PRESENT:
Councillors Mrs J
Boulton - Vice
Chairman
Mrs T Travell
S J Boulton
C Everard
P
R
W A Storey
V Weeks
CLERK:
Mrs J A Schettino
_________________________________________________________________
86.
APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mrs M Race and K Pieri.
87.
DECLARATION OF MEMBERS
INTERESTS
Nothing
declared
88. MINUTES
OF THE LAST COUNCIL MEETING
It was agreed that the Minutes of a Meeting held on
Page 73, 82a)
Finance, 7th Paragraph, 3rd line figure should be £3630
Page 73, 82c)
Planning, i) Tanum Farm, last line should read 22/23 July
89. MATTERS ARISING
a) PARISH
WEBSITE
Councillor Horrocks said that there had been approximately 3 visitors
per day since the last meeting including 3 from
b)
ST MARY’S SCHOOL DRAINAGE EASEMENT
Councillor Pieri has requested the
plans from the Governors and will update the Council at the next
meeting.
c) PARISH PLAN
A meeting of the sub-committee had been held
and it had been agreed that Councillor Mrs Boulton would draft a letter, to be
circulated to all Councillors for approval, inviting parishioners to participate
in the preparation of a Parish Plan.
d) LITTLE
HEATH
The Clerk reported that she had
written to Little Heath JMI School offering the Parish Council’s help and had
received a reply from the PTA thanking the Council for their offer which would
be considered at their next PTA meeting.
e)
As there had not been a response
from the WHBC the Clerk was requested to write again to say that pillars have
been erected which are about 6’ high and asking if they conform to the approved
planning consent.
90.
REPORTS OF COMMITTEES
a)
FINANCE
Councillor Boulton said that at a meeting of the Finance Committee held earlier in the evening, a Schedule of Accounts due for payment totalling £15,587.67 was presented and after careful consideration of each item it was agreed that the total amount be recommended to Council for approval and payment in full.
Consideration
had been given to a Statement of Balances held with the National Westminster
Bank plc as at
Consideration
had also been given to a Statement of Balances held at the Nat West Bank as at
Approval was
recommended for the Clerk’s action in transferring £15,000 from the Council’s
reserve account to current account on
The Finance
Committee was recommending that the three ADT Fire & Security maintenance
contracts for the burglar alarms in the Council Office, Burns Pavilion and
Tractor & Equipment Shed should be cancelled as annual maintenance had been
agreed for all three alarms with B Alert for £160.
Councillor
Boulton said that a revised estimate for the repair, rather than improvement,
for the roof of the shed had been requested and on receipt of that
The Finance
Committee had noted that National pay negotiations were still in progress but
that the new mileage and allowance rates for 2008/09 had been agreed with effect
from
Councillor
Boulton said that it had also been noted that the date for submission of the
Annual Audit Return to BDO Stoy Hayward had been brought forward to
___________________________________________________________
Councillor Boulton’s proposal that the Report of the Finance
Committee be adopted was seconded by Councillor C Everard and carried
unanimously.
The originals of the Schedule of Accounts for payment referred to above were signed by Councillor Mrs J Boulton in her capacity as Vice Chairman of the Council.
b) AMENITIES AND
BUILDING DEVELOPMENT
Councillor Everard said that a Meeting of this Committee had been
held on
_________________________________________________________
Councillor Everard’s proposal that the minutes of the Amenities and Building Development Committee be adopted was seconded by Councillor R Horrocks and unanimously agreed.
__________________________________________________________
MATTERS
ARISING:
Youth Shelter
Councillor Everard said that the youth shelter had been erected on 23 April but not without difficulty as the delivery lorry became stuck in the mud and most of the day was taken in trying to tow the lorry free and unload the shelters. His proposal that the groundsmen be thanked for their hard work was unanimously agreed. It was also noted that the safety surface had not yet been put down.
Tractor Shed
Rood
As previously
stated a new estimate for simple repair rather than improvement to the roof had
been received from J Farenden for £4,900.
However, the Clerk said that the groundsmen had expressed an interest in a metal replacement building, maybe bought on a piece by piece basis to eventually cover the whole yard. Following a discussions it was pointed out that any new buildings would need planning permission which could take some months and as the stolen equipment would need to be replaced soon it was felt that the repair to the roof was fairly urgent. It was finally agreed to ask J Farenden for a further roof quotation for profiled steel sheet, bolted on the inside and with a no-condensation insulation.
