PRESENT:
Councillors Mrs J Boulton -
Chairman
Mrs
T Travell
S
J Boulton
C Everard
P
R
W
A Storey
V
Weeks
CLERK: Mrs
J A Schettino
_________________________________________________________________
12. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mrs M Race and K
Pieri.
13. DECLARATION OF MEMBERS INTERESTS
Councillor Horrocks declared an interest in an item that would be coming
up under Reports of Committees, Finance, regarding Calendars 2009.
14. MINUTES OF THE LAST COUNCIL MEETING
It was agreed that
the Minutes of the Annual Meeting held on 30 April 2008 were a true record of
the proceedings and signed by the Chairman, subject to the following amendment:
Page 9, Minute10 - Beating the Bounds should be item e) and NOT d)
15. MATTERS ARISING
a)
PARISH WEBSITE
Councillor Horrocks reported that there had
been 78 visitors to the website since the last meeting including from Abu
Dhabi, Finland and the USA.
It was agreed that in future the number of
visitors to the website would be reported annually at the Council’s Annual
Meeting.
b) PARISH
Councillor Mrs Boulton reported that a meeting
had been held on 23 June 2008 and attendance had been very good. However, only two of those present were
willing to become part of a Steering Group and the minimum requirement would be
8 people for it to be a viable proposition.
It was agreed at the meeting that those
present would go back to their clubs and organisations and ask other members if
they would be interested in representing them on this Steering Group. It was also suggested and agreed that the local
commercial companies should be approached asking them to nominate a
representative interested in the preparation of a Parish Plan and to respond to
the Clerk before 29 July 2008.
c) TRACTOR SHED ROOF
The Clerk confirmed
that work to replace the Tractor Shed Roof would commence on Monday 30 June
2008.
d)
Welwyn Hatfield
Borough Council had confirmed that they would be attending to the sucker growth
as the base of trees in Station Close by the end of July. Councillor S J Boulton said he would monitor
the situation.
e) LITTLE HEATH
Councillor Horrocks
said he had attended the open day at Boltons Farm and the farm was considering
marketing their own dairy products for sale in shops
He also said that
there appeared to be no discernable change to the phasing of the Traffic Lights
on the A1000/Shepherds Way. They were
still causing considerable problems for traffic travelling north as the phasing
for traffic turning right into Shepherds Way was not long enough to prevent a
long tailback to build up at busy times in the morning and evening. It was agreed to write again to Highways
regarding this matter.
f) THREE VALLEYS WATER DRAFT RESOURCES
MANAGEMENT
Councillor Horrocks
said he was following up the above Draft Management Plan for 2010-2035.
g) YOUTH SHELTER
It was agreed to
acknowledge receipt of a further letter from the Chair of the Governors of St
Mary’s School regarding the Youth Shelter.
16. REPORTS OF COMMITTEES
a) FINANCE
Councillor Storey said that at a meeting of the Finance Committee held
earlier in the evening, a Schedule of Accounts due for payment totalling
£12,441.99 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 23 June
2008 and it was noted that income totalling £42.28 had been received.
It was noted that the Clerk had not transferred any money between
accounts in June but that an emergency transfer would be needed for the Direct
Debits and Standing Orders due at the beginning of July.
It was noted that Karl Whybrow, Assistant Groundsman, had been called
for Jury duty for ten days from 4 August 2008 and the Finance Committee was
recommending that the Parish Council should observe its public duty and pay his
salary during this time.
Councillor Storey said that a quotation had been received from MPC Print
Solutions to produce 300 Calendars for 2009.
The cost would be £995 plus VAT for wiro bind or £915 plus VAT for
stitch and trim. A vote was taken and it
was agreed by 6:2 that the wiro bind quotation should be accepted.
Councillor Storey said that the Council had received three quotations
for play equipment for updating the Gobions Open Space recreation ground, two
of which were around the budget limit of £21,000:
Sutcliffe Play £20,936.53
ex VAT
Lappset £21,901.00
ex VAT
The plans were thoroughly inspected by all members and following a vote,
seven members preferred the Sutcliffe Play scheme. This was being recommended to Council for
approval and the plans would then be shown to the schoolchildren at Brookmans
Park School.
Finally, the Finance Committee was recommending that the Scouts should
be given an emergency donation of £480 towards its Summer Camp and all members
were in favour of this.
