There were several members of public present, none of whom wished to address the Council.

Prior to the meeting, the Town Mayor welcomed Ms Scottie Gregory, an independent member of the District Council’s Standards Committee, and Mrs Rosemary Rutins, the District Council’s Democratic Services Manager, both of whom were present to observe the workings of a Town Council meeting and see how the Code of Conduct is implemented.

The Town Mayor also welcomed Henry Barker to his first Council meeting as a Student Advisor.

Apologies

The Town Clerk reported that apologies for absence had been received from Cllr P Chambers and Cllr W S Rippon-Swaine

Declarations of Interest

There were none declared at this time.

Present:

Cllr B H Terry (Town Mayor)
Cllr N J Chard
Cllr N R G Clarke
Cllr D Cole
Cllr L C Ford
Cllr J Heron
Cllr Mrs G O’Reilly
Cllr M A Steele
Cllr Mrs J Terry
Cllr Mrs M Urwin
Cllr Mrs A Wiseman
Cllr Mrs B Woodifield

In Attendance:

Mr T Simpson, Town Clerk
Mrs J Stannard, Deputy Town Clerk
Henry Barker, Student Advisor

C/4844 Allotment Competition 2008

Cllr Chard, Chairman of the Recreation, Leisure & Open Spaces Committee, congratulated the allotment tenants on their hard work and dedication and said that he was impressed with the overall achievements at all sites.

The judging had been carried out by members of Ringwood Garden Club. Colin Fryer reported that, despite the miserable weather this season, there had seen some exceptional plots on all sites and it had once again been difficult to choose the winners. He was pleased to see that the free wood chippings offered to residents by the Council had been put to good use on many plots.

Awards were presented as follows:

It was noted that Mrs Brewer had not been well this year and had not been able to work the plot by herself and, in celebration of her achievement in working the plot for over 50 years, her family had stepped in to help.

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/4845 Community First New Forest

Members received a presentation from Michael Clowes and Dr Ian Mason-Smith, Chairman of Community First New Forest. Mr Clowes explained that Community First was an umbrella organisation for the voluntary sector in the New Forest. Its key role was to support voluntary organisations and it also plays a role in community development by helping local groups to be sustainable.

Members learnt about the wide range of services offered by Community First, which include children and young people services, home support and repairs, personal care and community transport services. It has a membership of 160 volunteer groups, which benefit from low cost resources such as payroll and CRB checks, use of a minibus and access to the Funderfinder database.

A Directory of Services was available and Members were encouraged to share this information with the local community.

C/4846 Minutes of Previous Meeting

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Meeting held on 30th July 2008, having been circulated, be approved and signed as a correct record.

C/4847 Recreation, Leisure and Open Spaces Committee

Cllr Chard presented the minutes of the Recreation, Leisure and Open Spaces Committee meeting held on 3rd September 2008.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Recreation, Leisure and Open Spaces Committee meeting held on 3rd September 2008 be received.

C/4848 Planning, Town & Environment Committee

Cllr Clarke presented the minutes of the Planning, Town & Environment Committee meetings held on 15th August and 12th September 2008.

P/4581: Cllr Mrs O’Reilly put forward the concerns of traders in the section of Southampton Road north of Mansfield Road, who felt left out of any improvements or activities taking place in the town. She asked if there was any scope in this section being included in the works planned under the Country Towns Imitative scheme for environmental improvements.

As she owns a business in this area, Cllr Mrs O’Reilly declared a personal and prejudicial interest and left the room after making her statement and whilst this item was discussed.

Cllr Clarke explained that the area in Southampton Road between Boots and Mansfield Road had been identified in the New Forest District Local Plan and Ringwood Town Plan as the prime area for improvement. However, he recommended that Cllrs Chard and Mrs Woodifield, who had been appointed to represent the Council on the working group for this scheme, put forward a request that the north section of Southampton Road be included in the improvement works, so that the areas would at least link visually. This work could include new railings, street furniture and paving. It was further suggested that the area between Friday’s Cross and Boots should also be included.

Cllr Ford suggested that consideration be given to erecting Christmas lights in the section of Southampton Road north of Mansfield Road. The Town Clerk replied that it would not be possible this year as the infrastructure was not in place. However, he would put this to the Christmas Lights Working Party to consider for the future.

RESOLVED:
1) That the minutes of the Planning, Town & Environment Committee meetings held on 15th August and 12th September 2008 be received, and that the recommendations therein be approved.

2) That Cllrs Chard and Mrs Woodifield, when attending the next working group meeting, request that consideration be given to including the whole section of Southampton Road from Friday’s Cross to north of Mansfield Road in the planned improvement works.

3) That the Christmas Light Working Party give consideration to the provision of Christmas lights in the area of Southampton Road north of Mansfield Road.

Cllr Mrs O’Reilly returned to the room.

C/4849 Policy & Finance Committee

Cllr Heron presented the minutes of the Policy & Finance Committee meeting held on 17th September 2008.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Policy & Finance Committee meeting held on 17th September 2008 be received and the recommendations therein be approved.

C/4850 Communications to be received

The Town Mayor reported the following:

1) He was delighted to announce that the Town Council’s website (www.ringwood.gov.uk) had won the Best Council Website award in the Hampshire Association of Local Council’s (HALC) Communication Awards 2008. The award would be presented at the HALC AGM on 27th September.

2) A letter of thanks had been received from the Chairman of Greyfriars for the grant of £5,000; the first instalment of £2,000 was presented to them in July. They were still fundraising for the Ebenezer Hall Appeal and were confident of reaching their goal.

3) Members had been notified that the annual Christmas Civic Service would be held in the Parish Church at 3pm on Sunday 21st December. If Members wished to invite guests, they were asked to submit names to the office.

4) He had been very pleased to officially open the new Taxi Shelter in Meeting House Lane on Monday. With the aid of a generous contribution from Sainsbury’s, this was the second project to be delivered from the Town Plan, following the installation of the map boards in the Furlong Car Park earlier in the year.

5) He congratulated everyone who had been involved in the Carnival and said that it had been a superb event.

6) He offered belated congratulations to Cllr Neville Chard on his 80th Birthday, which was on 29th August, and presented a certificate on behalf of the Council to mark his attainment of 80 YEARS YOUNG!

C/4851 Reports from County and District Councillors

District Councillor Ford presented her written report (Annex ‘A’).

District Councillor Treleaven presented his written report (Annex ‘B’).

County Councillor Clarke presented his written report (Annex ‘C’).

C/4852 Forthcoming Meetings

There being no further business, the Town Mayor closed the meeting at 8.00pm.

RECEIVED AND ADOPTED
29 October 2008