NORTH MYMMS PARISH COUNCIL

 

 

Minutes of a MEETING of the PARISH COUNCIL held in the Council Office, Annexe to No 1 Bungalow, Bushwood Close, Welham Green on Wednesday, 25 March 2009 commencing at 8.00 p.m.

 

PRESENT:                   Councillors         Mrs J Boulton   -        Chairman

                                                                

Mrs M Race          

                                                            S J Boulton                                                                                                                                          

                                                                        C Everard

                                                            P Hastings

                                                            R N Horrocks

                                                            K Pieri

                                                            W A Storey

                                                            V Weeks                                                  

                                                                   

      CLERK:                                          Mrs J A Schettino

_________________________________________________________________

 

 

88.     APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

 

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Mrs T Travell.

 

89.     DECLARATION OF MEMBERS INTERESTS

 

There were no declarations of members interests.

 

90.     MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING

 

It was agreed that the Minutes of a Meeting held on 25 February 2009 were a true record of the proceedings and signed by the Chairman, subject to the following amendments:

 

Page 63, 82 d) i)   last line on page        delete ‘the top of the road’

insert ‘Georges Wood’

 

Page 64, 82 d) iv) first line                     delete the word ‘trees’

                                                            Insert the word ‘scrub’

 

91.     MATTERS ARISING

 

a)  BROOKMANS PARK STATION CAR PARK

 

Councillor S J Boulton had written a letter to First Capital Connect on behalf of the Parish Council and a copy would be circulated to all members.

 

 

b)  PURCHASE OF LAND, LITTLE HEATH

 

Councillor Everard said he had visited the site when work commenced on 13 March and every other day since then and he and the Clerk had agreed in principle on the relocation of the tyre swing. He added that the standard of work was very high.

 

Councillor Horrocks said up to 50 volunteers had been working on the site and 100 volunteers were expected over the weekend.

 

c)  WHALC

 

Councillor S J Boulton confirmed that he had valued the Councils buildings in order to ensure the best possible insurance coverage and it was proposed and agreed that a vote of thanks for his work should be recorded.

 

d)  GOBIONS WOOD HANDOVER

 

The Chairman said that she and Councillors Everard, Horrocks and Weeks had attended the ceremonial handover of Gobions Wood on Friday 20 March 2009 and this event had been recorded in the Welwyn Hatfield Times and on the Brookmans.com website.

 

e)  METAL STORAGE BOX FOR FOOTBALL NETS

 

Councillor Pieri said that he had confirmed with WHBC Planning that no planning permission was necessary for the metal storage box and that the cost of the box would be met from the WHBC Ward Councillors for Welham Green Community Chest.

 

f)  BARNBETH

 

Councillor Everard said that he had met on site with the Groundsman and had agreed to infill sections of the fence and hedge on the allotments side and given the owner permission to erect a new fence.

 

The Clerk confirmed that this work had now been completed.

 

g)   BROOKMANS AVENUE

 

Councillor Everard reported that a number of parishioners had highlighted the problems with humps in Brookmans Avenue at a Councillor Surgery held by Mrs Irene Dean and he would report any further developments back to the Parish Council.

 

h)  NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH

 

It was reported that the new PCSO Louise Luxford was arranging monthly meetings to be held at the United Reform Church in Brookmans Park and the next meeting was scheduled for 5 April 2009 from 7 – 9pm.

 

i)   WHALC

 

Councillor Mrs Boulton confirmed that it had been agreed for the North Mymms Parish Council to submit a short article on the Great North Road for the Life Magazine and Councillor P Hastings agreed to provide this.

 

She also confirmed that the Planning Training for Councillors scheduled for 9 April 2009 would take place at Campus West from 6.30pm.

 

Councillor Horrocks confirmed that he had added the free swimming for under 16’s to the Brookmans.com website.

 

j)   STANDARDS BOARD FOR ENGLAND QUESTIONNAIRE

 

It was reported that Councillor Horrocks and the Clerk had both completed the Standards Board for England Questionnaire as requested.

 

92.     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 £12,241.65 had been presented (and was being recommended for approval) split between £5,941.39 which had already been paid with the balance of £6,300.26 now being due for payment.

 

Consideration was given to a Statement of Balances held with the National Westminster Bank plc as at 23 March 2009 showing an income of £877.02 and approval was given to the clerk’s action in transferring £13,000 from the council’s SIBA account to current account with effect from 20 March 2009.

 

The Finance Chairman said that the carry over figure into the next financial year appeared at present to be slightly larger than budgeted but this would be confirmed when end of year figures were produced.

 

Councillor Storey said that the Finance Committee had considered the Council’s charges for its facilities and, with due regard to the economic recession, only three facilities presently uneconomical should be increased:

 

The hire of the Bowling Green and Pavilion Facilities to       £3,993.00

The hire of the Football Pitch for Individual Match Games   £50 + VAT

Allotment Rents per 25 sq metres (1 Pole) to                     £2.10                 

The Finance Committee was also recommending that the Clerk be authorised to go ahead with work to the Burns Pavilion boiler up to £5,600 on receipt of further expected quotations as the bowling season was due to commence on 18 April 2009 and the work was now a priority.

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 AND BUILDING DEVELOPMENT

Councillor Everard said that the last Meeting of this Committee had been held on 11 March 2009 and minutes had been circulated to all Councillors.  He proposed a vote of thanks be recorded to Councillor Horrocks for producing the minutes in the Clerk’s absence

____________________________________________________________

 

Councillor Everard’s proposal that the report of the Amenities and Building Development Committee be adopted was seconded by Councillor W A Storey and carried unanimously.

