Agenda item

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 Vale was paying for parish cleansing through the waste contract it was not always being carried out on a frequent basis in the villages. The Community Strategy Officer advised that the Waste Team had advised that the public should contact them with any concerns.

One Member questioned whether all parishes were aware of the possibility of additional support for parish cleansing. It was confirmed by Officers that a letter had been sent to all of the parishes inviting applications and had been given a deadline by which to respond.

Having considered the three new applications by 9 votes in favour and 0 votes against it was

RESOLVED

(b)    that the remaining budget for the South East Area Committee for 2008/09 in the sum of £6,945.15 be noted

(c)  that the grant applications to the Committee be determined as follows:

(d)   that no additional support be provided by the Committee to those applications referred by the Executive due to the  Committee having  no remaining budget;

(e)   that the Community Grant’s budget for the South East Area for 2009/10 be noted as £22,728;

(f)     that any unallocated grant money which remains unclaimed for the period 2008/9 be carried forward; and  

(g)   that additional parish cleansing grants in 2009/10 be allocated as follows: