Balderton Parish Council
Minutes of the Amenities Committee meeting held
in the Council Hall on Wednesday October 18th 2006 at 7.00pm
PRESENT Councillors White (Chairman), Sheppard (Vice Chairman), Allsopp, Mrs
Brooks, Colman, Gibson, Hind, Mrs Jarvis, Mortimore, Mrs Newstead and Scott with
one parishioner, a representative of the local press and the Clerk.
APOLOGIES were received from Cllrs Ms Atkinson, Mrs Scott and Miss Watson, and
Mr Brown the Deputy Head Groundsman.
1320 Declarations of Interest
Cllr Mrs Newstead declared a personal interest to minute reference 1325 – litter
bins
1321 Clerk/Chairman’s Update
A printed update of ongoing matters was circulated and noted. The update is
published with the minutes. The following issues were discussed from the update:
1. Re Minute 1256 Headstone safety The Clerk had attended a seminar on memorial
safety at Newark Town Hall and discussed options for notifying relatives of
headstones requiring action. Placing notices on the affected stones is proving
quite effective at Newark Town Council and could be undertaken for the Mount
Road Cemetery once testing work has been undertaken by groundstaff. A letter has
been sent to the Southwell Diocese, with a copy to Rev. Tucker, asking for a
directive regarding the churchyard headstones.
2. Re Minute 1297 Lakeside Access A complaint has been made that a double
pushchair cannot pass through the staggered walkway in the new fencing. Though
sympathetic, members considered on balance that such users would have to fold
the pushchair to get through and the Council must comply with disabled
legislation. The contractor has been asked to undertake the agreed alterations
and additional gates at the Lake. Notices have been displayed on the Lakeside
notice board and gates notifying that the RADAR locks will be installed shortly.
1322 Planning Decision:
The following application has been refused and was noted:
1007 Convert building to residential Isolation Hospital, Barnby Road
1323 New Hall
The Chairman gave an update on progress of the new hall. The Newark Advertiser
has offered to include a competition feature asking for name ideas with a prize
for the chosen selection. No charge would be made for the competition advert but
the Council would find the prize. Members agreed to do this and that a prize of
£30 be provided. Consideration was given to installing a fresh cold water
drinking fountain in the changing rooms side at a cost of £872.50 - the water is
not drinkable here as it is supplied via header tanks. Notice to this affect
must be installed by the sink units. The fountain cost was considered too high
but an alternative solution will be sought to provide a drinking water supply to
the sports area.
A local pre-school has asked if they can use the smaller meeting room, paying
£15 for 4 hours – this is substantially lower that the present rate of £9.50 per
hour for existing local regular user groups. Members considered that to help
promote use of the building they would accept £20.00 for 4 hours up to the end
of the financial year when the situation would be reviewed. All cleaning and
clearing away must be undertaken by the pre-school staff themselves after every
session as the charges would not cover caretaking or cleaning costs.
1324 Acacia Road Access
A new Deed of Variation of Easement has been agreed and signed between the land
owner and the Council for the Acacia Road access. Copies of a letter from a
resident challenging the Council’s action and reply sent were circulated which
clearly outline the reasons for the action relating to the access. The Chairman
stated that the Council had acted completely democratically and appropriately in
reducing the width of the access in 1995 and with the new Deed in place the
matter should now be considered closed.
1325 Litter Bins in Village
Consideration was given to a letter requesting further, smaller litter bins for
the village following removal of the council’s two large litter bins which were
situated at the Turks Head car park and opposite the fish and chip shop on Mount
Road. This letter should be forwarded to the District Council (with the
originator’s permission) as the authority responsible for litter, with an
explanation why this Council removed the large bins.
1326 User Agreements
Further consideration was given to introducing a simple user agreement form for
sports users to promote good practice regarding appropriate insurance Advice has
been sought from the council’s insurance company who advise the Council is
liable for the ground or any Council equipment used but it is the responsibility
of the hirer organising the event to ensure adequate qualifications and
insurance are in place. It would be good practice to ask users if they have
adequate insurance, pointing out that the Council is not responsible – this
could be included on the invoice sent out to users which essentially forms a
contract between users and the Council.
1327 Playing Field Fence
The committee discussed the possibility of replacing the remaining wall and
concrete panels at the car park end of the playing fence to the end of the
Cricket Pavilion with palisade fencing to match the rest of the boundary. New
gate posts would be installed to replace the brick pillars. This may also ease
some of the anti-social problems experienced by Coronation Street residents
situated next to the fence who find that anti-vandal paint is deposited on their
vehicles from young people going over the existing fence. Fencing is also
required between the Bowls Pavilion and the end of the new hall to help prevent
misuse and tidy the area. Estimates will be obtained and the matter will be
given further consideration.
1328 Budget 2007/08
Consideration was given to committee ‘running cost’ estimates. The estimates for
heating and lighting the new hall cannot be exact as there is no historical
expenditure figures to work from. It was stated that caution must be exercised
for the next financial year as the extent of use of the new building, and
therefore potential income is unknown. It was,
RECOMMENDED that the estimates be approved and submitted to the F&GP committee.
1329 Information/Correspondence
The following items of information/correspondence have been received and were
noted:
a) Details of activities held at the Unique Coffee bar in Newark over the half
term. The project organisers contacted the Council to try and find alternative
activities for young people in Balderton who may be responsible for some anti
social issues in the village. This information will be passed to the ASBO
officer at Newark & Sherwood District Council.
b) Notice of approved works to trees subject to preservation orders at 7 The
Woodwards and 42 Church Lane.
c) A reminder that training on the Code of Conduct and outline of local
investigation procedure has been rescheduled for Monday October 30th 2006 at
6.00pm in Kelham Hall.
d) A request from the District Council for evidence diary records of continued
unauthorised activity at Cressey Holme Farm where a lorry park is being operated
without planning permission. Local Goldsmith Road residents are completing the
diaries for submission to allow the Enforcement Department to take action
against the operators. Some Bullpit Road residents may wish to be involved –
enquiries will be made with the planning department.
e) Notice that an appeal is to be heard against a planning refusal for change of
use at
Sunnyside, Barnby Road on October 25th 2006 at 10am in the Deincourt Hotel,
Newark.
The appeal is open for anyone to attend.
f) A copy letter from Mr Patrick Mercer MP regarding the telecommunications base
station mast on London Road which has been granted approval. He suggests that a
site meeting may be useful to allow those concerned to discuss the issue. A
request will be made for Mr Mercer to arrange the meeting.
g) An open letter from Nottinghamshire Police Chief Superintendent Johnson
advising of
the revised opening of the new Newark Police Station.
1330 Future agenda Items
No items were put forward.
The meeting closed at approximately 8.10pm