Minutes of the Annual Meeting of the North Mymms Parish Council held on Wednesday 18th May 2011 at 7.45 p.m. in the Council Offices, 1a Brushwood Close, Welham Green

Those Present:

Councillors                              S J Boulton

Mrs J Boulton

Mrs I Dean

C Everard

R N Horrocks

Mrs L Saffer

W A Storey

Mrs T Travell

Officer                                     Ann Morton      Clerk

One member of the public, Keith Pieri, was also present.

The Chairman, Councillor Mrs Travell, welcomed members, especially new Parish Councillors to their first meeting and congratulated returning members on their re-election.  She thanked Councillors for their support during the past year, she said she is pleased to be handing over and hopes the new Chairman will have a smoother ride in the forthcoming year.

1.      Election of Chairman

It was proposed by Councillor Mrs Travell, seconded by Councillor Everard and RESOLVED that Councillor Boulton be elected Chairman of the Council for the year 2011/2012.

2.      Declaration of Acceptance of Office by the Chairman

The Declaration of Acceptance of Office as Chairman was signed by Councillor Boulton and witnessed by the Proper Officer of the Council.

Councillor Boulton thanked Councillor Mrs Travell for a wonderful year, he said it was a difficult year and the Council is grateful and appreciates how well she coped.  Members agreed that they wished the thanks of full Council to be recorded.

3.      Declaration of Acceptance of Office by Councillors

Declaration of Acceptance of Office was signed by Members present before the meeting.  It was RESOLVED that the Declaration of Acceptance of Office of Councillors Hastings and Wheeler shall be received before the end of June 2011.

4.      Election of Vice-Chairman

It was proposed Councillor Mrs Boulton, seconded by Councillor Storey and RESOLVED that Councillor Mrs Travell be elected Vice-Chairman of the Council for the year 2011/2012.

5.      Apologies for absence

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Hastings (unwell) and Wheeler (holiday).

6.      Declarations of interest

Councillors Horrocks advised that he intended to bring up a matter in the Green Belt under agenda item 21 so he and Councillor Everard declared a personal interest as members of the North Mymms District Green Belt Society.

7.      Appointment of Committees

Following discussion it was RESOLVED that the members of the Council’s Committees for the year 2011/2012 would be as follows:

a)      Finance Committee

Councillors Everard, Horrocks, Storey and Mrs Travell.

It was agreed to offer Councillor Hastings and Councillor Wheeler a position on the Finance Committee when they have signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

b)      Amenities Committee

Councillors Mrs Boulton, Mrs Dean, Everard, Mrs Saffer, Storey and Mrs Travell.

c)      Planning

Councillors Mrs Boulton, Everard, Horrocks, Storey and Mrs Travell.

It was agreed to offer Councillor Hastings a position on the Planning Committee when he has signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

d)      Boundaries

Councillors Storey and Mrs Travell

e)      Staffing

Councillors Mrs Travell, Mrs Boulton and Horrocks.

Councillor Boulton, as Chairman, will be a member of all Committees except Planning (in which he would need to declare an interest).

It was RESOLVED that the Committees are to review their Terms of Reference and make recommendations to be considered by full Council.

f)        Ward Committees

i)                    Brookmans Park:        Councillors Mrs Boulton, S Boulton, Mrs Dean and Everard.

ii)                   Little Heath:                 Councillors Horrocks and Mrs Saffer.

iii)                 Welham Green:          Councillors Hastings, Storey, Mrs Travell and Wheeler.

8.      Representatives for bodies and organisations

It was RESOLVED that the following members be appointed to represent the Council on the following bodies and organisations:

a)      Hertfordshire Association of Parish & Town Councils:

Councillor Horrocks

b)      North Mymms Memorial Hall Management Committee:

Councillor Everard

c)      North Mymms Youth and Community Centre Management Committee:

It was agreed to offer Councillor Hastings the position when he has signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office. 

d)      CPRE – Hertfordshire Society:

Councillors Mrs Boulton and Mrs Travell

e)      Welwyn Hatfield Association of Local Councils:

Councillors Boulton, Mrs Travell, Mrs Boulton and Storey.

f)        Welwyn Hatfield Environmental Network:

Councillor Horrocks.

g)      Parish Charities

i)                    North Mymms

Councillors Everard and Boulton. 

ii)                   North Mymms Recreation and Charitable Trust

Councillor Mrs Boulton.

