Constable Burton Reading Room Minutes
Of an Extraordinary Meeting
Held in the Reading Room
Monday 5th July 2020 at 10.30am
Present:
George Tomlin – Chair
HillyDobson – Secretary to the meeting
CathyAyers – Reading RoomCommittee Member
StewartAyers – Reading Room Committee Member
JasonDixon – Reading Room Committee Member
JeffLane – Reading Room Committee Member
Keith Loadman – Chair to the Parish Councillor
Apologies: Mandy Lane
1. Agenda.
a. The agenda for the meetingwas published on the 1st Jul 20. Items in the agenda were consideredin the order of the main paragraphs as detailed below.
b. Purpose of the Meeting. Purpose of the meeting wasto decide on whether or not the Reading Room and Children’s Play Area should bere-opened in light of recent Government advice on the threat posed by thecoronavirus. The Government has issued strict guidelines for the re-opening ofsuch facilities.
2. Endorsement of the DraftRisk Assessment and Reccommendations.
a. The Draft Risk Assessmentand Guidelines document published on the 1st Jul 20 was endorsed bythe meeting subject to the following amendments:
i. Insert the fact that a covid-19risk assessment is required by the Government’s guidelines and by our insurers.
ii. At Para 1.a. Insert ‘Legalrequirement that facilities are safe’.
iii. At Para 4.a. Insert theguidance that 1 metre is the current guidance but with mitigation such as thewearing of masks and for short periods only. Two metres remains the currentguidance.
iv. Insert at Para 1 sub-paragraphs:
(1). ‘Pinch Points’ should beidentified and measures introduced to control them e.g. entrance and exit,toilets etc.
(2). No ‘loud’ music to avoid thenecessity for people to shout or move closer.
(3). Sanitiser should be madeavailable on entry and exit.
(4). Buildings should be wellventilated.
(5). People ‘shielding’ or atrisk, including over 70’s are advised not attend social functions.
(6). Gatherings of 30+ people inbuildings is illegal unless the building is deemed to be covid secure.
(7). Groups of 6 are permittedfrom the same family or ‘bubble’ but groups must not mix.
v. Children’s Play Area.
(1). The Children’s Play Area hadnot been reopened as stated inthe Draft Risk Assessment. The decision whether to open or not being given tothis meeting.
(2). At Para 5.b. Children’s PlayArea, sub-paragraphs should be added to include the following Government Guidelines:
(a). Limit numbers allowed on theequipment.
(b). Use a booking system wherepossible.
(c). Signage advising onself-distancing, use of masks and the use of sanitiser.
(d). One adult of a family toaccompany children.
(e). Set a time limit.
b. Measures to be Introducedto Minimise the Risk for Users of the Reading Room and the Children‘s Play Area.The list of measures to reduce the risk to users of the Reading Room and theChildren’s Play Area as given in the draft Risk Assessment were endorsed by themeeting.
3. Discussion of the Implicationsof the Re-opening of the Reading Room and Children’s Play Area.
a. It was very quicklyestablished that the meeting was unanimous in agreeing to NOT open theReading Room for hire and social events and that the Children’s Play Areashould REMAIN CLOSED. The reasons discussed:
i. Under current circumstancesthat the risk outweighs the benefits.
ii. The size and design of theReading Room makes it impracticable for social distancing particularly forsocial events.
iii. Cleaning of bothfacilities could not guarantee that either would be covid free.
iv. Control of the Children’sPlay Area in accordance with Government Guidelines was not possible.
v. Concern was acknowledgedthat the virus may survive on different surfaces for varying amounts of timeand in some cases for several days. This was thought to be particularlyrelevant to the Children’s Play Area.
vi. Concern that insurance demandswould not be met in the event of a claim.
b. It was agreed that therevised Risk Assessment and Recommendations document would be published as soonas possible.
c. Reading Room.
i. It was agreed that theReading Room could be used for:
(1). Committee meetings.
(2). Parish Council Meetings.
(3). To support external eventse.g. the Summer Fair.
ii. Limitations.
(1). The maximum numbersattending a meeting should be no more than 12 persons which may be increased ifmembers of the same family are attending.
(2). Kitchen remains closed.
(3). Book shelves to becovered/closed to avoid contamination.
(4). Recommendations in therevised Risk Assessment are to be strictly adhered to.
(5). Support to outside eventswill be limited to toilets only.
4. Any Other Business.
a. Revision. It wasagreed that decisions made should be re-examined on a monthly basis. In theevent of a change in current circumstances and Government Guidelines then anearlier meeting would be called to consider these changes.
b. Access to the Reading Room. It wasagreed that access to the Reading Room should be controlled by Hilly Dobson asParish Councillor and Community Response Co-ordinator.
c. Tidying Children’s Play Area. It was suggested that theChildren’s Play Area should be tidied-up. However, it was agreed that it shouldcurrently be left as is to discourage unauthorised use.
d. Date of next CommitteeMeeting. Monday 03 August 2020 at 10:30am.
e. Meeting Closed. The meet closed at 11:30am.
Hilly Dobson 1st July2020
Parish Councillor&
ResponseCoordinator
Mobile:07942864354