___________________________________________________________
Councillor Storey’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 Chairman of the
Council.
b) AMENITIES
Councillor Everard said that the Committee had
not met since
c) PLANNING
Councillor Horrocks said that Meetings of the
Planning Committee had been held on 28 May and 11 June 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 C Everard and
carried unanimously, subject to an amendment on Page 1, item 5 which should
read 2008/669.
d)
i)
Georges Wood Road, Bellmouth
It was noted that there was a pothole in the bellmouth of Georges Wood
Road at the junction with the A1000 which should be the responsibility of
Highways.
ii)
Crossover, 4 Pine Grove
Councillor Everard reported that the crossover outside no. 4 Pine Grove
had now been made good.
iii)
Pillars,
The Clerk was asked to follow up on the report to Welwyn Hatfield
Borough Council regarding the pillars outside
iv)
Website Thread
It had been noted on the Brookmans.com website that there is possible
refurbishment during the summer of the Brookmans Park Station Car Park
following which they intend to install pay and display machines. It was agreed to write to Network Rail asking
them to reconsider the pay and display option as this would be considered a
detrimental step in encouraging people to use the railway.
v)
Green Close Triangle
It was noted that there was a lot of boarding round the above triangle
of land although the site had not yet received planning permission.
e) LITTLE
HEATH
Councillor S J Boulton suggested and it was agreed that the Parish
Council write to Highways regarding the poor state in general of School Road.
f) WELHAM GREEN
i) Graffiti in Alleyway Pooleys Lane/
It was noted that graffiti along one wall in
the above alleyway had been reported to Welwyn Hatfield Council.
ii) Allotment,
It was reported that an allotment in Station
Road had been vandalized. The Clerk said
she would telephone the tenant and suggest he reports it to the police.
iii) Piece of Land Rear of Pooleys Lane
Councillor Storey said that a resident of
Pooleys Lane had queried who owned a strip of land behind his house as it was
overgrown with brambles and nettles. Apparently it did not belong to Welwyn
Hatfield Council or the North Mymms Parish Council. Councillor Mrs Travell said she now had the
deeds to her house and the resident was welcome to look at them if it would
help.
iv) Car Park, Youth & Community Centre
It was noted that the car park area at the
above centre had been repaired but not the access road to it.
g) REPRESENTATIVES
ON OTHER BODIES
i) HAPTC Government
Modernisation Seminar
Councillor Weeks said he had attended the above Seminar which had been
held in Hertford to hear about ‘Working Together’ by Robert Gordon, Chairman of
Hertfordshire County Council. It seems
that the
Councillor Weeks said he had prepared a report and this had been
circulated to all Councillors for comment.
ii) HAPTC
Councillor Horrocks said he had attended the
iii)
Councillor Storey reported that the above Forum was taking an interest
in the grazing rights on various commons around the County, in particular at
Colney Heath.
h)
PARISH ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION
Nothing to report.
17. CORRESPONDENCE
CORRESPONDENCE PREVIOUSLY CIRCULATED
TO
1. Zurich Insurance regarding pending
changes through the introduction of an electronic system in June.
2.
THE FOLLOWING CORRESPONDENCE WAS PLACED ON THE
TABLE :
3. University of Hertfordshire
regarding week long planning workshop from 24 June –
4. CPRE Fieldwork June 2008 – 16 pages
5. Welwyn Hatfield Museum Service –
events, activities and exhibitions in Summer and Autumn 2008
6. NALC Local Council Review Vol 60,
July 2008 – 36 Pages
18. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
a) PROPOSED
Councillor Hastings asked if there had been any
further news regarding the proposed one way system in Peplins Way, Brookmans
Park. It was suggested that the Clerk
contact the Cabinet Transportation Committee at Welwyn Hatfield Borough
Council.
b) NORTH
MYMMS BOWLS CLUB
A letter had been received from the above
requesting a meeting with the Amenities Committee regarding the future of the
green and the Burns Pavilion. It was
agreed to ask the Bowls Club to put forward their questions for consideration
prior to this meeting.
c) WORKSHOP
Councillor Horrocks said he would be attending
a workshop on 14 July 2008 with reference to improving the water environment.
d) ALLOTMENT
JUDGING
It was agreed that the Allotment Judging Panel
would be Councillors Mrs T Travell, R Horrocks and V Weeks and that the judging
would take place on Friday 4 July 2008 at 4.30 pm.
e) CALENDAR
2009
Councillor Horrocks suggested that a meeting of
the sub committee could take place on Wednesday 9 July 2008 following meetings
of the Amenities and Planning Committees.
f) MEETING
WITH HEAD OF PERFORMANCE & STRATEGY, WHBC
It was agreed that the Head of Performance
& Strategy for WHBC would attend a meeting of the North Mymms Parish
Council at 8 pm on Wednesday 24 September 2008 to discuss their Corporate &
Community Plan for 2008-2009 which would take approximately 30 minutes.
g) GO
EAST REVISION TO THE RSS FOR EAST OF
It was agreed that the Clerk would request a
copy of the Plan and Supporting Document of the Regional Spatial Strategy if
free of charge.
18. DATE
OF
The next
meeting of the Parish Council has already been arranged for
Meeting
closed 9.39 pm