MARKET WEIGHTON TOWN COUNCIL

Chairman's Report for the 2004-2005 Civic Year

Presented by Cllr S J King, The Town Mayor, to the Annual Town Meeting

held on Wednesday 18th May 2005

Market Weighton Town Council is made up of 13 members who are elected on a strict 4-year cycle. The most recent election took place on 1st May, 2003 when 12 duly nominated candidates for the 13 vacant seats were returned without formal ballot. The remaining vacant seat was filled by co-option by MWTC in June 2003.

The vacancy caused by the resignation of Cllr Calvert announced at the 2004 Annual Town Meeting was filled during the year under report by Cllr Diane Peaks following an uncontested election in July.

Following the resignation of Cllr M Gunn in February of this year, an election to fill the current vacancy - for which there are four nominated candidates - will be held on Thursday 26 th May 2005. (A list of current members of MWTC and contact details are given at Appendix 1).

Market Weighton Town Council meets twice a month - usually on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday - at the Town Hall, 2 Linegate. These are public meetings and everyone is welcome to attend.

Public participation is not permitted by law unless prior permission has been sought from the Town Mayor, but Market Weighton Town Council, in accordance with its desire to attain Quality Status and in the interests of open government , has instigated a mechanism for public participation in Town Council business.

The Town Council has determined that each Regular Meeting (usually held on the second Wednesday in each month at 8.00pm) will be preceded, at 7.30pm, by a 30 minute open session when members of the general public are invited to question Councillors on matters of local interest or concern.

There is no need to give advance notice of attendance at these open sessions - just come along and put your question or point of view to elected members.

Members of the public, members of the electorate and representatives of groups and societies are also able formally to address the Council on specific matters. Petitions to the Council and notices of any deputation who may desire to wait upon the Council must be left with the Clerk at least seven days before the meeting in order that the subject matter can be properly advertised. The Council decides, by resolution, whether or not it will receive a deputation.

MWTC welcomes public participation and constructive criticism and is always willing to hear the views of the town upon issues of local concern or matters upon which the Council has been formally consulted.

The Annual Town Meeting also gives the electorate an opportunity to raise similar matters with the Council.

At the Annual Town Council meeting held on the evening of Wednesday, 12th May, 2004 Cllr S J King was re-elected to the position of Town Mayor and Cllr M G Seaward re-elected to the position of Deputy Town Mayor, and Councillors were formally elected to represent the Town Council on various bodies, including:

East Riding and Northern Lincolnshire Local Councils' Association.

Pocklington and District Crime Prevention Panel.

ERYC Conservation Advisory Panel.

Humberside Police Authority, Pocklington Police Community Liaison Committee.

Regional Management Committee of the Citizens' Advice Bureau.

Weighton Area Regeneration Partnership (WARP).

Market Weighton Community Hall Management Committee.

Market Weighton Sports Association.

School Governing Bodies at Mount Pleasant C of E Infant and Junior Schools and

St Mary's Roman Catholic Primary School.

MW Area Businesses Ltd. (Formerly the Chamber of Trade).

MW Christmas Lighting Committee.

Bradley Festival Committee.

Weighton Area Regeneration Partnership

ERYC Parish Council Liaison Committee.

Yorkshire Wolds Heritage Trust Committee.

Members of Committees and Sub-Committees of the Town Council were also formally elected, including:

Planning and Finance Standing Committee.

Personnel Sub-Committee.

Cemetery, Parks and Leisure Sub-Committee.

Annual Garden Competition Sub-Committee.

Property and Development Sub-Committee.

Town Enhancement Sub-Committee.

Information Technology Sub-Committee.

Conduct and Grievance Procedure Sub-Committee.

Goole Swimming Bus Sub-Committee

Standing Orders Sub-Committee

On the staffing side; Mrs Sally Furness, Town Clerk took ill-health retirement in January 2005 after a prolonged period of absence and the process of appointing a new Town Clerk is under way.

Mrs Tracy Simms has been promoted to Senior Administrative Officer and Mrs Mandy Cooper to Clerical Officer and the continuing smooth running of Council affairs during this difficult period is a reflection of their professionalism and dedicated approach.

The Town Council encourages all staff and elected members to participate in in-house, local and regional training meetings and workshops and has provided for the costs associated with this training within the annual budget.

The Town Council Precept for 2004/2005 was set at £109,715.00 - a figure which meant that there was a 3.5 per cent increase on the Precept set for the 2003/2004 year.

The Town Council-owned car park between York Road and Londesborough Road has proved a valuable asset to the town relieving much of the former congestion due to lack of on-street parking facilities within the town centre whilst the general market held on the site each Friday is slowly growing in popularity and diversity of stalls and the monthly Local Producers' Market continues to receive the full support of the Town Council.

Resurfacing work on Providence Row – between High Street and the War Memorial Playing Field - was completed during the year with financial support from neighbouring businesses and residents.

The Town Council, once again, organised the very successful Annual Garden Competition with both Spring and Summer Judging and a Schools' section.