It was agreed check the Charity Memorandum and Articles of Association to clarify how many members the Council should nominate to the North Mymms Charity.  The appointment of members will be put on the next Council agenda.

9.      Minutes

The minutes of the meeting of the Council held on Wednesday 27th April 2011 were agreed as a true record and were signed by the Chairman.

The minutes of the Finance Committee and Planning Committee meetings held on the same date will be adopted at the next Council meeting and not be published on the website until then.

10.  Matters arising

a)      Minute 146.  Bungalow 2 new windows and door: Councillor Everard confirmed he carried out the inspection and approved the work done by Kindlelight except the reduced window opening where he considered the brickwork/lintel should be tiled.  Following discussion, as this work had not been specified, Members agreed to pay the final cheque to Kindlelight.

b)      Minute 146.  Bungalows 1 and 2 British Gas servicing of central heating and appliance inspection was carried out on 16th May as arranged.

c)      Minute 146.  Car park drainage:  no progress due to staff shortage/holidays.  It was mentioned that Tracy Harvey suggested Building Regs Dept may have plans of the drainage?

d)      Minute 147.  Station Road resurfacing work has been done.

e)      Minute 148.  Councillor Mrs Boulton suggested that the proposed ‘Incinerator’ be put on the agenda to consider what the Parish Council response is to the Hertfordshire County Council decision to locate an Incinerator in the Parish.  It was clarified that HCC have accepted the tender rather than the site and all the technical information is not yet available.  Following discussion it was agreed to consider the proposed Incinerator at the next Council meeting.

f)        Minute 150.  Skate park proposal:  letter of objection received from Bowls Club was circulated to Members at the meeting.  Councillor Mrs Boulton advised that she had checked the Parish Plan questionnaire and gave details of the relevant responses but there was no mention of wanting a skate park.  The Clerk was asked to reply to North Mymms Bowling Club sending them a copy of the minutes and explaining that the Council have been approached at the earliest stage of a proposal and have raised initial concerns and issues to be considered.

g)      Minute 156. Welham Warriors FC event 2nd June 2011.  The Clerk, Councillor Mrs Travell and the groundsman met with the organiser.  The siting of the rodeo bull and bar-b-que has been agreed and he has been asked to email confirmation in writing that insurance and safety/risks are covered for the event activities.

11.  Delegation of authority

The Finance Committee meeting will take place after Council meeting this month due to the election and it was RESOLVED to delegate authority to the Finance Committee to approve the signing of cheques and transfer of necessary funds.

12.  Insurance

Members approved the annual renewal of the Council’s Insurance Policy with Zurich.

13.  Internal auditor’s report

Members felt that the Internal Auditor had provided a good report.  It was RESOLVED to adopt the report and delegate to Finance Committee to consider the report and decide the actions.

14.  Annual accounts

The annual accounts for the year ending 31st March 2011 had been circulated to Members at the meeting held on 27th April 2011.  Councillor Horrocks informed Members that the Internal Auditor has signed section 4 ‘Annual Internal Audit Report’ and if Members are happy the annual return can be signed. 

It was proposed by Councillor Horrocks, seconded by Councillor Mrs Boulton and RESOLVED that the Statement of Accounts for 2010/2011 be approved and that these are signed by the Responsible Financial Officer and the Chairman and submitted to the external auditor.

15.  Annual Governance Statement

Councillor Horrocks read through the Statements.  It was proposed by Councillor Horrocks, seconded by Councillor Mrs Boulton and RESOLVED that the Annual Governance Statement for the year ending 31st March 2011 be approved and that these are signed by the Clerk and the Chairman and submitted to the external auditor.

The Chairman suggested that Councillor Horrocks should be relieved as Treasurer to the Council and Councillor Horrocks agreed he would be happy to relinquish the post.  The Chairman asked for a vote of thanks to be recorded as the Council would not have managed without all the work Councillor Horrocks has done and this was agreed.

