At a meeting of PENISTONE TOWN COUNCIL

Held on Monday 16^th October 2006 in the Council Chambers,

Town Hall, Penistone at 7.00pm.

PRESENT

The Town Mayor, Cllr Mrs N Collett and Cllrs D Lofthouse, A Simon, J Unsworth, Mrs E Elders, Mrs CA Bradbury, GL Collett, Mrs A Rusby, D Harrison and The Clerk. Five members of the public present.

ABSENT

Apologies for absence were accepted from Cllrs Mrs B Hinchliff, R Hinchliff, JB Lucas, N Gregory, P Starling and P Hand-Davis

The mayor wished to publicly thank the staff at the Community Centre for their work in preparation and support for the Ladies Night which raised over £700.

MINUTES

The Minutes of Penistone Town Council dated 18^th September 2006 and the Planning Meeting dated 18^th September 2006 were confirmed as a true record.

Moved by Cllr Rusby and seconded by Cllr Unsworth and RESOLVED that Councillors should stay to the Planning Meeting and if not a reason should be given. Five councillors left the Council Chamber before the Planning meeting last month.

DECLARATIONS OF PERSONAL INTEREST

None declared.

COMMUNITY PARTNERSHIP UPDATE

Cllr J Unsworth reported that following the AGM, Cllr Milner and Rev D Hopkin have been elected to the management committee. Mrs Harrison was re-elected as chair, John Wade as vice chair and Cllr Unsworth secretary.

COMMUNITY FIREWORK DISPLAY

The clerk read a letter from Penistone Round Table requesting a financial contribution towards the firework display. Moved by Cllr Harrison, seconded by Cllr Rusby and RESOLVED that the Town Council make a donation of £1000 as before towards the cost of the display.

COMMUNITY CENTRE BOUNDARY WALL TO REAR OF RESOURCE CENTRE

The clerk advised the Council of the costs involved with the surveyor and drawing up of specification from Barnsley Council. Cllr Harrison stated that providing assurance from contractors given that tree roots removed, there shouldn’t be a problem. A discussion followed. Moved by Cllr Collett, seconded by Cllr Bradbury that a proper specification from a structural engineer be obtained and put out to tender. A vote was taken with 6 for this action.

EXPENDITURE ITEMS FOR APPROVAL

Moved by Cllr Rusby, seconded by Cllr Unsworth and RESOLVED that the expenditure items for the General Account be paid.

Moved by Cllr Unsworth, seconded by Cllr Bradbury and RESOLVED that expenditure items from the Paramount account be paid.

PARAMOUNT REPORT

In the absence of Cllr Starling, the vice chair Cllr Mrs Bradbury gave the report.

The film programme has had poor attendance recently but this is a problem nationally.

Following a visit to Birdwell Theatre she was impressed with the day time use of the venue and hopes to introduce something similar in Penistone.

The Clerk added that this week is the National Schools film week and that the Paramount is open daily, free of charge for schools and will be exceptionally busy. The film programmes in the near future is much better but we are unable to secure them on release due to the many live events taking place. Cllr Elders complained about the poor pavement surface out side the Paramount, the clerk is to report this to the appropriate department.

ALLOTMENTS – CLLR MRS COLLETT

Following the recent complaint from a tenant regarding the public using the land as a thoroughfare, the Clerk and the Chair inspected the site. Some of the sites are untidy and one looks unused. There is a long waiting list and a campaign started by the environment group for more allotment land being available. The Town Council does not own any more land. A letter has been received from the Community Partnership chair asking for Town Council support for the reversion of land adjacent the school playing field back to its previous designation of garden land. Moved by Cllr Unswoth, seconded by Cllr N Collett and RESOLVED that the Council write to Barnsley MBC and ask about the status of this land behind Park Avenue. A possible meeting with the allotment holders was also suggested.

SUSPENSION OF STANDING ORDERS –

Participation session for members of the electorate in Penistone (10mins in total)

Several members raised concerns about the traffic and access implications of the building of the Affordable Housing Scheme at Cubley.