Minutes of the meeting of the Parish
Council held on Wednesday 29th June 2011 at 7.45 p.m. in the Council
Offices, 1a Brushwood Close, Welham Green
Those Present:
Councillors S J Boulton
Mrs J Boulton
C Everard
P
Mrs L Saffer
W A Storey
R Wheeler
Officer Ann Morton Clerk
One member of the public, Mr James
Bentall, was also present.
The meeting opened at
Apologies
for absence were received from Councillors Horrocks (unwell), Mrs Travell
(family commitment), Mrs Dean (other commitment).
Councillor
Everard declared a personal interest as a member of the North Mymms District
Green Belt Society and Councillor Storey declared a personal interest as a
It
was RESOLVED to approve the minutes
of the Annual meeting of the Council held on
It
was RESOLVED that Councillors Hastings
and Wheeler be appointed members of the Council’s Committees for the year
2011/2012 as follows:
a. Finance Committee
Councillors
Hastings and Wheeler.
b. Amenities Committee
Councillor
Wheeler.
c. Planning
Councillor
Hastings and Wheeler.
d. Ward Committees – Welham
Green
Councillors
Hastings and Wheeler.
It was RESOLVED that the following members be
appointed to represent the Council on the bodies and organisations as follows:
a. North Mymms Youth and
Community Centre Management Committee
Councillor
Hastings.
b.
Councillor
Storey.
c. Standards Board Committee
(appointment to be confirmed by Welwyn Hatfield Association of Local Councils
in September)
Councillor
Wheeler.
It
was RESOLVED to adopt the minutes of
the following committee meetings and approve their publication on the Council’s
website.
a. Finance
Councillor
Storey reported that the Finance Committee had met earlier that evening.
The
Committee had considered the Schedule of accounts, reviewed the expenditure and
recommended to Council payments totalling £11,650.76 with a query in connection
with the figure listed for the payment to the Book keeper.
Approval had been given to transfer £15,000 from the
Council’s Business Reserve Account to the Current Account and a letter to Nat
West signed.
Cheque signatories are now up to date.
The Committee discussed payment of monthly basic salaries by
standing orders with supplementary cheque payments or continuing with the
present arrangement.
To minimize the risk of failed transfer the branch offered
to manually transfer funds for the Council.
Councillor Storey proposed that he, the Clerk and other signatories set
up an arrangement with the branch. The reply
from Nat West Bank was noted and £200 has been received.
The Committee agreed to the replacement of the sprayer and
to the electrical work in the office.
They referred the question of the hot water tank back to Amenities
Committee so it may be considered as part of the refurbishment if necessary.
Two quotes have been received today for the car park
drainage problem and Councillor Storey suggested these could be considered at
the Chairman’s discretion. The Chairman remarked
that the work needs doing.
Clerk’s response to the Internal Auditor’s report was
received and it was agreed it should be considered by full Council.
It was proposed by Councillor Storey, seconded by Councillor
Everard and agreed to adopt the report of the Finance Committee.
b. Planning
Councillor
Boulton declared a personal interest as he had already expressed a view on the
Borough Council Cabinet and Housing and Planning panel. Councillor Everard and Storey had already
declared an interest (minute 25).
i.
Core Strategy ‘How Many New Homes?’ - Welwyn Hatfield Borough
Council
Councillor
Horrocks’ report, distributed with the agenda, proposed support for
Option 1 and Councillor Hastings response supporting Option 2 were
considered. During discussion on the
issues it was agreed that only Option 1 or Option 2 in the consultation
document would be acceptable. A ballot of
members who had not declared an interest was taken: one member voted for Option
1 and three members voted for Option 2.
It was agreed to write in response to the consultation that the Parish Council
recommends Option 2 with development concentrated in and around the main towns,
small accretions on existing settlements may be appropriate in certain
circumstances but development on the Green Belt must be towards the end of the
plan period.
ii.
‘Planning for Traveller Sites’ - Dept of Communities and
Local Government
Councillor
Horrocks’ report responding to the consultation questions, distributed with the
agenda, and comments by Councillor Hastings were considered. Members debated the issues and agreed the response
to the consultation questions.
iii.
Relaxation of Planning Rules for change of use from
Commercial to Residential – Dept of Communities and Local Government
It
was agreed not to comment on this consultation.
c. Amenities
i.
