POLICY AND RESOURCES COMMITTEE
11th April 2007

Committee Members present: Cllrs C Grayhurst (Vice Chairman), J Atkins, J Hayes, P Hickmott,
Miss A Moloney

Council Members present: Cllr Mrs K Grayhurst, Mrs S Hunter (Town Clerk)

Members of the Public Present: Mr D Calkin

1. Apologies for absence

Apologies for absence were received from Cllrs B Miners, C Block and Miss V Hickmott.

2. Matters arising from the Minutes of the meeting held on 6 March 2007

2.1 Item 2.1 – The Brookland Lake Lease is back in our possession in the document draw in the archives cupboard.
The Clerk has looked at the possibility of the bank holding documents such as leases. This would be expensive and the documents would not be readily accessible for us, so we shall continue with our current way of looking after documents.

3. Open Forum

Mr Calkin has concerns regarding the youths in the Cricket Meadow at night. We will pass his concerns to PCs Dave Riley and Mark Stubberfield and request they visit Mr Calkin.
Mr Calkin also expressed concerns regarding the street cleaning, which is done by TMBC. Cllr Hickmott and the Clerk had a ‘walkabout’ with Dennis Gardner from TMBC last week to highlight the various trouble spots, and we hope to see an improvement in the near future.

4. Declarations of Interest

There were no declarations of interest.

5. Financial Review April 2006 – February 2007 Including Year End

The Clerk presented the year end bank reconciliation, with the accompanying end of year bank statements.
Our year end Capital closing balance is £95355.
Our General Reserve balance is £51290.
The Cemetery is £12544 over budget, this was due to one family purchasing plots, and is a ‘one off’ unusual occurrence.
The hall bookings did not meet the expected budget, although we have advertised on our website and included a booking link. We do have several groups from Snodland who use the halls free of charge. We have made huge savings with our expenditure, by careful purchasing of day to day requirements. The insurance premium has also decreased, making another saving.
The rates reflect the work of Cllr Atkins through the appeal process, reducing the bill by a sizeable sum and we have made savings in other areas, eg mechanical grave digging and less need for building and general maintenance.
The outcome was unexpected and leaves the Council in a good financial position.
Cllr Hayes thanked the Clerk for a clear and precise financial review.
Cllr Grayhurst raised the problem of the floor in the Devonshire Room. Alliance and Environmental Cleaning Services have recommended that it is stripped, sealed and polished, also we need a larger machine to buff it. This should be carried out once a quarter. We also need a new industrial vacuum cleaner. They will be sending us a quote through soon. Due to the condition of the floor, the Committee agreed that we should go ahead and get this work carried out as soon as possible.

6. Requests for Donations

6.1 Kenwood Trust
RECOMMENDED a donation of £100 towards the work of the Kenwood Trust – Section 137.

6.2 Tri Angle Awards
RECOMMENDED a donation of £50 to the Tri Angle Awards Scheme – Section 137.

6.3 Do we wish to continue as members of Campaign for Rural England? No the Committee do not wish to continue this.

7. Any other items which the Chairman has decided are urgent owing to special circumstances.

7.1 We have received a letter from Winch and Winch regarding the extension at the Community Centre. We are unable to give specific dates at the moment, as we are awaiting a reply from other sources. Our solicitor is requesting an interim bill, we can instruct him to invoice us for this.
7.2 The Chamber of Commerce are holding a festival meeting in the Moyeuvre-Grande Suite at 7.30 pm on Wednesday 18 April 2007 . The Clerk has already given her apologies for this meeting.

The Chairman moved that the press and public be excluded from the remainder of the meeting because of the confidential nature of the business to be transacted.