NEW ALRESFORD TOWN MEETING

Held in the Community Centre

Thursday 13th March 2008

 

Present:          Town Councillors: Roy Gentry (Chair, Finance), Steve Middleton (Vice-Chair, Recreation) ,John Cattle (Environment ), Malcolm Phillips (Tourism), Barbara Jeffs (Planning),Ken Yeldham, Simon Evans

                        Winchester District Councillor: Ernie Jeffs

                        Hampshire County Councillor: Jackie Porter

                        Electors: over 24  

                        Town Council Staff: 3

 

Apologies:      Jonathan Read, Margot Power

 

1      Introduction

        Mr. Roy Gentry as Town Council Chairman took the Chair and welcomed everyone to the meeting.

        He stated that the office had received no questions or resolutions from the community.

 

2        Minutes of the Annual Town Meeting of  21st  March 2007

        (Alter Mr. Woodam to Mr. Woodham) Proposed Mr. Phillips Seconded Mr. Yeldham (AGREED)

Minutes of the Annual Town Meeting of  25th October 2007

(Alter Robert Atkins to Robin Atkins) Proposed Mr. Middleton Seconded Mr. Cattle (AGREED)

Clerk to investigate whether the Public Petition meeting held in February 2008 constitutes a Town Meeting and at what is the appropriate forum for agreeing these minutes.

 

3      Reports by Chairpersons of Town Council & Committees

A brief report was given to the Town by each of the Committee Chairs.

            3.1       Cllr. Steve Middleton reported on the activities of the Recreation Committee

            3.2       Cllr. John Cattle reported on the activities of the Environment Committee

            3.3       Cllr. Malcolm Phillips reported on the activities of the Tourism Committee           

            3.4       Cllr. Barbara Jeffs reported on the activities of the Planning Committee

            3.5       Cllr. Roy Gentry reported on the financial position of the Council

            3.6       Cllr. Roy Gentry as Chair of the Council gave and overview of the previous years activities and

                          thanked the staff for their continued support.

       

4.     Mr Clive Burgess (Watercress Festival, Organiser)

Mr Burgess informed the meeting that the Watercress Festival was the climax event of National Watercress Week.  This week long national campaign had put watercress on the map and the Festival had become synonymous with Alresford, Think Watercress - Think Alresford.  2008 was the 5th Festival and this year would be the 200th year of Watercress Production. The Festival had grown into both East and West Street.  The traditional format of the festival was unaltered with the celebrity chef, music and street entertainment.  To emphasis the watercress theme competitions for best watercress recipes culminated in awards.  He reported that crowds had reached the 10k level in 2006 which had resulted in the need for event management.  2007 had been the first year where the Festival had encountered bad weather and the level had dropped to 6k proving that the festival was not dependant on the weather.  A safety advisory group reviewed the event management plans, a document that had been introduced in 2007.  Wendy Akers continued to head the Public Relations week with Hampshire Fare organising the stalls in Broad Street but Alresford had an increased role in 2008 and the Alresford community and Alresford organisations were proving to be willing to meet the increased responsibility for the Festival..   Clive congratulated Cllr. Cattle for his untiring work on Festival matters.  He announced that 2008 Festival would host the world watercress eating championship and felt the shift to Alresford Management would not greatly affect the running of the festival but that the festival would continue to showcase the beautiful town of Alresford.

 

 

5            Public Participation

Mr. Gentry opened the public meeting with the suggestion that each person be allowed  3 minutes  per question.

Mr. Robin Akins Introduced himself as joint chair of the Town Trustee.  He informed the meeting that WCC had granted funds for the Eel house which would enable it to be open to the public on 11th May.

Mr. Goodman stated that documents dating back to 1570 would be available to view at the community centre.

Mr. Atkins  stated that the Trust would be asking NATC for a grant contribution towards a new minibus and considered that the £12.5k NATC cascading contribution towards the Community Centre represented a disproportionate percentage of NATC grant funding being apportioned to one organisation and this was discriminatory to other organisations.

Mr. Yeldham asked Mr. Atkins whether the Trust had reserves for the new minibus.

Mr. Atkins stated that the trust  were looking for funding to finance an upgraded model minibus.

 Mr. Atkins stated that he was unsatisfied with the NATC apology regarding the late notice to inspect the accounts and NATC’s continued refusal to supply him with documentation.  Letters from Mrs. Stevens and Mr. Davies requesting an internal review had not received a reply.  He stated that the terms of the Football Lease should not be revoked in any way to account for utility charges.  Mr. Atkins stated that the Council was discriminating against him on religious grounds.

The public rule Mr. Atkins as out of order.

