Agenda and minutes

It was proposed by Councillor Jenny Hannaby, seconded by Councillor Richard Farrell and

RESOLVED

that Councillor Joyce Hutchinson be elected Chair of the South East Area Committee for the 2008/09 Municipal Year.

It was proposed by Councillor Joyce Hutchinson, seconded by Councillor Richard Farrell and

RESOLVED

that Councillor Julia Reynolds be elected Vice-Chair of the South East Area Committee for the 2008/09 Municipal Year.

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were recorded from Councillors Andrew Crawford, Anthony Hayward, James McGee, Bill Melotti, Sue Marchant, John Morgan, Mike Murray, Margaret Turner and Reg Waite.

To adopt and sign as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 11 March 2008 (attached).

Councillor Julia Reynolds had declared a personal and prejudicial interest in this item in so far as any discussion related to the Wantage Summer Festival. An amendment to the minute regarding this item was reported but as there was no further discussion of the item, she remained in the meeting.

The Committee had before it the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 11 March 2008 which had been published with the Council Summons and Agenda for the Council meeting held on 21 May 2008.  Following that meeting the Democratic Services Officer had been advised of suggested amendments to those minutes which incorporated into an updated version which was presented to this meeting for adoption and confirmation as a correct record. 

The situation therefore existed whereby there were two set of published minutes which were different due to this administrative error.  The Committee therefore agreed to adopt and confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 11 March 2008 appended to this agenda.  The Committee noted that amendments made which were agreed and made further amendments.

RESOLVED

that the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 11 March 2008 be adopted and signed as a correct record subject to the following:

(1)               It being noted that since the publication of the minutes with the Council Summons dated 21 May 2008 the following text has been deleted / substituted from Minute SE.25 – Community Grants: -

Parish Cleansing Grant – “Officers further advised that the total cost estimate for Milton at £1060.00 should have been £1148.16 which accounted for the increase in the grant awarded when applying the principle”.

Resolution (e) – the deletion of “£1724.80” and the substitution thereof with “£1724.88” in the grant awarded column against the total.

(2)               Further amendments to Minute SE.25 – Community Grants, as follows:

Grove Church of England Primary School – At the end of the paragraph, the addition of the words “It was considered that the applicant should be advised to approach the County Council for financial support.”

Wantage Summer Festival (to be determined out of 2008/09 budget) – At the end of the paragraph the addition of the words “It was considered that an additional grant of £500 should offered if this was matched by the applicant’s own fundraising”.

Resolution (b)  - the deletion of “£2,500” and the substitution thereof with “£5,000” in the grant awarded against the applications from the Charney Hall and Field Trust.

To receive any declarations of Personal or Personal and Prejudicial Interests in respect of items on the agenda for this meeting. 

In accordance with Part 2 of the Local Code of Conduct and the provisions of Standing Order 34, any Member with a personal interest must disclose the existence and nature of that interest to the meeting prior to the matter being debated.  Where that personal interest is also a prejudicial interest, then the Member must withdraw from the room in which the meeting is being held and not seek improperly to influence any decision about the matter unless he/she has obtained a dispensation from the Standards Committee.

Councillor Julia Reynolds declared a personal and prejudicial interest in the Minutes of the meeting of the last meeting regarding the Wantage Summer Festival in so far as she was the Chairman of the Festival (SE.5 refers).

Councillors declared interest in report 27/08 – Community grants as follows:

To receive notification of any matters, which the Chairman determines, should be considered as urgent business and the special circumstances, which have made the matters urgent, and to receive any announcements from the Chairman.

None

Any statements and/or petitions from the public under Standing Order 32 will be made or presented at the meeting.

Mrs Gay Randall made a statement in support of the grant application for the Wantage Music Festival making the following comments:

• She was the treasurer and she paid tribute to the people of Wantage who ran the festival
• The closure of St Mary’s School had caused difficulties with a new venue having to be found
• The Festival would be in the Challow Recital Hall
• She was keen to keep fees low and there had been no increase for 5 years
• She had been a competitor, having been an adult beginner learning the recorder
• She had been nervous but she had received a warm welcome from the Festival and some good sound advice from the professional adjudicators
• This had helped her progress
• It had been beneficial to have the free use of a professional accompanist
• She had had opportunity to perform in many countries
• She now also played hand bells and had run workshop and trained other musicians
• She had worked with the elderly and the youth and she considered that the Festival had been instrumental in setting her on her way in this regard
• She felt that the Festival was a valuable opportunity for young people in the local area to present themselves and equally for many others to enjoy

The Chair thanked Mrs Randall for her statement.

Any questions from members of the public under Standing Order 32 will be asked at the meeting.

None

To receive and consider report 27/08 of the Head of Community Strategy and the Strategic Director.

Introduction and Report Summary

The purpose of this report is to set out the budget position at the beginning of

2008/09 for this Committee in respect of Community Grants and to invite Members to consider and determine the grant applications received.

