Councillors SJ Anderson, H Bettison, AE Breckons, GM Elliott, HE Elliott, W N Ferguson, CG Hallam-Baker, EI Hunter, JG Hutchinson, CM Liddell-Grainger, JD Lockie, D McClymont, GE Miller, AH Murray, JMF Nesbit, R J Patterson, LW Robson, FI Simpson, JE Smith, JW Stephenson, J Waterhouse, W G R Weeks and MJ Young.
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APOLOGIES:
Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillors AR Bowlas, DGR Buckle, GP Horsburgh and JN Simpson.
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1. DECLARATION OF INTEREST
Councillors GM Elliott and HE Elliott declared a personal (but non-prejudicial) interest in Item 11 : (Part 2) Land at Tweedmouth Depot.
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2. MINUTES OF THE ORDINARY MEETING OF COUNCIL HELD ON 29TH JULY 2004
DECISION: To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of the Council held on 29th July 2004, minutes 184 – 191, pages 1 – 4.
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3. MAYOR’S COMMUNICATIONS
(i) Berwick Military Tattoo
The Mayor reported that he had attended the Berwick Military Tattoo at the Barracks on Sunday 5th September 2004, where he had taken the salute from participating military personnel.
(ii) Mayoress’s Charity : Charity Golf Tournament
The Mayor reported that a record entry of 38 teams had taken part in the Mayoress’s Charity Golf Tournament on 8th September 2004, which raised a total of £3600 towards the charity.
(iii) Visit by Civic Party to Berwick, Pennsylvania
The Mayor reported to Members on the successful visit by the Civic Party to Berwick, Pennsylvania, and invited those in attendance to join with him at the Civic Reception for a group of visitors from Berwick, Pennsylvania, to be held in The Guildhall following the conclusion of the meeting.
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4. POST OFFICE CLOSURES IN BERWICK-UPON-TWEED
Following a brief introduction by the Chair of Town Committee, Councillor J Waterhouse, in which she explained why it had been resolved to invite an official of the Post Office Ltd to attend the meeting, the Mayor invited Mr Graham Laird, External Relations Manager with the Post Office Ltd, to make a presentation to Members.
The key points of Mr Laird’s presentation are set out below :
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General
• Post Office Ltd’s ‘network reinvention’ programme is reviewing the entire structure of the Post Office network
• 1,000 of 16,000 branches are located within a mile of one or more other branches
• Too many postmasters competing for available business
• Post Office Ltd needs to address substantial operating losses (current year £102m)
• Post Office Ltd facing a series of major challenges, including the widespread use of automated credit transfer and a change in shopping habits by the public, resulting in a loss of income estimated at £400m pa
• The objective of the network reinvention programme is to create a modern, viable and accessible network for the public
• Compulsory 6-week consultation period built into the programme
• Customer input sought on all proposed closures
Berwick-upon-Tweed
• Borough supports 59 branches, 55 of which are designated as ‘rural’
• The 4 branches in Berwick-upon-Tweed are struggling to achieve financial viability
• The Post Office Ltd is experiencing difficulty in attracting people to take over the management of local post offices because these are commercially unattractive
• The Post Office Ltd is looking to establish strong and sustainable new Post Offices in Berwick-upon-Tweed
• West Street branch ready to open, but closure of Castlegate fundamental to ensure the viability of the new location
• No closures until new branches operational, in order to provide seamless service delivery
• Consultation period ends on 8th October 2004
• No plans at present to close any rural post offices – funding arrangement ensures service provision to 2008
Mr Laird then responded to questions from Members.
DECISIONS: (i) To thank Mr Laird on behalf of the Council for his presentation; and (ii) to request that Mr Laird provides the Mayor with proposed opening dates for the new post offices at West Street, Berwick-upon-Tweed, and at the Co-op Superstore, Tweedmouth, and that information to be notified to all Members.
DECISIONS : (i) To accept the report; (ii) to agree to comment on the draft Improvement Plan so that the Plan can be finalised at the Ordinary Meeting of Council to be held on 28th October 2004; and (iii) to agree the proposed format for future reports, and make their contribution to the improvement process.
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6. COMMUNITY PLAN REPORT
DECISIONS: (i) To adopt the Community Action Plan and support the LSP targets for the next twelve months; and (ii) to note the LSP targets for the next twelve months.
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7. DRAFT STATEMENT OF LICENSING POLICY
DECISIONS: (i) To commend the Senior Licensing Officer and his colleagues for their work in producing the Policy, which was recognised as an excellent sample of partnership working between district Councils; and (ii) to approve the Draft Statement of Licensing Policy for consultation.
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8. ADDITIONAL ITEM : ENVIRONMENTAL CONTRACTS
DECISION: To agree to the extension of the existing arrangements for the provision of refuse collection, recycling, street sweeping and public convenience cleaning until 31st March 2005.
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9. ADDITIONAL ITEM : DEPUTY LEADER
DECISIONS: (i) To note the departure of Councillor GM Elliott from the post of Deputy Leader and to record the Council’s thanks for his service in that role; (ii) to agree to suspend the Council’s Rule of Procedure No. 11 to seek nominations for the post of Deputy Leader.
[Note : Two nominations were made and seconded, with voting recorded as follows :
Councillor R J Patterson – 14 votes
Councillor A R Bowlas – 9 votes
1 abstention]; and (iii) to appoint Councillor R J Patterson as Deputy Leader of the Council, with immediate effect.
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8. MINUTES OF THE PROCEEDINGS OF COMMITTEE
DECISION: That the recommendations of Committee be approved and the Minutes adopted as proceedings of the Council in respect of:
(a) Licensing Committee : 4th August 2004, Minutes 191 (A-E);
[Note : Minute 210 : Future Operation of Car Parking Review Working Group – it was resolved that this matter be referred back to Policy (Environment) Committee for further consideration].
(c) Planning Committee : 7th September 2004
(d) Extraordinary Meeting of Town Committee : 9th September 2004, Minutes 218 – 223
(e) Policy (Corporate Services and Regeneration) Committee : 15th September 2004, Minutes 224 – 242; and
(f) Overview and Scrutiny Committee : 21st September 2004, Minutes 243 – 251.
[Note : Members received a verbal report at the meeting from the Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Councillor AE Breckons, on matters relating to the Tym Report and on the Committees’ proposed Work Programme].
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14. EXCLUSION OF PRESS AND PUBLIC
DECISION: To exclude under Section 100 A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public from the meeting during consideration of the following items on the grounds that it was likely to involve the disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.
Minute 265 : Paragraph 9: Any terms proposed or to be proposed by or to the authority in the course of negotiations for a contract for the acquisition or disposal of property or the supply of goods or services.
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15. LAND AT TWEEDMOUTH DEPOT
DECISION: To award delegated authority to the Mayor, Deputy Mayor and Borough Solicitor to enable them to enter into further negotiations with the agent with a view to agreeing a sale price at or adjacent to the higher of the sums outlined in the report.
