Present
Members:
- Cllr Mike Acreman
- Cllr Dan Beauchamp (The Mayor/Chairman)
- Cllr Marcus Harris (from Minute 39/24 onwards)
- Cllr Susan Hendrie
- Cllr Stephen Holder (The Deputy Mayor)
- Cllr Jacki Hoskins
- Cllr Mark Hoskins
- Cllr Nigel Hughes
- Cllr Katharine Keats-Rohan (from Minute 43/24 onwards)
- Cllr Ros Lester
- Cllr Diana Margarido
- Cllr Christine Sandall
Officers:
- Michelle Taylor, Town Clerk and Responsible Financial Officer
- Luke Whitcomb, Meetings Officer
- Arthur Hodsdon, Head of Parks and Estates
Others:
- 4 members of the public
- 2 representatives of Thames Valley Police
- 3 representatives of The Boat House and Greene King
- 0 members of the press
26/24 MEETING PROTOCOL
The Mayor welcomed members of the public and outlined the protocols that needed to be followed in the conduct of the meeting.
27/24 APOLOGIES
Apologies were tabled from Town Councillors Charter, Ebrahimjee, Holford and Pannett, and District Councillor Barlow and County Councillor Sudbury.
Town Councillors Harris and Keats-Rohan had explained they would be arriving late.
It was proposed by Councillor Hughes, and seconded by Councillor Lester, and RESOLVED that these apologies be received and accepted
28/24 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
No interests were declared.
29/24 MAYOR’S COMMUNICATIONS
The Mayor reported on recent activity and news, including a further successful Car Rally organised by the local charity 1155 and the award of Clean Bathing Water Designation by the Environment Agency for Wallingford Beach, an outcome which the District Council, the Town Council and significant numbers of volunteers had collectively worked hard to achieve over many years. The designation meant that there would be increased water quality measuring in this stretch of The Thames.
He also thanked the staff team for their organisation of recent ceremonial events, specifically Mayor Making (Annual Meeting) on 8 May 2024 and Mayor’s Sunday on 19 May 2024. This was the start of Councillor Beauchamp’s second consecutive year in the role of Mayor and Chairman.
The new allotments created as part of the major Highcroft housing development had been officially opened that and handed over to the Town Council. They included accessible units. The opening meant that for the first time in many years the Council’s waiting list for allotments had been fully cleared.
30/24 MINUTES
It was proposed by Councillor Acreman, and seconded by Councillor Hendrie, and RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Full Council held on 22 April 2024 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Mayor.
It was proposed by Councillor J Hoskins, and seconded by Councillor Lester, and RESOLVED that the minutes of the Annual Meeting of the Full Council on 8 May 2024 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Mayor
31/24 ACTIONS FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS
The Council reviewed (by exception) progress on ‘open’ actions agreed by previous meetings of the Full Council.
32/24 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
The Chairman of the Wallingford Patient Participation Group (PPG) reported that at their recent annual meeting, the group had expressed support for the establishment of a second chemist in the town and also for moving the Wallingford Medical Practice to a new, improved site within the major Winterbrook housing development. He thanked Councillor Keats-Rohan for her work with the latter.
A member of public expressed concern at the application by The Boat House public house/Greene King to end their trading hours, potentially to as late as 2.00 am. Individual councillors had received other representations from concerned residents about the potential impact of the proposed closing time, specifically potential anti-social behaviour late at night, causing disturbance for those living in the locality.
33/24 VARIATION OF AGENDA ORDER
It was proposed by Councillor J Hoskins, and seconded by Councillor Lester, and RESOLVED that Item 11(b) be taken before Item 8 as the District Councillors had yet to arrive from their training event
34/24 LICENSING APPLICATION – THE BOAT HOUSE/GREENE KING
The Council considered an application by Greene King to extend the trading hours of The Boat House public house.
Representatives of Greene King and The Boat House explained that the main intention of their application was to extend trading hours at the start of the day to offer breakfast. They did not intend to trade regularly to 2.00 am except on special occasions such as New Year’s Eve.
