MINUTES OF ANNUAL TOWN MEETING HELD AT CHOYD TUESDAY 19th APRIL 2016 AT 6:30 pm
PRESENT: Councillors S Cowley (Town Mayor), J Jackson, P Cronin, J Allen
IN ATTENDANCE: Brian Jacobs (Town Clerk), Sergeant Mark Lyth, Martyn Collinson (Yarmouth Town Trust, Derek Moore (Yarmouth Society), Rebecca Blake (CHOYD) and 6 members of the public.
APOLOGIES: Cllrs R Corbett, K Cowley, A Ingram, Cnty Cllr S Hutchinson
1. WELCOME BY THE MAYOR
The Mayor welcomed all present to the Yarmouth and Thorley Town Meeting, and introduced the Councillors in attendance and the Clerk.
2. MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL TOWN MEETING HELD ON APR 21st 2015
RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the Annual Town Meeting held on April 21st 2015 be taken as read, confirmed and signed as being an accurate record of the proceedings.
3. MATTERS ARISING
None were raised
4. REPORT OF THE ACTIVITIES OF THE TOWN COUNCIL
The Mayor Steve Cowley made a verbal report based on the written document (Appendix1 attached).
5. TO RECEIVE A REPORT FROM THE WIGHT RURAL WEST NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICING TEAM
Sergeant Lyth presented a report of police activities in the Yarmouth and Thorley area over the last year (Appendix 2 attached).
Mark Lyth is to be relocated to Newport Police Station as Custody Sergeant. Mayor Cowley expressed his disappointment at this news, and Yarmouth Town Council’s approach to this will be discussed at its next monthly meeting.
6. REPORT OF THE ISLE OF WIGHT COUNCIL MEMBER
The Clerk read out a report by Isle of Wight Councillor Stuart Hutchinson, which appears as Appendix 3. There were no questions.
7. REPORT OF THE YARMOUTH TOWN TRUST
Martyn Collinson, Chairman of Yarmouth Town Trust spoke to the written report (Appendix 4).
Jill Cowley offered the facilities used for the recent Yarmouth and Thorley Voices Project to assist the YTT with archiving photographs.
8. REPORT FROM YARMOUTH HARBOUR COMMISSION.
Chris Smith of the Harbour Commission spoke to the written report (Appendix 5).
Debbie Cotton thanked the Commission for all their help with the Old Gaffers Festival.
A member of the public asked if there was any backup plan to deal with the erosion on Yarmouth Pier in the event of failing to attract Lottery funding, but Mr Smith replied that there was not.
In response to a query about the necessity for the additional one metre height of the proposed rebuilt sea wall, it was advised that this was necessary.
There were no further questions.
9. REPORT FROM THE COMMUNITY HALL FOR YARMOUTH AND DISTRICT (CHOYD)
The report for CHOYD was presented by Chairman Rebecca Blake (Appendix 6).
10. REPORT ON THE YARMOUTH CARNIVAL COMMITTEE
The Clerk read out a report by Chairman of the Carnival Committee, Chris Waddington (Appendix 7). There were no questions.
11. REPORT ON THE YARMOUTH SOCIETY BY THE CHAIRMAN DEREK MOORE
The Clerk read out a report on the activities of the Yarmouth Society (Appendix 8). There were no questions.
13 TO CONSIDER RESOLUTIONS OF WHICH WRITTEN NOTICE HAS BEEN GIVEN
As no written resolutions had been received the Mayor thanked everyone for coming and closed the meeting.
Signed...... Date......
APPENDIX 1: REPORT OF THE ACTIVITIES OF THE TOWN COUNCIL
APPENDIX 1:
Mayor’s report 2016
The last year has been both challenging and rewarding. Our team of Councillors has been bolstered by the Co-option of Jamie Allen.
Working with our Community Partners, we have achieved two major needs identified in the Yarmouth and Thorley Community Plan.
