10 September 2013 – Minutes
THAME TOWN COUNCIL
Minutes of the meeting of the held on 10 September 2013 at 7.30pm.
Present:
Cllrs D W Bretherton, N G Champken-Woods, N M Dixon (Chairman) , M L Dyer, L Emery, A Gunn, P Lambert (Town Mayor) ,D A Laver and J Matelot Green (Deputy Mayor)
Officers
H Stewart, Town Clerk
C Pinnells, Community Services Manager
A Oughton, Committee Services Officer
1 Apologies for Absence
Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs Dite (Personal) and Stiles (Holiday).
2 Declarations of Interest
There were no declarations of interest.
3 Public Participation
Mr Traylen from the Showmen’s Guild and Mr Sedgewick, the “owner” of Plot 44 (the location outside the front of the Town Hall), addressed the Council about having a new amusement ride, Rock Rage in this location. In support of this application they informed Members that the ride was used at the St Giles Fair in Oxford, close to listed buildings and had not caused any problems. The noise level did not exceed that of any other ride and it sat adequately on the proposed plot. If this ride was deemed unacceptable then would Members agree to another ride called Super Spin.
It was proposed and agreed that the agenda item relating to this ride should be considered after item 4.
4 Minutes
The minutes of the committee meeting held on 4 June 2013 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.
5 September Fair
The amusement that had previously been located on Plot 44 was no longer available and the plot had been leased to another Showman who wanted to bring one of his two “super rides”. The size of these attractions highlighted the dilemma of allowing these more modern and bigger rides in such confined spaces. It also raised other concerns about crowd control at a pinch point, suitability of such a ride so close to a listed building and a change in the more family orientated rides of the Lower High Street compared to the more daring rides and older age group in the Upper High Street.
Members were of the opinion was that “super rides” should be located in the Upper High Street where there was adequate space and security coverage. This did not however, address the immediate dilemma of finding an amusement for Plot 44 with the fair scheduled to arrive the following week. The plot would be empty if the new lessee was unable to bring either of his rides.
The Committee was not impressed with this late request for a substitute ride but agreed to a compromise that for this year only Super Spin could to be located on Plot 44. The location of “super rides” and the impact that Super Spin had on this part of the High Street would then be discussed at the next CLR Committee in December leaving adequate time to reach an informed and considered position on the location of “super rides” before the fair in 2014.
RESOLVED that:
i) The amusement ride “Super Spin” be located on Plot 44 for the September 2013 fair.
ii) A review of the location of “ super rides” be considered at the Committee meeting in December.
6 Budget Summary
A full set of the accounts were available to view at the meeting with a budget summary up to 31 July 2013 being presented for consideration.
Members noted the summary and raised no questions.
7 Reports from Representatives on Outside Bodies
a) Cuttle Brook Management Committee – Cllr Laver reported that the completion of the bridge was the main priority. Following a walk around the Reserve with volunteers a work schedule had been drawn up. A bird, bat and butterfly survey had been undertaken which showed a slight increase in numbers with three different species of bat identified.
b) Leisure Centre Management Committee – Nothing to report.
c) Carnival Committee – discussed under item 14.
d) Football Partnership – Cllr Dyer reported that a meeting of the Board was scheduled for next week. One member of the Board had resigned and two new Board members had been elected. The accounts for last year were currently with the auditor. The annual signing on of members for the new season had taken place and subscriptions collected.
e) Twinning Association – Cllr Matelot Green reported that the AGM had taken place at which the new committee was appointed together with a new Vice Chairman. A group of 25 people from Thame would be visiting Montesson over the weekend 13-15 September.
f) Cricket Club – a meeting had taken place with the new representative. A working group had been formed for the rebuild/refurbishment of the Pavilion.
g) Chinnor RFC – Cllr Gunn reported that the club continued to do well and remained in the same division as last year. A Beer Festival would take place on 28 September from 12noon until late.
8 Burial Space
The Committee recognised the need to extend the existing burial space at St Mary’s Church and agreed that further investigations should take place to establish whether the allotment space at Priest End was suitable.
RECOMMENDED TO FULL COUNCIL:
i) To authorise expenditure of up to £1150 for further site investigation work to be funded from the Capital Revenue budget.
ii) To authorise expenditure for a change of use planning application up to £200 to be funded from the Capital Revenue budget.
9 Music in the Park
More than 1900 people had attended Music in The Park (MiTP) this year despite the dreadful weather. The hard working volunteers responsible for making the event possible were thanked by the Chairman of the MiTP Committee and he proposed that a small donation been given to the four organsiations in appreciation of their support.
Following consultation with primary schools the MiTP Committee were proposing that the event move forward a week in future so that it would take place on the Sunday of the Spring Bank holiday weekend so as not to impact on school attendance the following day. The date for next year’s event would therefore be 4 May 2014.
RESOLVED that:
i) A donation of £100 be paid to each of the four volunteer groups.
ii) Elms Park be closed to the public between the hours of 10am and 9.30pm on 4 May 2014 for Music in the Park.
10 Christmas Lighting
The contract for the existing scheme had been extended for one more year so that there would be no change for Christmas 2013. A tender for a new contract would be issued early in 2014, the heads of terms being presented to the Committee for comment. Cllr Champken-Woods had a couple of points he would discuss with the Town Clerk after the meeting.
11 Christmas Event
The 2013 Switching on of the Lights will have a Dickensian theme to celebrate the 170th anniversary of A Christmas Carol. All of the primary schools had agreed to take part in a lantern parade and commercial businesses in the town would be encouraged to dress their shop windows and wear traditional costumes. It was be brought to the attention of the Committee that the cost of holding the event far outweighed the budget and sponsorship was relied upon to bridge the gap.
12 Skate Park
Progress on the Skate Park refurbishment had been delayed due to a number of factors outside of the Working Group’s control. As a consequence the timeline had been updated with an anticipated installation date of early 2015. The Mayor commented that he was saddened that the project would not be completed during his term of office.
13 Continental Markets
It was proposed that an Italian Market be held on 7-8 March 2014 and a French Market on 31 October – 1 November 2014.
RESOLVED that:
i) The two continental markets for 2014 be approved.
14 Carnival
Despite the poor weather a surplus of £2000 was raised which the Carnival Committee recommended be donated to the Thame Youth Café.
RESOLVED that:
i) A donation of £2000 to Thame Youth Café be approved.
15 Play Strategy Working
The Play Strategy Working Group would report to the Committee at the next meeting.
16 Budget Working Group
Cllr Bretherton was nominated to join Cllr Dixon and Dyer on the CLR Budget Working Group.
17 Maintenance Report
The Committee expressed their thanks to the Maintenance Team for their continued hard work. The town and in particular the hanging baskets, looked amazing and compliments had been received from people in the town via the Information Centre and postings on Twitter and Facebook.
18 Service of Remembrance
The Committee noted the date and time of the Service of Remembrance for 2013. Discussion took place on whether councillors should assemble outside the town hall and be part of the parade or gather at the Memorial Gardens.
It was agreed that whether to process or not should be discussed at Full Council.
The meeting concluded at 8.40pm
Signed …………………………..
Chairman, 3 December 2013