10 May 2016 – Minutes

THAME TOWN COUNCIL

Minutes of the Meeting of Thame Town Council held on 10 May 2016 at 6.30pm in the Upper Chamber, Thame Town Hall

Present: Cllrs B Austin, N Champken-Woods, P Cowell, M Deacock, N Dixon (Deputy Mayor), M Dyer, L Emery (Town Mayor), H Fickling, C Jones, P Lambert,
A Midwinter, M Stiles and T Wyse.
Officers
G Hunt, Town Clerk
A Oughton, Committee Services Officer

A Outgoing Mayor Announcements

Town Mayor, Cllr Dixon, had enjoyed her civic year. Cllr Dixon had attended 120 civic events during the year. The role had provided her with the opportunity to experience different things and meet so many people.

One particular memory was laying the first wreath on the Thame War Memorial at the Service on Remembrance Sunday. The beacon lighting on Her Majesty The Queen’s 90th birthday and the Freedom Parade had been great events for the Town.

During the year £5,600 had been raised for the Mayor’s chosen charities, the Thame & District Day Centre and the Thame for Thame appeal. Cllr Dixon thanked everyone who had supported her during the year, to the council officers for making sure she was in the right place at the right time, the Town Clerk for all his support and the Maintenance Team who worked hard to ensure the Town looked good and ensured that she had not fallen off any ladders during her Mayoral year.

Cllr Dixon finished by reading a poem entitled ‘Life After the Chain’ and presented cheques to representatives of the Mayor’s chosen charities.

1 Election of Mayor

Town Mayor, Cllr Dixon stated that Cllr Emery had been elected as Town Mayor Designate. She called for other nominations for the position of Town Mayor and none were proposed. It was moved and duly seconded that Cllr Emery be appointed Town Mayor.

RESOLVED that:

i) Cllr Linda Emery be elected Town Mayor for the ensuing year.

2 Declaration of Acceptance of Office by Mayor

Cllr Emery signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office of Town Mayor and thanked fellow Councillors for electing her. Cllr Emery took the chair and presented a Past Mayor’s Badge to Cllr Dixon.

3 Election of Deputy Mayor

Town Mayor Cllr Emery stated that Cllr Dixon had been elected as Deputy Mayor Designate. She called for other nominations for the position of Deputy Mayor and none were proposed. It was moved and duly seconded that Cllr Dixon be elected as Deputy Mayor.

RESOLVED that:

i) Cllr Dixon be elected Deputy Mayor for the ensuing year.

4 Declaration of Acceptance of Office by Deputy Mayor

Cllr Dixon signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office of Deputy Mayor.

5 Apologies for Absence

Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs Bretherton (Holiday), Butler (Personal) and Dodds (Holiday). County Councillor Carter had also sent his apologies.

6 Declarations of Interest and Dispensations

Cllr Dyer declared a personal interest in item 21 – War Memorial Additional Names.

7 P16/S0073/RM – Amendment No. 1
Land South of Wenman Road

Application for Reserved Matters following outline P14/S1619/O for appearance, landscaping, layout and scale (as amended by house type plans, planning layout, street scene plans, highway work plans and landscaping details received on 08.04.16).

Mr Baillie of Cooper Baillie Ltd and Mr Bradbury of Bellway Homes spoke for the application. Mr Baillie gave a short update on the process and consultations that had taken place resulting in improvements to the linear pathway, better connectivity, the inclusion of real fireplaces and chimneys on dwellings and adherence to Code 4 sustainability. Consultation with the Highways Department had resulted in some minor adjustments.

In response to the concerns raised by the Town Council’s planning consultant a further Revision F to the overall site layout had been submitted today. With regard to plots 60 & 61 and 66 & 67 increasing the distance between the rear plots to 25m from 21m would impinge on the linear pathway and so the suggested solution was to have buffer planting to the rear of the plots. Again with regard to overlooking between plots 49 & 50 the proposal was for landscape planting between the plots. All additional fenestration has been included in the latest revision.