It was also agreed that, as the matter was considered urgent, if the cost came in at under £10,000 the Clerk and Chairmen of the Amenities and Finance Committees could authorise the progression of this work.
c) PLANNING
Councillor Horrocks said that a Meeting of the Planning Committee had been held on 16 April 2008 the Minutes of which, together with notes of the decisions reached and action taken, had been copied to all Councillors.
____________________________________________________________
Councillor Horrocks’ proposal that the Report of the Planning
Committee be adopted was seconded by Councillor Mrs T Travell and carried
unanimously.
MATTERS
ARISING
i)
Councillor Horrocks reported that
he would be attending the WHBC Planning Meeting on
ii)
Accommodation Needs of
Gypsies and Travellers
Councillor
Horrocks said that he had received a tribute from Grant Shapps for the detailed
and accurate information when the Green Belt Society objected to the above
plans.
d)
i) Pine Grove
Councillor Everard said that there were a number of potholes in Pine
Grove at the junction with
ii) A1000
Councillor Weeks reported that there was a large pothole on the A1000
road at the junction with
iii) Bollard, Bradmore
Green
Councillor S J Boulton said he had taken a photo of the damaged bollard previously reported by the Clerk and sent it to Serco requesting its removal.
iv) Trees, Station Close near
Hairdressers
Councillor S J Boulton said that the above trees had a number of suckers at the bottom which would need to be removed. The Clerk will contact the Arborologist at WHBC.
e) LITTLE
HEATH
Nothing to report.
f) WELHAM
GREEN
Nothing to
report.
g) REPRESENTATIVES ON OTHER BODIES AND
ORGANIZATIONS
Nothing to
report
h)
PARISH ENVIRONMENTAL
ACTION PLAN
Councillor Horrocks said he had met with Richard Turner, the new Environment Manager replacing Graham Willson at the RVC, to discuss parking and proposals by the PEAP for upgrading the footpath to a cycle path between the main campus and Boltons Farm.
91.
CORRESPONDENCE
CORRESPONDENCE PREVIOUSLY CIRCULATED TO ALL
COUNCILLORS:
1.
HCC notice of temporary closing
of
2. HAPTC Newsletter March 2008
3.
Letter
4.
Letter
5.
Minutes of a meeting of Borough,
Parish & town Councils held on
6.
Notification from
THE
FOLLOWING CORRESPONDENCE WAS PLACED ON THE TABLE :
7. BDO Stoy Hayward Local Council Briefing Spring 2008
8. CPRE Countryside Voice Spring 2008 – 59 pages
9. Project Manager Today April 2008 – 35 pages
10.
HCC notification of site visit
to land off
11.
Community Care Guide – 36
pages
12.
WHBC Draft Supplementary
Planning Document,
13.
CDA for Herts newsletter April
2008 – 9 pages
14.
Herts Policing Authority –
Hertfordshire Policing Plan 2008/11 -18 pages
15.
Minutes of WHBC Standards
Committee Meeting on
16.
17.
Stop Stansted new
leaflet
18.
NALC Conference 2008 information
and booking form
92. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
a)
WELWYN HATFIELD ASSOCIATION
OF LOCAL COUNCILS
The Clerk said
that she had been contacted by WHBC who had a vacancy on its Standards Committee
for another representative of the above association. A memo had been sent to all Parish
Councillors but regretfully most were too busy to take on further work. It was agreed to ask Councillor Mrs Race
if she would like to take on this position.
b) LOCAL DEVELOPMENT FRAMEWORK, CORE STRATEGY
Councillor
Horrocks reported that there would be a drop in event with regard to the above
on
b)
WELWYN HATFIELD BOROUGH
COUNCIL – AGM
It was noted
that the AGM would be held on
c)
HATFIELD TOWN COUNCIL –
CLERK’S RETIREMENT
It was noted
that Peter Clark, Clerk of Hatfield Town Council was retiring on
d)
HAPTC COUNCILLOR
TRAINING
The Clerk was
requested to reserve a place on the Councillor Training Course on
93.
DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The Annual Meeting of the Council has already
been arranged for
A
vote of thanks to Vice Chairman Councillor Mrs Boulton for taking the meeting at
short notice was proposed and unanimously agreed.
Meeting closed at 8.50
pm