It was proposed by Councillor Hendrie, and seconded by Councillor Lester, and RESOLVED that the collective view of the Town Council is support for the extension of trading hours at the start of the day to 9.00 am, to enable the pub to offer breakfast, but the Council does not support a permanent extension of the closing time beyond midnight, believing the pub should make single applications to do so as and when needed; and that this view of the Town Council be made known to the Licensing Officer of South Oxfordshire District Council (SODC) via the Town Clerk
35/24 VARIATION OF AGENDA ORDER
It was proposed by Councillor Lester, and seconded by Councillor Margarido, and RESOLVED that Item 11(a), Police, be taken next as the District Councillors had still to arrive
36/24 POLICE
Police Constable (PC) Beverley Kaur and Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) Sue Harris reported on recent policing activity in Wallingford and incidents that had demanded police attention. Some organised attempts to deceive people for unlawful gain, particularly elderly people, had continued; the Neighbourhood Policing Team were alert to these. Some businesses had also been recently burgled.
The youth initiative TRAIN had reported that their new work in the town was going well; a further ‘Have Your Say’ surgery was to be held in Waitrose; and a ‘Pub Watch’ group was being run by the Neighbourhood Policing Team to share information regularly between pubs in Wallingford.
The Police representatives asked for the Council’s help in identifying, and facilitating contact with, ‘hard to reach’ communities.
The Council expressed thanks to the Neighbourhood Policing Team for their work to secure community safety and welcomed the offer of quarterly in-person updates.
37/24 COUNTY AND DISTRICT COUNCILLORS’ REPORTS
As the District Councillors had so far not been able to make the meeting, the Chairman read from the report that District Councillor Barlow had submitted, and which had been tabled.
This report included mention of the designation of clean bathing water status, the provision of temporary toilets to support the ‘Walled Gardens of Wallingford’ event on 9 June 2024 (whilst the permanent toilets in the Cattle Market car park were being refurbished) and the imminent seasonal opening of the Riverside Swimming Pool and Splash Park. The Riverside campsite had already opened. A visit to the Wigod Way Family Centre had also been made.
38/24 STRATEGY FOR NATURE
Councillor Acreman tabled a proposed new strategy, fulfilling the requirements of the 2021 Environment Act. There had been multiple inputs to the documents.
Councillor Acreman was thanked for his work.
It was proposed by Councillor Hughes, and seconded by Councillor Hendrie, and RESOLVED that the tabled strategy for nature be approved as a direction of travel
The implementation of the Biodiversity Action Plan would be monitored by a committee of the Council.
The Mayor encouraged Councillor Acreman to ensure the Council’s actions were effectively communicated to the public in bite-sized packages.
Councillor Harris joined the meeting during the course of the next item
39/24 FRESHWATER HABITATS
The Council considered a proposal by Councillor Acreman that the Council’s attention be focused on freshwater habitats in the town as part of their nature strategy. This included Bradford Brook, the Mill Brook, and the vision for the recreation of the pond in Castle Gardens.
It was important that ‘blue’ spaces were regarded as equally important as ‘green’ ones.
It was proposed that Cllr Sandall, and seconded by Councillor Lester, and RESOLVED that a Freshwater Habitats Working Group be formed
40/24 THE REGAL
The Council NOTED that the closing date of 24 May 2024 for the receipt of tenders to carry out a feasibility review of identified options for The Regal, was fast approaching. Interest from multiple parties had been shown following the publication of the contract opportunity on the public sector ContractsFinder website.
The tenders would be evaluated before they were brought to the Full Council meeting on 24 June 2024. Officers and Members would be involved in the evaluation, including The Regal Working Group (see Minute 45/24 below).
The Chairman explained that there had been a slight change of position regarding the funding of professional fees. If the feasibility review determined that the most viable option was to dispose of the asset, then the feasibility review consultant’s fees could not be paid for from Section 106 monies.
41/24 COMMUNITY TRANSPORT SCHEME
Councillor M Hoskins reported that a new part-time co-ordinator role had now been advertised. The Town Council had received grant funding towards the establishment of a scheme.
42/24 COUNTY COUNCIL’S NEW HIGHWAYS TASK FORCE
Councillor M Hoskins reported that the County Council had recently formed a new Highways Task Force and he suggested that a public event could be organised to which members of the Task Force would be invited.
Councillor Keats-Rohan joined the meeting
43/24 D-DAY 80TH COMMEMORATION
The Mayor reported on the development of a special event to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day (Operation Neptune), the largest seaborne invasion in history to liberate large parts of continental Europe from Nazi occupation.
D-Day 80 was a national event taking place on 6 June 2024. A torch of commemoration was visiting UK cities, including Oxford, before heading to Normandy for the anniversary.
