BELPER TOWN COUNCIL

The meeting commenced with prayers led by Councillor Peter Makin.

100. APOLOGIES
     Apologies were received from Councillors Peter Arnold, Joseph Booth, Les Dorey, and Anna Hingston
     .
101. CHANGE IN ORDER OF BUSINESS
     The following papers were tabled:-
     item 11: minutes of the Christmas Working Party held on 30th September,
     Item 12: diary of forthcoming events,
     Item 13: Planning Schedule to 14th October,
     Item 21: Councillor Mick Nelson's report on the Market Towns Initiative, and
     Item 22: letter from the Borough Council concerning the appointment of a Deputy Parish Representative to serve on the Standards Committee.
102. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
     Councillors Alan and Jackie Cox declared an interest in items 5 (Citizens Advice Bureau) and item 22 (Outside Bodies).
103. POLICE MATTERS
     PC Nigel Coulstock confirmed that it would probably take three to four months to recruit and train a new traffic warden. The Council was concerned that parking regulations would be flouted in the absence of a warden and asked that Inspector Hicklin bring in a traffic warden periodically from elsewhere in the Division during the next few months.
     PC Coulstock said that the introduction of a five shift system meant that there were extra resources available to police the town on Friday nights.
     It was confirmed that the ban on public drinking in the town would come into effect before Christmas. The final scheme was very similar to the one originally proposed.
     There was considerable criticism about the use of the mobile speed camera. It was frequently in use on the A6, but was rarely if ever seen on other main roads in Belper where speeding occurred. Inspector Hicklin would be asked to make representations to the appropriate quarters.
     It was reported that BT Payphones were seeking the Council's views on their proposal to remove the payphone on The Butts in the interests of "aligning payphone provision with current customer requirements". It was agreed to send a letter asking for the facility to remain because a number of elderly people lived near by who may need to use it in an emergency. It should also be pointed out to BT that though there was a payphone less than 200 yards away it was down a steep hill and necessitated crossing the main road twice.
     A supply of the Hallowe'en leaflet, published by the Police would be made available to the Town Council for distribution from St John's.
104. CITIZENS ADVICE BUREAU
     Ms Heather Clifton-Smith, Manager of the Mid-Derbyshire Citizens Advice Bureau, which included Belper, gave a brief resume of the history of the Belper bureau since its opening in May 1999. She illustrated the growth in the service with a schedule showing the number of enquiries dealt with and contacts established on a monthly basis since April 2000. For the year 2002/3 she had analysed all the enquiries under nine main heads, which had been further subdivided.
     The Belper bureau received £14,000pa in grant but expenditure this year would be in excess of £22,000. Though there were seven volunteers and a further two people being trained it was necessary to pay the manager and his administrative support.
105. BELPER LEISURE CENTRE
     Mr Neil Malenoir, Manager of the Leisure Centre, as well as distributing the current business plan handed round a note to which he spoke. This covered the period from the setting up of the Trust in 1998 through the Operational Plan for the first two years to the Business Plan which concluded in April 2003 and on to the current Business Plan which covered the three years 2003-2006. He emphasised that the Trust was competing in a commercial market which included the three other major leisure centres in Amber Valley. From next month these would be managed by D C Leisure and would benefit from a PFI investment totalling some £15 million.
     Though the Trust's resources were much more constrained he referred to the success of the recent capital works, which centred on the new fitness suite. He had set a target of 900 members for the suite, which would be his main cash generator and already this target had been met. He regretted the fact that it had not been possible to upgrade the changing accommodation whilst carrying out the recent contract.
106. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
     No members of the public present wished to raise any matter.
107. IN CAMERA
     In addition to item 24 it was agreed to take an additional matter under item 22 in camera.
108. MINUTES 67-95 OF THE MEETING OF THE COUNCIL HELD ON 9th SEPTEMBER 2003
     Minutes 67-95 of the Council meeting held on 9th September 2003 were received and adopted subject to the following amendments:-
     Councillor Russell Horsley being included in those present, and
     In the third paragraph of Minute 70 on the fourth line "some" should be inserted before "members" and the fourth paragraph should be replaced by the following "Inspector Hicklin said that members should ring him direct should they have any complaints about his officers."
109. MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES OF 9th SEPTEMBER 2003
     minute 72.- Parks Estate Residents Association
     As the Finance Working Party would be monitoring the Council's expenditure to date at its meeting on 23rd October it was authorised to make a grant to the Association should resources allow.
     The Association would be informed of the names and addresses of the four Ward Councillors for South Ward so that they could be invited to meetings.
     minute 90 - Memorial Gardens - school involvement
     The Town Clerk was asked to write to all the schools formally to see whether they would participate in the proposed scheme, so that they had ample time to prepare for the next growing season.
     minute 91 - Derbyshire Local Transport Plan
     In view of the deterioration in the rail service provided to Belper, and in particular the loss of the direct service to Birmingham the Town Clerk was asked to write to the appropriate rail authority to express the Council's concern.
