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MINUTES OF THE ORDINARY MEETING OF EPPING TOWN COUNCIL HELD IN THE CONFERENCE ROOM, EPPING HALL, ST JOHN’S ROAD, EPPING, ON TUESDAY, 8th APRIL 2008 AT 8.15PM
PRESENT Councillors: B D Murphy (Deputy Town Mayor), K Avey, J A Smith, Mrs J Hedges, Miss O D Dunseath, R Macrae, J Lewis, Mrs M-L Whitbread and Miss Starling
OFFICER Bob Whittome (Town Clerk)
Four members of the public were present.
450. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies were received from Councillor Pegrum, by reason of a holiday, and Councillor N Hines, by reason of a holiday.
451. DECLARATION OF INTERESTS
No Member declared an interest in any matter of this agenda.
452 CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES
Council RESOLVED to approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on Tuesday, 11th March 2008..
453 TOWN MAYOR’S & DEPUTY TOWN MAYOR’S DUTIES
Following a correction of the heading under Deputy Town Mayor, so as to make it read “Duties Attended: 12th March – 8th April 08”, Council NOTED the duties of the Town Mayor and Deputy Town Mayor since 12th March 2008.
454. MEMBER’S REPORTS
Councillor Smith reported attendance at the funeral service for former Mayor, George Arthur.
Councillor Mrs J Hedges had nothing to report.
Councillor Miss O D Dunseath reported attendance at the funeral service for former Mayor, George Arthur and at an ETOPWA (Epping Town Old Peoples Welfare Association) meeting.
Councillor Miss M Starling had nothing to report.
Councillor R Macrae had nothing to report.
Councillor J Lewis had nothing to report.
Councillor Mrs M-L Whitbread reported that she had delivered the letters to High Street businesses requesting assistance in the celebration of St George’s Day.
Councillor K Avey had nothing to report.
455. COUNCILLORS' QUESTIONS
Councillor Macrae requested the Clerk arrange a meeting so that Councillor Macrae could accompany the dog warden manager of the District Council so as to reveal the whereabouts of dog faeces problems in the Town. The Clerk agreed to this request.
456. PLANNING & GENERAL PURPOSES COMMITTEE
Members agreed to NOTE the minutes of the Planning & General Purposes Committees held on 25th March and 11th March 2008.
457. MINUTES OF THE 2008 ANNUAL TOWN MEETING
Council NOTED the statutory basis for this item is the Local Government Act 1972, Section 9 and the Local Government Act 1972, Schedule 12, paragraphs 14 – 20.
Council NOTED the minutes of the Annual Town Meeting and recognised that some of the matters that had come forward in the minutes would be brought to future agendas. Council directed the Clerk to bring forward an agenda item regarding the organisation of the Annual Town Meeting.
458. LOCAL GOVERNMENT PENSION SCHEME
Council NOTED the statutory basis for this item is the Local Government Pension Scheme (Benefits, Membership & Contributions) Regulations 2007.
Members NOTED the brief report of the Clerk and, in particular, the requirement for policy decision in respect of the implementation of some parts of the new regulations.
Council resolved to APPROVE the following four policies:
a) Contribution Bands Council will reassess contribution rates and implement any changes to the liability of employees immediately any relevant change to pay scales occurs.
b) Employers Option To Increase Benefits Council will not implement the option to increase the benefits of members of the scheme by making contributions to the scheme.
c) Flexible Retirement Council will consider requests for flexible retirement provided: the request comes from an employee aged 60 – 65 years of age and either, there is a permanent reduction to the employees hours of at least 25% or there is a reduction in grade (or both). The request must be made within three months of the changes.
d) ‘Transfers In’ Requests A scheme member will not be allowed to transfer in previous pension rights more than 12 months after taking up employment with Council.
459. INTERNAL AUDIT REPORT – INTERIM UPDATE
Council NOTED the statutory basis for this item is the Accounts & Audit Regulations 2003, Sections 4 and 5 as amended by the Accounts & Audit (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2006.
Council noted the internal audit report and RESOLVED that it be considered in detail at the next meeting of the Corporate Governance Advisory Committee with any recommendations of that Committee being considered by Council as soon as practical thereafter.
460. EPPING TOWN CENTRE
Council NOTED the statutory basis for this item is the Local Government Act 1972, Section 111 and Epping’s Market Charter originally granted in 1253.
Council was pleased to welcome Essex County Councillor, Norman Hume, portfolio holder for Highways and Mr Peter Massey, Senior Highways Engineer, to address Members and to deal with questions relating to Epping highway issues.
Councillor Hume gave a brief overview of the current situation for his service, revealing a good settlement from government for the next financial year should ensure further improvements are made to the county’s roads. The main roads in the county are now in the upper quartile insofar as the national road condition measurements are concerned. The service is now concentrating on secondary roads; although bringing these roads into better condition may take several years.
Localism is now a major part of the County Council’s agenda and making better links with local communities is currently a major objective. A new community infrastructure fund is being put in place with one million pounds which will be open to bids from local communities for highways and infrastructure improvements. Additionally, highway rangers are being piloted in some areas. The indications that these will result in better links with local communities are very good. It is anticipated that the highway ranger scheme will be rolled out across the county during the coming year.
