There were ten members of the public present, including two councillors from New Milton Town Council.

Present:

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

In Attendance:

Mr T Simpson, Town Clerk
Mrs J Stannard, Deputy Town Clerk
Ed Fullick, Student Advisor
Nikki Guy, Mayor’s Cadet

Prior to the meeting, the Town Clerk reported that apologies for absence had been received from Cllr W S Rippon-Swaine, Cllr Mrs J Terry and Cllr Mrs M Urwin.

C/5053 Declarations of Interest

There were none declared at this time.

C/5054 Minutes of Previous Meetings

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Annual Meeting held on 26th May 2010 and the Special Meetings held on 16th June, (Gateway and  Honorary Freemen) having been circulated, be approved and signed as a correct record.

C/5055 Recreation, Leisure and Open Spaces Committee

Cllr Brian Terry presented the minutes of the Recreation, Leisure and Open Spaces Committee meeting held on 26th May 2010.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Recreation, Leisure and Open Spaces Committee meeting held on 26th May 2010 be received.

C/5056 Planning, Town & Environment Committee

Cllr Clarke presented the minutes of the Planning, Town & Environment Committee meetings held on 26th May and 4th June 2010.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Planning, Town & Environment Committee meetings held on 26th May and 4th June 2010 be received.

C/5057 Policy & Finance Committee

Cllr Heron presented the minutes of the Policy & Finance Committee meetings held on 26th May and 16th June 2010.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Policy & Finance Committee meeting held on 26th May and 16th June 2010 be received.

C/5058 Communications to be Received

The Town Mayor reported the following:

1. She welcomed Nikki Guy of Ringwood & Fordingbridge 2515 ATC who she had appointed as the new Mayor’s Cadet, and looked forward to her fulfilling the role in the present Mayoral year.

2. She reported that there had recently been significant interest in the Town Council’s Student Advisor Scheme, as follows:

i) The Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, MP, had launched a scheme to recognise the most inspiring and most engaging achievements of School Councils across the UK. Ringwood School submitted as its entry the partnership work between the School Council and School and the Town Council. Twenty schools were shortlisted from an impressive application pool of more than two thousand across the UK and Ringwood School’s entry was judged to be a winner in the 16-19 age group. The Award was received by three Student Advisors in the Speaker’s House in London. They were accompanied by Margaret Olive, the Assistant Headteacher at Ringwood School, who has pioneered the project for the School, and the Town Clerk. She congratulated Ringwood School on its achievement.

ii) The Town Council was invited to contribute to the National Association of Local Council’s (NALC) manifesto for the future of local Councils. Most of the suggestions that the Council put forward were accepted and had been incorporated in NALC’s manifesto. In particular, NALC was calling upon the Government to review the Citizenship Curriculum and introduce new initiatives for engaging young people, such as volunteering programmes for 11-18 years olds with local Councils, shadowing programmes with local clubs and Councillors and a Youth Advisor’s Scheme. A scheme was therefore very much one of NALC’s objectives.

iii) The Town Clerk had been invited to be a Workshop Leader at the Localism in Action Conference in Bristol on the 2nd July and the Larger Local Councils’ Conference in London on 1st December, which would be attended by Clerks and Councillors from local councils from all parts of the country. He will be delivering presentations on the Student Advisor scheme to two separate workshop sessions. The Town Mayor will accompany him to the London Conference so that she can, as one Councillor to others in the room, allay their fears about the scheme.

iv) Fordingbridge Town Council had received a presentation on the scheme by the Town Clerk and, following an article in the national magazine ‘Clerks and Councils Direct’, Sandy Town Council in Bedfordshire had asked for scheme details.

C/5059 Reports from County and District Councillors

District Councillor Heron reported that the New Forest National Park Authority had been advised of a 5% cut to its core budget and funds for new accommodation had been reduced significantly. Following a Government decision to withdraw funding for free swims, the District Council was devising a new scheme to encourage continued use, particularly by young people. Under 8s would continue to benefit from free swimming. He also reported that Hampshire County Council had written to all schools about academy status, outlining the opportunities available to them.

District Councillor Ford reported that, following a review of refuse collections, there would be some changes made in the Autumn, which would result in a change of time and day for some households. However, she wanted to make it clear that weekly collections would continue and there would be no wheelie bins. All households would receive a letter explaining the changes. Cllr Heron requested that the town centre collection not revert to Monday mornings, as this had caused problems previously when businesses left rubbish out over the weekend.

Cllr Clarke reported on the New Forest Passenger Transport Forum, which he had attended with Cllr Steele on 15th June 2010. The next Forum on 6th December would focus on transport for the elderly.

C/5060 Policy and Finance Committee Membership

Following the resignation of Cllr Urwin from the Policy & Finance Committee, Members considered appointing a Member to replace her.

RESOLVED: That Cllr Steele be appointed to the Policy & Finance Committee.

C/5061 Forthcoming Meetings

There being no further business, the Town Mayor closed the meeting at 7.33pm.

RECEIVED AND ADOPTED
28TH JULY 2010