HALSTEAD TOWN COUNCIL
MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL TOWN MEETING

23^rd April 2009
At
The Queens Hall
Halstead

Councillor Mr D Hume              Chairman           Present
Councillor Mrs J Pell        Vice Chairman            Present
Councillor Mrs H Catley                                     Present
Councillor Mrs S A Diver                                    Present
Councillor Mr M J Fincken                                  Present
Councillor Mrs B A Gage                                    Present
Councillor Mr M G Gage                                     Present
Councillor Mrs L Hilton                                       Present
Councillor Mr G Howlett                                     Present
Councillor Mrs K A Little                                     Present
Councillor Mr H Messenger                                Present 
Councillor Mr K Paisley                                      Present 

Also in attendance:   Mr J Pike, Essex County Councillor
                                 M C Murkin, Town Clerk, HTC
                                 Mr S Gilbert, Member of the Public
                                 Mr A Bird, Member of the Public
                                 Miss N Morgan, Halstead Gazette

The Chairman, Councillor D Hume, welcomed the public and Councillors to the meeting.

1.         APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Mr M Hawes.

2.         MINUTES
The Minutes of the Annual Town Meeting held on 17^th April 2008, having been previously circulated, were approved.

3.         MAYOR'S REPORT
The Chairman, Councillor D Hume, gave a report on the Civic Year 2008/2009, copy attached.

4.         DISTRICT COUNCILLORS' REPORTS
Reports were presented by Councillors Mrs B A Gage, Mrs J Pell, Mr M Gage, Mr D Hume and Mr H Messenger.  Copies of these reports are appended to the minutes.

5.         COUNTY COUNCILLOR'S REPORT
Councillor Mr J Pike presented his report.  A copy is appended to the minutes.  Mr Pike expressed his appreciation for the efforts of the Halstead Town Council staff and councillors who always gave him their full support.

Mrs Pell thanked Essex CC for providing the zebra crossing in Factory Lane West.

Mr M Gage asked if children's services were becoming more resilient and Mr Pike explained steps that were being taken.

Mr M Fincken asked whether there was to be more contracting out of services.  Mr Pike said they were aiming for re-deployment rather than out-sourcing.

Mrs B Gage asked about the youth centre which had closed down and was told that it had re-opened with a younger age group and was running without the trouble associated with the older aged youngsters.  Further progress was being hampered by a lack of qualified youth workers.

Cllr D Hume thanked Mr Pike for all his hard work during the past year.

6.         PUBLIC QUESTION TIME
Mr Bird asked whether the Town Council was fully behind the campaign for a bypass and was assured that this was council policy.

The meeting closed at 8.25pm

Summary of the report by Mr H Messenger
Mr Messenger reported that he was a member of the Halstead Local Committee and the Local Development Framework Committee.

Halstead Local Committee - he felt this committee had now ‘bedded in' and was functioning better.  Pressure must be kept up for the CCTV system which was promised in 2008 but which has been held up by technical difficulties regarding the quality of the equipment.

He encourage town councilors to apply to this committee for grants for projects in the town.

Local Development Framework Committee - the draft core strategy has now been published and is out for consultation.  One aspect is that future development in Halstead should be concentrated on ‘brown field' sites.