COUNCIL MEETING Members are summoned to attend a Meeting of the Town Council to be held at 7.45pm on Wednesday 22 October 2014 at 1 Buckingham Court, Rectory Lane, Loughton to transact the business as shown in the agenda. Enid K Walsh Town Clerk October 2014 Cllr S Weston (Town Mayor) Cllr J Jennings (Deputy Town Mayor) Cllr P Abraham Cllr J Bostock Cllr L Girling Cllr S Murray Cllr C P Pond Cllr J Angold-Stephens Cllr M Chalk Cllr I Lawrence Cllr M Owen Cllr E Stacey Cllr K Angold-Stephens Cllr C Davies Cllr J Mahoney Cllr S Pewsey Cllr T Thomas Note to Councillors: If you are unable to attend the meeting, please phone your apologies to the office on 020 8508 4200 Cllr P Beales Cllr T Downing Cllr H Mann Cllr C C Pond Cllr D Wixley Council Meeting 22 October 2014 __________________________________________________________________________________________ AGENDA 1 Apologies for Absence To receive any apologies for absence. 2 Declarations of Interest For Councillors to declare any pecuniary or non-pecuniary interest in any items on the Agenda. 3 Confirmation of Minutes To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 30 July 2014. 4 Public Representations To adjourn the meeting to hear any representations from members of the public who have registered a request to address the Council in accordance with Standing Order no 1(h). 5 Questions Without Discussion To answer any questions which have been submitted in accordance with Standing Order no 8. 6 Town Mayor’s Engagements and Announcements The Town Mayor will report on any events she has attended to represent the Town Council. 7 Matters for Report To report any further significant information on matters which have been previously discussed, in addition to those which may already be included on the Agenda. 7.1 Appointment of Members, and Election of Chairman and Vice Chairman, of Council Committees for 2014/15 – Min no 144 The Council is asked to consider the vacancy on the Planning and Licensing Committee arising from the resignation of Cllr Pewsey from this Committee on 8 September 2014. 7.2 UK Town Maps The Town Council has been approached by UK Town Maps, a company that produces the district, city, borough, and town maps seen at superstores, in high streets and on stations. The maps are A0 sized in full colour and provide information about the town and advertisement space for local businesses. The company is offering the large box (428mm x 164mm) at the head of the map as a ‘community banner’ free of charge to help promote the Town Council and local services. The design would be at the choice of the Council with the art work carried out by the company again at no cost. The Council is asked to CONFIRM that it wishes to take advantage of this offer. More information may be viewed at http://www.uktownmaps.co.uk/sponsors.html 2 Council Meeting 22 October 2014 __________________________________________________________________________________________ 8 Reports from Members on Outside Organisations 8.1 To receive brief reports from representatives on outside organisations Council representatives on outside organisations are requested to make a written report, which is attached to the Agenda, on meetings which they have attended. A verbal report can be made on meetings attended within ten days of the Council meeting. The following reports have been received: 10 Essex Association of Local Councils, “Making the Links” Annual Conference and AGM – 18 September 2014 – Cllr Wixley and the Town Clerk. (ii) EALC Larger Local Councils Forum – 14 October 2014 – Cllr Wixley and the Town Clerk. See pages 5 – 6. * 9 (i) Reports from Committees 9.1 Planning and Licensing Held on 18 August, 8 and 22 September and 6 October 2014. 9.2 Recreation Held on 10 September 2014. 9.3 Environment and Heritage Held on 22 August and 17 September 2014. 9.4 Resources and General Services Held on 8 October 2014. Standing Orders Review To AGREE the recommendation made by the Resources and General Services Committee (Min no RG172.3) as follows: In order to address the amendment to the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 (‘the 1960 Act’) made by the Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014 (“the 2014 Regulations”), Section 1(r) of the current Standing Order is to be replaced with the following: r 11 A person may not orally report or comment about a meeting as it takes place if he/she is present at the meeting of the Town Council or its committees, but otherwise may; a film, photograph or make an audio recording of a meeting; b use any other means for enabling persons not present to see or hear proceedings at a meeting as it takes place or later; and c report or comment on the proceedings in writing during or after a meeting or orally report or comment after the meeting. The Local Council Award Scheme This is a new scheme to be launched nationally in January 2015 to replace the Quality Parish Council scheme. At its meeting on 8 October 2014, the Resources and General Services Committee approved the action of the Town Clerk in putting the 3 Council Meeting 22 October 2014 __________________________________________________________________________________________ Council forward as one of the pilot councils in Essex for this scheme aiming to have reached the Quality Gold award. Details of the scheme and draft criteria will be circulated to members