The Wallingford event would include the lighting of a newly-purchased beacon, the reading of a poem written by a veteran, 1940s music played by members of Wallingford School, a performance by RAF Benson Wives Choir and the playing of the ‘Last Post’ by a single bugler. Road closures would be involved.
44/24 RENTAL PROPERTY PORTFOLIO
The Chairman reported that the contracted outsourcing of the management of the Council’s rented property portfolio would come up for renewal during the coming months. The present contract was held by Homebase.
The Council asked for a review by Homebase of the first year of outsourcing and requested that the specification, should the Council continue to choose outsourcing, be strengthened to emphasise the diversity of properties so that detailed costings could be estimated properly by potential suppliers.
45/24 COMMITTEE STRUCTURE, MEMBERSHIP AND WORKING GROUPS
The Council confirmed that their existing committee structure was fit for purpose for the time being. The approved Calendars of Meetings for 2024 and 2025 were based on the existing committee structure.
Councillor Charter had requested to step down from the Tourism and Economic Development Committee, the Britain in Bloom Working Group, and the Community Emergency Working Group.
Councillor Margarido was added to the Heritage Assets (including Town Hall) Working Group
Councillor Acreman was added to the Britain in Bloom (Royal Horticultural Society) Working Group.
Councillor Beauchamp was added to the Community Emergency Working Group.
Councillor J Hoskins was confirmed as a member of the Remembrance 2024 Working Group.
Councillors Holford and Sandall were added to the membership of The Regal Working Group and Councillor Margarido was determined as the convenor.
The Freshwater Habitats Working Group was added to the list of active working groups (see Minute 39/24 above).
The Agatha Christie Working Group was renamed as the ‘Agatha Mystery Weekend Working Group.’
The required number of meetings of the Finance and Properties Committee in a municipal year was reduced from 6 to 5.
It was agreed that The Regal Working Group’s terms of reference be brought up to date in the light of the decision taken by the Full Council in March 2024 (Minute 692/23).
46/24 REPRESENTATION ON EXTERNAL BODIES
The Council reviewed their formal representation on the management committees of external bodies.
Cllr J Hoskins was confirmed as representative on the Cholsey and Wallingford RPS.
Cllr Pannett was added as a representative for the Army Cadets and the 966 (Wallingford) Squadron Air Cadets.
Cllr Hughes was added as a representative for the Walter Bigg Trust/Foundation.
The Wigod Way Family Centre was added to the list with Cllrs J Hoskins and Keats-Rohan as representatives.
47/24 POLICIES
As required by Standing Orders, the Council reviewed and confirmed the following key policies and procedures:
- Insurance
- Land and assets – Cllr Hendrie tabled a revised document to which a few details still needed to be added
- Memberships and subscriptions
- Complaints
- Communications, including press/media
- Freedom of Information – the review of this needed to be brought forward
- Information and data protection
- Employment – some policies were still in development
48/24 FUTURE AGENDA MEETINGS
The following items had already been identified for future meetings:
- Pedestrianisation of front area of Town Hall (Action Log) (Town Clerk leading)
- Policies (Town Clerk leading)
- Governance cycle (Cllr Charter leading)
- Community emergency plan (The Mayor is leading, and this would be a priority once the D-Day commemoration had taken place)
- The Regal (recurring item) (appointment of consultant for a feasibility review of identified options to be made at the June 2024 meeting)
- WTC projects list (as necessary when significantly updated) (Cllr Holder leading)
- IT supplier and training needs for councillors and officers, including MS Office 365 (Town Clerk leading)
- Policy for storage of WTC electronic files and documents on MS Office 365 and the ‘Z’ drive currently by officers and only accessible to them (Town Clerk leading)
- National Heritage Lottery Fund bid (Cllr Keats-Rohan leading)
- Alliance to Reduce Crime against Heritage (ARCH) (Cllr Keats-Rohan leading)
- Rental property portfolio – review by Homebase of first year of outsourced management (see Minute 44/24 above)
49/24 EXCLUSION OF PRESS AND PUBLIC
It was proposed by Councillor Lester, and seconded by Councillor Hendrie, and RESOLVED that the press and public be excluded from the meeting due to the confidential nature of the business to be transacted
The meeting ended at 9.42 pm.
Minutes of the meeting of the Full Council held on 22 May 2024, signed as a correct record
Chairman
2024-05-22 FC minutes DRAFT PUBLIC
