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
_________________________________________________________________
68. APOLOGIES
FOR ABSENCE
Apologies for
absence were received from Councillors Mrs M Race and
K Pieri.
69. DECLARATION OF MEMBERS INTERESTS
There were no declarations of
members interests.
70. MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING
It was agreed that the Minutes of a
Meeting held on
71. MATTERS
ARISING
a) FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT
Terms of Reference
for the Planning Committee prepared by Councillor Horrocks were circulated to
all Councillors for approval. Following
a minor amendment Councillor Horrocks’ proposal that the Terms of Reference be
adopted by the Council was seconded by Councillor Everard and unanimously
agreed.
b)
It was noted that local
MP Grant Shapps has an appointment to meet with the Managing Director of First
Capital Direct regarding the introduction of charges for parking at the
It was being
reported that the North Mymms Parish Council had rejected an opportunity to
renew the lease of the car park when in fact the lease had never been made available
to the Parish Council at any time.
Following a
discussion regarding an article in the local newspaper which highlighted that
there would be an increase in parking fees on an already empty car park and
that the ticket office hours were to be reduced coupled with the state of the
trains, it was agreed that Councillor S J Boulton, himself a rail user, would
write a letter on behalf of the Parish Council.
c) PURCHASE OF LAND, LITTLE HEATH
The Clerk reported
that Mr R Dixon on behalf of the Potters Bar Congregation of Jehovah’s
Witnesses was requesting the Parish Council to instruct the Playground Services
to re-locate the tyre swing on receipt of a donation covering the cost of the
work. It was agreed that the Parish
Council would do this to ensure that the guarantee for the work remained with
the Parish Council.
d)
Councillor
Horrocks reported that ‘police speed check’ signs had been erected on
e)
A full response
had been received from Graham Bury on all the Highway matters raised within the
parish. Highways were also investigating
the problems in
f) WHALC
Councillor Vivian
Weeks reported that he was liaising with brokers to obtain the best possible
quotation for the North Mymms Parish Council’s business for comparison with its
present insurers.
Councillor S J
Boulton agreed to conduct a new valuation on the Councils buildings in order to
ensure the best possible insurance coverage.
g) CALENDARS 2008
It was agreed to
stop the sale of Calendars at the end of January 2009. It was hoped to cover the costs of the
production of the Calendars but agreed that the exercise would not be repeated
next year.
72. 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
for payment totalling £12,084.73 had been presented (and was being recommended
for approval) split between £6,222.25 which had already been paid with the
balance of £5,862.48 now being due for payment.
Consideration was given to a
Statement of Balances held with the National Westminster Bank plc as at
A draft letter
in response to the Welwyn Hatfield Council’s letter requesting notification of
the Council’s precept and estimated expenditure for 2009/ 2010 had been
considered and it was being recommended to council for approval.
The Finance Committee also noted
Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council’s Special Expenses for 2009/2010, a scribe
report showing the Parish Councils financial position as at the end of December
2008 and the NALC pay claim for 2009/10 asking for an increase of at least the
level of inflation.
Councillor
Storey said that it was agreed to recommend to Council that the following
donations be made to local organizations under Section 137 of the LGA 1972 :
Little
Heath Parish Hall 300.00
Little
Heather Club 225.00
Isabel
Hospice 400.00
Welwyn
Hatfield Citizens Advice Bureau 450.00
Rotary
Club of Brookmans Park 300.00
St
Mary’s Church Carers 250.00
Herts
Air Ambulance Appeal 150.00
3875.00
The Finance
Committee resolved that it be recommended that no changes be made to the
Financial Regulations but that they be reviewed at this meeting each year.
Councillor Storey’s proposal that the
Report of the Finance Committee be adopted was seconded by Councillor 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
last Meeting of this Committee had been held on
The following matters were
discussed:
i) North Mymms Bowls Club
Councillor
Everard said that the huge task of cutting the hedge around the
ii) Barnbeth
An e-mail had
been received from the occupiers of the above and following a discussion it was
agreed that Councillor Everard, Chairman of the Amenities and Building
Development Committee would look into the matter.
c) PLANNING
Councillor Horrocks said that a meeting
of the Planning Committee had been held on 7 January 2009, 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.
