There were several members of the public present, one of whom wished to speak (see attached notes).

Present:

Cllr P Chambers
Cllr N J Chard
Cllr N R G Clarke
Cllr D R Cole
Cllr D E Cracknell
Cllr M F J Daly
Cllr Mrs L C Ford
Cllr N W Light
Cllr B H Terry

In Attendance:

Mr T R Simpson, Town Clerk
Jo Stannard, Deputy Town Clerk

C/4544 Absence

Apologies for absence had been received from Cllr W S Rippon-Swaine, Cllr Mrs V A Sullivan, Cllr M H Thierry and Cllr N Wood.

C/4545 Declarations of Interest

There were none.

Cllr Cracknell stood down and Cllr Chard, as Deputy Mayor, took the chair for the following item:

C/4546 Election of Town Mayor

Cllr Cracknell was nominated for Town Mayor, proposed by Cllr Terry and seconded by Cllr Cole. There were no other nominations.

Cllr Cracknell was elected as Mayor for the ensuing year.

Cllr Cracknell thanked members for their support and said that it had been an honour and a privilege to lead the Council for the past year, and he would continue to do his best.

Cllr Cracknell took the chair for the remainder of the meeting.

C/4547 Declaration of Acceptance of Office by Town Mayor

Cllr Cracknell read and signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office, witnessed by the Town Clerk.

C/4548 Election of Deputy Town Mayor

There were two nominations for Deputy Town Mayor, as follows:

Cllr Chard – proposed by Cllr Daly and seconded by Cllr Cole.

Cllr Ford – proposed by Cllr Clarke and seconded by Cllr Light.

A secret ballot was requested by more than two members, in accordance with Standing Orders.

Cllr Chard was elected as Deputy Mayor for the ensuing year.

C/4549 Declaration of Acceptance of Office by Deputy Town Mayor

Cllr Chard read and signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office, witnessed by the Town Clerk.

C/4550 Minutes of Previous Meetings

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Council meeting held on 26th April 2006, having been circulated, were approved and signed as a correct record.

C/4551 Planning, Town & Environment Committee

Cllr Clarke presented the minutes of the Planning, Town & Environment Committee held on 28th April 2006.

P/4309 It was noted that a site visit had been arranged to look at the current impact of under provision of parking spaces in the town.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Planning, Town & Environment Committee held on 28th April 2006 be approved and adopted.

C/4552 Recreation, Leisure & Open Spaces Committee

Cllr Light presented the minutes of the Recreation, Leisure & Open Spaces Committee held on 3rd May 2006.

OS/4760 Cllr Ford asked if there had been any feedback from the Community Safety Officers, who were now working in the town again. The Town Clerk replied that these officers had only been back in the town for two weeks and there had been no feedback received as yet.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Recreation, Leisure & Open Spaces Committee held on 3rd May 2006 be approved and adopted.

C/4553 Policy & Finance Committee

Cllr Chambers presented the minutes of the Policy & Finance Committee held on 17th May 2006.

F/3942 The Town Clerk reported that Cllr Thierry had asked for this matter to be referred back to Committee. It was agreed to discuss this matter at the end of the meeting, as it would be necessary to exclude the public and the press from the meeting.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Policy & Finance Committee held on 17th May 2006, including the recommendations contained therein, but with the exception of F/3942, be approved and adopted.

C/4554 Membership of Committees

It was noted that membership of committees had been agreed at the Annual Meeting in 2005 for the remainder of the period of office of councillors. No members had requested any changes in membership.

RESOLVED: That there be no change to membership of committees.

C/4555 Public Open Session

This had taken place prior to the start of the meeting.

C/4556 Communications to be Received

The following correspondence was noted:

i) Letter from Ringwood Musical & Dramatic Society thanking the Mayor for giving the Society a Certificate of Appreciation for its contribution to community life in Ringwood on the occasion of the Society’s 95th anniversary.

ii) Letter from Ringwood Tourism Group thanking the Council for its grant of £250 towards the production of the Ringwood Mini Guide.

C/4557 Questions of the Mayor

There were none.

C/4558 Reports from County and District Councillors

County Councillor N Clarke submitted a report (Annex ‘A’), which was circulated to members. He reported on the New Forest Transport Review, which had looked at demand for public transport and highlighted that evening services needed to be improved for young people and that the elderly required better access to health, leisure, shops and friends.

He also referred to the reorganisation of the PCT and the Ambulance Service and said that there may well be a distraction from delivery of services during reorganisation. He asked members to let him know of any issues relating to the effectiveness of the ambulance station, so that he could report back to the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

District Councillor C Ford also referred to the New Forest Transport Review and said that people were unable to get to work in the mornings using public transport as the buses were used for school runs and therefore could not be used on a commercial basis. She said that one of the options was to increase community transport facilities, such as Cango and Dial-a-Ride, although there was concern that people were confused about how to get access to these services.

Cllr Ford reported that the District Council was putting a lot of work into implementation of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 and was currently looking at the delegation of powers for on the spot fines and identifying employees to go on training courses.

Cllr Cracknell reported that he was no longer on the Leisure Review Panel at the District Council.

C/4559 Representatives on Outside Bodies

It was noted that representatives on outside bodies had been agreed at the Annual Meeting in 2005 for the remainder of the period of office of councillors. No members had requested any changes in representation.

RESOLVED: That there be no change to representatives on outside bodies.

C/4560 Annual Subscriptions

The Town Clerk reported that annual subscriptions would be included in the budget process for the next financial year.

RESOLVED: That the following Annual Subscriptions for 2006/07, as listed in Annex ‘B’ be approved.

C/4561 Forthcoming Meetings

C/4562 Urgent Business

There was none.

C/4563 Exclusion of Public and Press

RESOLVED: That under section 100 (A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information. (Annex ‘C’).

C/4564 Mount Pleasant Lane

The Town Clerk reported that Cllr Thierry had asked for this item to be referred back to Policy & Finance Committee, with a recommendation that a Chartered Surveyor be appointed to deal with matter.

Cllr Clarke said it would be necessary to demonstrate that any offer made was commensurate with the value of the land, but felt that the Council was not yet at a stage to justify such an appointment, particularly as the hourly rate would be in the region of £100. He recommended that the matter continue to be dealt with by the Town Clerk until there was something measurable for a valuer to deal with, or until such time as the Town Clerk feels that he needs to bring in an additional resource or insight.

RESOLVED: That minute F/3942 of the Policy & Finance Committee held on 17th May 2006 be approved and adopted.