Minutes of the meeting of the Full Council held on Monday 7th September at 7 pm in the Corn Exchange Complex, Hungerford

Present: Cllrs Elizabeth Cardwell, Jenny Booth, Peter Harries, William Acworth, Anthony Buckwell, David Liddiard, Gwynneth Bullock, Richard Hudson, Shelagh Parry; District Cllr David Holtby. Also present were Neil Spurdell (Head) and Peter Moorcroft (Bursar) from John O’Gaunt Technology College; Mr Martin Crane, Mr David Ravenhill, Ms Sue McKillop, Geoff of the Adviser and John Garvey from NWN.

The Mayor welcomed Neil Spurdell, head teacher of John O’Gaunt school. The school is facing challenges and, although GCSE results were a little disappointing, A-level results were good. He said that there will not be a short-term fix and may take 5 years to show outstanding results, but he is determined to have the school showing good results within the year. There has been a shortage of English teachers which has been resolved and as well as a new head teacher, there is a new Maths teacher. Mr Spurdell and senior staff are to do more teaching.

In order to improve the school’s profile and image, other improvements include:

6th form located in the centre of the school;

windows and doors have been replaced;

the foyer has been made more welcoming;

the hall is being refurbished;

staff room facilities have been improved;

toilet facilities have been improved;

£3.3m has been made available for a feasibility study for improved library and performance arts facilities, which will be available for community use;

litter problem has been addressed;

new website will go live in the next week;

there have been preliminary discussions with Hungerford Theatre Co over public productions;

Ghana link to include the wider community;

Regarding JoG’s Travel Plan, he said that 9 local primary schools feed into the John O’Gaunt and 50% of students are bussed in. Road safety will be a major consideration. Concerning the winter gritting issue, Cllr Cardwell and Dist Cllr Holtby will lobby WBC.

In conclusion, he felt it important that Hungerford parents should want to send their children to a Hungerford school, and said that visitors are always welcome.

Members of the public: Sue McKillop invited all councillors to a showing of the film Age of Stupid which deals with climate change. It was noted that this is an subject in which the young people of the town might be involved, and Neil Spurdell agreed to take the issue, and other matters in Hungerford (ie the bridge), on board.

District Councillor’s report: Dist Cllr Hewer sent his apologies. 6 Bridge Street – remedial work has been done and, if the owner does not reimburse WBC, he will be taken to court again. WBC objected to the application for a burger van in the lay-by to the east of the town. Re the RC church development, the developer is to pay for footway improvements. Salisbury Road roundabout markings have been moved and will be reviewed in 4 months. A SID may be used in Park Street – Cllr Holtby is happy to request a traffic survey if required. Coach parking (to go on H&T agenda). Cllr Holtby outlined the Footbridge Meeting, and a display will be in the library until the end of September. There is to be a further presentation. Cllr Holtby will look into Parkwood’s intention to charge Hungerford Theatre Co £700 for the hire of the gym.

John Garvey (NWN) left the meeting.

1. Apologies for absence: Margaret Wilson (ill), Rod Desmeules (testing lights), Dianne Wynnell Sutherland (family commitment), Tanya Werrell (work commitment) and Denise Gaines (holiday). The Mayor pointed out that in future apologies given will be recorded as either ‘accepted’ or ‘noted’.

2. Declarations of interest: none

3. Minutes from meeting held on 6th July 2009 were signed at F&GP on 14 July 2009.

4. Year to date accounts (presented at every Council meeting)

5. Finance:

(a) Authorisation of payments – cheques were signed.

(b) S.106 monies – payments are in hand.

6. Changes to management of British Waterways (GB) – to be added to next agenda.

7. SEEDA Update: the requests for funds failed. Cllr Cardwell expressed regret, saying that a lot of effort had been put into the project, particularly by Cllr Harries and Tim Palmer of CCB.

8. Allotment presentation (PH)

(a) Fairfield: Cllr Harries tabled his report on the situation to date, together with an Allotment Rental Agreement. There will be no mains water and water-butts will be required.

(b) Standen Road: A fee charged from Frank Clothier’s solicitors needs to be resolved. We need to find out how many people are interested in the site. It was suggested that a public meeting be held at the John O’Gaunt school with a presentation to all allotment holders.

Suspension of Standing Orders was proposed by Cllr Cardwell, seconded by Cllr Bullock, all in favour. Sue McKillop said an email needs to go out to all plot holders at Marsh Lane telling them of the public allotments meeting. Reinstatement of SOs was proposed by Cllr Cardwell, seconded by Cllr Bullock, all in favour.

Peter Moorcroft left the meeting.

9. Mayor’s report: Mayor’s reports for July and August were tabled.

10. Service Award Badges: Cllr Cardwell proposed having badges made and presented to former mayors. 50 badges would be sufficient and the item will go on the next F&GP agenda.

11. Discussion regarding Co-option: Following the resignation earlier in the year of Matthew Nesbitt, no names came forward for election, and Council decided to function with just 14 councillors. Tanya Werrell has now resigned, creating a second vacancy. This new vacancy must be advertised in the usual way, and an election may have to be called. In the meantime, Cllr Cardwell proposed that the two candidates forward their CVs to the Council and come prepared to speak at the next Council meeting; seconded by Cllr Harries, all in favour.

Cllr Holtby and Geoff Adams left the meeting at 9pm.

12. Maintenance person: Dan Clemson has had to resign from the post. Discussion took place on whether to replace him or continue without. Roger Ballard is carrying out essential tasks in the meantime, and Cllr Cardwell proposed that we continue to use Roger Ballard, and that his contract should say that we are increasing his hours and that he is to send us a time sheet This will be reviewed in March; seconded Cllr Booth, all in favour.

13. Swimming Pool House: A new tenant is installed and Cllr Cardwell proposed that all repairs are handled by Marc Allen, seconded by Cllr Hudson, all in favour. (Cllr Cardwell said that this is on the Full Council agenda because the last R&A meeting was not quorate.)

14. Skate Park grant: The SoS has secured Playbuilder Programme funding for £50,000, the money being held by WBC. Hungerford Town Council must sign the agreement as owner of the site and maintenance and insurance of the equipment will be the responsibility of HTC. Playbuilder must be acknowledged and publicised where appropriate. SoS has asked if the money could go via its own account but this may not be possible, and the committee felt that it should go into HTC's account. Action: RFO to check with the auditor. Cllr Cardwell proposed HTC signs the agreement, seconded by Cllr Bullock, all in favour.

15. Committee reports (no more than 5 minutes per report)