Open Session

There were no members of the public present.

Apologies

Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs N Chard, D Cracknell and Mrs C Ford.

Declarations of Interest

There were none

Present:

Cllr B H Terry (Chairman)
Cllr N R G Clarke
Cllr Mrs J A M Terry

In Attendance:

Terry Simpson, Town Clerk
Ros Bowles, Project Officer

T/0090 Minutes

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 17 September 2007, having been previously circulated, be agreed and signed as a correct record.

T/0091 Town Plan Partnership Steering Group

The Committee received and considered the minutes of the Town Plan Partnership Steering Group meeting held on 5 November 2007 (Annex ‘A’).

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Town Plan Partnership Steering Group held on 5 November 2007 be received, and the actions proposed therein be approved subject to any further modifications agreed by the Committee on consideration of the Draft Town Plan to be dealt with under the next item of business.

T/0092 Draft Town Plan

The Project Officer reported that the document circulated with the Agenda incorporated most of the changes requested at the Steering Group meeting. She is continuing to work on changes requested at the Steering Group meeting. Since circulation of the Agenda she had now moved the various tabulations from the main body of the text into Appendices. These included the tabulations on pages 4, 5, 10, 11, 12 and 31. She would continue to make further refinements until the final draft document was ready for circulation.

Arising from discussion of the Draft it was suggested that within the section on page 11 relating to an improvement in the retail sector, there should be a reference to the number and types of shops required and on page 29 a short term objective should be to seek to raise awareness of the need to facilitate the construction of a relief road from the A31 to Christchurch Road whilst recognising that any construction works would have to be treated as a long term aim. Noting that the main body of the Town Plan would consist of narrative whilst projects would be included within a Schedule, Members emphasised that the documentation should not be drafted in a way that suggests it is the Town Council’s “shopping list” or that the Schedule of Objectives raised unrealistic expectations for the delivery of certain proposals raised by the public. The Project Officer confirmed that this would indeed be the case and that she will shortly be preparing a concluding paragraph for the narrative part of the Draft Town Plan.

RESOLVED: That subject to comments made at the meeting the content and format of the Draft Town Plan as now circulated and discussed be approved.

T/0093 Budget 2008/09

The Committee noted that its role was to prepare the Town Plan and make recommendations to the Council thereon. Implementation of any proposals would be undertaken through existing programme Committees and therefore costs associated with those proposals would be included within the programme Committees’ budgets. Costs associated with the preparation of the Town Plan have been included within the Policy & Finance Committee’s budget.

The Committee was now asked to consider whether it would wish to make any bid for residual expenditure relating to the publication of the final Town Plan or other costs publicising that document in the next financial year. An item relating to the implementation arrangements for the Plan had been included elsewhere on the Agenda and any budgetary implications arising from that issue would be dealt with at that time.

Recommended to Policy & Finance Committee:

That a provision of £3,000 be made in the budget for 2008/09 in order to meet any residual expenditure which needs to be incurred after publication of the Town Plan or in connection therewith.

T/0094 EXCLUSION OF PUBLIC AND PRESS

RESOLVED: That in view of the confidential nature of the business about to be transacted, it was advisable in the public interest that the press and public be temporarily excluded and they were instructed to withdraw.

T/0095 Town Plan Implementation Arrangements

The Project Officer advised Members of the arrangements made elsewhere for implementation of the Town Plan and answered Members questions thereon. She also explained the funding arrangements in place in another town in the district. Following those explanations the Project Officer left the meeting and Members debated implementation of emerging proposals in the Town Plan.

RESOLVED: That Policy & Finance Committee be advised of the Committee’s views on the arrangements which need to be made on the implementation of the Town Plan and the financial implications thereof.

The meeting closed at 6pm.