Minutes of a meeting of the FINANCE AND GENERAL PURPOSES COMMITTEE held in the Council Chamber, Drake Road, Tavistock on WEDNESDAY the 26th day of MARCH 2008at 7 20 p.m.

Present: Cllr H Smith  Chair
Cllr B Trew  V Chair Properties (to minute 638)
Cllr Mrs M Govier  Chair Properties (from Minute 639)
Cllr Harper
Cllr Mrs A Johnson  Town Mayor
Cllr Mrs J Metcalf
Cllr Mrs J Ramsey
Cllr W Sellis
Cllr D Whitcomb

In Attendance: Town Clerk
Works Superintendent
One member of the press

634.  APOLOGIES
There were apologies for absence from Cllr I C Jennings, Cllr P Sanders and Cllr R Pike.

635.   DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST.
Councillors were reminded to declare any personal or prejudicial interest they may have in any item to be considered at the meeting.

636.   MINUTES
The Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 26th February 2008, previously circulated and adopted by Council on 4th March 2008, were confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

637. MATTERS ARISING
There were no such matters.

638.  MEETING OF THE PROPERTIES COMMITTEE HELD EARLIER THAT EVENING

a.  Cllr Trew reported that the following matters with a financial content had been debated by the Properties Committee:a. Goose Fair charges, to be raised by 4%.

b. Town Hall and Pannier Market charges to be set as shown in the relevant minutes.

c. Cemetery charges to be set as shown in the relevant minutes.

He reported that the Town hall and Markets Sub-Committee did not feel that an independent ‘human resource review’ into the Town Hall and Pannier Market staffing levels (minute 575a) was needed, and in this they were at loggerheads with members of the Staffing sub-committee.  Cllr Whitcomb reported his fear that the staff were demoralised by some councillors’ arguments against overtime, and there was conflict between the Staffing sub-committee and the Town Hall and Markets sub-committee over this matter.  It was important not to demoralise the staff, and the Chairman referred any further debate to full Council. 

639.   MINUTES OF THE STAFFING SUB-COMMITTEE
Members noted the minutes of the meeting held on 27th February 2008 presented by the Mayor.   Cllr Mrs Govier queried Minute 575d(1) and the debate about the need for a ‘leader’ of the council.  She had checked with similar councils and found that none had both leader and mayor, and that such a structure was only used by principal councils.  Others felt that such a concept was ‘above the station’ of a parish or town council.  Cllr Mrs Govier also queried minute 576 and felt that any ‘human resource review’ could only be fair if applied to all aspects of the council, and not pick on just one department regardless of cost.

640.   MINUTES OF THE TaVi DEVELOPMENT FORUM
Members noted the minutes of the meetings held on 17th January and 23rd February 2008.  They complained about the use of acronyms and abbreviations for participants making the minutes difficult to understand.

641.   MINUTES OF THE GUILDHALL SQUARE PUBLIC TOILETS MEETING
Members noted the minutes of the meeting held on 3rd March 2008.

642.   MINUTES OF THE WEST DEVON/TAVISTOCK CONSULTATIVE LIAISON GROUP MEETING
Members noted the minutes of the meeting held on 5th March 2008.

643.   MINUTES OF THE TAVISTOCK MINING HERITAGE PROJECT COMMUNITY CONSULTATION GROUP MEETING
Members noted the minutes of the meeting held on 5th February 2008. 

644.   MINUTES OF THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE GENERAL MEETING
Members noted the minutes of the meeting held on 3rd March 2008.  The Mayor reported that Mr Eadie was to meet with her and the Deputy Mayor on the 8th April at 2.00 pm.

645.  TAVISTOCK TOWNSCAPE HERITAGE PARTNERSHIP
Members noted the Terms of Reference for this new group, and that they were looking for a Town Councillor to join the group as a representative.  The Mayor reported that she was currently attending meetings, and that the need for a representative would be on the agenda for the AGM.

