Issue - meetings

RESOLVED: That the Committee:

(1)  Allocated £1,221 to Home-start Royston, Buntingford and South Cambridgeshire to assist with costs for providing support service to one family in Royston as detailed in 8.1.1.

(2)  Allocated £980 to Royston Community First Responders to assist with costs for new uniforms and a mobile phone with contract as detailed in 8.1.9.

(3)  Allocated £750 to Royston Choral Society to assist with costs for putting on a performance of Haydn’s Creation, including publicity costs and venue hire costs as detailed in 8.2.4.

(4)  Endorsed the actions taken by the Community Engagement Officer to promote greater community capacity and well-being for Royston.

REASONS FOR DECISIONS:

(1)  To ensure the Committee is kept informed of the work of the Community Engagement Officer.

(2)  This report is intended to inform Members of the financial resources available to the Committee. It draws attention to the current budgetary situation by assisting in the effective financial management of the Area Committee’s budget. This ensures that all actions are performed in line with the Authority’s Financial Regulations, the Council’s Constitution, and the guidance of the existing Grants policy as agreed by Cabinet in July 2021.

(3)  The awarding of financial assistance to voluntary organisations and the use of discretionary spending allows the Committee to further the aims of the Council Plan.

Audio recording – 31 minutes 54 seconds

The Community Engagement Officer presented the report entitled ‘Grants and Community Update’ and advised of the following:

·         Should funding for the three applications be approved, this would leave £3319 for the final meeting of the civic year.

·         It was expected that at the final meeting there would be one potential applicant for a £500 grant, as well as the £1500 grant to support the Free after 3pm parking scheme in Royston.

Councillor Tony Hunter proposed and Councillor Ruth Brown seconded and, following a vote, it was:

RESOLVED: That the Committee allocated £1,221 to Home-start Royston, Buntingford and South Cambridgeshire to assist with costs for providing support service to one family in Royston as detailed in 8.1.1.

Councillor Tony Hunter proposed that the amount granted to the Royston Community First Responders be increased by £240, this was seconded by Councillor Chris Hinchliff and, following a vote, it was:

RESOLVED: That the Committee allocated £980 to Royston Community First Responders to assist with costs for new uniforms and a mobile phone with contract as detailed in 8.1.9.

Councillor Tony Hunter proposed and Councillor Ruth Brown seconded and, following a vote, it was:

RESOLVED: That the Committee allocated £750 to Royston Choral Society to assist with costs for putting on a performance of Haydn’s Creation, including publicity costs and venue hire costs as detailed in 8.2.4.

Following the approval of the grant applications, the Community Engagement Officer continued and advised that the Royston Town Council were in support of the feasibility study to install a ramp on Market Hill Car Park, but requested it be closer to the road. It was deemed that this was not suitable following the site visit therefore the original plan would be followed.

There was a discussion amongst Members on the ramp installation, which included the following points:

·         The Town Council had asked for the feasibility study to be widened, but the financial support was not dependent on that.

·         The people in attendance at the feasibility study, including county, district and town Councillors, viewed the whole area and there would have been several issues with the proposals from the Town Council.

·         The feasibility study would have to have been extended to cover the whole area, as opposed to just the one site, and this would cost more to conduct.

·         Any wider works required would cause further delays, cost more and would not necessarily be safe for users.

·         It would be too much work, and cause too much disruption, to remodel Market Hill and the A10.

Following this, the Chair requested that the Community Engagement Officer speak with the Town Council to update them on this progress and explain that the only feasible site is by the steps.

The Community Engagement Officer updated Members on Section 106 funds, which had been agreed to support the installation of solar panels on the roof of the Town Hall and the refurbishments of the Coombes Community Centre.

Councillor Tony Hunter proposed and Councillor Jean Green  ...  view the full minutes text for item 63