Minutes of a MEETING of the
PARISH COUNCIL held in the Council Office, 1A Bushwood Close, Welham Green on
PRESENT: Councillors Mrs
T Travell Chairman
Mrs
J Boulton
C
Everard
P.
Hastings
R Horrocks (Minute Taker)
K
Pieri
W
A Storey
V. Weeks
A
Morton Incoming Clerk
127. NEW CLERK
The Chairman introduced and welcomed Mrs Ann Morton,
the Council’s new Clerk, who will officially start her duties on
128. APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Apologies for absence were received from the Acting Clerk Mrs H Rook.
129. DECLARATION OF MEMBERS INTERESTS
Councillors
C Everard, R Horrocks and V Weeks declared an interest as committee members of
the North Mymms District Green Belt Society.
130. MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING
It
was agreed that the Minutes of a Meeting held on
131. MATTERS ARISING
Annual Public Meeting
speaker
Apologises had been received from Mr Conway who had been invited to speak at the Annual Parish Meeting. He said it was too soon to speak on the Localism Bill but he would be happy to do so next year.
Crossroads of
Councillor S Boulton noted a petition by residents of
132. REPORTS OF COMMITTEES
a)
FINANCE
Councillor Storey reported that the Finance Committee had met earlier that evening.
Banking
It recommended to Full Council a Schedule of Accounts
for payment totalling £19,312.51 including £3,879.25 already paid for payroll and
direct debits, and Imprest account payments totalling £455.18. Receipts of £2,394.10 were noted.
A Bank Reconciliation showed cash in hand at
Approval had been given to transfer £25,000 from the
Council’s Business Reserve Account to the Current Account and a letter to Nat
West signed.
The NatWest bank did not process last month’s
transfer resulting in several cheques being returned unpaid. The bank has now agreed that it was their
mistake and will refund the £140 charges.
The transfer has now been made and the bounced cheques paid. A letter of complaint has been sent to the
Customer Relations Complaints office.
The Hatfield branch, where our accounts are held,
advised that the transfer letter should be given to a cashier to ensure it is
put through. The chairman suggested other solutions such as maintaining a
larger balance £15,000 - £20,000) on the current account, or a mid-month standing
order to transfer £15000 each month, or
arrange an automatic transfer whenever the balance fell below a certain
figure to top up the balance to £20,000.
Councillors Storey and Horrocks will investigate these with the bank.
Action: Councillors Storey and Horrocks
Allotment rents
After paying a full year’s rent for a whole plot last
November, some plot-holders had given up half their plot to someone on the
waiting list, who then paid a part-year rent.
The committee recommended refunding the original plot-holder the rent
paid on the half-plot.
Action: H.Rook
Review of Finance Regulations and Risk Assessment
The previously circulated Financial Regulations and
Risk Assessment policies were agreed subject to minor alterations of typing
errors and staff changes in the last year.
Councillor Mrs J Boulton noted that these policies
need to be acted upon.
Action: H.Rook
Bungalow No 2.
A deposit of £1,588 had been paid to Kindlelight Ltd to
replace windows and a door, and work was expected to be completed this
week. A cheque for the balance had been
signed but would not be handed over until the work had been satisfactorily
completed
With regard to the drainage problem, David Sturman
had put us in touch with Domestic Waste Services of Hertford who verbally
quoted £200 to clear the two blocked drains in Bushwood Close and carry out an
underground camera inspection. This was considered
to be value for money and was approved by councillors.
Action: H.Rook
Burns Pavilion.
Further quotations have been sought from Onna
Construction and Nicholas Christo, but not yet received.
Action: H.Rook
Quotations
had been sought from three companies to carry out an asbestos ‘Refurbishment
Survey’ in the Burns Pavilion. Two quotes of £595 and £525 have been
received. It was agreed that if we did
not hear from the third company within ten days we should accept the lower one.
