Several members of public were present, none of whom wished to speak.

Apologies

The Town Clerk reported that an apology for absence had been received from Cllr D Cracknell.

Declarations of Interest

There were none.

District Cllr C Treleaven said that the Minutes of the last Council meeting were not correct in that he had been present as a member of the public and the Minutes had stated that no members of the public were present.  The Town Clerk replied that, historically, District and County Councillors had not been shown as members of the public or in attendance at meetings, but in future this would be revised to include them as In Attendance.

Present:

Cllr B H Terry (Town Mayor)
Cllr P Chambers
Cllr N J Chard
Cllr N R G Clarke
Cllr D R Cole
Cllr M Daly
Cllr L C Ford
Cllr J D Heron
Cllr W S Rippon-Swaine
Cllr Mrs J Terry
Cllr M Steele  
Cllr M J Urwin
Cllr A C Wiseman

In Attendance:

Mr T Simpson, Town Clerk
Mrs J Stannard, Deputy Town Clerk
District Councillor C Treleaven

The Town Mayor, Cllr Brian Terry, reminded those present of the new arrangements for public participation in the Council’s meetings.

Cllr Terry welcomed Cllr Peter Chambers back to the Council following his recent election

C/4742 Presentation of Awards for Allotment Competition

As no members of the Allotment Competition Judging Panel from Ringwood Garden Club had been available to attend the meeting, Mrs Wickens read a report submitted by Colin Fryer, who congratulated the tenants on their hard work during this most difficult of growing seasons.  Deciding on the winners had been a case of splitting hairs or, indeed, finding a single weed so that they could make a choice.

Cllr Daly, Chairman of Recreation, Leisure & Open Spaces Committee, asked Mrs Wickens if she would present the awards as she was due to retire next March and this would be her last Allotment Competition Presentation Ceremony.

Awards were presented as follows:

Overall Winner

Mr A Robinson with 97 points out of 100

Runners Up received National Garden Vouchers for £20, Site Winners received vouchers to the value of £30 together with the site winner’s trophy and the overall winner received vouchers to the value of £50 and the overall winner’s trophy. 

C/4743 Minutes of Previous Meeting

RESOLVED: that the minutes of the meeting held on 5^th September 2007, having been circulated, be approved and signed as a correct record.

C/4744 Recreation, Leisure & Open Spaces Committee

Cllr Daly presented the minutes of the Recreation, Leisure & Open Spaces Committee meeting held on 12^th September 2007.  

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Recreation, Leisure & Open Spaces Committee meeting held on 12^th September 2007 be received.

C/4745 Town Plan Co-ordinating Committee

Cllr Terry presented the minutes of the Town Plan Co-ordinating Committee held on 17^th September 2007. 

It was noted that for clarification, it would have been helpful if in Minute No. 3 of the meeting of the Town Plan Partnership Steering Group, it had been stated in the third paragraph thereof that the indication that Lynes Farm could be used for high tech and hotel development was intended to relate to some time in the future.  The Town Clerk assured members that this was indeed the case and the Minutes would be amended at the next meeting.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the Town Plan Co-ordinating Committee held on 17^th September 2007 be received.

Cllr Heron presented the minutes of the Policy & Finance Committee meeting held on 19^th September 2007 including recommendations at Min.F/4157 and Min. F/4168.

Min.F/4157 – Cllr Mrs Terry enquired whether there was any intention to increase the membership of other committees in addition to Recreation, Leisure & Open Spaces and Planning, Town & Environment.  The Town Clerk confirmed that the intention had been to simply increase the membership of these two committees and there would be no changes to membership of other committees.

Min. F/4168 – Cllr Heron said he was pleased to note the improvement in the Council’s approach to preparing its Financial Strategy for 2008/9 to 2011/12 and that the Council was on target with its budget.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the Policy & Finance Committee meeting held on 19^th September be received and the recommendations therein be approved. 

C/4747 Planning, Town & Environment Committee

Cllr Clarke presented the minutes of the Planning, Town & Environment Committee meeting held on 17^th August and 14^th September 2007. 

RESOLVED:That the minutes of the Planning, Town & Environment Committee meeting held on 17^th August and 14^thSeptember be received.

C/4748 Student Advisers

The Town Clerk distributed to members, details of the eight students from Ringwood School who had been successful in the selection process to become Student Advisers and sit as junior officers at the Council’s committees.  Members were advised that the students, Head Teacher and the Mayor would be gathering in the Committee Room at 9.30am on Friday 28^th September for a press photograph and all members were welcome to attend.  Each Student Adviser would be presented with a Certificate appointing them to serve a one-year term.  The Town Clerk said that, as far as he was aware, Ringwood was the first Council in the country to have Student Advisers working with a Council in this way.

RESOLVED:  that the information be noted.

The Town Mayor made the following announcements:

(1)  New Forest Community Safety Partnership – Cllr Goff Beck, Crime & Disorder Portfolio Holder, enquired whether the Town Council would like him to attend a Council Meeting together with the Community Safety Co-ordinator, to discuss incidents of vandalism and to look at what assistance the Partnership might be able to offer.  It was agreed to ask Cllr Beck to attend the next Council Meeting in October.

(2) NALC -  letter concerning Post Office closures advising that NALC was shortly to meet with representatives of the Post Office Network Change Programme to seek assurances that the forthcoming consultation periods for local areas will be open and transparent and to seek to maintain the widest possible level of service provision to local communities.

(3) New Forest National Park – notice of a Sustainable Communities Workshop to be held at Lyndhurst Community Centre on Monday 15^th October.  Cllr Steele advised that he would be happy to attend on behalf of the Council.

District Councillor Treleaven tabled his report for July 2007.  Attached as Annex ‘A’.

District Councillor Rippon-Swaine, referring to the Core Strategy for the New Forest to 2026 in Cllr Treleaven’s Report, said that whilst infilling, and building on the edge of the Green Belt on the edge of the District were a concern and under discussion at the present time, the important issue of affordable housing had still to be fully addressed.

District Councillor Ford tabled her report for June/July 2007.  Attached as ‘Annex ‘B’.

Cllr Clarke, referring to the T-Mobile mast, advised that discussions were on-going to relocate the mast to a less intrusive location.

County Councillor Clarke tabled his report for July 2007.  Attached as Annex ‘C’’.  He also advised members about the changes in the delivery of service provided by Connexions now that that organisation had been transferred to the County Council as part of the reorganised Children’s Services structure.

C/4751 Forthcoming Meetings

There being no further business, the Town Mayor closed the meeting at 8.05 pm.