Apologies

Prior to the commencement of the meeting, the Town Clerk reported that no apologies for absence had been received.

Declarations of Interest

Prior to the commencement of the meeting, no members gave notice that they would need to declare any interests at the meeting.

Present:

Cllr N J Chard
Cllr N R G Clarke
Cllr D R Cole
Cllr D E Cracknell
Cllr M F Daly
Cllr L C Ford
Cllr J D Heron
Cllr W S Rippon-Swaine
Cllr M A Steele
Cllr B H Terry
Cllr J Terry
Cllr M H Thierry
Cllr M J Urwin
Cllr A C Wiseman

In Attendance:

Mr T Simpson, Town Clerk
Mrs J Stannard, Deputy Town Clerk                    

Prior to the meeting, the outgoing Town Mayor presented a gift to each of the retiring councillors, thanking them for their support in conducting the business of the Council.

C/4695 Election of Town Mayor

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

Cllr Terry was elected as Mayor for the ensuing year.

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

C/4696 Declaration of Acceptance of Office by BY Town Mayor

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

C/4697 Declarations of Acceptance of Office by Councillors

It was noted that all Members had signed their Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

C/4698 Election of Deputy Town Mayor

Cllr Cracknell was nominated for Deputy Town Mayor, proposed by Cllr Daly and seconded by Cllr Clarke. There were no other nominations.

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

C/4699 Declaration of Acceptance of Office by Deputy Town Mayor

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

C/4700 Representatives on Outside Bodies.

Members considered the appointment of representatives to outside bodies.

It was noted that the Ringwood Tourism Group had now become a sub-committee of the Ringwood Chamber of Trade and Commerce. It was therefore agreed that the Town Clerk should seek clarification as to whether it would be appropriate to appoint Members to this group.

With regard to the vacancy for a Community Governor at Ringwood Infant School, Cllr Thierry explained that the reason he had given up this role was because, under the rules of the Code of Conduct, he was precluded from speaking at Council meetings on behalf of the school. He said that this had diminished his role as a Governor as he had been unable to fully represent the School. However, it was noted that, under the revised Code of Conduct adopted last month by the Council, Members would be able to declare a personal interest on such matters and remain in the meeting to speak but not vote.

Cllr Clarke proposed that the Council support Diana Halford of Burley Parish Council for election to the New Forest National Park Board. However, he asked that Ms Halford be requested to formalise a procedure for reporting back to the New Forest Association of Local Councils.

RESOLVED:

1) That Members be appointed to outside bodies, as shown in Annex ‘A’ for the remainder of their period of office.

2) That clarification be sought from Ringwood Tourism Group before appointing representatives.

3) That Cllr Urwin be nominated for the position of Community Governor at Ringwood Junior School.

4) That Mr Russell Collins continues to be the Council’s representative on the Board of Governors of Ringwood Infant School.

5) That the nomination for Diana Halford of Burley Parish Council for election to the New Forest National Park Board be supported and that, if elected, she be requested to formalise a reporting back procedure to the New Forest Association of Local Councils.

C/4701 Membership of Committees

Members considered the appointment of Members to standing committees.

Cllr Thierry proposed that a maximum of 8 Members, including the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, should sit on each committee. This was seconded by Cllr Heron and agreed.

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

Members voted for membership of the Planning, Town and Environment Committee. There was no vote for the Recreation, Leisure and Open Spaces Committee or the Town Plan Coordinating Committee.

It was agreed to defer appointing Members to the Policy and Finance Committee until after the meetings of the standing committees, as the Chairmen of these committees would be required to sit on the Policy and Finance Committee.

RESOLVED:

1) That a maximum of 8 Members, including the Mayor and Deputy Mayor, sit on each standing committee.

2) That the following Members be appointed to the Planning, Town and Environment Committee for the remainder of period of office of councillors: Cllr Chard, Cllr Clarke, Cllr Cole, Cllr Daly, Cllr Steele and Cllr J Terry, together with the Mayor and Deputy Mayor as ex officio members.

3) That the following Members be appointed to the Recreation, Leisure and Open Spaces Committee for the remainder of period of office of councillors: Cllr Chard, Cllr Cole, Cllr Daly, Cllr Ford, Cllr Urwin and Cllr Wiseman, together with the Mayor and Deputy Mayor as ex officio members.

4) That the following Members be appointed to the Town Plan Coordinating Committee for the remainder of period of office of councillors: Cllr Chard, Cllr Clarke, Cllr Ford and Cllr J Terry, together with the Mayor and Deputy Mayor as ex officio members.

C/4702 Minutes of Previous Meeting

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Meeting held on 25th April 2007, having been circulated, were approved and signed as a correct record.

C/4703 Planning, Town & Environment Committee

Cllr Clarke presented the minutes of the Planning, Town & Environment Committee held on 27th April 2007.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Planning, Town & Environment Committee held on 27th April be received.

C/4704 Representations from Members of the Public

There were none.

C/4705 Communications to be Received

The Town Mayor reported that he had received a copy of a letter from the Chamber of Trade making representations against proposed changes in the work pattern of post office employees, the effect of which would be that deliveries were started later and post boxes emptied earlier. He said that this would have a negative effect on the wellbeing of both businesses and residents of the town and therefore proposed to submit representations in support of the views expressed by the Chamber of Trade.

Cllr Thierry agreed that the effect of the changes would have a serious impact on the town, particularly the business community. Cllr Heron was also concerned at what was effectively a reduced service and said that, as a result, there would be increased traffic movement of businesses travelling to Headlands to catch the last post, going against government policy to reduce traffic movement.

RESOLVED: That the proposal by the Town Mayor to submit representations to the Post Office be supported.

C/4706 Questions of the Town Mayor

There were none.

C/4707 Reports from County and District Councillors

County Councillor Clarke reported on meetings he had attended in the previous month.

District Councillor Treleaven reported that the next stage for the Ringwood Town Centre Steering Group was to organise public consultation and it was proposed that all households in the parish would receive this, in addition to being invited to attend a public exhibition. Because of the work being carried out by the Town Council on the Town Plan, he hoped that the District Council could work closely with the Town Council so as to avoid any confusion.

C/4708 Forthcoming Meetings

It was noted that the Town Plan Coordinating Committee meeting planned for 21st May had been cancelled.

C/4709 Adjournment of Meeting

At 8.00pm it was agreed to adjourn the meeting until the end of the individual committee meetings.

On resumption of the meeting at 8.15pm:

C/4710 Appointment of Members to the Policy and Finance Committee

RESOLVED: That the following members be appointed to the Policy & Finance Committee for
the remainder of period of office of councillors:

Cllr Chard, Cllr Clarke, Cllr Daly, Cllr Ford, Cllr Heron and Cllr Rippon-Swaine, together with the Mayor and Deputy Mayor as ex officio members.

The Town Mayor declared the meeting closed at 8.20pm.