MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE TOWN COUNCIL

Held on 16th April 2007

Present: Cllr B Dobbs, Town Mayor (In the Chair)

Cllrs Mrs R Bel,l Mrs I Daw, Mrs R Dudle, A Howard, P Jackson, Mrs C Lewis, Mrs M Morgan, Miss H Parkhurst, P K Prince, E Rolls, Mrs M Rolls, R B Shields MBE, Mrs J Taylor

Town Clerk
1 member of the public

In Attendance: Mr Steve Ives, Watch Manager (Fire Safety)

Prior to the commencement of the meeting, Mrs P Pike led all those present in prayer.

73. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received and accepted from Cllrs G Gooding (personal) and Mrs J Gooding (personal).

74. FIRE SAFETY PROVISIONS, MABLETHORPE LIBRARY AND COMMUNITY ACCESS POINT

The Mayor welcomed Mr Steve Ives to the meeting. Mr Ives had been invited to the meeting to advise on the provision of fire safety equipment in the building and, in particular, provisions on the first floor.

Mr Ives began by stating that the building had passed its first fire safety audit with flying colours.

With respect to the first floor community room, he reported that there had been a slight deviance from the national standard travel distance to exit the room. This had been compensated for by the installation of a state of the art alarm system as well as all fire doors having been fitted with PYRO glass.

Members expressed their concerns about disabled people exiting the room. Mr Ives referred to the refuge area adjacent to the lift, an area where nothing can catch fire. It was also noted if a fire developed, the fire doors and walls are rated to a minimum standard fire resistance of 30 minutes and the floor to a minimum standard of one hour. Further, the electrically operated front entrance doors to the building have to “fail safe” in the open position. With regard to the operation of the lift, it was agreed that the Clerk should investigate whether or not it is on a separate electric system to the rest of the building.

In the event of the fire alarms sounding, members were told by Mr Ives that in a worst case scenario situation the fire service would be on site in 12 minutes but in most circumstances, i.e. winter evening 6 or 7 minutes.

Issues about how people would react in the event of having to exit the community room in an emergency were also discussed. Mr Ives would expect people to panic and try to get out as soon as possible. Members were again particularly concerned about the potential difficulties of evacuating disabled people from the building. Mr Ives agreed with members who felt it would be advantageous if the doors to the community room opened both inwards and outwards.

In response to members’ concerns that there is no sprinkler system in the building, Mr Ives presumed it was because of the high cost of such a system. He emphasised that the installed systems comply fully with Document B of the Fire and Safety Regulations 2005.

After further discussion, the Mayor thanked Mr Ives for his attendance at the meeting and it was proposed, seconded and
Resolved:

(i) That the Clerk investigate the functionality of the lift in the event of the fire alarm sounding and,
(ii) That East Lindsey District Council be asked to consider improvements to the community room doors so that they may be opened both ways.

75. MINUTES

It was proposed, seconded and
Resolved: That the minutes of the Council meeting held on 5th March 2007, having been previously circulated, be approved as a correct record and signed by the Mayor.

76. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Cllr Mrs C Lewis declared a personal and prejudicial interest in minute 81, payment to J W Atkinson due to being a friend of the Atkinson family.
Cllrs A Howard, P Jackson, Miss H Parkhurst and R B Shields, MBE each declared personal interests in minute 78 and minute 81, payment to East Lindsey District Council, due to being members of East Lindsey District Council.

Cllr A Howard declared a personal interest in minute 81, payment to Lincolnshire County Council due to being a member of Lincolnshire County Council.

Cllr A Howard declared a personal and prejudicial interest in minute 81, payment to Post Office Ltd due to his business interests in Mablethorpe.

77. MINUTES OF COMMITTEES

It was proposed, seconded and
Resolved: That the acts and proceedings of the following committee meetings be adopted:-

(i) General Purposes Committee 12th March 2007
(ii) Coastal and Amenities Committee 26th March 2007
(iii) General Purposes Committee 2nd April 2007

78. L.S.P. FOR EAST LINDSEY – QUESTIONNAIRE

Members were asked to consider completing the Local Strategic Partnership for East Lindsey questionnaire “What’s Important to You”. It was noted
that, as part of the East Lindsey Community Plan, it sets out some of the ideas for a better future and improved quality of life for everyone in East Lindsey.

The Clerk stated that members have an opportunity to complete the questionnaire as individuals, town councillors, or both.

Some members felt it was important for the council to complete the questionnaire in order to identify what the town council’s vision/priorities are for the town.

It was therefore proposed, seconded and
Resolved:

(i) That each member completes the questionnaire for submission to the town clerk
(ii) That the town clerk completes a questionnaire on behalf of the town council from the information provided by members, and
(iii) That, after collation of members’ responses, the responses are discussed at a future meeting of the council.

79. CLERK’S CORRESPONDENCE

Noted that LALC will be holding a training evening on the 6th June 2007 at Swinstead village hall. Any member wishing to attend to advise the
clerk as soon as possible.

80. MAYOR’S COMMUNICATION

The Mayor thanked everyone who had attended his Civic Service at St. Peter’s Church, Trusthorpe. He stated that it had been a superb event.

81. ORDERS FOR PAYMENT

It was proposed, seconded and
Resolved: That the orders for payment, amounting in total to £35,047.43, be approved.