CEMETERY COMMITTEE MEETING

MONDAY 28TH JUNE 2010

Present:              Cllr J. Hart, (Chair), Cllr D. Bain, Cllr J. Godwin, Cllr M. Johns, Cllr A. Maycock

1.           Apologies for Absence

Cllr R. Mills, Cllr H. Wright

2.           Declarations of Interest

None.

3a.          Election of Chair

Cllr Johns proposed that Cllr D. Bain be elected Chair of the Cemetery Committee for the ensuing year;

seconded by Cllr Maycock; all in favour.

Cllr Bain took the Chair.

3b          Election of Vice-Chair

Cllr Johns proposed that Cllr J. Godwin be elected Vice-Chair of the Cemetery Committee for the ensuing year;

seconded by Cllr Maycock; all in favour.

4.           Open to the Public

No members of the public were present.

5.           Cemetery Chapel

              Update on refurbishment works

At the last Full Council meeting, the Clerk briefly referred to problems with the costing of the works.  The successful tender for the works was agreed in September 2009.  At £33,477 it was significantly less than the two other tenders submitted at £55,366 and £59,527.  The Clerk and surveyor, Paul Brown, held a meeting with the contractor to discuss the tender and invited them to review the costing but this was declined.  As the contractor had been used by the TC before, the committee agreed to proceed with the tender but put in place and additional £5,000 for contingencies. 

The works commenced approximately 8 weeks ago and all has been going well. The contractor has placed the compound out of sight and has pulled off site for all funerals.  Paul Brown received a number of emails from the contractor pre-warning him of possible problems.  The first 7 pits dug out for the underpinning works had taken 75% more concrete than estimated.  If this level of concrete was needed for the remaining pits it would add a further £9,000 to the cost.  Paul Brown could not understand what had gone wrong and spoke at length with the contractor, making several visits to the site.  He raised concerns over the amount of concrete being used and the way it had been ordered.  He has advised the contractor on how to overcome this problem and is happy the works are now back on track.  He is aware that the TC has £5,000 in contingency for the project; however, he has advised the contractor that the TC is sympathetic but funds to meet any additional costs are limited. 

The Clerk has received a Certificate of Progress from Paxton Brown for payment of the first instalment of £7026.47 for works carried out to 8th June.

Proposal

Cllr Godwin proposed the TC releases funds to the value of £7026.47 in settlement of the invoice for the first instalment of works to the Cemetery Chapel;

seconded by Cllr Maycock; all in favour.

6.           Allotments

The Clerk confirmed that 3 additional on the allotment waiting list had been accommodated in recent weeks; 2 at Malthouse Court and 1 at the Brackley Road allotments.  This leaves 47 people on the allotment waiting list.  She has carried out an inspection of the allotments at Malthouse Court and most are well tended.  A note has been made of two plots that will be monitored.

The committee discussed the potential of a number of sites for future use as allotments.  The Clerk referred to proposals for the extension of Belle Baulk where a space for 15 – 30 allotments and associated parking has been earmarked.  The application has been submitted to the WNDC and will be discussed at the next RP meeting on 12th July.