MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE TOWN COUNCIL

Held on 21 January 2008

Cllrs Mrs I Daw, B Dobbs, G Gooding, Mrs J Gooding, P Jackson, Mrs C Lewis, Mrs M Morgan, G Parkhurst, Miss H Parkhurst, S Pratle, P Prince, G Richards, E Rolls, Mrs M Rolls, R B Shields, MBE, Mrs J Taylor

Town Clerk

PCSO J Culley – Lincolnshire Police
A Lockwood, Dr P Golob, Citizens’ Advice Bureau

The meeting was opened with prayers by the Town Clerk.

72. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
An apology for absence was received and accepted from Cllr C Tebbutt (personal).

73. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
Cllr Mrs C Lewis declared a personal and prejudicial interest in minute 81, payment to J W Atkinson, due to friendship and business association.

Cllrs Mrs J Gooding and G Gooding declared a personal and prejudicial interest in minute 81, payments to Coast and County Engineering and Safe and Sound Security Systems due to business interests in the town.

Cllrs G Gooding, A Howard and R B Shields, MBE declared a personal interest in minute 76 and minute 81, payment to ELDC, due to membership of the District Council.

Cllr A Howard declared a personal interest in minute 81, payments to C R Walter Group and British Telecommunications, due to business interests.

74. MINUTES
It was proposed, seconded and
Resolved: That the minutes of the Council meeting held on 17 December 2007, having been previously circulated, be approved as a correct record and signed by the Mayor.

75 LINCOLNSHIRE POLICE
The Council received a presentation from Police Community Support Officer James Culley on Neighbourhood Policing. PCSO Culley explained the concept of neighbourhood policing and provided detailed information on the role of engaging with the community. He explained how the police dealt with anti-social behaviour and showed examples of the documentation used. This covered the provision of advice, issuing warnings, serving acceptable behaviour contracts and anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs).

PCSO Culley stressed that the public needed to make the neighbourhood policing team aware of problems and issues to enable these to be dealt with.

He responded to a number of questions from members of the Council on general issues relating to policing and on problems in specific areas.

The Mayor thanked PCSO Culley for a very informative and in-depth presentation.

76. EAST LINDSEY CITIZENS’ ADVICE BUREAU (CAB)
Mr Alan Lockwood, Chairman of the CAB Trustee Board, introduced Dr Peter Golob, Manager of the Skegness Bureau.

Dr Golob gave a presentation to the Council on the work of the CAB in East Lindsey. He provided details of the services delivered, the hours of operation and the number of service users at the various locations across the district. Information on the funding of the CAB both nationally and locally was provided. It was stressed that the East Lindsey Bureau received no central funding, having to rely on grants from the District and County Councils and other grants.

Mr Lockwood and Dr Golob explained that their main purpose was to inform the Council of the need to extend the service provided in Mablethorpe. The Bureau was currently open one day each week. However, the demand for the service justified additional opening.

Mr Lockwood and Dr Golob responded to various questions from members of the Council on funding, service provision in other areas of the district, training advisors and current costs.

The Mayor thanked Mr Lockwood and Dr Golob for attending the meeting and for the information provided.

It was proposed, seconded and
Resolved: That a letter be sent to East Lindsey District Council and Lincolnshire County Council, with copies to Central Government and the Member of Parliament, seeking additional funding for the East Lindsey Citizens’ Advice Bureau.

77. MINUTES OF COMMITTEES
It was proposed, seconded and
Resolved: That the acts and proceedings of the following committee meetings be adopted:-
General Purposes Committee of 10 December 2007
General Purposes Committee of 7 January 2008.

78. EAST LINDSEY DISTRICT COUNCIL – AREA COMMITTEES
The Council considered a letter from the District Council requesting comments on the Area Committee structure and a leaflet on joint working with local councils.

Members of the Council raised concern at the short timescale for responding to the correspondence and that the details in the leaflet had not been circulated prior to the meeting. Specific concerns were also raised regarding the Area Committees, these included:

• Voting rights for town and parish representatives
• Areas covered by the Committees
• Would Neighbourhood Management replace the Area Committee?
• The role of the Community Cabinet
• The lack of accountability

It was noted that the Neighbourhood Management pilot was having positive results, however it was recognised that as a pilot it may not continue. It was therefore felt that it may be premature to abandon the Area Committee at this stage.

Following a lengthy discussion about the length of the consultation period, the neighbourhood management pilot scheme and the current Area Committee arrangements, it was proposed, seconded and
Resolved:
1. That the item be deferred to an extraordinary meeting of the Council to be held on Monday 28 January following the General Purposes Committee meeting.

2. That a senior officer from East Lindsey District Council be invited to the extraordinary meeting to explain the issues and the implications of the Local Strategic Partnership, the Lincolnshire Local Area Agreement and the Pathfinder Bid.

79. CLERK’S CORRESPONDENCE
(i) Mr Watson – correspondence regarding comments at the Town Council meeting of 17 December 2007.

(ii) Local Works – information on the Sustainable Communities Act and the new Private Members’ Bill promoted by Michael Fallen MP on planning and energy.

(iii) Citizens’ Advice Bureau – information from the CAB on funding the service.

(iv) Youth Forum – notification of the first Youth Forum to be held on
26 January 2008 in the Community Centre, Stanley Avenue, Mablethorpe.

(v) Conduct of Local Authority Members – consultation document from the Department for Committees and Local Government on the arrangements for a more locally based ethical regime for local authority members.

(vi) Coastlines – a publication from the Environment Agency on shoreline management plans.

(vii) Neighbourhood Management – a copy of the first newsletter to be circulated to each property in the town.

80. MAYOR’S COMMUNICATIONS
(i) Details of a letter received regarding development at the Dunes to be copied to all members of the Council.

(ii) An invitation to all members of the Council and their guests to the Mayor’s Ball to be held on 8 March 2008.

81. ORDERS FOR PAYMENT
It was proposed, seconded and
Resolved: That the schedule of payments, totalling £24,781.40, be approved.