Minutes of Meeting of Woolmer Green Parish Council
Held on Tuesday 13th January 2004

Present:              Cllr. Mrs. J. Watson (Chair)           Cllr. Mr. P. Kirk        Cllr. Mrs C. Evans
Cllr. Mrs J. Thom      Cllr. Mr. H. Bryant

In attendance:   Mr Alan Edmonds (Clerk)       Mrs. L. Vincent (Minutes Secretary)
Members of the public

1.      Apologies for absence: Received from Cllr. Mr. G. Daniels

2.      All were in agreement that the minutes of meeting held on 11th November 2003 be signed as a correct record, proposed by Cllr. Thom, seconded by Cllr. Kirk.

3.      Matters arising from minutes.

i.        Nothing still heard from Stuart Pitman, the Director of Herts. Association 4 Young People.

ii.      The building works at the Vestry are on target for completion at the end of the month.

iii.     The locks at the Village Hall have been replaced.

iv.     The cupboard for the Disco equipment has been built.

v.      The tree at the pond has been cut.

vi.     Footpath maps were in the process of being printed.

vii.   The YELL entry has been done.

viii.  The village community policeman; Jitu Dave is not, for the time being, involved in policing the village.

4.      ChairmanÕs report and meetings attended.

i.        Chair opened by wishing everyone a Happy New Year.

ii.      One of the boilers in the hall had cracked and resulted in no heating.  The cost of the repair (which has been done) will be in the region of £950!

iii.     Chair attended the funeral of Michael Loader at Lemsford Parish Church on 13th November 2003.

iv.     Chair met with John Groom on 17th.November 2003.  He has given Council a cheque for £6,000 for the play equipment for which Council were exceptionally grateful.

v.      The Woolmer Green Newsletter was distributed to every house in the village and Council received £50 from Lessiters towards the printing costs. Chair was asked to include a leaflet about Neighbourhood Watch but nothing has been heard back yet from the police about setting up more schemes in the village.

vi.     The Clerk and Chair attended the Community Safety meeting in Welwyn and seemed to be the only people from Woolmer Green there. They also attended the Police Safety Meeting at Stanborough on 1st December.

vii.   Chair walked round the village on 3rd December with Conrad Vandersteen from Highways and earmarked the things that needed doing. Chair would be putting a petition in to the Welwyn Hatfield Highways Group on 24th January for a refuge/pedestrian crossing at Lisles Garage. It is important that as many signatures as possible are on the petition.

viii.  The hall was booked for its first corporate day in December when a Steve Davis put on all day archery for a group of businessmen. It seemed to have gone very well.  

ix.     There were not many people at the New YearÕs Eve party.  If there is insufficient support next year, the hall could probably be let out to an outside-the-village function for quite a lot of money.

5.      Village Hall Report (Cllr. Kirk):

i.        Replacement of locks:  All locks have been replaced and were working.  Council were very pleased with the work, which cost £654.

ii.      Cupboard for disco equipment: Completed at a cost of £635.  It will be hard-wired in the near future.

6.      Grounds Report (Cllr. Evans):

i.        Garden Road playground:  It has been decided to use the money donated by Mr Groom to replace the seesaw with three pieces of equipment from HAGS Play Equipment, a Multi Pondo, a Sea Swell and a Roundabout.

ii.      Admissions policy to secondary schools:  Cllr. Evans reported that she had replied to the letter received regarding the Consultation meeting, which suggested that Woolmer Green would only be on the priority list for the three Welwyn Garden City schools.  Cllr. EvansÕ reply stated the CouncilÕs dissatisfaction with this suggestion.  All were in agreement that a letter be written by e-mail to Richard Smith to ask to be informed as to the outcome of the consultation meeting and what were the next steps.                    Action: Clerk

7.      Environment Report (Cllr. Bryant):

i.       Hedge/fence at Garden Road playground: Letter to go to Chris James, Environment Officer and Rona Grace, Welwyn Hatfield, to find out the timescale for replacing hedge.                                                                 Action: Clerk

ii.     Parish Paths Partnership: Covered under (iv) below.

iii.   Rights of way improvement plan: Council had received an invitation from Welwyn Hatfield to identify 5 primary routes which Council believed were key footpaths routes to key destination areas, such as shops, schools, church, etc, and to identify any barriers on these routes, such as the need to cross a busy road.  The aim of this exercise would be to improve access. 

