Agenda and draft minutes

To record apologies for absence. 

Apologies were received from Councillors Matthew Barber, Chris McCarthy, Julia Reynolds and Janet Shelley.

To adopt and sign as a correct record the Wantage Area Committee minutes of the meeting held on 12 March 2018 (attached). 

RESOLVED: to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 12 March 2018 as a correct record and agree that the Chairman signs them as such.

To receive any declarations of disclosable pecuniary interests in respect of items on the agenda for this meeting.  

Councillor Ben Mabbett declared that he was a member of Grove Parish Church but had had no involvement in its grant application.

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.

To receive any questions or statements from members of the public that have registered to speak. 

Speakers representing the applicants were present for the two applications. They also had the opportunity to respond to questions of clarification from the committee.

To consider the report of the head of community services (attached). 

Grove Parish Church

The officer introduced the application by Grove Parish Church for a New Homes Bonus grant of £9,990 towards the installation of toilets in the main church hall.  Officers had recommended that any grant awarded should be conditional upon agreement from the applicants that:

·         they consider the equality and sustainability feedback contained within the officer’s report and implement any suggestions where possible.

Trevor Dodd spoke in support of the application and answered questions from the committee. He provided an update on the financing of the project and reported that the congregation had raised significant sums and that the church had secured a grant from the Parish Council.

RESOLVED: to

1.     increase the officer’s recommended score of 1 point for funding to 2, in view of the additional information provided, making a total of 9 points out of a possible 12.

2.     award Grove Parish Council up to 27.54 per cent (capped to £9,990) of the total cost to install toilets in the main church hall. This grant was subject to the condition listed above.

Steventon Sports and Social Club

The officer introduced the application by Steventon Sports and Social Club for a New Homes Bonus grant of £20,272 towards the installation of a disabled toilet and the refurbishment of the bar/clubroom.  Officers had recommended that any grant awarded should be conditional upon agreement from the applicants that:

·         work cannot start until the council’s grant agreement is complete and they have fully secured all the funding needed for the whole project.

·         they implement any suggestions from the equality and sustainability officers where physically possible.

·         they amend clause 36 of their constitution (dissolution clause) so that in the event the club folds, any surplus funds are distributed to one or more local not-for profit organisations, rather than to individual members.

·         if awarded more than £15,000, the council will have access to up to 30 hours free use per year for a minimum of 5 years.

Dr Chris Wilding, Paul Flint and Mark Dendy spoke in support of the application and answered questions from the committee. With regard to funding they reported that the club had contributed £6,000 towards the project and that they had been assured that their S106 funding had been agreed, but did not know when the money would be released.

With regards to the suggested amendment to the dissolution clause, they reported that, as the land occupied by the club was owned by the Parish, should the club fold there was no possibility of the building been sold for the benefit of individual members.

RESOLVED: to

1.      increase the officer’s recommended score of 0 points for funding to 3, in view of the additional information provided, making a total of 9 points out of a possible 9.

2.     award Steventon Sports and Social Club up to 37.37 per cent (capped to £20,272) of the total cost to install a disabled toilet and refurbish the bar/clubroom. This grant was subject to the first, second and fourth conditions listed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.