Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Joyce Hutchinson, Anthony Hayward, James McGee, Sue Marchant and Terry Fraser.

In the absence of Councillor Hutchinson, Councillor Julia Reynolds took the Chair.

To adopt and sign as a correct record the Section I Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee South East Area Committee held on 14^th October 2008. (attached).  

The minutes of the meeting held on the 14 October 2008 were adopted and signed as a correct record.

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 Bill Melotti declared a personal interest in item 7 “Community Grants” in that his son was a member of Wantage Town Football Club, one of the organisations seeking grant funding.

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.

The Committee noted that one member of the public had given notice that he wished to make a statement in accordance with the provisions of Standing Order 32.

Mr Ian Turner made a brief statement in support of the application for grant funding by Childrey Playing Field Trust. He advised that land had been acquired by the community 12 years ago and was managed by a Trust. He confirmed that it was in the process of applying for funding from various agencies for a play project and confirmed that they had already secured in the region of £60,000 of the £73,000 required.

He advised that the Committee had been approached to assist with the fencing off of the children’s play area. He read a letter to the Committee from the Little Ducks Nursery School, which supported the need for fencing around a safe outdoor play area for children and advised of the benefits of providing such equipment and an environment which enabled children to develop essential motor skills.

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

None.

The Committee received and considered report 167/08 of the Strategic Director on Community Grants.

Councillor Bill Melotti had declared a personal interest in this item in so far as it related to an application from Wantage Football Club and his son was a member.

It was noted that the Committee was requested to consider three applications from local groups in the South East area of the Vale and an additional 4 applications which had been referred by the Executive back to each of the Area Committees for possible additional support.

One Member commented that the referral back to the Area Committees for possible additional support by the Executive gave the Committee difficulty. He commented that there was an assumption that the Area Committees had equal budgets; however this was not the case as the South East Area Committee often spent its entire budget whereas other Area Committees did not.

The Committee agreed that it would consider each of the three applications and should there be remaining budget it would consider the applications which had been referred to the Committee from the Executive.

The Committee agreed to firstly consider whether to award a grant in principle and having considered all three then return to each one to consider the level of support it was prepared to give.

WantageTown Football Club

The Committee noted that the application was for towards funding the costs of purchasing equipment to be used on the new football pitches. It was noted that Wantage Town Council had given support to the Football Club. One Member suggested that the Football Club should approach Waitrose supermarket in Wantage, as they offered support to local clubs, societies and charities.

One Member questioned whether the Football Association had been approached, given that it had resources.

The Committee agreed in principal to support the application.

Childrey Playing Field Trust

One Member wished to seek clarification on a point raised by Mr Turner, who had spoken earlier in the meeting. The Chair proposed that the meeting be adjourned to enable clarification to be sought on a point raised by the applicant.

RESOLVED

(a)    that the meeting of the Committee be adjourned for 5 minutes to enable clarification to be sought from a member of the public.

The meeting adjourned at 7.10pm and reconvened at 7.15pm

One Member commented that he hoped the Committee would look favourably on this application as for small villages with small population bases it was difficult to raise the funds for such a project. Another Member agreed and in addition commented that support for the fencing off of children’s play areas had traditionally been a priority.

The Committee agreed in principle to support the application.

1861 Wantage Air Training Corps. (ATC)

Several Members commented that the ATC did an excellent job with young people. It was suggested by one Member that the organisation approach the surrounding parishes for support.

The Committee agreed in principle to support the application.

Additional Parish Cleansing Grants

Members commented that although the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

The Committee received and considered report 168/08 of the Strategic Director which proposed a prospectus for the targeting of grants in the South East Area.

Officers advised that the purpose of the prospectus was to give an idea to parishes and community groups what sort of applications were particularly welcome in the South East Area. It was confirmed that it was not the intention to impose additional criteria; it was simply to guide applicants.

One Member questioned whether the costs of producing and publicising the prospectus would come out of the South East Area Committee budget. Officers confirmed that the costs would be covered by a separate budget.

One Member commented that he considered the prospectus a good idea, however felt that some of the priorities were beyond the remit of the Committee, for example, the provision of affordable homes. He expressed concern that this may create expectations which could not be met.

One Member commented that he felt the prospectus was too detailed, taking up Officer time and resources in terms of its production for a grants budget that was fairly small. Officers responded that the production of the prospectus was in conjunction with looking at the work of the community strategy as a whole. One Member advised that the production of the prospectus would help with encouraging more focussed applications.

The Committee considered each of the proposed priorities for the South East Area 2009/10. The Committee wished it to be noted that although the following would be removed from the prospectus each application would be considered on its merits.

RESOLVED

(1) that the prospectus be agreed subject to the following  priorities be removed;

(i)     Safer Communities – reassuring people that the Vale is a relatively safe place so that they do not live in fear of crime.

(ii)   Affordable Homes

(iii)Good Quality Homes – providing pro-active housing advice for “hard to reach” groups, (young, disabled, ethnic minorities)

(iv)Building on our economic strengths

(v)   Addressing economic weaknesses

(vi)Using resources wisely

(2) That the following amendment be made to the priority “A high quality natural and historic environment” to read:

“Enhancing public buildings that are open to the public” and;

“Enhancing public parks and gardens that are open to the public”.

(3) that the following amendment be made to the priority “Maintaining and enhancing the health and vitality of the Vale’s market town centres” to read:

“Encouraging residents to support shops and other businesses in the area’s villages and towns”

(4) that the priority “A low carbon vale” make reference to the encouragement of small scale projects, promoting more efficient energy use.

None.