Firstly, working with the old Institute a new independent Charity has been set up to establish a Community Hall open to all. The Town Council raised a loan of £60,000 from the Government’s ‘Works Loan Body’ to grant to the new charity to purchase the assets of the Institute. The Chair of the Trustees will report on this.
Secondly, the contract has been signed to renew the children’s play area at the Rec. Cllr Kizzy Cowley, chair of the Rec Committee, has worked with the Chair of the Town Trust to raise the money to bring this project forward so that it can be completed this summer. We are working to clear a path from the Rec to the old railway line; work on this was begun this last Autumn with the kind assistance of environmental group Green Gym who cleared a meadow and several paths through the ‘jungle’ area, and will continue later this year with a local contractor when the nesting season is over. Also, when ground conditions permit, drainage work at the west end of the Town Green Rec will be carried out to help prevent the risk of flooding neighbouring gardens.
The Town Council has taken over the maintenance of the green areas around the town that have been abandoned by the IWC. We are extremely grateful to local residents who have, without prompting, taken on some of the work including painting the old buoy, grass cutting and working on the flowerbeds.
Most recently the Town Council has taken over the responsibility for both the toilets in Bridge Road and at the Common. This was not an easy decision as the direct benefit to local people is limited. We felt the effect of not having local public toilets available for the Town was likely to be damaging to the Town’s cleanness, quality of life for residents, visitors and businesses. The IWC has promised to transfer the freehold of both buildings this year followed by the green areas around the town that we are now maintaining.
Yarmouth Coastal Defence Working Group on which we have representative is well ahead of other local communities in helping to protect Yarmouth from flooding now and in the future. Work in this area is vitally important.
Marine Conservation Zones: despite strong objections raised by a large number of groups, individuals and local Councils, the Needles has been designated as a Marine Conservation Zone. Defra has said that the management measures will have minimal impact but we wait to see what actually happens. We know that the MCZ which includes the Yarmouth area may be included in the next tranche for consideration but no timing announcement has been made apart from that designations will be confirmed in 2018. The impact on the harbour, town and all marine activity could be serious and the Town Council will take part in the local response if our area is listed for possible designation.
The IW Council has recently announced 2 consultations on which the Town Council is preparing its responses:
1. Local Flood Risk Management Strategy – a 6 week consultation with Town and Parish Councils deals with a strategy for the next 5 years, including identification of areas at risk of flooding and a set of actions to manage the flood risks.
This Strategy will be relevant to our Yarmouth Community Flood Plan which has been in action since 2013.
2. West Wight Coastal Flood and Erosion Risk Management Strategy – a 3 month public consultation ending 30 June. There will be a drop-in 'roadshow' in Yarmouth in May for this consultation. The Strategy has been delayed by lack of funding since 2007, since when the Working Group set up by the Town Council and Harbour has lobbied for it to be resumed. The area runs from East Cowes to Freshwater Bay. The Strategy will look at effective management in the present economic climate to deal with the risks of flooding and erosion along our coastline which could increase significantly if sea levels rise as predicted.
For the first time, whilst I have been a councillor, we have been hit by thoughtless vandalism. The Community Orchard at the Mount has been damaged by someone attacking the trees with pruners to damage the trees growth, we now hope that they will recover with some careful pruning in the future. Someone ran into 3 planters by the bus station and destroyed them; we await settlement of an insurance claim.
There have been continued demands on our grants budget.
We continue to support the West Wight Sports and Community Centre, the Carnival Committee, Yarmouth and Thorley Cemetery maintenance. During the last year we have also supported Yarmouth Primary’s new classroom, Friends of Freshwater Library, the Christmas tree in the Square, Wight Nature Fund leaflets for Mill Copse and the West Wight Time bank.
APPENDIX 2: Yarmouth Annual Police report
Sergeant Lyth explained that organisational changes had resulted in the area under his control being greatly extended to include an area from the Medina to Ventnor, apart from Newport.
He explained that focus had moved from safeguarding vulnerable people to safeguarding all those deemed at risk. The Team had also assumed responsibility for licensing issues, apart from those relating to Cowes Week.
