE SPACE - SELLING OF TICKETS

Ric Davidson was present and spoke about the ‘Space’. There have been 26 events with a total audience figure of 2,148. The One Stop Shop/Library will not sell tickets for the events that take place in the ‘Space’ so he was very grateful that the Town Council have taken on this role.

Ric also talked about his plans regarding online ticketing and the Town Council supporting this online facility.

A discussion took place as to whether or not this should be extended to other organisations including commercial organisations. This will need further research with regards to costs etc.

RESOLVED:

(i)  That the Town Council continues to provide the service of selling tickets as is presently being done.

(ii)  That further research is done with regards to extending the service to include other local Keynsham organisations including commercial organisations.

243. REPORT FROM B&NES COUNCILLOR(S)

RESOLVED:

There were none.

244. REPORT FROM REPRESENTATIVES ON OUTSIDE BODIES

The Arts Space project has been very successful. 3 Councillors have worked hard on the project along with Town Council staff and it was mentioned that it would not have worked without the help of Ric Davison. It is hoped that this project can happen again.

245 DATE OF NEXT MEETING

RESOLVED:

That the scheduled date and time of the next Town Council meeting (Budget Meeting) is Tuesday 19th January 2016 at 7.30 p.m. in the Community Space, Market Walk, Keynsham.

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The meeting finished at 9.40pm

SIGNED:...... (Chairman) Dated: ......