A review of reactive maintenance is currently being undertaken and the press coverage on this matter has been a little misleading. Councillor Hume explained that the new arrangements will try to implement an objective measure of which surface defects need immediate attention: the current proposal is that a defect a maximum of 15mm deep with a length of 75 mm would have to be acted on as a matter of urgency. This standard would give greater certainty to the reactive maintenance programme, reducing costs and targeting real hazards.
Councillor Hume recognised the defects with Epping’s railings and was grateful to the Town Council for bringing these issues to the fore. Councillor Hume suggested that repair or removal may be appropriate solutions in different parts of the High Street and after brief discussion on this point Councillor Hume stated that he is open to suggestions from the Town Council about the detail of a remedy. His view is the current condition of railings in Epping was unacceptable and remedial work was an urgent need.
General discussion brought into focus the following points:
Overgrown hedges and banking were a problem for the Town and are a county responsibility. It was proposed that for each case, following a brief consultation with the County Council officers to ensure there is no duplication of activity, the Town Council may write to the owners of overgrown hedges or banks an initial letter asking for improvement. If improvement is not made, the matter may be passed to the County Council for action. It was AGREED that the Clerk will contact Peter Massey separately about this proposal.
The alterations to Epping’s market area and the piazza were discussed at some length. The Town Council stated poor consultation arrangements between the County Council, the District Council and Town Council, had resulted in some problems to the market and failed to address local needs or enhance the conservation area to the extent that could have been achieved with better consultation. Particular highways issues relating to the market operation are; the need for a physical separation of the market area from the highway on market days and more substantial bollards which do not require removal and storage on market days and which cannot be removed by unauthorised persons at any other time. The new kerb build-outs had left a legacy of drainage problems and, due to the alignment of the piazza, had caused some difficulties with parking arrangements and congestion.
Councillor Hume accepted that the outcome had not pleased some sections of the community and agreed to try to work over time to provide further improvements through better consultation. He stated that he would be pleased to receive any reasonable proposals for the improvement of the market area and would give particular attention to those which could realistically be achieved without wholesale alteration of the existing structures or very significant expenditure.
All sides were agreed that the utilisation of the piazza area should be considered. Once again Councillor Hume expressed a readiness to consider any proposals that the Town Council may wish to make.
General parking issues were discussed and a proposal for a variety of locations for a ‘Park & Ride’ scheme were aired along with the proposal to reinstate the railway links to the north of Epping. Permanent reinstatements are a problem in the Town and it was agreed that the delay of permanent reinstatements to ornamental paving disfigured the conservation area. Mr Massey agreed to try to resolve specific issues by negotiation with the utility undertakers and requested specific details be passed to him in regard to these matters. The cleaning of road signs was also discussed and Mr Massey requested that specific signs causing offence should be reported to him and he will undertake to put remedial works in place.
Following this discussion, Council expressed gratitude to Councillor Hume and Mr Massey for their assistance and RESOLVED that a copy of the minutes of this item once approved should be sent to Councillor Hume and Mr Massey.
Following the departure of Councillor Hume and Mr Massey, Council briefly considered the possibility of spending some outstanding Section 106 money held by the District Council’s Conservation Officer and AGREED that an agenda item should be brought forward specifically dealing with improvements to benches and other minor street furniture in the near future.
461. FINANCIAL REPORT TO 1st APRIL 2008
Council NOTED the statutory basis for this item is the Accounts & Audit Regulations 2003, Sections 4 and 5 as amended by the Accounts & Audit (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2006.
Council NOTED the financial report and the observations of the Clerk in relation to cemetery income and the need for prudence in setting income and expenditure budgets. Members requested a future discussion regarding the use of the Jack Silley Pavilion.
It was RESOLVED that the financial report be noted and that the Clerk be requested to provide Council with a future opportunity to discuss the use of the Jack Silley Pavilion.
462. CEMETERY
Council NOTED the statutory basis for this item is the Local Authorities Cemetery Order 1977.
Council considered a brief report outlining the history and status of common (public) graves and considered the possibility of utilising these graves to a fuller extent.
Council RESOLVED to allow purchase of Exclusive Rights of Burial for public graves where the purchaser can give satisfactory evidence that he or she is an heir or close relative of the deceased, acting in harmony with the wishes of all other known close relatives or co-heirs. The purchase price of such an Exclusive Right (irrespective of the number of burials in the grave), will be the current price of an Exclusive Right in the new part of the cemetery as if it were sold to an Epping resident.
463. PUBLIC TRANSPORT INFORMATION
Council NOTED the statutory basis for this item is the Local Government Act 1972, Section 111.
Council considered information regarding bus service 7/7a which will run with a revised route and timetable to incorporate the withdrawn 502 from 7th April 2008. Council NOTED the information.
464 ACCOUNTS FOR PAYMENT
Council NOTED the statutory basis for this item is the Accounts & Audit Regulations 2003 as amended by the Accounts & Audit (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2006, Sections 4 & 5.
Council RESOLVED to approve payment of the accounts as set out in the cheque list on page 254 of the Minute Book 2007/08. |