24/051 PRESENT
Councillors Banks, Dalzell, Gray, Hartley, Johnson, McCulloch, Mears Robertson, Russell, Watson and Wood
In attendance: A Keppel-Green (Town Clerk) and S Curties (Town Centre Manager)
24/052 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies were received from Cllrs Forrest, Gardiner and Lowe (personal business)
24/053 DECLARATIONS OF MEMBERS’ INTERESTS
No member declared an interest in any item.
24/054 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION
No members of the public were present.
24/055 CONFIRMATION OF PREVIOUS MINUTES
It was RESOLVED to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 2nd September.
24/056 MARKET HALL REFURBISHMENT
It was RESOLVED to exclude the public and press on the grounds that publicity would be prejudicial to the public interest by reason of the sensitive nature of the business to be transacted.
Cllr Wood arrived early in the discussion. Cllr Russell left the meeting during the discussion and did not return. Cllr Watson left the meeting and returned during the discussion.
It was noted that the tenders for the project had come in significantly above budget and that a preliminary value engineering process to identify a scheme within the overall budget resulted in a scheme that the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government would not fund through the Community Ownership Fund meaning the main grant would be recalled.
It was RESOLVED:
- to develop a scheme of refurbishment within the funds awarded under the Shared Prosperity Fund
- to seek to contract a project manager to manage and deliver the whole project under a single contract
- that Cllrs Hartley and Johnson and the Town Clerk develop the revised proposals to understand what could be delivered within this budget and report back to Full Council
Cllrs Banks, Gray and McCulloch voted against the resolution.
It was further RESOLVED to clarify that the proposals will be circulated by email to all members and that if a majority of members confirm approval to the Town Clerk he be authorised to proceed but otherwise shall be referred to a meeting of Full Council.
24/057 DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING
It was noted that the next scheduled meeting will be held on Monday 21st October 2024 at 7pm.