Full Council August 2019

 

17. Ex FC - Wednesday 14 August 2019

Present:

Councillor Keith Panter (In the Chair)

Councillor Matthew Boles

Councillor Harry Clarke

Councillor Richard Craig

Councillor Liz Clews

Councillor Dennis Dannatt

Councillor David Dobbie

Councillor Paul Key

Councillor Chris Lambie

Councillor Sally Loates

Councillor Pat O’Connor

Councillor James Plastow

Councillor Lesley Rollings

Councillor Denise Schofield

Councillor Baptiste Velan

Councillor James Ward

Councillor Kenneth Woolley

 

 

In Attendance:

 

Claire Hill                                Town Clerk

Rachel Allbones                      Deputy Clerk to the Council

 

 

 

1. TO RECEIVE APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

 

Councillor Tim Davies

 

 

2. TO RECEIVE MEMBERS’ DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LOCALISM ACT 2011 AND TO RECEIVE ANY APPLICATIONS FOR DISPENSATION

           

None declared.

 

 

3. MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING (Paper A)

 

1. Meeting of Council held on Wednesday 3 July 2019

 

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 3 July 2019 be approved and signed as a correct record.

 

Note: Councillors Boles, Dobbie, Loates, Schofield and Woolley abstained from voting on the above resolution.

4. TO RECEIVE THE DRAFT MINUTES OF COMMITTEE MEETINGS (Paper B)

 

RESOLVED to NOTE draft minutes.

 

 

5. COMMITTEE VACANCIES

 

x1 Management and Finance Committee

x1 Planning and Development Committee

x1 Armed Forces Day, Remembrance Sunday & War Memorial Working Group

 

RESOLVED that Councillor Lambie be appointed to the Planning and Development Committee for 2019 / 2020.

 

Councillor Dobbie requested that Structure and Functions be looked at to increase the membership of the Planning and Development Committee due to both ex officio members being on the WLDC Planning Committee.

 

 

RESOLVED that Councillor Lambie be appointed to the Armed Forces Day, Remembrance Sunday & War Memorial Working Group for 2019 / 2020.

 

Note: Councillor Clarke abstained from voting on the above resolution.

 

 

6. MARSHALLS CRICKET WICKET RENOVATION (Paper C)

 

RESOLVED under Standing Order 10.a.xi to exclude the press and public from the meeting in respect of confidential or other information which is prejudicial to the public interest.

 

 

Members considered the quotations received for cricket wicket renovations and after care at the Marshalls site.

 

Members NOTED the budget virement from general reserves of £1,000 to fund the S106 agreement required to support planning permission is no longer required due to the Planning Officer at WLDC has been able to incorporate the agreed improvement works as conditions within the planning permission itself negating the need for a separate Section 106 agreement. This was facilitated by a Memorandum of Understanding and Pre-commencement conditions relating to creation of an alternative wicket and timing of the works, along with a commitment from Gainsborough Trinity Foundation (GTF) to fund the shortfall in renovation costs.

 

The Clerk noted that alternative longer-term solutions to irrigation were still being sought to achieve better VFM but at this point definitive advice and quotations were outstanding.

 

RESOLVED to appoint Fineturf to carry renovation works on the main 10 wicket square of fraise, mowing and grading at a cost of £7,443.38 + VAT, plus initial aftercare works at a £5,308.75 + VAT and if necessary irrigation equipment for the square at £2,906.25 + VAT at Marshalls Sports Ground.

 

Note: Councillors Clarke and Key voted against the above resolution.

 

Note: Councillors Boles and O’Connor abstained from voting on the above resolution.

7. RECRUITMENT OF TOWN CLERK

 

Councillor Boles advised Members that, as Leader, he regretfully accepted the resignation of the Clerk and requested to put on record his thanks to Claire for doing an exceptional job as Clerk.

He advised that he had big concerns regarding how the Council is operating as a group and made a plea to Members to work as a team for the benefit of the town.

 

Councillor Boles advised that the Council need to review how it is structured as the Clerks role does not have the capacity to carry out the day to day strategic and operational tasks as well as the larger projects that Council seek to deliver. Members need to consider future makeup of the officer resource alongside future financial resource and planning.

 

It was suggested that Committee memberships should be looked at, a number of Members questioned if the right people were allocated to the right committees based on skills and experience rather than political alliance. A Member referred to proportional representation.

 

Councillor Boles advised he would speak with the Monitoring Officer at WLDC to see if he will facilitate a workshop with members in order to discuss where the Council goes from now.

Councillor Boles advised he would be in touch with members once he had spoken to the Monitoring officer.

 

 

RESOLVED to revoke Standing Order 10.a.xi and allow press and public to re-join the meeting.

 

 

8. REPORT FROM THE LEADER OF THE COUNCIL

 

The Leader advised of the following: –

• He’d met with the new Police Inspector regarding various issues within the town, but she gave her commitment to have a police presence across Town Council sites. The Police Inspector stressed the need to report all crimes however small as the current statistics do not represent the crime rates.
• He is having a meeting with the CCG regarding Cleveland House surgery and wider healthcare provision.
• The LCC Transport Strategy is out for consultation, asking members to get involved if they would like to influence the outcome for Gainsborough.

 

 

9. REPORT FROM THE CLERK TO THE COUNCIL (Paper D)

 

The Clerk distributed the report and presented same to members.

 Meeting concluded at 7.29pm