The Town Council’s planning consultant presented his report.

RESOLVED to:

RECOMMEND APPROVAL.
The recommendation took into account Site Layout Revision F submitted directly by the developers on the day of the meeting. The recommendation is to be supported by a copy of the Town Council’s Planning Consultant’s report.

8 Mayor’s Allowance

Members were asked to agree the Mayor’s allowance of £2,000 for expenses incurred during the civic year. Various views were expressed on whether the allowance was sufficient and what it should cover.

RESOLVED that:

i) The Mayor’s Allowance be increased to £2,500 for the current civic year.

ii) The Mayor’s Allowance is then increased annually in line with the Retail Price Index.

9 Committees

The Committee Structure, Terms of Reference and Delegations were presented for approval with suggested changes to the Neighbourhood Plan Continuity Committee Terms of Reference to increase the membership from seven to nine and the Personnel Committee Terms of Reference to include the Chairman of the Neighbourhood Plan Continuity Committee.

RESOLVED that:

i) The Committee Structure, Terms of Reference (with the agreed changes) and Delegations be approved.

10 Appointment of Standing Committees

RESOLVED that:

i) Cllrs B Austin, D Bretherton, P Cowell, M Deacock, D Dodds, H Fickling,
C Jones, A Midwinter and M Stiles and be appointed to the Planning and Environment Committee.

ii) Cllrs D Butler, N Champken-Woods, P Cowell, M Deacock, M Dyer, C Jones,
P Lambert, M Stiles and T Wyse be appointed to the Community, Leisure and Recreation Committee.

iii) Cllrs B Austin, D Bretherton, D Butler, N Champken-Woods, D Dodds, M Dyer, H Fickling, C Jones, P Lambert and T Wyse be appointed to the Policy and Resources Committee.

iv) Cllrs B Austin, D Bretherton, P Cowell, D Dodds, M Dyer, H Fickling, P Lambert, A Midwinter and M Stiles be appointed to the Neighbourhood Plan Continuity Committee.

v) Cllrs N Dixon (Deputy Mayor), L Emery (Town Mayor) and Chairmen of the Policy and Resources Committee, Community, Leisure and Recreation Committee, Planning and Environment Committee and Neighbourhood Plan Continuity Committee be appointed to the Personnel Committee.

11 External Organisations

a) Barns Centre – D Butler, D Dodds & Town Clerk
b) Chinnor Rugby Football Club – D Bretherton & N Dixon
c) Citizens Advice Bureau – B Austin
d) Cricket Club – N Champken-Woods
e) Cuttle Brook Management Committee – C Jones & M Stiles
f) Health Summit – N Champken-Woods
g) Music in the Park – M Stiles
h) National Association of Local Councils – Chair, Policy & Resources
i) Red Kite Childrens Centre – M Stiles & T Wyse
j) Sinaia Friendship Association – D Bretherton
k) Thame Carnival Committee – L Emery
l) Thame Business Forum – Chair, Policy & Resources
m) Thame & District Housing Association – D Butler
n) Thame Football Partnership – M Dyer
o) Thame Good Neighbour Scheme – A Midwinter
p) Thame Museum Trust – D Butler & L Emery
q) Thame Remembers – D Bretherton & M Dyer
r) Towersey Festival – D Bretherton & P Lambert
s) Transport Representative – M Stiles
t) Twinning Association – D Butler
u) 21st Century Thame – L Emery & H Fickling
v) Welfare Trust – N Champken-Woods

RESOLVED that:

i) The Members as listed above be appointed as representatives to the named External Organisations.

12 Schedule of Meetings

The changes to the Schedule of Meetings for 2016-2017 were noted.

13 Standing Orders and Financial Regulations

The Standing Orders were last updated in July 2015 and were presented without change for re-adoption. The Financial Regulations were last adopted in May 2015 and had been updated to bring them in line with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, closer in line with NALC’s model Financial Regulations (where possible) and to be ready for when the Council implemented full internet banking.