____________________________________________________________

The following matters were discussed further:

 

The Clerk advised that Councillor John Dean, Leader of the WHBC, had confirmed that funding of £8,000 towards Phase II of the Gobions Open Space recreation ground would be forthcoming from the Community Chest of the Borough Ward Councillors for Little Heath.

 

c)  PLANNING

Councillor Horrocks said that meetings of the Planning Committee had been held on 25 February and 11 March 2009, the Minutes of which, together with notes of  the decisions reached  and action taken, had been copied to all Councillors and he had nothing further to add

___________________________________________________________

Councillor Horrocks’ proposal that the Report of the Planning Committee be adopted was seconded by Councillor C Everard and carried unanimously.
 

d)  BROOKMANS PARK

i)   Hoarding at Green Close

It was reported that the planning applicants now had two weeks to reduce the height of the green hoarding at Green Close/Station Road from 2.5m to 1.8m.

ii)   Georges Wood Road

Councillor Weeks said that the Frontagers Association now had to employ an engineer to repair the road which had been badly damaged by an unresolved water leak outside 8 Georges Wood Road.

e)  LITTLE HEATH

Nothing to report.

f)  WELHAM GREEN

i)    Dellsome Lane

 

Councillor K Pieri reported that crime was again on the increase in the village and behind the shops and parishioners were again feeling vulnerable.  There was a query as to when the CCTV cameras would be fully operational.

 

ii)  Youth Shelter

 

The Clerk reported that the Youth Shelter on the fields at Welham Green Recreation Ground had been little used during the winter as there was no lighting.   

 

Councillors C Everard and Mrs J Boulton kindly agreed to check to see if it was possible to install solar lighting.

 

It was also agreed that Councillor Hastings would take the shelter issue to the WGA1 group to discuss any perceived problems and perhaps the possibility of its relocation.

 

g)  REPRESENTATIVES ON OTHER BODIES AND ORGANIZATIONS

 

Nothing to report

 

93.     PARISH ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION PLAN

Nothing to report.

94.     PARISH PLAN

Councillor Mrs Boulton said that at a meeting held on 26 February 2009 it had been agreed to arrange three drop in sessions in May in Little Heath, Brookmans Park and Welham Green on dates to be advised.

95.     CORRESPONDENCE

CORRESPONDENCE PREVIOUSLY CIRCULATED TO ALL COUNCILLORS:

1.     HAPTC Newsletter February 2009

2.     Clerk & Councils Direct March 2009 – 32 pages

3.     WHALC Minutes of meeting held on 23 February 2009 at Hatfield Town Council.

4.     Notice of Public Exhibition for Hatfield Tunnel Refurbishment on 27 March 2009 at the Ramada Hatfield

5.     Letter of thanks from Welwyn Hatfield Ethnic Minority Group dated 5 March 2009

THE FOLLOWING CORRESPONDENCE WAS PLACED ON THE TABLE :

6.     HCC Minerals Development Plan Document – Site Selection Methodology Consultation

7.     NALC Local Council Review, March 2009 – 32 pages

8.     SLCC The Clerk March 2009 – 36 pages

9.     CPRE Fieldwork March 2009 – 16 pages

10. RVS Paws & Hooves Spring 2009 – 16 pages

11. CPRE Countryside Voice Spring 2009 – 52 pages

96.  ANY OTHER BUSINESS

a)  BURGLARIES IN BROOKMANS PARK

 

Councillor Everard reported that two people had been apprehended for alleged burglaries in Brookmans Park.

 

b)  INTERNAL AUDIT

 

Councillor Storey said that an Internal Audit had been carried out that day and the auditor had advised that it looked likely that the North Mymms Parish Council would be over the £200,000 limit and in addition to the Annual Return, would have to complete an Intermediate Questionnaire and provide a lot more documents for Audit, and at a higher cost.

 

c)  HIGHWAYS – SCHEDULE OF MEETINGS

 

The Clerk reported that she had received an e-mail from Highways suggesting regular meetings with Northaw & Cuffley, North Mymms and Hatfield Town.

 

Following a discussion it was agreed to respond to Highways and say that North Mymms was in the process of drawing up a Parish Plan and as Highways is an integral part of that we would appreciate a meeting with them to discuss the needs and concerns of this area.

 

d)  ROYAL VETERINARY COLLEGE

 

Councillor Mrs Boulton said that members of the Parish Council had a very good meeting with the RVC on 19 March 2009 and it was hoped that we could work in partnership in future.  It was noted that there was a lot of building work coming up at the RVC and contractors should erect signage and restrictions regarding the construction vehicles nearer the time.

 

Since this meeting the RVC has invited members of the Parish Council to tour the RVC campus on Thursday 16 June at 10 am and seven members expressed an interest in attending plus the clerk.

 

e)  ST ALBANS HIGH SCHOOL FOR GIRLS

 

A letter had been received from the St Albans High School for Girls enclosing copies of two anonymous letters from residents in Brookmans Park concerned about the coaches that pick up schoolchildren in Mymms Drive.

 

As the letters were anonymous it was agreed that no further action could be taken but that the Parish Council would write to the school and say we note their comments.

 

Councillor Mrs Boulton declared an interest as Governor of the school and took no part in either discussion or decision.

 

 

97. DATE OF NEXT MEETING

A meeting has already been arranged for Wednesday, 29 April 2009 commencing at 8.00 pm, preceded by a meeting of the Finance Committee at 7.15 pm.

Meeting closed at 9.23 pm