Mr. Gentry stated that Mr. Atkins had a valid point with regard to the apportioning of Grants and asked for other views on this matter.  NATC had not posted the original notice to inspect accounts due to the loss of accounting personal, this oversight had been corrected and procedures followed with the accounts being re-opened for inspection.  He stated that the NATC had every intention of honouring the Football Lease and that they had not as yet entered into discussions with the Football Club regarding utility payments.

Mr. Ingram (Alresford Town Football Club) stated that he had no problems with NATC.

Mr. Peter Tudor Reported that the Alresford signage required cleaning to avoid a fatal accident and asked which body was responsible for this task.

Mr. Cattle stated that he was in touch with WCC regarding this matter

Mr. Cook stated that he would chase WCC in his capacity as a City Council

Mr. Tudor stated that the annual litter collection had fallen by the wayside and asked whether NATC could write to all appropriate organisations to resurrect this event in 2009.

Mr. Gentry felt that residents could adopt responsibility for keeping a street in Alresford litter free.

Mrs. Hudman stated that it would be an unequal task as some areas encounter serious litter problems and it would be more productive if every member of the public were encouraged to pick up “clean” litter.

Mr. Goodman felt that the city needed to take a stringent view of the problem and impose fines on the offenders.

Mr. Gentry informed the meeting that next month traffic wardens would have the ability to issue fixed fine penalties for dropping litters. NATC were considering topping up funding for higher warden representation in Alresford.

Mr.Phillips believed the situation would be helped if each publican introduced cigarette receptacles outside their premise.

Mr. Burgess told the Town that as a resident in a previous town, the whole town carried out an annual litter pick that culminated with a picnic.  He also felt bins were being blown over in the high winds which exacerbated the problem.

Mr. Mansfield felt that Perins should initiate a special school activity to clear their fields of litter.

Mr. Cook stated that as a school governor  he would take up this point with Perins.

Mrs. Barker

Stated that as a resident of 30 years she was pleased that NATC were taking over Arlebury Park and that it would now become a facility for all members of the community.

She brought up the problem of dog fouling and its associated disease believing there should be made more public awareness of the disease associated with dog fouling.

Mr. Middleton was arranging a meeting with the dog warden to request that the warden introduces unscheduled visits with a view to prosecuting and advertising offenders.

Mr. Burgess stated that in Australia dog owners incurred fines if they were dog walking and could not produce dog fouling products.  He suggested that byelaws be introduced to handle dog fouling.

Mr. Gentry stated it is already law that dog fouling must be pick up and the problems with byelaws is that they would require to be enforced.

Mr. Tudor Stated that he had concerns regarding the £6k water bill.

Mr. Gentry stated that he believed the bill could prove to be correct as various incidents occurred which could account for the £6k.  An outside Tap had been turned on by vandals in addition to water leaks.  The meter was now being closely monitored.

Mrs. Baker reported that chevrons at Sun hill had been wiped out and needed placing and that there was a motorist blind spot in Jacklyns lane that would benefit from a mirror.

Mr. Gentry stated that this would be reported to Hampshire Highways

Mr. Barker reported a similar blind spot near the bridge at Jacklyns Lane.

Mr. Cattle stated that Hampshire Highways do not allow the installation of mirrors on their highways.

Mrs. Hanson Informed the community that Gerald Gledhill had suffered a severe stroke and had been an employee of the Council for many years.

Mr. Goodman Thanked his group of volunteer workers.  He informed the meeting that the Millennium/Arle Valey Trail had received grants to the value of £10K.  The Countryside Access Grant had allowed equivalent volunteer labour as means of  matched funding.  He felt that Winchester City Council should introduce this method of matched funding when granting money to the Community Centre.

Cllr. Cook stated that WCC grants were issued with cascading conditions on local authorities without consultation.  WCC preferred to offer grants to organisations with proper constitutions and the grants were constrained by strict conditions. 

Cllr. Jeffs stated that the WCC system was not based on matched funding being sourced by labour.  He considered the problem could be overcome by the Community Centre informing NATC of the value of their WCC grant application prior to its despatch.

Mr. Gentry stated that this was tax payers money and would appreciate feedback on grant distribution.

Mr. Gilbertson asked whether the community could fundraise for the Community Centres 50% matched funding.

Mr. Gentry No the 50% must come from the precept.

Mr. Goodman requested NATC to ask WCC to include the cost of volunteer labour as an equivalent means of matching their grant offer.

Mr. Gentry agreed to ask WCC.

Mr. Gentry  asked if there were any other questions.  He thanked everyone for coming and asked them to complete the Health Check Questionnaires. 

The public were invited to join the Council in light refreshments.

 

        The Chairman closed the meeting at 9.10pm

 

 

 

 

Chairman's signature………………………………………date……………………………..