As in previous years, the largest donation was allocated in support of the town's Christmas Lighting Scheme through a donation of £3,500.00 to Market Weighton Area Businesses Ltd (the former Chamber of Trade) whilst the Council further supported the festive event by supplying and lighting the town Christmas tree on Market Hill in front of the Town

£3000.00 was donated to the Market Weighton Skateboard Committee to assist in the purchase and erection of the very popular ‘half-pipe' in the War Memorial Playing Field and the Town Council has agreed to meet the additional insurance costs associated with the new facility.

During the course of the past year, provision was also made for financial support to be given to:

All Saints' Church Flower Festival/British Heart Foundation   

Boothferry District Citizens' Advice Bureau.

Bradley Day Festival Committee

Royal British Legion - Market Weighton Branch

RNLI

MW Community Radio - Vixen 87FM

MW Scout and Guide Hut Management Committee

Market Weighton in Bloom

St Mary's RC School - Reaction Ecumenical Event.

Weighton Area Regeneration Partnership.

Winged Fellowship.

The Council also gave the following financial support;

The Humberside Police-managed Mobile CCTV Scheme which covers Market Weighton, Pocklington and neighbouring parishes.

The Friday shoppers' bus service linking Holme-on-Spalding-Moor and adjacent villages to MW.

The lighting of All Saints' Church tower and clock.

Rural Sea (Humber and Wolds Community Council) continues to occupy spare office accommodation within the Town Hall, and the Council Chamber and other facilities were made available for regular meetings of the Yorkshire Valuation Tribunal, the Regional Health Authority, Age Concern, Weighton Beat, Pager and WARP.

MWTC continues to operate as Burial Authority for the town, maintaining the present cemetery on Holme Road, and with continuing responsibility for the closed cemeteries at All Saints' Church - where the Town Council also undertakes grass cutting and, following the formal granting of a Faculty from the Diocese of York, has successfully obtained 60% funding through the Heritage Environmental Regeneration Fund towards the cost of repairs to the ancient boundary wall - and on Londesborough Road.

During the year, the Town Council applied to and received from the East Riding of Yorkshire Council formal planning permission for the proposed extension of the Holme Road cemetery onto adjacent land and is actively pursuing the acquisition of that land for the permitted use.

The War Memorial Playing Fields, the Monkey Run and the Green are all under Town Council control and, as well as funding grass cutting, routine maintenance, the replacement of vandalised fencing and equipment and the necessary annual Health and Safety inspection by RoSPA, MWTC once again set aside funding to assist in the improvement of the present facilities.

The Council also instigated a town-wide consultation exercise on the current play facilities and possible future provision within the area which was well supported and extremely positive. The results of this consultation exercise have being discussed with appropriate offices specialising in play provision at the ERYC and with equipment manufacturers, sources of outside funding are being identified and proposals will be presented by the Cemetery, Parks and Leisure Sub-Committee to Full Council for approval.

The Town Council is responsible for the maintenance, replacement and increase in the number of wayside seats within the parish and, again, this year purchased a number of litter bins to augment those provided by the ERYC.

The Council owns a small number of street lights within the town and these are lit and maintained via a Service Level Agreement with the ERYC.

Through a similar agreement with the Authority, MWTC has responsibility for the extensive network of rural footpaths, stiles, kissing gates and footbridges within the parish boundaries and again this year continued its programme of regular grass cutting, annual maintenance, replacement of damaged and/or vandalised facilities and improvement to both access and signage.

Following requests at the Annual Town Meeting in 2003 and 2004 the Town Council began, in February 2005, a regular subsidised bus service to Goole Swimming Pool which leaves Market Weighton at 10.00am each Saturday morning and returns from Goole at 1.00pm. The cost of a return ticket is £2.20 (£1.10 concessions). Although the intention is to provide access to swimming facilities which are not available in the town, the service can be used by anyone wishing to visit Goole – and not only those wishing to swim.

The service is managed by the MWTC and subsidised jointly by the Town Council and WARP for a six month trial period which finishes at the end of July. Although initial numbers using the service were encouraging, participation has declined in recent weeks. Unless numbers pick up considerably the exercise may prove uneconomic and may have to be withdrawn.

All these financial responsibilities, together with those associated with the staffing and general administration of MWTC's financial affairs were undertaken during the 2004/2005 financial year within the precepted budget and the Council's Accounts and Annual Returns for the year to April 2005 are being prepared for approval by the District Auditor under current audit regulations and will be available for public inspection as required by law.

The Town Council Income and Expenditure Accounts for the financial year 2003/2004 were audited by the District Auditor during the summer of 2004 and were found satisfactory and to represent fairly the financial position of M.W.T.C. at the 31st March 2004.   

The Precept for the present - 2005/2006 - financial year was set in January 2005 at £111,111.00 a figure which means that there will be no increase this year to the Council Tax payer of Market Weighton for the service provided by MWTC to the town.