The following matters were discussed:
i) Hertsmere
Local Development Framework
Councillor Horrocks had read the above
document on behalf of the North Mymms Parish Council and was recommending that
no further comment should be made.
ii) Welwyn
Hatfield Planning DataSpace On-line Consult
Councillor W A Storey said that he and the
Clerk had attended the above On-line demonstration on
However, at a meeting of the Welwyn Hatfield
Association of Local Councils last year, Mr C Conway had promised to look into
what additional equipment would be necessary for Town and Parish Councils to
use this On-line Consult and if possible to provide some funding towards it. Mr Conway had never responded and the
Planning Systems Manager at WHBC was not aware of it.
It was agreed that a letter should be sent to
Mr Conway reminding him of his comments and to highlight that without
additional equipment the planned On-line Consult from
d)
i) The
In answer to a query from
Councillor Hastings it was recommended that Highways be contacted with regard
to gritting or salting the above site.
ii) One-Way System,
Councillor Hastings said that the
governors at
Councillor Mrs J Boulton queried
whether the School had a Green Travel Plan?
iii) Hoarding in Station Road
It was noted that the above
hoarding had been painted green and that the developers had lodged an appeal
which was scheduled for
iv) Gobions
Wood Handover
A note had been received from
Bernard Spatz informing the Council that Herts & Middlesex Wildlife Trust
want to hold a ceremony to mark the hand-over to them of the wood from Gobions
Woodland Trust, to take place within walking distance of the car park,
provisionally at 11.30 am on Friday 20 March, and were inviting the Chairman
and other Councillors and staff to attend.
They were also
offering to provide and install a bench seat for the Parish Council, free of
charge, in Moffats Open Space about half way along the north side of the field
by the hedge.
Following a discussion the Parish
Council agreed to respond that the Chairman and some Councillors will be
delighted to be present at the handing over ceremony and accepted with alacrity
the offer of the bench,
e) LITTLE HEATH
Nothing to
report.
f) WELHAM GREEN
i)
Bus
Shelter -
Councillor Hastings said he had been approached by parishioners regarding
the provision of a bus shelter at the above site and the North Mymms Parish
Council agreed to write to WHBC and ask for one.
g) REPRESENTATIVES ON OTHER BODIES
Nothing to report.
h) PARISH ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION PLAN
Councillor Horrocks said that he had
met that day with Sentry Farms and the Rights of Way officer at a footpath just
off
73. PARISH PLAN
Councillor Mrs Boulton said that
there had been good representation at a meeting of the above on
74. GOBIONS ACCESS
It has been suggested by members of the
Gobions Woodland Trust that the access road to Gobions car park be named ‘
75. CORRESPONDENCE
CORRESPONDENCE
PREVIOUSLY CIRCULATED TO
1.
Herts Highways 5 January 2009 notice of temporary
closure of
2.
Welwyn Hatfield Association of Local Councils
report on the meeting of the WHBC Standards Committee attended by
representative Peter Neville (Welwyn Parish Council)
3.
Clerks & Councils Direct January 2009, issue
61 – 32 pages
THE FOLLOWING CORRESPONDENCE WAS
PLACED ON THE TABLE :
4.
SLCC The Clerk January 2009 – 32 pages
5.
6.
WHBC Notice of meeting
7.
76. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
a) ANNUAL PUBLIC MEETING
Councillors V Weeks and R Horrocks suggested
a couple of items to re-invigorate the Annual Public Meeting in March.
b) ROTARY CLUB OF
Following a query from the Rotary
Club of Brookmans Park it was agreed that as our members were under the
impression that this was a community event / voluntary excise at no cost to the
community, the Parish Council could not agree any rental charge for pitches but
it had no objection to donations being collected. The Parish Council also agreed to meet the
organizers on site if they so wished.
c) BOROUGH, PARISH
It was agreed that the Chairman,
Councillor Mrs J Boulton, would attend the above workshop on 10 February at
Campus West for
d) CLERKS ANNUAL LEAVE
Approval was given to the Clerk’s
request for annual leave dates from her 2009 entitlement.
77. DATE OF NEXT
MEETING
A meeting has already been arranged for
Meeting closed at