Decisions
Apologies
Apologies were received and accepted from Councillors Lewer, Loader and Welch due to personal reasons..
Declarations of Interest
All members were invited to declare any interests throughout the meeting if the need arose. Councillor Cook declared an interest in Item 8 Band Hall, as a member of the Planning Committee for Dorset Council.
Councillor Yeo requested that all individual voting be recorded in the Minutes.
Minutes
(R) Minutes from the Full Council meeting held on Tuesday 25th May 2021 were received and it was agreed that they were an accurate record of the meeting. (Formal adoption of these minutes to be resolved on 10th July 2021)
A formal warning was given from the chairman under Standing Order 2a in relation to Councillor Yeo.
Reports
Officer report 0621FC04 was received and noted, the following verbal reports were also received;
The Shaftesbury Neighbourhood Plan has been signed off by Dorset Council and was now an official planning document.
Business Engagement Phase 4 – The engagement for the High Street pedestrianisation has been carried out with over 1000 people responding. 83% of businesses support the Pedestrianisation. 93% of shoppers are confident to shop, with 75% spending more time on the High Street. 87% of shoppers would support a permanent pedestrianisation scheme.
Training Update – Training for the new Code of Conduct is now available and all councillors were encouraged to sign up.
Football Club – The works are on target at the Football Club for completion before the new season and another site update will be made soon.
Sustainable Communities Action Plan, Climate Emergency –
• The Council is working to improve the energy efficiency in all of its buildings. This will be an important factor in plans for the renovation of the Town Hall.
• The showers at the Swimming Pool have been upgraded to be more energy efficient and the replacement boiler needed next year will be more energy efficient.
• We are investigating more details regarding a Energy Hub to be incorporated in the plans for Car Park 1 at Coppice Street.
• Replacement vehicles when needed for the grounds team will be electric where possible.
• The water refill point is scheduled to be installed soon outside the Town Hall, this should reduce the number of single use plastic bottles.
• We are working closely with Planet Shaftesbury and other groups on other ways to respond and adapt to the climate emergency.
• Reviewing the tree plan which includes the planting of community fruit trees also.
• The Community Fridge which was on the council’s plan has been taken on by another community group and is now active.
• The wildflower verge project had been extended and has proven successful.
• The action plan was on the website with other points to note.
A formal warning was given from the chairman under Standing Order 2a (Disorderly Conduct) in relation to Councillors Yeo and Tippins.
Payments
Officer report 0621FC05 was received and it was recommended that the Council approves the payments amounting to £1417.44 from the Town Council’s current account and notes the resulting bank balance of £570,182.95
Point of Order
Point of order 2b was raised and it was agreed to exclude Councillor Yeo from the meeting. Councillor Yeo left the meeting at 7.48 pm.
Payment Schedule
Officer report 0621FC06 was received and it was agreed to delegate the management of the 3G contractor payments to the Town Clerk to be compliant with the JCT contract.
The valuation and payment notice will be in place as part of the JCT contract for the duration of the contract. The dates for the site meetings (including valuation) have been set as follows:
Meeting 1 1st June – payment expected to be £105,000
Meeting 2 29th June – payment expected to be £150,000
Handover 20th July – balance due minus 2.5% retention for 12 months
Car Park Works – Appoint Contractor from Tender Process
Officer report 0621FC07 was received and the following was agreed;
To award the contract to contractor B, C & G Tarmac for carpark works to include the demolition of the WC block and construction of new Boules Piste stating its reason for the chosen contractor and that the Town Clerk be authorised to take all such steps as she considers necessary to comply with the resolution.
To enlist the services of NTS Surveying via a minor works JCT contract and funding assigned to line number 4915 car park 1 (Delegated to the Town Clerk to manage under the temporary scheme of delegation resolved by Shaftesbury Town Council on 20th April 2021.)
Band Hall
Officer report 0621FC8 was received and it was agreed to support the increased footprint for the band hall and support the band progressing with its planning application, on the condition that it will not cause any issues to the Bowling Club.
Code of Conduct
Officer report 0621FC9 was received and it was agreed to adopt the new code of conduct and ratify its decision at the first formally convened meeting of the Council.
All councillors and staff were encouraged to complete the training available for this.
Summary External Audit Challenge
Officer report 0621FC10 was received and noted, the responses were AGREED for submission to the External Auditor. Full detailed response available here.
Community Governance Review
Officer report 0621FC11 was received and noted. It was agreed to make a full response following discussions with neighbouring towns and parishes.
There being no further business, the meeting was closed at 8:20 pm
These minutes were adopted on 27th July 2021 under minute reference F03a as a true record of the decisions taken and are duly signed below by the chair of that meeting.