110. MINUTES OF THE CHRISTMAS WORKING PARTY HELD ON 30TH SEPTEMBER 2003
     The minutes of the Christmas Working Party meeting held on 30th September were received and noted.
     The Chairman of the Working Party (Councillor John Nelson) referred to the risk assessment exercise carried out by Councillors Peter Arnold and Mick Nelson which had identified potential dangers with the Christmas lights as many of these were on 240 volt circuits rather than 110 volts. Quotes had been obtained for the work from various electrical contractors and now he was hopeful that by using Council staff for some of the erection work that the total cost would be contained within the budget provision.
     He also referred to the fact that Santa's grotto, would this year be in the Borough Council offices on King Street. He added that the Christmas Eve carol service would be preceded by a candlelit procession starting at St John's at 7:45pm so than the Market Place service commenced at 8:00pm.
111. MAYOR'S ANNOUNCEMENTS
     The Mayor referred to various social and civic functions he had attended since the last Council meeting. These included the High Sheriff's reception at Hilton and the High Sheriff's Legal Service in Derby Cathedral.
     He made particular reference to the reception he had given at St John's the previous week for sponsors of the summer floral displays. He expressed his disappointment at Belper not being placed in the East Midlands in Bloom competition this year but hoped we would do better next year.
     He then referred to the letter that had been circulated to remind members of the various events being organised by the Council in the remainder of the year.
     As a contingent from HMS Brocklesby would be participating in the Remembrance Sunday Service and Parade he suggested that there should be a civic reception afterwards for the sailors and members and their partners and possibly a few of those who played a key role in the service and parade. The request was duly authorised, with the expenditure being met from his allowance.
112. PLANNING APPLICATIONS
     Members were reminded that there was only a short time in which to make comments on individual Planning Applications. Accordingly if they were concerned about an application they should contact one of the Planning Response co-ordinators ( Councillors Peter Arnold and Melvyne Cluskey who would take the matter on-board so that a response could be made to the Planning Authority within the allowed timescale.
     Referring to the minute of the previous meeting Councillor Alan Cox said that the trees that had been cleared were not subject to Tree Preservation Orders.
     Adverse comments were made about the retrospective planning application for a taxi office at 65a King Street. As the Borough Council was well aware of the transgression there was no need for the Town Council to comment on the application.
113. JUSTICE'S AND ENTERTAINMENT LICENCES
     No comments were made on the various applications for the transfer and renewal of Licences set out in the two schedules under consideration.
     When a licence was transferred from one publican to another it was queried as to whether it was legally necessary to change the name usually painted over the door of the public house. Inspector Hicklin would be asked to clarify the situation at the next meeting.
114. PAYMENTS AND RECEIPTS
     The schedule of payments and receipts covering the period from 7th August to 25th September 2003 was received and approved. The schedule is attached to these minutes and shows net expenditure of £18,968.03 and net income of £5,237.21
115. QUALITY COUNCILS SCHEME
     The letter from the Chief Executive of Amber Valley Borough Council declaring that Council's commitment to the "Quality" approach and endorsing the principles of negotiating additional roles and responsibilities for local councils was noted.
116. MAINTENANCE OF ROADS IN BELPER
     In introducing the item Councillor Alan Cox stated that there appeared to have been little or no maintenance carried out on the roads in Belper that were the responsibility of the County Council for the last two years. He referred particularly to Kilbourne Road, Whitemoor Lane, Ashop Road and Crich Lane and asked members to notify him of roads in their wards which were in need of repair and maintenance.
     There was general agreement with his views and the Town Clerk was instructed to write to the County Council requesting that the Town Council be consulted on future maintenance programmes to ensure that the budget for the repairs and maintenance of highways in Belper was prioritised so the most effective use was made of the limited funds available.
117. PRIVATE STREET WORKS
     The County Council's letter stating that a part of Jodrell Avenue and the three culs-de-sac leading off it of Royal Gate, High Grove and Chatham Court had been adopted, was noted.
118. YOUNG ACHIEVERS AWARDS 2003
     Various members spoke highly of the County Council's initiative and the Belper News was asked to give prominence to the scheme and seek nominations from the public.
119. DOG WASTE BIN - WHITEMOOR LANE
     The need for a waste bin on Whitemoor Lane was agreed, however the proposed siting on the left-hand side close to the junction with Over Lane was questioned. Accordingly a site meeting would be held with the person who had requested the bin, the Ward Councillors and Councillor Melvyne Cluskey who lived nearby.
120. MARKET TOWNS INITIATIVE
     Councillor Mick Nelson's report that had been tabled was noted.
121. APPOINTMENTS TO OUTSIDE BODIES
     It was agreed that Councillor Jackie Cox would represent the Council at the Annual Meeting of the Amber Valley Tourism Association and also at the AGM of Home-Start Amber Valley.
     Councillor Melvyne Cluskey's name would be put forward for the vacant post of Deputy Parish Representative on the Borough Council's Standards Committee.
122. CORRESPONDENCE RECEIVED
     The schedule of correspondence received was noted.