16.  Bank signatories

a)      The Authorised Signatories on the Bank Mandate for the CURRENT account are any two of Councillors Mrs J Boulton, S Boulton, C Everard, R Horrocks, K Pieri and W Storey as well as Mrs J Schettino.  This needs to be changed to remove Keith Pieri and Jo Schettino and add Councillor Mrs Travell and the Clerk, Ann Morton.  The Clerk agreed that she would be an authorized signatory to communicate with the Bank and that two Councillors sign the cheques for the current account. 

It was proposed by Councillor Horrocks, seconded by Councillor Storey and RESOLVED that the Authorised Signatories in the current Mandate, for the accounts detailed in section 2 (The North Mymms Parish Council Current account), be changed in accordance with section 5 (as above), and the current Mandate will continue as amended.

b)      The Authorised Signatories on the Bank Mandate for the IMPREST account are any one of Mrs J Schettino, Mrs H Rook and Councillor R Horrocks.  This needs to be changed to remove Mrs Schettino and Mrs Rook and add Ann Morton and Councillor Mrs Travell.  The Clerk agreed she would be an authorized signatory to sign cheques for the Imprest account as well as communicate with the bank. 

It was proposed by Councillor Horrocks, seconded by Councillor Storey and RESOLVED that the Authorised Signatories in the current Mandate, for the accounts detailed in section 2 (The North Mymms Parish Council Imprest account), be changed in accordance with section 5 (as above), and the current Mandate will continue as amended.

17.  Standing Orders

Model Standing Orders were issued by NALC in January 2010 and, as the Council’s Standing Orders were adopted in 2003, it was agreed to start working towards adopting new Standing Orders.  The Clerk will purchase Model Standing Orders Part 1 from HAPTC and download Part II from the website and report to a future Council meeting.

18.  Precept information

Members agreed with the proposal made at a meeting of the Welwyn Hatfield Borough Parish and Town Council to amalgamate the Parish precept information with the Borough Council’s information.

19.  Agenda and summons for meetings.

Agendas and summons for meetings have for some time been sent to Members by email except for one Member who does not have email and the Clerk advised Members of the requirements of LGA 1972 Sch 12 para 10(b).  Members RESOLVED that they want to continue to have the agenda and summons for meetings sent to them by email except for Councillors Mrs Dean and Everard who will be sent the agenda and summons for meetings by post.

20.  Correspondence

Correspondence from NALC and HAPTC had been circulated to Councillors.  Correspondence from CPRE (Countryside Voice Spring 2011 and Members Guide 2011), Clerk & Councils direct May 2011, Chancellors Community newsletter Spring 2011, Herts Local Transport Plan 2011-2031 notice of publication and Invitation to new Chairman to Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council Annual Council meeting (the Chairman passed on invitations to other Councillors).  Sue Tiley Head of Planning Policy invited members to briefings about the Core Strategy consultation on the number of new homes needed for the borough on 25th May or 2nd June 2011.

21.  Other business

a)      Brookmans Park – query about development at 1 Bluebridge Avenue by Secretary of Neighbourhood Watch Brookmans Park but this was considered by the Planning Committee and planning consent was granted about a year ago.

House on Bluebridge Road covered with solar panels would appear to need planning permission and this needs to be clarified with planning enforcement.

b)      Welham Green – St Mary’s Church Road potholes, particularly around the bridge have not been done and Clerk was asked to contact Herts Highways.

c)      Little Heath – query about development of ecohouse at the redundant sewerage treatment plant off A1000 Swanley Bar Lane but this has been refused in the past because the land is in the Green Belt.  It was agreed that the Parish Council would not respond at this stage.

d)      Councillor Mrs Boulton circulated her proposed response to the Hertfordshire draft Bus Strategy and Intalink Strategy Consultation.  Members were asked to read her response and send their comments to the Clerk by next week.

e)      Potters Bar Town Football Club are interested in using the football pitch on Sunday afternoon for some friendly games and hold midweek training sessions during June and July.  The Clerk will check with the groundsmen if this is feasible.

22.  Next meeting

The next meeting of the Council will be held on Wednesday 29th June 2011.

23.  Exclusion of the Press and Public

There was no confidential business to consider.  The confidential minute of the meeting held on 27th April 2011 was approved and was signed by the Chairman. 

The meeting closed at 9.40 p.m.

                                                Signed _____________________________

                                                Date                _____________________________