Agenda and draft minutes

1.    Town Mayor, Councillor David Bowater

The Town Mayor, Councillor D Bowater, explained the format of the meeting and welcomed all those present and thanked everyone for attending. 

Apologies for absence were received and accepted from Councillors Spurr, Berry, Chambers, Goodchild and Perham.

To receive and approve as a correct record the minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on 18 March 2019.

The Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on 18 March 2019 were approved as a correct record and were signed accordingly. 

AGREEDthat the Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on 18 March 2019 be approved as a correct record of the meeting.

(a)  A brief presentation on the last twelve months will be given.

(b)  Town Councillors will be present to answer any questions from the public regarding areas within the remit of the Town Council (parks, allotments, cemeteries, community events, community grants, street market).

(a)          A presentation was given by Town Clerk, Mark Saccoccio and Leader of the Council, Councillor Steve Jones, on recent projects undertaken by the Town Council, a summary of services and an indication of future town objectives.

These projects included the refurbishment of Pages Park Pavilion, a new Pump Track at Vandyke Road and Danes Way and plans were being drawn up to provide an inclusive play area in Parson’s Close so children with disabilities could also access the play equipment. A Changing Places pod had been installed which provided better facilities for children and families whilst using the park.

WiFi had been installed within the Town Centre to enable members of the public free WiFi whilst visiting and footfall could be monitored.  It was envisaged this could evolve and used for advertising to raise profile of events within the town.  Environmental responsibilities were an important issue and the Town Council set out its environmental ambitions and Council adopted them in January this year.

Grants of £66,600 were made to benefit the local community to continue clubs and regular events for all age groups with the area.  The website was refreshed to include meeting the new accessibility standards with new branding and a logo for the TACTIC website.  A suite of objectives and aspirations adopted by Council would be delivered over the next five years, based on feedback from residents during the 2018 residents’ survey.

Thanks were given to officers, councillors and volunteer groups who worked together to keep Leighton-Linslade an attractive town to live in.

(b)           The Chair invited attendees to ask questions or make comments.

Q.        In light of the Coronavirus pandemic and the forming of the Leighton-

            Linslade Helpers Group could Leighton-Linslade Town Council find a 

            Way of helping with resources or financially to support them.

A.           The Council is supportive of this group and all efforts would be made

           to assist them.

C        A suggestion was made that LLTC could help produce leaflets of

essential numbers for self-isolating or vulnerable people or fund DBS

checks for volunteers when needed.  A Key person would be needed

at the Council for organisations to liaise with.

Q.        Could LLTC write to Andrew Selous to highlight the difficulties pubs,

            restaurants and businesses would face from lack of customers and

            their ability to pay staff and cover outgoings.

A.           The Council would investigate this in the current climate

Q.        Would the Town Centre WiFi reach Bridge Street and North Street in

            The future.

A.           It was planned to extend the coverage of the WiFi and officers would look into this.

Q.    The street lighting on the crossroads of Beaudesert was very bad and

        dangerous. 

A.         This could be reported on-line and a member of Leighton-Linslade

    Helpers volunteered to do this on behalf of the lady concerned.

C.        A member of the public wanted to give her thanks to TACTIC for the

            Christmas Lunch provided for elderly people in the town.  It was very

            good.

C         A former Honorary Burgess wanted on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

The Mayor ended the meeting by thanking all present for their attendance and for participating.  Any further questions could be raised by contacting the Town Council by phone or email.

The meeting closed at 2034 hours.