Meeting Agenda:
Full Council
| Meeting Date: | Monday 17 Jan 2022 |
|---|---|
| Time: | 19:30 |
| Councillors | Jon Aldridge, Angela Baker Vice-Chairwoman, Sarah Compton, Alan Damodaran, Michael Gemmell Smith, Vic Jennings, Alan Layland, Nick Lloyd, Margot McArthur, Stuart McGregor, Angela Read, Peter Smith, Stephen Sumner, Steve Taylor, Bob Todd Chairman. |
| Committee: | Full Council |
| Venue: | Rickards Hall. 72a High Street Edenbridge, TN8 5AR Kent |
| Notes: | |
| Summary: |
Agenda
Minutes
The Minutes are not currently available.
The disclosure must include the nature of the interest. If an interest becomes apparent to a member during the course of a meeting that has not been disclosed under this item, the member must immediately disclose it.
Dual hatted members of the District Council wish to state that although they would be considering planning applications at this meeting they would be reconsidering them at the district level, taking into account all relevant evidence and representations there.
Members of the public, and members with prejudicial interests on items on the Agenda, may make representations, answer, ask questions and give evidence at this meeting in respect of items on the Agenda. (This is the only opportunity for members of the public to make a contribution during the meeting.)
Both public and members are limited to three minutes per person to speak and the total time designated for public questions shall not exceed fifteen minutes unless directed by the Chairman of the meeting.
(meetings where minutes are yet to be published, to note meeting – will be reported back to Council)
13 December (9656-9657);
10 January (9659-9660)
| 13 December (9656-9657) |
| 10 January (9659-9660) |
20 December (9658)
| 20 December (9658) |
22 November (9636-9638)
| 22 November (9636-9638) |
29 November – (The Public Recreation Ground (Blossoms Park)
(9644-9645); The Recreation Ground (Lingfield Road)
(9646-9647); The Norman Foundation
(9648); Grants (9649-9650)
| 29 November 2021 |
In December, the number of coronavirus cases and coupled with the Omicron variant, increased quite quickly. In view of this, the decision was to switch back to remote working from 21 December. Bubbles have been reintroduced with officers working alternate weeks in the office and home-working. The Groundstaff are working as normal. All staff continues to regularly lateral flow test. Councillors are requested to visit the
office only if necessary. Members of the public are still being served at the door. These arrangements will remain under regular review and with a view to all/majority returning to the office next month.
For noting, the press has recently reported that the free lateral flow test kits may soon start to see a charge being applied with rapid devices provided only in high risk settings such as hospitals and schools.
| Confidential Annex Omitted from Papers. |
Copy of the draft budget was published on the website December 2021 following full Council approval
| Draft budget and the proposed Precept for 2022-23 |
following the resolution in January 2021, the governing documents for The Public Recreation Ground (Blossoms Park) and The Recreation Ground (Lingfield Road) have been reviewed and legal advice taken to prepare a memorandum deed of transfer of each charity. The next step is to make enquiries with the Charities Commission. The result of this will be reported back to Council.
An updated report was presented at the annual meeting of the Charities.
| Annual Meeting of the Charities |
following the Council decision in January 2021 to support the Food Bank with the use of Rickards Hall for one morning a week, free of charge; and to be reviewed after one-year.
The Food Bank has been running out of Rickards Hall now for almost a year. It has established a regular base and footfall, and the new storage facility has been built in the rear area of Doggetts Barn courtyard (behind the office). The Food Bank is supporting a number of residents and families in and around Edenbridge. Numbers vary each week and they have seen a significant increase since September (doubled in fact). Overall, figures show an average since April to end of December of 10 households per week with an average number of people at 25 per week (average 2.5 per household). In December and November they sometimes had 18 households where as in the summer it was down. The Food Bank also ran an extra project of helping any families who were normally on free school meals for 6 weeks in the summer (without a foodbank referral being needed) - the above figures do not include this help which was usually about another 15 families per week.
The second Children’s market is scheduled for 26 March 2022 (Covid-19 restrictions permitting)
The Children’s Market had a successful first event in October, but has since had further delays due to the pandemic. The next planned is for 26 March.
In the past month there have been two incidents which CCTV has obtained images of three to four people, mixed group, kicking the doors and entering the toilets. They have then entered the toilets for up to 5 minutes. The consumables and fittings have also been subject to misuse. This has been reported by the Community Warden who has been liaising SDC and the Police.
Report by Martin Leach, Buildings Manager
Ongoing issues necessitate a review of the security and locking systems at the toilets in Market Yard. Since renovation, the new toilets have generated a positive response from our residents, but have had to be closed for extended periods due to partially due to vandalism.
The system currently installed is designed to open and lock the toilets automatically at specific times during the day. The method uses a standard door latch (similar to a front door Yale latch) and an electrically controlled striker plate which allows the latch to be pushed though during opening times, but which is locked shut overnight. This means that the latch on the door is always in the “out” position, and is very vulnerable to attack. The toilets will also not lock if the door is not fully closed when the timer activates.