Replacement sprayer
The
replacement of the sprayer (like for like costing £559 plus VAT) was considered
at Finance Committee and recommended to Council for approval and this was
agreed.
Councillor
Mrs Boulton informed those present of the results of judging of allotments,
which had been carried out by herself, Councillor Everard and Mrs Travell.
The
example Staffing Committee Terms of Reference downloaded from HAPTC website was
considered. The presentation of minutes
to full Council ‘for information’ in the last sentence, rather than the Committee
making recommendations to Council, was discussed. It was RESOLVED
that the example Staffing Committee Terms of Reference be adopted unchanged, to
be reviewed in six months when the Committee will have started working on job
contracts and other staff issues.
Councillors
Storey, Everard and Boulton had declared a personal interest as above.
a. Energy from
Waste facility based at New Barnfield proposal by Veolia Environmental Services
Aurora Ltd
It
was proposed at the Annual meeting that ‘Energy from Waste’ facility should be on
the agenda so the Council can consider its response. Members discussed the impact on the parish, location
and road access, lorry movements and traffic, the necessity for provision to
deal with rubbish and waste, emissions, public opposition and the setting up of
the campaign group and New Barnfield Trust.
Hatfield Town Council and the District Council have opposed the proposal
and the Clerk was asked to request a copy of their comments. It was agreed that the Council should
represent the constituents’ views and write to Veolia, with a copy to
Hertfordshire County Council, expressing initial opposition to the proposal and
asking them to come and explain their position to the Parish Council. It was suggested that, as Council meetings
are open to the public, a larger venue such as the Memorial Hall may be
required.
b. New
Barnfield Trust
The
minutes of the inaugural meeting of the New Barnfield Trust were received, the
Council is recorded as present and Councillor Horrocks attended the
meeting. It was RESOLVED that Councillor Mrs Boulton be the representative for the
Parish.
c.
The
potential temporary move of
The
draft Charter was proposed by the Borough Council and a working group of the
Welwyn Hatfield Association of Local Councils reviewed the document and
suggested the highlighted amendments.
The Clerk explained that Parish Councils are now being asked to approve
the Charter which will be a working agreement between the Parish and the
Borough Councils. It was agreed to defer
this item so members will have an opportunity to read the document before
considering it at the next meeting.
Councilor
Mrs Boulton has started to redraft the terms and conditions of hire to address
the issues raised regarding time of use, potential noise etc. Mrs Boulton proposed and it was agreed that
an application for the variation of conditions at the Burns Pavilion should be
submitted to the Planning Authority.
Councillor
Storey advised that he and Councillor Mrs Travell had considered and agreed
with the proposed boundary changes that will transfer Franklin Close and the
gardens of Roestock gardens into St Albans District but he raised concerns that
other issues will need to be taken into consideration if further changes to the
boundary are proposed. It was agreed to
support the boundary changes as outlined in the consultation document.
a.
The
signage has not all been removed following the road works, particularly along
Station Road, and the Clerk was asked to contact Hertfordshire Highways.
b. Little Heath
Nothing
reported.
c. Welham Green
Nothing
reported.
Councillor
Hastings reported that the Youth and Community Centre AGM is being held on
No
report.
Councillor
Mrs Boulton reported that the first draft of the Parish Plan is well underway.
Clerk
advised that she is distributing a copy the NALC Legal Briefing on ‘Councillor
notification under the Data Protection Act’ to all members so they are aware of
the requirements.
HAPTC
–Hertfordshire Constabulary Specials Support Event 6th July. Members are invited and Councillor Mrs
Travell has said she will be attending.
Hertfordshire
Highways (
Correspondence
from HAPTC, NALC, HCC, HNS, CMS, CDA for Herts, NHS, Welwyn Hatfield Heritage
Fair 1st October invitation to participate, RBL invitation to Dinner
Dance, Eaton Bray Skate Park, Joanne Wade Helping local community save energy
workshop, Herts Highways Members Bulletin, and others were distributed by email
or posted.
Correspondence
available at the meeting: Clerk and Councils Direct, CPRE Herts June 2011,
Welwyn
The
next meeting of the Council will be held on
The meeting closed at
Signed _____________________________
Date _____________________________