Stn report on the full council meeting held on 25th July

There were 10 Councillors (Cllrs) and one County Councillor (Ccllr) present along with three members of the public.
The reflection was read by the chairman Cllr P. Henry.
Apologies were received from Cllrs M. Pacey, T. Barkley, H. and J. Midgley, S. Visivadia, P. Knight and S. Hampson.
There were no Declarations of interest or matters raised by members of the public.
Under Chairman’s report & Announcements, Cllr H. Midgley sent a message of thanks to Catherine Voyce, Dave Smith and all the staff for all their work towards East Midlands in Bloom. The Chairman then reported that he had a to-do list which he would like the council to progress over the forthcoming year and that although it may be seen as his wishlist, he wanted feedback from all councillors in September after he circulates the list to them and for them to add to it. Cllr E. Vardy raised a concern that other committees are putting forward ideas to go forward to a stakeholder meeting for future developments and felt it may cause problems if too many people were involved, he stressed the need to go through just one committee. The Chairman agreed and said he wasn’t bypassing committees and was just emphasizing the need to progress projects.
There were no police present to give their report. There followed some discussion about increase in Anti-Social behaviour of some drivers and motor bikes around the town, plus the recent spate of crime in Syston. One Cllr remarked that crime had increased across the country. It was agreed to ask for a meeting with the Inspector of Police for Syston.
County and borough Cllrs reports – Ccllr J. Poland spoke about the Melton Rd closure and that it should not be more than six weeks as no major issues had been reported. He said that at the County Council meeting a month ago, the leader ran through a number of items, the most important one being the financial one, where he stated that the medium term financial strategy was to save £66m although not identified as yet! Could affect subsidised transport, libraries etc. He continued by saying cutting services can only go so far before no services are provided and that would have a knock-on affect to all councils including Syston. He spoke about the condition of roads in Leicestershire, 2015/16 best roads in the country, which bearing in mind the financial strains, may be difficult to maintain, but would want to keep that. Dave Houseman was made an honorary alderman at the last CC meeting, see report in the Stn August issue.
Cllr J. Branson reported to CCllr J. Poland the flooding on Fosseway, under the bridge, which is making it difficult to divert from Melton Rd.
Cllr E. Vardy reported on his role as lead for investment, at Charnwood Borough Council (CBC) which included business growth support grants, bids for grants and to support business growth in the area, including Syston. As well as to support economic growth, networking, marketing, apprenticeships and more. Some of the grants are available to non-profit making organisations including charities and town or parish councils. He wanted to go out to businesses locally to encourage participation in the future.
Cllr K. Pacey presented what he thought was an interesting fact relating to the number of private hire vehicles, which has gone up but people applying for licensing has gone down. Disabled vehicles may be the reason why. Scrap metal only had one application received.
There has been an increase in the change of premises license, this suggests change of ownership is changing more frequently. It could be that people are moving on more frequently. Finally, he said that charity street collections have gone down which may be due to reducing rogue collectors.
All minutes approved and adopted.
Community response plan – The Development committee had agreed the plan with CBC officers. The response Officers of the Town Council would be the current Chair and vice chairman of the council and Phil knight due to his work with the fire service. This would be available on the Syston Town Council (STC) website. It was agreed to request for the money from CBC for equipment.
Syston Carnival – STC had a stall three or four years ago and it was suggested by the Town Manager to have one again to promote the council to residents, however, she would need names to man the stand all day. She had two cllrs Sue Gerrard, Paul Henry and need five more. Ken Pacey and Eric Vardy thought it would benefit to have a stand.
Skate Jam on Central Park – CBC organised three alternative events with instructors to take place on 24th August between 12noon to 4.00pm or 2.00pm to 6.00pm. How has it been marketed? Facebook, leaflets to park, the Hub and notice boards.
An Emergency Recess Committee was agreed and would be made up of the Chairs and Vice Chairs of council and committees.
Kissing Gate on Taylor Close – It was agreed that a new fence panel would be replace as it was explained that one of the panels was removed due to being unsafe. Unfortunately, this has allowed dogs to get into gardens adjacent to it. It had also been reported that motor cycles are getting through the gap left causing concern to the elderly people that live in the area.
H. Taylor Trust nominative trustee vacancy – It was requested that this item be made a quarterly item rather than monthly as lots of Cllrs have already served. The charity trustee, Cllr J. Lucas said it has to be someone nominated by the council. It was agreed to a quarterly item.
Standing orders – At last months Full Council, amendments were discussed in detail and three items amended. These were Signed off.
Council training session 23rd June – A copy of slides had been attached for members, the chair found it very useful and has to send a list of attendees. The recommendation is that all councillors attend at least one training session per year.
Town managers report – Catherine Voyce updated council on changes and thanked everyone for all the hard work put in by the ground staff, for the in-bloom competition, the award ceremony will be held on Wednesday 13th September. The new notice boards are nearly all up. The Tree panel is working well. The Cemetery panel met twice – its minutes were tabled at this meeting. The Pavilion panel didn’t meet due to cemetery panel overrunning.
The STC needs to arrange a public consultation for the MUGA.
A diary date given for the Civic Event will take place on Friday 20th April 2018.
There were no written Members questions however, Cllr K. Pacey asked about the Councils award status and the Town Manager replied by stating that they were working on this year.
Actions from previous meetings – Biffa had cancelled the meeting, but could confirm that Pat Wright would join that committee as a resident.
Mini-roundabout – Residents are not happy with the roundabout and will have a public meeting to express their view to CCllrs. It was felt that businesses were losing out as people are put off by it.
The Next Full Council meeting will be held on Tuesday 26th September at 7.30pm at the Community Centre.

Fiona Henry, Editor.
For the official minutes of this and other Town Council Meetings please visit their website: www.systontc.org. You can attend any council meeting held on Tuesday evenings 7.30pm. Details are posted across all town council notice boards.