under separate cover. Please note: these are still subject to alteration as the pilot progresses. As required by the scheme, the Council is asked to consider the criteria and then CONFIRM that it meets all the requirements for the Foundation and Quality Standards and also that it has: i. published on its website the items listed in the criteria; and ii. prepared short statements showing how it ensures value for money, meets its duties in relation to bio-diversity and crime and disorder, provides leadership in planning and manages the performance of the Council. Enid K Walsh TOWN CLERK 16 October 2014 4 Council Meeting 22 October 2014 __________________________________________________________________________________________ Agenda item 8.1 i) Essex Association of Local Councils, “Making the Links” Annual Conference and AGM The 69th AGM followed the usual format with the presentation of the EALC’s Annual Report and Accounts of the Association for 2013/14. Essex County Council was thanked for the grants and support of the EALC in its move to new premises in Great Dunmow. The affiliation fees for 2015/16 were to remain at the current level, noting that NALC had yet to set its fees. The EALC was pleased to announce that all parish and town councils in Essex were now members of the Association. Presentations were received from:  Cllr Mick Page, Deputy Cabinet Member for Libraries, Communities and Planning, at Essex County Council. Cllr Page confirmed his support for local councils and that ECC’s budget cuts would not jeopardise the Community Initiatives Fund.  Rob Ashford, Locality Director for the East of England Ambulance Service, who talked about the Ambulance Service and how it works in Essex. He commented on the 6 per cent increase in calls to the service over the past year. The service employed 104 ambulances, 49 rapid responses vehicles (paramedics), helicopters, doctors, hazardous rescue teams. Target times were currently for red incidents between 8 – 19 minutes and for green, 20, 30 or 60 depending on the rating. In Essex, the 70 active community responders (volunteers) attended over 800 incidents last year. Mr Ashford confirmed his strong support for the installation of defibrillators in villages and towns.  Andrew Harrison, Managing Director of Stansted Airport, who reported on Stansted under new ownership and planning for the future. Stansted was now owned by the Manchester Airports Groups (MAG) and dealt with over 44 million passengers a year. Following a lack of infrastructure investment over the past 5 years by the then owners, BAA, £80 million of improvements were underway with completion planned for the autumn of 2015. This would help create some 300 new jobs. The airport was investing in training opportunities for the local community by creating a skills academy. In response to questions, Mr Harrison confirmed that whilst capacity would increase, there would be no new runway until at least 2030. He also clarified that night flights were restricted to a limit of 7,000 in winter and 5,000 in the summer until 2017. The future of some 269 properties affected by the proposed second runway was still under consideration. Members were encouraged to respond to the airport’s sustainable development consultation which runs until 7 November 2014. More information may be found at http://www.stanstedairport.com/developmentplan/next-steps  The Chief Constable of Essex Police, Stephen Kavanagh, provided an update on current policing in the county, achievements during the last year and plans for the future. He detailed the new arrangements for engaging with the local communities, which include weekly opportunities to meet with PCSOs (street meetings) and formal community meetings in every district every 8 weeks. Details of the local meetings in Loughton may be found at 5 Council Meeting 22 October 2014 __________________________________________________________________________________________ http://www.essex.police.uk/my_neighbourhood/epping_forest_district/loughton/lought on.aspx The next community meeting for Loughton is on 6 November 2014, from 7pm – 8pm in St Mary's Church, 201 High Road, Loughton, IG10 1BB. This is held by the local Neighbourhood Policing Team for the residents of Loughton, Buckhurst Hill and Chigwell to come along and discuss any issues they have. (ii) EALC Larger Local Councils Forum This meeting held in the Foakes Hall, Great Dunmow, included the following presentations:  Halstead in Bloom by Julia Smith, Secretary of the Halstead in Bloom Volunteers. Halstead have been gold winners in the Anglia in Bloom competition. Mrs Smith spoke about the work of the volunteers and the benefits to the town, both social and environmental.  EALC update by Joy Darby, CEO, and details of the 2015 training course calendar. There was to be a session on the new Audit Regulations on 25 February 2015 and a Police Partnership Conference on 25 March 2015.  The new Local Council Award Scheme by Charlotte Eisenhart, Improvement and Development Manager at NALC.  SLCC update by Paul Beckerson, Secretary to the Essex Branch. Paul provided details of a networking event on 4 November 2014 at Shalford.  NALC update by Cllr John Buchannan, EALC representative.  The Tour de France comes to Saffron Walden by Town Clerk, Simon Lloyd, an entertaining account of the spectacle and the impact on the town. 6