As Chairman, I would like to commend the foresight of members of MWTC over the years which has resulted in the Council's present healthy financial position and to record the thanks of the Town Council for the work of Town Hall staff in helping to maintain this situation during 2004/2005

During 2004/2005 the Town Council, as a statutory consultee, considered each and every planning application received by the ERYC which concerned Market Weighton - and also those which, although outside the parish boundaries, impinged upon town affairs - and responded to the Planning Authority accordingly.

All plans are available for public inspection at the Town Hall - a service the Town Council provides and which avoids interested parties having to travel to the ERYC Customer Service Centres at Pocklington and Beverley to inspect identical plans or to speak with planning officers at regular planning surgeries. (Note: The Market Weighton Customer Service centre does not hold regular planning surgeries).

The Council continues to support the planned footpath link between Meadow Drive and Manor Fields - the provision of which formed a major condition within the original planning consent and which was supported by HM Planning Inspectorate at an initial Public Inquiry and is, at present, the subject of yet another appeal which is being heard at a further Public Inquiry.

A similar much-needed footpath link between Walkington Drive and York Road was finally completed early in 2005 following years of campaigning and resolute Town Council support.

MWTC participated in a Standards Monitoring Programme of ERYC Services within the town and liaised with senior officers and elected members of the Authority to instigate and/or progress, amongst other matters;

Additions to the new permanent one-way system in the Princess Road/Princess Close area.

New and improved bus shelters in the town.   

The Town Square.

Speed-activated traffic signs on Sancton Road.

Speeding vehicles and the need for new speed restrictions.

The increasing numbers of HGV vehicles unnecessarily using the town centre and   the need for HGV restrictions.

On-street and off-street parking provision and on-street parking restrictions.

Designated winter salting routes.

Winter salting of pavements within the town centre.

A Town-wide Traffic Management Plan.

The roundabout at Sancton Road.

Provision of taxi bays in the town.

General highway concerns.

Formal lease of part of the former MW railway station site   and adjacent   embankment from ERYC - for use as public   open space to be developed and   maintained by MWTC.   

New and improved street lighting in the town.

Development within the town's designated Conservation Area.   

 The Local Government Pensions Scheme.

 Community Power Wind Farm Proposals.

 Tree Preservation Orders.

 The East Riding of Yorkshire Local Community Plan.

 ERYC Affordable Housing Strategy.

Cllr S J King, the Town Mayor, was elected by the ERYC to represent all the Town and Parish Councils within the Authority's area on the ERYC Standards Committee.

MWTC has a close working relationship with the Humberside Community Police Team and senior officers are always welcome at meetings of the Council. Crime statistics are formally presented to the Town Council and the Council is in regular contact with the Police Team on matters of mutual interest and concern.

The Town Council was also consulted upon, and contributed towards, the implementation of and amendments to Legislation and to Local, Regional and National Policy - including amendments to the areas covered by the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 - The Local Authorities (Alcohol Consumption in Public Places) Regulations, Rural Housing Issues, Disability Discrimination and Freedom of Information legislation, the developing Local and Mineral Plans for Hull and the East Riding and ERYC Managed Release of Residential Development Sites.

During the course of the year the Standing Orders of Market Weighton Town Council were fully revised in line with current legal requirements following advice from NALC and ERNLLCA and formally adopted, and a formal Risk Assessment for the full range of MWTC activities was completed and adopted by members.   

I would like to take this opportunity, as Town Mayor, to thank the elected members and staff of MWTC for the commitment they have shown to the town during the past 12 months and to thank them, on a more personal level, for the support they have given me during the same period.

I am happy to take questions on this Annual Report from the meeting; further questions or requests for clarification can also be addressed, in writing, to the Town Council at The Town Hall, 2 Linegate.

Appendix I MARKET WEIGHTON TOWN COUNCIL 2004/2005

Councillors:    Tel No:

Cllr S J King – Town Mayor   (01430) 872707

Cllr M G Seaward – Deputy Town Mayor   (01430) 871238

Cllr M Frith   (01430) 873637

Cllr M Gunn   (Resigned – February 2005)   

Cllr M Hanson   (01430) 872102

Cllr K Macqualter   (01430) 872761

Cllr L Milson   (01430) 873268

Cllr D S Morrell   (01430) 873961

Cllr D R Needham   (01430) 876969

Cllr R Peake   (01430) 872303

Cllr D Peaks   (01439) 871050

Cllr D N Rudd   (01430) 873708

Cllr J Thomas   (01430) 871482

Town Hall:    Office Hours:

2 Linegate   9.00am to 5.00pm

Market Weighton   Monday Wednesday Thursday     

York YO43 3AR   9.00am to 1.00 pm and 2.00pm to5.00pm

Tel No. (01430) 871430   Tuesday   

  (Friday Closed)

EAST RIDING OF YORKSHIRE COUNCIL 2004/5 - WOLDS WEIGHTON WARD

Cllr E A Burton   (01759) 318140

Cllr M Clubley   (01377) 252472

Cllr D N Rudd   (01430) 873708