KINGSTEIGNTON TOWN COUNCIL
FULL COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON WEDNESDAY 6 MARCH, 2013
Present:
Mayor: Councillor K Howard
Deputy Mayor: Councillor R Harris
Councillors: B Austen, K Jones, A Lonsdale, C Meathrel, J Morris, B Moss, B Thorne
G Wickham
County Councillor M Walters
Mr M Woodlock, Head Teacher, Teign School
Ms E Grindley, Mid Devon Advertiser
Town Clerk: Mrs C Lakin
Police Report
PCSO Pike had given her apologies as she was attending a course but provided the following report:
· Speeding checks had been carried out on Longford Lane on Friday 1 March, 2013 between 3.15 pm – 4.30 pm. 401 cars were logged, 9 of which were speeding, the highest speed being 44 mph. Will continue to monitor Longford Lane.
· The Fountain – a low level of Anti-Social Behaviour is being experienced and the police have now put in place a Problem Solving Plan (PSP), which will take in The Fountain, Oakford Lawn, The Toilets and Tesco Express. The toilets were damaged but have now been repaired.
· Boy racers in Halfords Car Park – this is continuing to be monitored. Units are now checking vehicles and one lad received a ticket for bald tyres.
· Fairground at the Racecourse – caused no problems.
Public Participation
There were no questions
Mr Mark Woodlock, Head Teacher Teign School
Cllr Howard welcomed Mr Woodlock to the meeting. Mr Woodlock said he was pleased to have been invited to talk to councillors.
Mr Woodlock said that he accepted that there were weaknesses and that Teign School had challenges to face. He said that the school had the capabilities to shine and he wanted Teign School to be a school to be proud of. Mr Woodlock spoke about different challenges he had ahead especially the issue with parking and hoped that the town and the school could work together to make the town proud of Teign School. He said that he hoped that Teign School students would contribute substantially to the town and this is part of the vision Mr Woodlock has. Councillors asked questions as follows:
· That facilities at the school could be used to the maximum and be available to residents of Kingsteignton.
· That the school’s state of the art Theatre could be more widely used by the community
· That children could be encouraged to cycle to school instead of using coaches. Mr Woodlock said that children came in from the Teign Valley to school and do not have an option to come any other way
Cllr Howard said that it was clear that changes were going to be made and that the council would like to know everything that is going on at the School and also be involved.
Cllr Howard thanked Mr Woodlock for attending the meeting and giving up his time.
County Councillor Report – Councillor Mike Walters
As reported last month, I called on DCC Highways to solve and clear the standing water at the pedestrian crossing on the Newton Road between Lidl’s store and the Library. The problem with standing water appears to have been solved, but a watching brief is being maintained, particularly when we experience another heavy spate of rainfall.
The pedestrian crossing at the Newton Road roundabout has now been agreed and is the subject of a Road Traffic Regulation and the matter is to be raised on the 15 March meeting of HATOC for clearance to get the go ahead. It will be a Puffin Crossing, details of which are available in the Kingsteignton Library or at County Hall, Main Reception until 5 April. Understandably the actual date of implementation is yet to be given.
I attended the official opening of the Brunel centre on the 12th February. The project has been funded by DCC and TDC and is run by the three secondary schools serving the Newton Abbot/Kingsteignton areas.
I attended the Waste Prevention Conference held in County Hall on 1 March. The idea of the Conference was to inspire everyone into thinking of new ideas to prevent waste and to hear how others are achieving this and to initiate the development of a Waste Prevention Strategy for Devon. Speakers came from Wales and Oxfordshire to accompany speakers from DCC.
Mr. Shaw requested that “speeding in Longford Lane” be addressed, as a member of the public, at the February Full Council meeting. Councillor Stuart Hughes DCC Cabinet Member for Highways and Transport states that Speed data surveys were carried out along this stretch of road and found that the vast majority of drivers (85%) were driving within the speed limit, although there will always be a minority of motorists who choose to exceed the limit. In addition the road has very good visibility in both directions, there have been no accidents within the past few years and traffic is naturally slowed as there are parked cars on either side of the road and the roundabout at the Humber Lane junction. He goes on to say that the perceived speeding problem is not supported by evidence and no further action is considered.
The Budget for DCC was presented and passed at the Full Council on 21 February. The Leader highlighted that he had emphasised at the start of the new administration that things would be done differently and would do different things. The main concepts were to reduce debt, introduce vacancy management planning in reducing and redeploying staff and restructuring management. Help would be given to children, highways, parishes and assist in welfare reforms. The administration was working together as a team for the good of the people of Devon. Cllrs budgets will not be increased, CT kept at zero increase and libraries, child centres and farms estates would be protected. It was pointed out that Devon is the sixth worse off in the country as far as education grants were concerned. Locally Sandygate is to benefit from a grant to alleviate future flooding and I am considering raising a petition, subject to support, to reverse the traffic light system at the Toll Gate to re-create the original roundabout.
The latest beneficiaries from my Locality Fund are the KCIPSG; Kingscare; Kingsteignton Tennis Club; Cop Cards for Devon and Cornwall Police, the Ram Fair for a new store hut and the Swimming Pool/Rugby Club changing facilities. I have a small amount left in the fund, which I will be happy to distribute in the next week or so.
District Councillor’s Reports
Councillor Mike Walters
The future structure of the senior management and staffing in TDC will be reported to the Executive on the 12 March. All councillors will be given the opportunity to be briefed prior to this date. Group Leaders have been given the chance to have separate briefings if requested.