The CCTV camera in Market Yard has a distant view of the toilets, but the latches can be targeted inside the cubicles which are out of view.
The original toilets were secured with a standard mortice lock, manually operated.
This type of lock is retracted back into the lock body when the lock is open, and is much less easily targeted by vandals. The locks were secured at the end of the day when the toilets had been cleaned and checked, so they were in good condition when opened the following day. Historically, this meant the toilets were locked mid- afternoon by the cleaner.
Repairing broken latches is reasonably simple and inexpensive, but having the toilets unsecured for any length of time invites further vandalism to the cubicles. I am only in Edenbridge two days a week which means the toilets need to be boarded up until I am available to organise repairs, which is time consuming, inconvenient for our residents, and an eyesore.
The electronic door locking system was designed to enable the toilets to be open 7- days a week and for longer hours. For this to change back the key and lock would require having a member of staff available to do this twice daily. There is also the issue when contract cleaners are used to clean the toilets who usually attend early morning.
How would the Council like to proceed with this matter?
(2 -5 June 2022):
Do Members approve 10.1.2 and 10.1.3
To receive a verbal report from the organising Working Group.
budgeted in 2022/23 as approved by Forward Planning and Council October 2021
Following Council’s January 2021 meeting, the Forward Planning Steering Group meeting in October received a presentation from Paul Stanyer PS Technology which manages the Town Council’s IT solutions on the Council’s current IT infrastructure and proposed changes. The current server was out of its 5-warrently and has already had to have a part replaced. Click for a copy of the minutes and the recommendation to proceed with this project; this was subsequently supported by Council. The draft budget 2022/23 has allocated £10k (Council – Projects).
This project will take some time to implement; the office staff will need to set time aside to finish a review of the current stored files and working with PSTech to establish the new system. However, the Council will have a more secure, organised file system and improved access to facilitate home-working.
to approve some internal changes to the Pavilion, which will be organised and funded by the Rugby Club (and in consultation with the Buildings Manager)
Cllrs Lloyd and McGregor together with the Deputy Clerk and myself, met with the Club Secretary for the Rugby Club’s annual Lease meeting. It was a good meeting. The Club has doubled its membership in the past year, has a ladies group and is looking at bringing more opportunities for the community. They are recruiting a Pavilion Manger so that they can have someone available to provide better use of the facility; and looking to open the Pavilion to the public as a café and work hub.
They have plans to decorate and refurbish the Pavilion, and would also like to create a patio are so that better use of the space is made, and making it a more attractive place to be for users. There is now WI-FI and Sky. Club membership is currently 65% Edenbridge based. The Club holds a premises Licence, Food Hygiene Certificate and the recent inspection was good. There are 40 first aiders and Kathy asked if this could be fed to the Emergency Planning Committee, answer was yes.
The Lease specifies that the Rugby Club will keep the Pavilion in good décor, but any alterations need to be approved by Council: ALTERATIONS
26.1 The Tenant shall not make any external or structural alteration or addition to the Property and shall not make any opening in any boundary structure of the Property without the consent of the Landlord, such consent not to be unreasonably withheld. 26.2 The Tenant shall not install any Service Media on the exterior of the Property nor alter the route of any Service Media at the Property without the consent of the Landlord, such consent not to be unreasonably withheld. 26.3 The Tenant shall not make any internal, non-structural alteration to the Property without the consent of the Landlord, such consent not to be unreasonably withheld save that the Tenant may redesignate the use of rooms and spaces within the Pavilion subject to obtaining the prior written consent of the landlord which will not be unreasonably withheld or delayed.
Do Members support some internal changes to the Pavilion, which will be organised and funded by the Rugby Club (and in consultation with the Buildings Manager to approve the plans and check the work standards)?
Report by Martin Leach, Buildings Manager
Alarm Systems and CCTV
I have investigated the possibility of improving and rationalising the alarm systems in our major buildings, and of providing CCTV to cover Doggetts Courtyard and the Cemetery Depot.
The current alarm system is not monitored by another agency, and members of our staff have to respond when an alarm is activated.
BeSure currently supply and service the majority of our alarms, and they have carried out a preliminary survey and provided an estimated cost to upgrade our systems to provide improvements.
Alarms
The first aim is to combine the intruder alarm systems for Doggetts Barn, Rickards Hall (which is currently not used), and Church House, and to provide remote monitoring and manned response in the case of the alarms being activated. This would require the amalgamation of the three buildings' systems so that a single monitoring and response plan could be put in place, and managed by the Council. Any current financial arrangement with the Museum would need to be renegotiated to take this into account.
The cost of installation and commission of this system is estimated at £1,555.