The contact officer for this report is Lorna Edwards, Community Strategy Officer (Tel: 01235 547626), e-mail address lorna.edwards@whitehorsedc.co.uk.

Recommendations

(a)               that Members note the budget position for the South East Area Committee at the beginning of the financial year

(b)               that Members agree in principal to the payment of the SLA grant to the Wantage, Grove & District Twinning Association and the Hendreds Twinning Group, subject to the required monitoring information having been received

(c)               that Members consider and determine the grant applications, the agenda and the Council priority in respect of the following:

(i)   Challow & Childrey Cricket Club, £1,500, towards the refurbishment of a synthetic pitch, Social Agenda, Town & Village Vitality priority

(ii)   BlewburyPre-school Playgroup, £3,000, towards a replacement boiler, Environmental Agenda, Town & Village Vitality priority

(iii)  Wantage Music Festival, £500, towards the 2008 Festival, Social Agenda, Town & Village Vitality priority

(Councillors Terry Fraser, Jenny Hannaby, Joyce Hutchinson and Julia Reynolds had each declared a personal interest in this item in so far as it related to the payment of the Service Level Agreement grants and in accordance with Standing Order 33 they remained in the meeting during its consideration.)

The Committee received and considered report 27/08 of the Strategic Director which set out the budget positions at the beginning of the 2008/09 financial year in respect of community grants and invited Members to determine a number of grant applications received.

Each application was considered with the following comments being made.

Service Level Agreement Grant to the Wantage, Grove and District Twinning Association and the Hendreds Twinning Group

Members supported awarding the grant subject to the receipt of the monitoring information requested.  It was noted that the onus to provide this information was on the Association and the Twinning group but at the request of the Committee, the Community Strategy Officer undertook to seek the information.

(1)       Challow and Childrey Cricket Club

A photograph showing the existing artificial playing wicket was displayed at the meeting.

One Member spoke in support of the application commenting that the Club was well used by a variety of people from different age groups.  It was considered that the Club provided an excellent facility for local people and that the application should be supported.

One Member commented that the Club should set up a fund for repairs and maintenance it being noted that it would be necessary to refurbish the synthetic pitch regularly.

Another Member commented that King Alfred’s School used the Cricket Club facilities and it was suggested that the Club should approach the School for financial assistance, it being noted that King Alfred’s School had “sports status” and would have access to other sources of grant funding.

(2)       Blewbury Pre-School Group

One Member commented that the Group was well supported but it had struggled with fund raising.  He referred to the comments set out in the report advising that the Group had also held a wine tasting evening which had included a “promises auction”.  Furthermore, there had been an opera held to raise money.  It was explained that there were young parents who were trying hard to raise money and that approaches had also been made to the County Council and South Oxfordshire District Council for funding.  It was commented that one of the problems with the Group was that it had a successive turnover of people helping and that the Group should be encouraged to recruit long term volunteers.  In response the Chair, Councillor Joyce Hutchinson reported that she was experienced in this area and would be happy to offer advice to the Group, commenting that it needed to think ahead to survive.  The Member undertook to mention this to the Group and thanked Councillor Hutchinson for her offer of assistance.

In response to a question raised it was confirmed that fees were charged or vouchers used.

One Member commented that such groups  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

To receive and consider Report number 28/08 of the Head of Community Strategy

Introduction and Report Summary

This report provides information about the responses at the South East Area Forum held on 13^th May 2008 and the preparation of the Vale Sustainable Community Strategy 2008-2016.

The contact officer for this report is Toby Warren, Head of Community Strategy; el: 01235 547695, Email toby.warren@whitehorsedc.gov.uk

Recommendations

(a)               that members note the information contained in the report

The Committee received and considered report 28/08 of the Strategic Director which provided information about the responses at the South East Area Forum held on 13 May 2008 and the preparation of the Vale Sustainable Community Strategy 2008 - 2016.

The Officers highlighted that whilst the Forum had not been well attended, which was disappointing, the information gathered had been useful.  It was explained that greater publicity would be given to any future forum although it was noted that there had been wide publicity for the recent forum with an article having been included in Vale Views.

It was noted that the attendees of the Forum had welcomed and enjoyed the opportunity to engage in discussion with Members and Officers and that the useful ideas and information gathered would be taken into account.

One Member drew attention to the third bullet point in paragraph 5.4 of the report and an amendment was noted in that the sentence should read “Problems are created by the reduction in size of gardens in new developments, there is nowhere safe for young children to play.”

One Member commented that she thought that the people in Wantage and the surrounding area were generally content.  She referred to a recent survey reporting that of 4000 surveys issued, approximately 100 had been returned which was excellent, the results of which were being looked into and considered.  She explained that the issues of concern raised were not those expected.

One Member commented that because the Council was obliged to consult with a “blank sheet” people were inclined to write wish lists which were impossible to achieve.  It was stated that this then undermined the whole process and people became disillusioned.

RESOLVED (nem com)

that the report be noted.

None