There were no members of public present who wished to speak to the Council.

Apologies

The Town Clerk reported that apologies for absence had been received from Cllr P Chambers and Cllr D E Cracknell.

Declarations of Interest

There were none.

Present:

Cllr B H Terry (Town Mayor)
Cllr N J Chard
Cllr N R G Clarke
Cllr D R Cole
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 Mrs A C Wiseman

In Attendance:

Mr T Simpson, Town Clerk
Jo Stannard, Deputy Town Clerk
Claire Perrens, Meetings Administrator
Ros Bowles, Project Officer
District Cllr C Treleaven

C/4802 Presentation of Grant Aid Cheques

The following grant aid cheques were presented:

• £750 to New Forest North Citizens Advice Bureau towards running costs, which was accepted by Geoff Newsome, Treasurer.  He thanked Members for the generous contribution.
• £150 to Ringwood and Fordingbridge Talking News to enable CDs to be produced for their listeners, which was accepted by Cllr Ford on behalf of the organisation.
• £300 to Hampshire Constabulary towards the Walk of Art project.  PC Keith Waller explained that the existing mural in the A31 underpass had been defaced by graffiti and that the Police would be working with students from Ringwood School to produce new artwork depicting areas of the town and the New Forest.
• £1,000 to Ringwood Youth Club towards running costs, which was accepted by Cllr Heron, Chairman of the Youth Club Management Committee.

C/4803 Minutes of Previous Meeting

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 27th February 2008, having been circulated, be approved and signed as a correct record.

C/4804 Planning, Town & Environment Committee

Cllr Steele presented the minutes of the Planning, Town & Environment Committee meetings held on 27th February and 7th March 2008.

It was noted that Cllr Ford had been present at the meeting on 7th March and the minutes had been amended accordingly.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Planning, Town & Environment Committee meeting held on 27th February and 7th March 2008 be received.

C/4805 Recreation, Leisure & Open Spaces Committee

Cllr Chard presented the minutes of the Recreation, Leisure & Open Spaces Committee meeting held on 5th March 2008.

OS/4980 – it was noted that it had been necessary for Wessex Water to obtain further tender prices for remedial works and it was likely that the commencement of the contract would be delayed for approximately two months. Members would be advised when the contractors would be moving onto site.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Recreation, Leisure & Open Spaces Committee meeting held on 5th March 2008 be received.

C/4806 Town Plan Coordinating Committee

Cllr Terry presented the minutes of the Town Plan Coordinating Committee meeting held on 17th March 2008.

It was noted that Mrs Ros Bowles would be leaving the Council at the end of the month. Members recognised the hard work that Mrs Bowles had put into writing the Town Plan and thanked her for her contribution. Mrs Bowles said that it had been a great pleasure working in the town and thanked all those members and volunteers who she had worked with. She hoped that the Town Plan would bring great benefits to the town in the future.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Town Plan Coordinating Committee meeting held on 17th March be received and the recommendations therein be approved.

C/4807 Policy & Finance Committee

Cllr Heron presented the minutes of the Policy & Finance Committee meeting held on 19th March 2008.

F/4237 – it was noted that the District Council had removed the condition on its grant that the Drop-In Centre would need to be opened on one additional night. However, it was now a condition that the grant be spent on revenue costs. As the original grant application had been for capital costs, it was noted that the Town Clerk would continue to liaise with the District Council and would report back to the next meeting of the Committee.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Policy & Finance Committee meeting held on 19th March 2008 be received.

C/4808 Communications To Be Received

The Town Mayor congratulated Ringwood & Ellingham Rugby Football Club on winning the Hampshire Cup.

C/4809 Reports from County and District Councillors

District Councillor Ford presented her written report (Annex ‘A’).  She said that she was disappointed that only a small number of volunteers had taken part in the annual Forest Litter Pick and hoped that, if another event was organised later in the year, more people could be encouraged to attend.

District Councillor Treleaven presented his written report (Annex ‘B’).  He added that he had recently attended Citizenship Day at Ringwood School and had been impressed with the standard of questions put by the students.

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

District Councillor Rippon-Swaine reported that a survey had been undertaken by the District Council on usage of car parks throughout the District, with usage in Ringwood being the highest in the District at more than 80%.  The District Council would now be considering carrying out a District wide review to address this issue.

C/4809 Forthcoming Meetings

There being no further business, the Town Mayor closed the meeting at 7.22pm