Open Session – there were no members of the public present.

Present:

Cllr B H Terry (Chairman)
Cllr N J Chard
Cllr C Ford

In Attendance:

Terry Simpson, Town Clerk
Ros Bowles, Project Officer

T/0068 Apologies

Apologies had been received from Cllrs N Clarke and D Cracknell.

T/0069 Declarations of Interest

There were none.

T/0070 Minutes

Resolved: That the minutes of the meeting held on 18th February 2007, having been previously circulated, be agreed and signed as a correct record.

T/0071 Town Plan Partnership Steering Group

The Committee received and considered the Minutes of the Town Plan Partnership Steering Group meeting held on 16th April 2007, a copy of which with it’s Annex A; being the Project Officer’s Progress Report; is attached as Annex 1 to these Minutes.

Arising from discussion of the Minutes the Committee noted that a number of residents had commented about the need to introduce one-way traffic in the High Street rather than a pedestrianisation scheme.  It was noted that if there were some serious proposals to undertake significant changes to use of the highways in the Town Centre, a full traffic management strategy survey would need to be undertaken so that all options could be considered. 

The Committee also noted and agreed that the Economy Focus Group should pursue investigations into usage of land adjoining the A31 and also that subject to the outcome of investigations being undertaken by the Project Officer; the list of business addresses within the BH24 postcode area should be purchased from Thompson’s Yellow Pages.

RESOLVED:  That the Minutes of the Town Plan Partnership Steering Group be received and the action proposed therein be approved.

T/0072 Public Consultation

The Project Officer reported that as a result of lack of publicity the first Open Evening on 29th March had not been well attended.  However, the event at the Elm Tree had over 65 visitors.  Notwithstanding the publicity in this case there were few visitors again in the 25-40 year old age group.  Nonetheless there continued to be a consistency in responses received from visitors and these echoed the same sentiments as had been reported previously to Members.  In addition four persons who had attended the Open Evening had volunteered to serve on Town Plan Focus Groups.

RESOLVED:  That the report be received.

The Committee were pleased to receive the notes of the Signage Group meeting held on 12th April and noted the significant progress being made in a number of areas.  It was hoped that subject to the outcome of further discussions with other bodies it would be possible to come forward with recommendations for implementation during the course of the summer.

It was noted  that this Committee and also the Partnership Steering Group had now been included on the Council’s overall schedule of meetings and that the next meeting of this Committee was programmed for 21st May 2007 at 4pm.