The S106 Agreements for the Newcross site have been delivered to TDC Planners for finalising. The negotiations for the UTC development have considered three possible sites. These include Jetty Marsh, Bradley Lane and even the Wolborough Street car park area.
I have no further news on dates for the French Market on its return to Kingsteignton. I will be confirming the date in the next few weeks.
I was able to furnish St Michael’s School with some surplus-to-requirement children’s Hi-Viz jackets donated by Sibelco. These will be used in safety lessons on highways and bike-ability training.
TDC Budget headlines received a unanimous vote in favour by members, even after some 12-plus minutes of comment by a certain councillor.
The main points of interest are:
· CT frozen – the third freeze in a row
· Permanent Free parking scheme in many council-run car parks and a 5% rise of fees in certain car parks.
· £2.5 million for the Teignmouth regeneration, including the Carlton Theatre.
· Backing economic development, housing and tourism by putting £400K into the Infrastructure Investment Fund.
· Finding savings over the next three years and maintaining reserves at £1.1 million.
Councillor Beryl Austen
Teignbridge Council are awaiting the Chancellor's Budget with some unease as it is expected that as a result of enforced savings District Council's Funding will be cut severely. With this is mind a review of the Management structure of the Council is being undertaken in anticipation of the need to cut costs to protect the interests of our community.
Apart from this initiative it is looking to increase car parking charges though retaining the free Sunday parking to assist traders who have felt the benefit of this in our towns particularly. Council Tax is expected to stay as before with no increase for the fourth year running.
I have been following up the speeding problem from the Ware Barton Roundabout down to the local crossroads at the foot of Rydon Lane and have been informed that as yet no excess speed has been monitored. However, this may be because monitoring is not done as yet at busy times, which I hope will be taken on board.
I think it might be worth mentioning that since the passing of the Freedom of Information Act anyone can make a request to the Council for information, including members of the public, journalists, lawyers, businesses, charities and other organisations. An information request can also be made to any part of a public authority and we must answer certain requests within 20 working days.
Requests are varied and encompass anything from expenses claimed by Councillors to the number of fixed penalties issued in our district. We all recognise that it is important to be transparent; it is also worth noting that the scale of enquiries has increased since the Act became legislation. In January we received 109 requests for information – the first time we have ever surpassed 100 requests in a single month. Figures show that the number of people using their right to ask the authority questions rose from 135 in 2008 to 806 in 2012 – an approximate increase of 600% . We have an officer Karen Mason in the Democratic Services Department who deals with these requests.
Councillor Anne Lonsdale
Teignbridge District Council is working with the National Apprenticeship Service to promote apprenticeships. They are doing this by commissioning a double-decker “GET ON BOARD” bus to tour the South West over five days of National Apprenticeship Week. The “GET ON BOARD” bus will stop at St Leonard’s Clock tower on Tuesday 12 March from 2pm to 4pm
Jodi Fair, Head of National Apprenticeship Service – Employer Accounts South Central has stated:
“As the organisation responsible for the apprenticeships throughout England, the National Apprenticeship Service believes in the real benefits that employing apprentices can bring to businesses and young people in the South. Apprentices have a major part to play in the future of our local economy and the skills they bring can help businesses to develop, be successful and grow…… ‘
On Housing, Teignbridge District Council is putting on an event to promote Private Rented Accommodation. The event is specifically designed for landlords and those thinking of letting a property. Landlords will be given access to information on running a tenancy for example Universal Credit and changes in legislation, tax planning, houses in multiple occupation, deposit protection and what to do in cases of a tenant behaving in an anti-social manner. The event will be on Thursday 21 March 2013 from 6pm to 9pm at Old Forde House, Brunel Road, Newton Abbot.
MINUTES OF THE FULL COUNCIL MEETING HELD IN THE COMMUNITY HALL, RYDON ROAD, KINGSTEIGNTON ON WEDNESDAY 6 MARCH, 2013 AT 8.15 PM
25/13 Apologies
Apologies were received from Cllr Foxwell who was unwell and Cllr Lambert.
26/13 Declaration of Interest
There were no declarations of interest.
27/13 Mayor’s Report
February was yet another quiet month.
On Saturday 23 February together with the Deputy Mayor and our wives, I attended Dawlish Civic Evening where I had the honour of proposing the toast to the Town.
The following afternoon, my wife and I together with the Mayor’s Scout attended Teignmouth’s Civic Service.
On Friday 2 March, I walked along the new cycle and footpath from Kingsteignton to the Town Quay at Newton Abbot, over the new bridge across the Teign. The partnership between TDC, DCC, Railtrack and Newton Abbot Racecourse are to be congratulated on this achievement. This is a pleasant, level, well-made track and once the hedging plants have grown, I hope there will be no requirement to close the path on race days.
It was very sad to see that within only a fortnight of the path being opened to the public there has been mindless damage done to the newly planted saplings and their supports.
I found the signage a little strange as they show it to be a cycle and footpath from Kingsteignton to Newton Abbot; but only a cycle path in the opposite direction. However, having walked to Newton Abbot I was not prepared to buy a bicycle just to make the return journey.
You may recall that last year I presented our PCSO Vanessa Pike, with a “Good Citizenship Certificate” and asked for further nominations. I hope to present four more at our Town Annual Meetings next month.
Protocol prevented me from informing you earlier, but I now wish to tell you that Cllr Rebecca Hunt resigned from this council yesterday. The Clerk will instigate proceedings to elect or co-opt successor.
28/13 Minutes
The Mayor presented the minutes of the Full Council meeting held on 6 February, 2013. The minutes were adopted.
29/13 Clerk’s Report