646.  GENERAL FINANCE

a.   Accounts   Members considered the monthly accounts for submission to the next Council Meeting, a copy of which is at Annex A.  It was RECOMMENDED that they be passed for payment. 

b.  Signage.   Noted that there was £10,000 in the budget for matched funding for a partnership project with WDBC on town centre finger post signs.  They had now informed us that they had no finance for this project.  The £10,000 was thus available for Members to re-allocate in the future.  It was suggested that the sum could be used in conjunction with Tamar valley funding for a signage project.

c.   Charter Tree Accounts.  Ex-Councillor Andrews wished to close the Charter Tree accounts.  He had £1,000 left in the account and wished to distribute it to a local deserving cause.  He suggested the female choir based in Tavistock (Vocal Harem).    Members were asked for any other suggestions.  They were reminded that the Town Council gave the Charter Celebration group chaired by Mr Andrews a grant of £10,000 in 2005/06.  The meeting generally felt that the grant had been for the charter celebrations themselves, not to fund charities or community groups two years later.  They felt that Mr Andrews should be asked to contact all those who had given grants to the group to see if they would agree to a pro-rata return of any unspent monies.

d.  Insurances.  Members noted a brief on insurances and RECOMMENDED that we stay with Zurich UK even though they were £3,000 more expensive than the alternative bidder.

647.   WEST DEVON LOCAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK CORE STRATEGY – CONSULTATION
The Mayor had been in touch with the Mayors of Okehampton and Hatherleigh councils about a joint response to the LDF, as all three towns had the same problems.  Local infrastructure was not there to cope with the massive development being imposed by central government.  Members were asked to consider a draft response tabled by Cllr Leech.  The general view was that it was good to band together to have a more powerful voice, and that other groups such as the Brook Project and the Chamber of Commerce, who had already commented, should be invited to join the joint response.  There was discussion about existing traffic flows, the lack of medical facilities, public transport and fire service resources all being unable to cope with the increases proposed.  It was suggested that community groups from the other two towns might also be asked to join the response.  The Mayor agreed she understood the ideas and views of Members and these would guide her in future meetings with the Borough Council about the LDF.

648.   RAILWAY
The Mayor had noticed that an article in the Western Morning News about the railway concept quoted a councillor as saying “We are going to fight it every inch of the way” yet the Town Council had a policy of supporting the railway (Best Value Community Objective 5, copied below:

“The Town Council will encourage all proposals to improve public transport into and out of the Town, including the ‘Drake’ railway line extension from Bere Alston and improvements to the traffic flow on the A386, both north and south.  It will continue support for the Community Bus Service, and will press for improved public transport facilities in order to reduce the need for car traffic in the Town).

Members debated the railway concept so all were clear on what the Town Council position was.  Cllr Harper gave a full and comprehensive report on the ‘Kilbride’ proposal and its drawbacks.  He reminded Members that they had resolved not to support either of the two options in the LDF, and that the council view was not against the railway concept in principle, but against the particular proposal to fund it by building 750 houses with all the problems that would bring.  Members also felt the proposed railway would not serve the need of modern commuters, who did not need to go to the dockyard but to the Derriford area where modern employment was situated.  Members noted that the demise of the Best Value concept meant that the relevant objective would not be published post April 2008, and needed no revision per se.  They agreed the council policy was that they would support proposals to improve public transport into and out of the Town, including in principle the railway line, but not the ‘Kilbride’ proposal. 

649.   GRANT APPLICATION
WDBC had submitted an urgent grant application for the Conservation Management Plan and Townscape Heritage Initiative for Members consideration.  Members were reminded that the budget included a £5,000 provision for ‘unallocated matched funding’.  The Mayor said that this was an important project, and there was pressure for such a conservation report and policy.  The total bill was some £30,000 of which the town council had been asked to contribute £5,000.  Cllr Harper agreed, as this would support the preservation of the heritage of the town, and would add more weight to the campaign about over-development.  Cllr Sellis reminded Members that they had turned down a similar proposal by Tavistock Forward, and he saw no reason to grant this one.  Some felt this to be a different proposal, dealing with the heritage aspect rather that a whole town plan, but on a proposal by Cllr Sellis they then RECOMMENDED by 4 votes to 2 not to grant the sum requested.

650.  URGENT BUSINESS BROUGHT FORWARD AT THE DISCRETION OF THE CHAIRMAN.
There was no such business.

Rising 8. 28 p.m.

Signed………..………………….

Dated……………………………

 

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