July 2021
Minutes of the General Purposes Committee Meeting held on Monday 26th July 2021
Present: Cllrs B Vincent (Chairman), M Holyer, L Hemingway, G Clements, A Stubbins, Cllr’s Mrs J Ellis, Mrs A Wormald, J Sargent, S Walmsley
Members of the Public: 2
Item 1 - Apologies: Cllr S Chamberlain (Vice Chairman) Cllr S Chambers.
Item 2 - Conflicts of Interest: None received
Item 3 – To discuss the problems surrounding Ingoldmells beach and promenade and the recent meeting with ELDC Officers.
The Chairman and Clerk provided members with the details of the recent meeting that took place with themselves, the Vice Chairman, ELDC Officers and members of the Community policing team. The subject of the meeting was to discuss the problems of Ingoldmells beach and any possible joint solutions. Those present were informed by an officer at ELDC that the representative for the owner of the beach had made an offer to Ingoldmells Parish Council to lease the beach lease for £1. This information was relayed to members present at the General Purposes Committee meeting but was not well received. It was strongly voiced that public money should not be spent on the costs to maintain the beach and promenade and that the costs to maintain the beach would be outside of the budget of the Council. Members present strongly voiced their concerns as did the Vice Chairman who was not able to attend the meeting. The discussion did not go any further and the Clerk asked should she inform the officer at ELDC that the Council were not in agreement with the suggestion, this was confirmed by the Chairman. The Clerk mentioned that she had obtained some charges for the provision of bins on the promenade should the Council consider using some of the Welcome Back funding rather than Council funds. The suggestion was not supported by members. The Clerk asked members present if she should enquire of ELDC how much ELDC would charge the Parish Council annually if they were to maintain Ingoldmells beach. There was no objection to the request.
Item 4 - To discuss the adoption of a mascot to promote Ingoldmells identity
Members were interested in the idea of adopting a unique mascot to promote the identity of Ingoldmells. Suggestions were: a pirate, Vikings, a golden seagull to name a few. Cllr Walmsley said that he had already been working on this idea. It was suggested that the idea be brought back to the next General Purposes meeting for further development.
Item 5 – To discuss where to hold future Council and Committee meetings.
As COVID 19 restrictions are being lifted by the government the conversation consisted around if future meetings can now legally and safely be held in the Council Offices. The discussion was met with favour by a suggestion to use the upstairs former Council Chamber as the meeting room for the next Council meeting as there is more space available and a flow of ventilation. The Clerk informed members that the meeting room must be accessible to all and as a requirement of the Disability Discrimination Act and those with hidden disabilities or otherwise should not have to declare them. Access to walk up the stairs could be difficult for some people. This was supported by Cllr Sargent who stated that the ground level meeting room was a more appropriate option and had been constructed for the purpose to include all. The discussion continued with the Chairman Cllr Vincent stating that the first floor meeting room could be used on a temporary basis while ventilation was required and if a Councillor or member of the public could not access the room then the all present would move to the ground floor room. This was not advised by the Clerk who informed members that inclusion should be for all without having to move rooms or embarrass individuals. Cllr Stubbins proposed that the upstairs former Council Chamber be used as the meeting room for a temporary basis, which was seconded by Cllr Hemingway. All members with the exception of Cllr Sargent supported the proposition.
Item 6 – To transact any General Purposes brought before the meeting
Cllr J Sargent asked that going forward at future meeting all members of the Council and Clerk spoke through the Chairman and did not speak over one another.
Item 7 – To confirm the date for the next meeting of the General Purposes Committee
Monday 18th October 2021 (following the Finance Committee meeting)
The meeting closed at 8.40 pm
Signed: ……………………………………………..Chairman
Signed: …………………………………………….Clerk and RFO