The key holding and manned response service is £360 per annum (all three buildings in the courtyard); and requires an initial set up charge of £80. Each call-out costs £65 for the first 30 minutes, £15 for each subsequent 15 minutes after that.
The fire alarm system for Doggetts Barn could be incorporated at a later date if required which would incur an additional cost of £50 per annum for the monitoring service.
The upgrade of the intruder and fire alarm at the Cemetery Depot would require a new control panel with key fob entry, new movement detectors, door sensors, heat and smoke detectors. New internal and external alarm sounders would be installed.
The cost of installation and commission of this system is estimated at £980.
Maintenance is estimated at £105 per annum.
Remote monitoring and response would be via a DualCom GPRS G2 system which would cost £260 to install with an initial set up charge of £80. There is no call out cost for this system, but there is a monthly fee of £26 (£312 per annum). There is no telephone system at the Depot hence why is different to the Courtyard buildings.
Total cost for the alarm system initial estimated set-up cost: £3,782 (of which the annual cost would be £827, plus any call out charges). A budget of £4,000 is requested on the agenda as these are best estimates.
NB: The Museum currently pays for its intruder alarm system. As this proposal is to combine all three buildings, the Council would take over this cost but would proportion the cost and charge back to the Museum.
CCTV
The aim is to provide CCTV coverage of Doggetts Courtyard and the area around the Cemetery Depot. It will be possible to store significant footage from the cameras at a quality which can be used for evidential purposes. The cameras will also provide high quality night time images, and can be monitored in real-time on a smart phone, tablet or laptop provided an internet connection is available.
The recommended system for the Cemetery Depot would be... 3 x 2 megapixel cameras with infra-red illumination. 1 x 19 colour monitor with wall bracket. 1 x 2 terabyte hard drive for storage. 1 x cables, fixings and sundries. 1 x fused spur to power the system.
It is estimated that this system would cost £1,700 to install and commission with an annual maintenance at £100.
The recommended system for Doggetts Courtyard would be... 2 x 2 megapixel cameras with infra-red illumination. 1 x 19 colour monitor with wall bracket. 1 x 1 terabyte hard drive for storage. 1 x cables, fixings and sundries. 1 x fused spur to power the system.
It is estimated that this system would cost £1250 to install and commission with an annual maintenance at £100.
All figures are without VAT.
Total cost for the alarm system estimated: £3,150 (plus the annual costs of £200)
A more detailed survey needs to be undertaken, at no cost to the Council, before any changes are made to the current systems, but I am confident that the figures itemised above are reasonably close to the final costs.
Having these systems improved and installed by another company is likely to cost a great deal more, as much of the existing infrastructure would also need replacing.
How would the Council like to proceed with this matter?
SDC has recently been awarded some funding from Sports England to deliver This Girl Can initiative, which includes a cycling project and postnatal classes for new mums.
It is hoped to set up a post-natal exercise class in Edenbridge, which run as 6 weeks courses starting from March 2022 until October 2022, delivered by a qualified postnatal instructor. This project will aim to bring together women and their young ones to socialise, stay fit and help with their mental health. It is hoped to create a sustainable power walking group for new mums afterwards, by recruiting and training a local volunteers, when the project is completed and the funding is ceased.
A big part of the project’s accessibility and sustainability is being an outdoor class. SDC are looking at basing the classes at Stangrove Park and/or the Recreation Ground.
After sessions participants are invited to go for cuppa so that the local mums can meet and chat.
SDC are still in the planning stage, but it is hoped to run a taster session in February 2022 and start a full class in March.
SDC are asking if the Town Council will support these sessions allowing use of Stangrove Park to run some or all of the session; (the Recreation Ground bookings are managed by the Rugby Club), and if so would a hire charge be applied?
To receive an update on the Marlpit Hill (Hilders Lane/Hillcrest Road junction) following a recent meeting with Kent Highways and to consider how to proceed with potential proposals.
Verbal update will be given at the meeting
Monday 7 March - to agree the agenda, invited speakers and set a date to review the content
The WI Hall has been booked for the ATM, from 5.00pm - 9.30 pm; this will allow time for setting-up. A nominal fee has been agreed. Last year’s event was held remotely, but this year the legislation has not been extended so the meeting will be face- to-face. In 2020, the event opened for registration at 6.30 pm with presentations commencing at 7.00 pm, close at 9.00 pm. With the current Covid-19 cases, speakers and exhibitors may not want to attend a public event, and resident numbers may be less than previous years?
Once the agenda is published, perhaps questions from residents could be requested in advance and a written response could be provided, as well as a verbal response at the meeting. This may help residents who are not able to attend the meeting and similar to last year when the meeting was held remotely. The presentations can be published on the website after the meeting.
What topics would Members like to table for the agenda and potential speakers to invite?
To nominate a small group of Members to prepare the agenda and presentations for the meeting, and to set a date to prepare the agenda.
Closing date 09 February 2022
| Kent Minerals and Waste Local Plan 2013-30 Review |