Annual Town Meeting 26 April 2005

Minutes of the Annual Town Meeting of Oundle Town Council held in the

Queen Victoria Hall at 7.30pm on Wednesday 27^th April 2005

Present            Cllrs:            G Radcliffe(Mayor)            DJ Campbell (Deputy Mayor)

                        J Brookfield                                              DA Chapple

                        VA Chesser                                               MA Crick

                        CG Hughes                                               LG Johnson

                        P King                                                       A Prosser

                        Clerk            Colin Street                          Diana Watson (minutes)

 58 members of the public and 14 councillors were present

 1.      Town Mayor’s Welcome and Apologies for Absence

The Town Mayor Cllr Radcliffe thanked the members of the public for attending.

Eleven apologies had been received.

2.      Minutes of the 2004 Annual Town Meeting

PROPOSED by Cllr Johnson, SECONDED by Mrs L Buckingham ‘that the minutes of the previous Annual Town Meeting having been previously circulated, be accepted as a true record of that meeting’. AGREED UNANIMOUSLY.

 3.      Town Mayor’s Annual Report

The Town Mayor, Cllr GR Radcliffe, gave the Annual Report as a slide presentation and concluded by thanking the Councillors and the Staff for their support during her year of office.

 4.      Design for the Future –

Councillor Robin Veit gave a report on a meeting with East Northamptonshire Council on Design for The Future where sites had identified for development.  Oundle Town Council felt that it would be wrong and undesirable to resist all development, and with care and balance would be able to view the whole picture.

 A number of issues were raised by members of the public to which Cllr Veit responded.

 5.      Finance – Councillor David Chapple, Chairman of the Finance Committee reported on the finances of Oundle Town Council and was happy to give the good news that the Precept would be set as the previous year.  He explained the budget headings and the figures, and that with their current assets Oundle Town Council was operating as a small business.

Cllr Chapple responded to issues raised by members of the public including a request for a partnership to improve and maintain the appearance of the town. 

The Mayor thanked Councillor Chapple for his report. 

6.      County Councillor - Councillor Rupert Reichhold dealt with questions on County Council business that were relevant to Oundle including highways, pedestrian crossings, speeding issues.

7.      District Councillor District Councillor Rupert Reichhold dealt with questions on District Council business that were relevant to Oundle including waste management, traffic management, funding for organisations, cleansing of bus shelters and illegal parking.

 The Mayor thanked Councillor Reichhold for his report.

 8.      Items raised by Parishioners

 Market Place – concerns were raised regarding parking and obstruction and general damage to the stone slabs.

 NHS Dentist - Oundle Town Council had made strong representations regarding this matter and a request for a NHS Dentist from Peterborough had been made.

 Oundle in Bloom – The Mayor thanked Mr & Mrs Simmonds for all their hard work over the years and asked for volunteers to adopt a site.  Appreciation for the resplendent display around the Courthouse was made with a request that this should continue.

 VE Celebrations – Proposals were made regarding the celebration of the 60^th Anniversary of the end of WWII with a proposed date of either 8^th or 15^th July, when the Queen Victoria Hall would be available, and for a Civic Celebration.  The Mayor advised that this matter would be an agenda item for the May Meeting and asked for ideas and information to be forwarded to Oundle Town Council.

Queen Victoria Hall – Money had been put aside for the refurbishment of the QVH and Cllr Storr advised that the Trustees were investigating ownership and a meeting had been arranged to consult with users. 

Police – it was regretted that the Police were unable to attend tonight’s meeting but they were endeavouring to attend as many meetings as possible. 

Affordable Housing – The question was raised regarding affordable housing in Oundle and the Mayor responded that social housing should be included in future development as per Government guidelines. 

NCC Market Town Regeneration – Oundle didn’t appear to be included and this would be looked into. 

Mrs G Hayward commented that Oundle residents were extremely fortunate to have this opportunity to speak up and expressed thanks to the Council and Staff.

9.      Any Other Business

Councillor Geoff Storr, on behalf of CHAT, thanked Oundle Town Council for the use of their premises.

With no further business the meeting closed at 9.17pm