Minutes of a meeting of MINUTES OF A MEETING OF STOURPORT-ON-SEVERN TOWN COUNCIL

Held on TUESDAY 8TH NOVEMBER 2022 6.30PM at THE CORONERS COURT, CIVIC CENTRE, STOURPORT-ON-SEVERN

Present

In the chair The Deputy Mayor Cllr M C Freeman

Councillors C Barnett, J Byng, B Dawes, J Griffiths, P Harrison, V Higgs, B Jones, D Little, R Lloyd, N Martin, C Rogers, D C Russell, D Sheppard, J Thomas and H Williams

Minutes

65. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors T Berry and K Henderson.

66. MINUTES

It was RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Meeting of the Council held on 4th October 2022 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Mayor.

67. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

There were no declarations of interest.

68. PUBLIC QUESTION TIME

One member of the public attended the meeting and addressed Council as follows: "I would like to speak about the lease renewal of the civic I have many concerns Hirers should have been the first people consulted in this process but to date we have heard absolutely nothing from yourselves. Today, you called to say that an email had been sent to us in August about this matter ..all email folders have been checked back to the month of June ...and we can confirm we have received nothing at all. ... as hirers we are the bread and butter of the civic are are not impressed at the lack of consultation which is quite insulting nor are we impressed with your general lack of communication. We have approximately four and a half thousand pounds worth of deposits paid for events this year equivalent to a months worth of bookings and this is on an annual basis. The first is wfdf in february which is huge and which boosts the local economy greatly. At present we cannot say where it will be held because we don’t know. Whatever way you look at it. It will not be a straightforward changeover. If you decide against renewing the civic group lease we would have to consider carefully your choice of tenants as there may be other serious considerations that we HAVE take into account before continuing our bookings. Also new tenants may want to take the venue in a different direction. You say you will honour all bookings however you only hold the buildings lease not the business of the civic group. So you can’t really can you? But if it IS the case that you can, will you also honour deposit refunds if we find we cannot continue our booking there because of your choice? The civic group is comprised of representatives from all areas of the community so has no agenda other than to serve the community. If one or two groups come together it will not be a fair representation of the community as a whole as they will naturally have a vested interest in their own organisations and THAT goes against everything you say it should be used for. I would like to know Have you even ENGAGED with the trustees...how many meetings have you had with them this year regarding this? Most importantly ..what are you doing regarding the two employees from the same household that you will quite happily throw into unemployment on 1st January if the civic lease is not renewed? This in itself is cruel heartless and downright disgraceful. Finally You say you are a responsible public body. If you are why was this lease not put out to tender in February why did negotiations with the civic stop in August? Everything that has led to this situation needs to be FAIRLY and thoroughly investigated so that you are seen to be what you say you are ...a responsible public body. I hope the Council makes a sensible decision and the right one to allow the Civic Group to continue."

69. MAYORS COMMUNICATIONS

The Mayor’s engagements were circulated and noted.

70. MOTIONS SUBMITTED UNDER STANDING ORDERS

No motions had been received in accordance with Section 6 of the Council’s Standing Orders.

71. PLANNING COMMITTEE MINUTES OF 1ST NOVEMBER 2022

The minutes of the Planning Committee meeting held on 1st November 2022 were approved.

72. FINANCE COMMITTEE MINUTES OF 1ST NOVEMBER 2022

The minutes of the Finance Committee meeting held on 1st November 2022 were approved.

73. UPDATES FROM REPRESENTATIVES ON OUTSIDE BODIES

Council received an update from Councillor Williams who advised that the CALC AGM would be held on 28th November 2022. The above update was noted.

74. UPDATE FROM COUNCILLOR B DAWES ON SAFER NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH

PC Maher was in attendance at the meeting and introduced PC Mark Bennett who had recently transferred to West Mercia Police from West Midlands Police. PC Maher provided Council with the following update:

134 crimes had been reported in Stourport-on-Severn in September 2022 with levels reduced since July 2022. Majority of the crimes reported were related to Violence & sexual offences and Anti-social behaviour.
Stourport’s Stop & Search had been slow and legislation had recently changed around children.
A third of all crimes were under investigation but there were quite a few cases where suspects could not be identified.
The three priorities for Stourport for 1st October to 31st December 2022 were Burglary, Theft & Op Holly Prevention, Road Safety concerns and Engagement in National Campaigns. A copy of the presentation was circulated to all Members. In response to a question, PC Maher encouraged Members to feedback to Councillor Dawes any concerns they or residents had so they could be followed through.

75. UPDATE FROM COUNCILLORS N MARTIN AND J THOMAS (CABINET MEMBERS FOR WYRE FOREST DISTRICT COUNCIL) AND COUNCILLORS P HARRISON AND C ROGERS (STOURPORT COUNTY COUNCIL COUNCILLOR)

In response to a Member question, Councillor Martin responded that she did not know if there were any Albanian migrants in the Wyre Forest area. Councillor Rogers confirmed that the Council did not know the ethnicity of migrants as this was dealt with by the Home Office. Councillor Rogers also advised Council that there was a lot of road surfacing occurring in the county. He also informed Members that the Minister of Health was going to change the health system. All county councils would have their own integrated health package and Hereford & Worcester would receive an allocated of 1.5 billion pounds per annum. It would be up to the county councils to decide how that was proportioned. A report had been presented to the Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee at Worcestershire County Council on 2nd November 2022 and this would be circulated to all members.

76. ACCOUNTS

The Town Clerk reported that Accounts for October totalling £50,331.99 been paid since the last meeting and it was RESOLVED that the report be noted and approved. A Schedule of the Accounts paid and additional details was appended at the end of these Minutes, in the Council’s Minute Book, and was available for general inspection.

77. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

There was no other business.

78. EXCLUSION OF THE PRESS AND PUBLIC

Decision: "Under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the press and public be excluded from the meeting during the consideration of the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of "exempt information" as defined in paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act.

79. BRIDGE STREET, STOURPORT-ON-SEVERN

Councillor Martin provided Council with an update on the Bridge Street car park and reported that any updates would be bought back. The information was noted.

80. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

There was no other business.

The meeting closed at 7.09pm