Action: H.Rook
Charges
for using council’s facilities
In
view of the national economic situation it was agreed to freeze all charges
apart from the previously agreed 10% increase for the
Action: H.Rook
It
was agreed to carry out a comparison of our allotments with other providers to
see if an increase in allotment rents might be justified from
Action: H.Rook
Internal
Audit
Our
new internal auditor has started her audit work and will be coming into the
office on 6th April with questions.
Asset
register
Although
in previous years ‘Notes to our accounts’ they stated that the parish council
owned the War Memorial land, investigations now reveal that it is Highways
land. The parish council has maintained
this land for many years but it was agreed not to make any claim on
ownership.
Councillor
Storey’s proposal that the Report of the Finance Committee be adopted was
seconded by Councillor Everard and carried unanimously.
b)
AMENITIES
Councillor Everard said this
Committee met on
Key safe
Mrs Rook had contacted the manufacturer and had now managed
to open the safe. She is to type up the
exact instructions on how to do it.
Action: H.
Rook
Station
Road pot-holes
Herts Highways had only carried out some patching and
it was agreed to ask when a more comprehensive job is to be done.
Action: H.
Rook
Councillor
Everard’s proposal that the report of the Amenities and Building Development
Committee be adopted was seconded by Councillor Mrs Travell and carried
unanimously.
c)
PLANNING
Councillor Horrocks reported
that the Planning Committee had met on
Councillor
Horrocks’ proposal that the Minutes of the Planning Committees be adopted was
seconded by Councillor Everard and carried unanimously.
There
were no matters arising.
133.
Nothing to report
134. LITTLE HEATH
Councillor Horrocks said the car park extension at
the
135. WELHAM GREEN
Councillor Pieri said two residents had objected to
the former Guide Hut site, between
No reply had been received from Herts Highways
regarding the sunken surface at Welham Manor.
Councillor Pieri said he would chase this up.
Action: Councillor K. Pieri.
136. REPRESENTATIVES ON OTHER
BODIES/ORGANISATIONS
North Mymms Memorial Hall
Councillor Everard noted that minutes of the last management
committee meeting had been circulated that evening.
137. PARISH ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION PLAN
138. PARISH PLAN
Councillor Mrs Boulton advised that the Steering
Group was due to meet on
139. CORRESPONDENCE
CORRESPONDENCE
CIRCULATED TO
1.
Allan Dyson –
quote for work to Burns Pavilion
2.
Request for
information under FOI Act
3.
Minutes of NM
Memorial Hall management committee minutes held
THE
FOLLOWING CORRESPONDENCE WAS READ OUT
1. CPRE-Herts - Newsletter
2. Borough, Town and Parish Council meeting agenda. Councillor Mrs Boulton noted that papers were
still being sent direct to her and asked that this be stopped.
Action: H.
Rook
140. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
a) Football pitch hire
A request had been received to hire the football
facilities on 4th June for a testimonial match commemorating Derek
Fitzgerald who died recently. This was
agreed with a waiver of the usual fee on an exceptional basis, with a request
that the showers etc be left in a suitable condition.
Action: H.Rook
b) Parish Council meetings
In order to comply with legal requirements for local
elections, it was agreed that on 18th May there will be the Annual
Meeting at
Action: H.Rook (notices) and Councillor Horrocks
(website)
c) Freedom of Information Act request
It was agreed to provide the enquirer with an
analysis of the cost of running the Burns Pavilion in 2009/10.
Action: H.Rook
d) Annual grants and donations
It was agreed to review the procedures by which
applications and approvals of grants and donations are made.
e) Use of the
This item was deferred to the Amenities committee
Action: Councillor Everard.
f) Councillor Weeks
Councillor Weeks noted that he would not be
standing for re-election so his last meeting will be on 27th April
g) Annual Public Meeting
Councillor Pieri gave his apologies
141. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The
next meeting has already been arranged for
Meeting closed at