14 May 2013 – Minutes
THAME TOWN COUNCIL
Minutes of the Meeting of Thame Town Council held on 14 May 2013 at 6.30pm in the Upper Chamber, Thame Town Hall
Present:
Cllr D W Bretherton, D G Butler, N G Champken-Woods, A Dite, N M Dixon,
D W Dodds, M L Dyer, L Emery, H M Fickling, A Gunn, V F Humphries,
P Lambert (Town Mayor), D A Laver, J Matelot Green (Deputy Mayor),
M Stiles and M Welply.
Officers
H Stewart, Town Clerk
A Oughton, Committee Services Officer
1 Appointment of Mayor
Town Mayor, Cllr Champken-Woods called for nominations for the position of Town Mayor. It was proposed by Cllr Dyer and duly seconded by Cllr Bretherton that Cllr P Lambert be elected Town Mayor. There were no other nominations.
RESOLVED:
i) That Cllr P Lambert be elected Town Mayor for the ensuing year.
2 Declaration of Acceptance of Office by Mayor
Cllr Lambert signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office of Town Mayor and thanked fellow councillors for electing him. He felt extremely honoured and humbled to represent the very special town of Thame.
Thanks were expressed to Cllr Champken-Woods for his leadership over the past year and to the Clerk and council staff for their continued dedication to Thame. The town had voted overwhelming in favour of the Neighbourhood Plan and it was now imperative to implement the Plan and ensure it delivered for the residents of Thame.
The Mayor announced his chosen charities for the year would be Thame Players and Thame SAFARI (Self Advocacy For Adults Requiring Independence).
3 Appointment of Deputy Mayor
Nominations were called for the position of Deputy Mayor. It was proposed by Cllr Welply and duly seconded by Cllr Champken-Woods that Cllr V Humphries be elected Deputy Mayor. It was then proposed by Cllr Emery and duly seconded by Cllr Fickling that Cllr J Matelot Green be elected Deputy Mayor. On being put to the vote it was:
RESOLVED:
i) That Cllr J Matelot Green be elected Deputy Mayor for the ensuring year.
4 Declaration of Acceptance of Deputy Mayor
Cllr Matelot Green signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office of Deputy Mayor.
5 Apologies for Absence
There were no apologies for absence.
6 Declarations of Interest
There were no declarations of interest.
7 Mayor’s Allowance
Members were asked to formally agree the Mayor’s allowance of £2000 for expenses incurred during the civic year.
RESOLVED:
i) That the Mayor’s Allowance of £2000 for the civic year be approved.
8 Committees
The Committee Structure and Terms of Reference were presented for approval. It was agreed that trees should come under the remit of the Planning & Environment Committee.
RESOLVED:
i) That the Committee Structure, Terms of Reference and Responsibilities be approved.
9 Appointment of Standing Committees
RESOLVED:
i) That Cllrs D G Bulter, A Dite, N M Dixon, D W Dodds, H M Fickling, V F Humphries, D A Laver, M Stiles and M Welply be appointed to the Planning and Environment Committee.
ii) That Cllrs D W Bretherton, N G Champken-Woods, A Dite, N M Dixon, M Dyer, L Emery, A Gunn, D A Laver and M Stiles be appointed to the Culture, Leisure and Recreation Committee.
iii) That Cllrs D W Bretherton, D G Butler, N G Champken-Woods, D W Dodds, M Dyer, L Emery, H M Fickling, A Gunn, V F Humphries and M Welply be appointed to the Policy and Resources Committee.
iv) That Cllrs P Lambert (Town Mayor), J Matelot Green (Deputy Mayor), M Dyer (Chairman, Policy and Resources), N M Dixon (Chairman, Culture, Leisure and Recreation) and H M Fickling (Chairman, Planning and Environment) be appointed to the Personnel Committee.
10 Outside Organisations
a) Barns Centre – D G Butler & J Matelot Green
b) Chinnor Rugby Club – A Gunn
c) Citizens Advice Bureau – P Lambert
d) Cricket Club – D G Butler
e) Cuttle Brook Management Committee – D A Laver & M Stiles
f) Leisure Centre Management Committee – M Stiles (D A Laver: substitute)
g) Thame Carnival Committee – A Dite
h) Thame Football Partnership – M Dyer
i) Thame Museum Trust – D A Laver & L Emery
j) Transport Representative – M Stiles
k) Twinning Association – V F Humphries
l) 21st Century Thame – D W Bretherton, H M Fickling & D A Laver
m) Welfare Trust – N G Champken-Woods
RESOLVED:
i) That the Members as listed above be appointed as representatives to the named Outside Bodies.
11 Schedule of Meetings
The Schedule of Meetings for 2013-2014 was received and agreed.
12 Mayor’s Report
The Mayor shared his aspirations for the coming year to improve business recycling through consultation with local businesses and waste collection companies. To see the completion of the pending redevelopment of the Skate Park providing an improved and safer facility and to start an annual event to showcase the work of local artists and photographers.
13 Report from County Councillor N Carter
The Mayor congratulated Cllr Carter on his success in the recent County Council elections. Cllr Carter reported that the recent election had resulted in a ‘hung council’ and intense negotiations with Independent Councillors had followed. At the AGM today, Timothy Hallchurch, had been appointed Chairman of Oxfordshire County Council. Cllr Carter retained his Cabinet position with responsibility for Business and Customer Services.
14 Reports from South Oxfordshire District Councillors
Cllr Midwinter congratulated the Town Council on the successful adoption of the Neighbourhood Plan and thanked Cllr Champken-Woods for his work and commitment during his year as Mayor. Cllr Midwinter congratulated Peter Lambert and Jeannette Matelot Green on their successful election as Town Mayor and Deputy Mayor respectively and wished them success for the year ahead.
Cllr Dodds firstly congratulated the newly elected Town Mayor and Deputy Mayor and wished them both well for the task which lay ahead. Cllr Dodds reported that recyclying figures were slightly down, at district level and nationally. Food waste was also down but this may be due to people being careful and purchasing more wisely. More worryingly was the fact residual waste figures were up which in turn resulted in an increase in waste going directly to landfill. Thame was one of the first areas on the deep clean team’s schedule and the team had commenced work n this week.
Cllr Welply reported that the planning application for The Dairy at Moreton had been withdrawn from the SODC Planning Agenda for the meeting tomorrow evening.
15 Notices of Motion
Proposed by Cllr M Stiles and seconded by Cllr Welply:
1. “That this Council include £500 in its budget annually to cover publicity and a skip for Tidy Thame Day”.
Proposed by Cllr M Stiles and seconded by Cllr Humphries:
2. “That this Council provide two more ‘dog bins’ on the Phoenix Trail, at Moreton Lane and at Coombe Hill Crescent”.
With no discussion it was agreed that both motions be referred to the next Planning and Environment Committee meeting.
16 Questions
There were no questions.
17 Minutes
The minutes of the Council meeting held on 9 April 2013 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Mayor.
18 Planning & Environment Committee
The minutes of the meetings held on 9 April 2013 and 30 April 2013 were noted.
19 Annual Town Meeting
The minutes of the meeting held on 23 April 2013 were noted. Agenda Item 1 amended to show apologies received from Cllr Gunn (holiday).
20 Scheme of Administration
Standing Orders, Financial Regulations and Delegations for 2013-14 were approved with correction to 13.4 of the Standing Orders to read ‘A Member must raise their hand when wishing to speak and will only do so when given permission by the Mayor’.
The meeting concluded at 7.35pm
Signed …………………………………
Chairman, 18 June 2013