RESOLVED that:

i) The Standing Orders and Financial Regulations be adopted.

14 Mayor’s Report

Cllr Emery reported that it was a great honour to be elected Mayor of Thame, having held the office of Deputy Mayor providing an excellent grounding for the year ahead.

It had been an interesting journey and Cllr Emery thanked Jeannette Matelot Green who encouraged her to stand for election as a Councillor and then to aspire to be Mayor. Special thanks were also given in particular to Cllrs Dixon, Dyer and Fickling and other fellow Councillors and local residents who had shown support and given their encouragement.

Thame was a wonderful place to live with an amazing community. There would be challenges through the coming year but Cllr Emery had every confidence in the Town Clerk, Councillors, Officers and community groups to work together to overcome such challenges for the good of the community.

The Mayor’s chosen charities for the forthcoming year were the Red Kite Children’s Centre and the Thame Youth Projects Group. There would also be a one off event to raise funds to purchase much needed equipment for the Rycote Medical Practice.

15 Notices of Motion

There were no notices of motion.

16 Members Questions (under Standing Order 11)

Cllr Wyse asked if there was anything the Town Council could do to assist the Thame Show Committee following the announcement that Thame Show would not take place this year?

Cllr Midwinter responded that the Committee had decided not to go ahead with the Show this year for a number of reasons. Thame Show Committee may consider approaching the Town Council for assistance in the future when a decision had been made as to the format and timing of the Thame Show.

17 Minutes

The minutes of the Council meeting held on 26 April 2016 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Mayor.

18 Planning & Environment Committee

The minutes of the meeting on 26 April 2016 were noted.

19 Freedom Parade

Councillors were agreed that the Freedom Parade was an excellent event and extended their thanks to the troops of RAF Halton and all the members of staff who had done a wonderful job in organising such a successful Parade.

It was noted, with regret, that the Freedom Parade had not received any coverage in the Thame Gazette.

20 Mayor’s Charity Account

It was noted that the application to register the Mayor of Thame’s Charity Trust had been made, and since granted as Charity Number 1166890.

21 War Memorial Additional Names

Cllr Dyer presented a report that sought agreement in principle to the future addition of qualifying names to the Thame War Memorial, the adoption of a criteria for qualification and the process for acceptance of a name.

Members of the Thame Remembers Project had consulted with a number of organisations to ensure the process was as inclusive as possible without it being open to possible abuse.

RESOLVED that:

i) Agreement in principle to the future addition of qualifying names to the Thame War Memorial be approved.

ii) The proposed criteria for qualification and the process for accepting a proposed name be adopted.

22 Insurance Renewal

WPS, the Council’s current insurance provider, had put forward a proposal to extend the current contract for an additional two year period from the expiry date of 30 May 2017. Formally the renewal process should involve putting the contract out to three different suppliers for quotations. It was felt, on this occasion, the proposal from WPS should be accepted, in line with Financial Regulation 11.1(d).

RESOLVED that:

i) The Town Council’s insurance contract with WPS be extended for an additional two year period when the current contract expires on 30 May 2017 be approved.

23 Chinnor RFC Loan

It was noted that Chinnor RFC had given notice to draw down an initial £90,000 in line with the agreed loan agreement, from 15 June 2016.

24 Oxfordshire Local Enterprise Partnership (OxLEP) Oxfordshire Strategic Economic Plan (SEP) refresh consultation

It was agreed that the Council submit a formal response to the consultation. A similar approach to that used for the Oxfordshire County Council bus and budget consultations, with the responsibility to formulate a response delegated to the Town Clerk, was proposed.

RESOLVED that:

i) Responsibility to formulate and submit a response to the OxLEP Oxfordshire Strategic Economic Plan (SEP) refresh consultation be delegated to the Town Clerk.

The meeting concluded at 8.15pm

Signed ……………………………..
Chairman, 24 May 2016