The 2015 Old Gaffers Festival gave little cause for concern with only one reported incident and one arrest. Hard work over the years has resulted in good co-ordination with all groups involved, and most ongoing problems resolved; this is rather ironic, with the Festival not taking place in 2016.
The West Wight area, like much of the Island, enjoys a low crime rate. A recent spate of burglaries resulted in 5 arrests, and positive forensic evidence is likely to lead to substantial prison terms for the culprits.
Countrywatch takes up around a third of police time. There has been a massive increase in wildlife-related crimes, and members of the public are now reporting incidents directly to the police, because of cutbacks in other bodies operating in the same area.
There has been a dramatic increase in communication via social media, and, as a result, attendances at public meetings have grown at an impressive rate.
The main problem areas for the Police Team are inconsiderate motorists, youth engagement and burglaries.
The Team has been reduced by one officer because of cutbacks which have resulted from increased expenditure in other areas, such as counter-terrorism.
APPENDIX 3: West Wight Ward
Report to Calbourne, Shalfleet and Yarmouth Annual Parish Meetings 2015
West Wight Ward is the largest on the Island and covers 14 separate communities from Yarmouth in the west to Mark's Corner and Thorness Bay in the east, within the parishes of Calbourne, Shalfleet and Yarmouth. This report covers the work I do for the Island Council and within the ward.
The last year has been an extremely difficult year financially for the Island Council. On top of the £36 millions previously saved, there is a requirement to save a further £28 millions over 3 years including £14 millions in the current year.
Unless there is an Island-wide referendum, the rates are capped at 1.99% increase, yet against that we have a very substantial loss of government grant and increasing demand for services, especially the rapidly expanding cost of Adult Social Care. This means that we have had to ask Town and Parish Councils if they would take on some services, especially such things as toilets, grounds maintenance, beach cleaning and environmental management, all of which are often local to a particular town or parish. We have been forced to curtail some services and increase charges for others. I personally opposed the increased parking charges which I believe will damage our tourist economy and the businesses in our high streets.
However we have during the year successfully partnered with voluntary organisations such as Age UK which enable services to be supported by the use of local volunteers. Many services such as the Good Neighbour scheme, and the Libraries support could not be managed without them. In addition the three healthcare providers, IWC for public health, the Clinical Commissioning (GP's) Group for primary care, and the NHS are now working much more closely together within the “My Life” framework, which I was pleased to inaugurate as the first Chairman.
As well as Isle of Wight Full Council meetings I continue to serve on the Appeals Committee, Audit Committee, Employment Committee, Scrutiny Committee and Pensions Committee. I also act as Shadow Cabinet Member for Resources and am currently leading a specialist Task Group looking at how the Council procures and manages it's contracts. Doing this more effectively than we have in the past will become particularly important as the council seeks external public sector, voluntary and commercial providers to help deliver it's services.
Locally, I serve on the Yarmouth Harbour Advisory Committee and the Yarmouth Flood Defence Working Group.
To keep in touch with issues in the ward, I attend and report to the meetings of the Town Council and the two Parish Councils and attend local social events from time to time, such as Wellow Coffee Mornings, Porchfield Tea and Chat and Yarmouth Society. Because of a series of operations that my wife has had over the past year, I have spent time supporting her and have not been able to attend as many of these as I would have liked.
I write a regular monthly column for the Yarmouth and Freshwater Magazine, which always carries my contact details and an invitation to contact me if there are issues I can help with. Those details are also printed each month in the local Parish magazines.
I'm pleased that during the year I have been able to assist many individual residents and businesses with a range of issues, from planning to housing, to highways, social care and education.
I have attended and spoken at meetings of local residents concerned with the proposal to site two giant wind turbines at Parkhurst which would have had a major impact upon residents in Mark's Corner. I opposed these at Planning Committee and was pleased that they were rejected. I note that the developer has now decided that he does not have a sufficiently good case to appeal.