iv.     CPRE: Cllr. Bryant reported having been in touch with Kevin Fitzgerald of CPRE, discussing whether the Council would like to take a more pro-active approach to protecting the greenbelt, possibly having a Parish Environmental Action Plan.  It was suggested that Council should investigate whether knowledge of land ownership and changes of ownership could be obtained.  It was agreed that Cllr. Bryant write back to Kevin Fitzgerald to ask him to come and discuss this further with the Council. Action: Cllr. Bryant                                                                                                                

v.       Speed limit through Woolmer Green:  Previous investigations into reducing the speed limit to 30mph have resulted in the police being willing to support this proposal only if major engineering works be carried out to assist the speed reduction enforcement.  Unfortunately, to date, Highways have been unwilling to support such works as no fatality has occurred as a result of the higher speed.  All were in agreement that any further action be postponed until the results of the Parish Plan, to ensure village support for this proposal.

vi.     Gate across footpath to Mardleybury: - Cllr. Bryant declared an interest.  All were in agreement that a meeting be set up with Chris James, Ian Blomeley, Mr Wallace, Cllr. Bryant, Cllr. Watson and the Clerk to pursue the possibility of narrowing the entrance and putting in a Kissing Gate. Action: Clerk

vii.   Letter from CPRE to Parish Council: A letter had been received asking for help at this crucial time in the form of a letter to the Government to support the amendments to Housing Bill.  All were in agreement.       Action: Clerk

viii. Meeting with Conrad Vandersteen: Chair reported that during this walk round the village, various aspects which needed attention were pointed out to Conrad, such as the need for a pedestrian crossing at Lessiters, drainage maintenance on London Road by Chequers pub where flooding regularly occurred, new T sign required into New Road, white stop signs for Bridge Road, grass cutting schedules needed, lights in Hall Lane.  It was encouraging to report that Conrad had replied to say the works would be carried out, as agreed.

8.      Publicity (Reported by Chair in absence of Cllr. Daniels):

i.        Parish Plan: Chair asked that everyone take away and read the e-mail from Cllr. Daniels and were asked to e-mail their comments to him.        Action: All Cllrs.

ii.      Village website: Names have been submitted, but this is still not up and running; Cllr Daniels has created a dummy site and this is up and running.

iii.     ÒBroadband Woolmer GreenÓ grant plan: Cllr. Bryant pointed out that the village is already able to access Broadband.

iv.     Twinning Towns update: Part of the Parish Plan

v.      Village newsletter: This is going well.

9.      Planning (Cllr. Thom):

i.        Minutes of extra meeting held on 2/12/2003: were signed as a correct record.

ii.      Decision notices:

(a)   Mardleybury Farm- change to commercial usage was approved, with some changes to the plans, involving better parking, access and some trees to be planted.

(b)  N6/2003/1496 Ð 6 dwellings at 24 London Road.  This application has been refused as it fails to reflect the pattern of development in the area and would cause an overbearing impact on 22 London Road.

iii.   New applications:

(a)   Lisles Motors: Application for better frontage of showrooms and erection of further pods.  There were no objections to the application, but all were in agreement that they be asked to do something to improve the access/exit to the petrol station and traffic calming measure at the south exit.                                                               Action: Chair

(b)  N6/2003/1749 Ð 15-17 Mardleybury Road.  Erection of two, two storey extensions, single storey rear extension and timber framed garage.  No objections.

(c)   N6/2003/1777 Ð 22 Carvers Croft.  Erection of two-storey side extension following demolition of existing garage, and reconstruction of garage.  No objections.

10.   Finance (Cllr. Watson):

i.        Cllr. Bryant proposed, seconded by Cllr. Thom that the payments made in November and December be accepted.  All were in agreement.

ii.      The accounts to date were unanimously approved, proposed by Cllr. Kirk and seconded by Cllr. Evans.

iii.     Audit documents: Chair reported that 5% of Councils have their books fully audited and Woolmer Green Parish Council had been selected.  All relevant documents have been gathered together ready to be sent off.   Action: Clerk

iv.     Budget for 2004/2005: All were in agreement to take out the budget items for policing support (£2,500) and printing of the maps (£500), as these were no longer required.  A contingency of £2000 was included in the budget.  The precept would increase by 3%.

v.      Letter to parishioners re increased precept: This will be sent out.  Action: Chair

11.   Computing in the Community: The course began a week ago, attended by 10 people from the village.  It is going very well.

12.   School Governing Body:  Nothing to report.

13.   Sport in Rural communities:  Chair reported that she attended the Sport in Rural Communities conference on 26th November 2003.  A plea for help was raised via the Newsletter, but no one has come forward.

14.   Action against Rural Crime: Proposals from Welwyn Hatfield Council.

15.   Community Safety Meeting:  The minutes of the Public Safety Meeting held on Tuesday 18th November 2003 were available.

16.   PCSOs: Already mentioned

17.   CDA Rural Strategy: Deferred to next meeting.

18.   Energy White Paper:  Deferred to next meeting.

19.   Emergency Booklet:  Nothing further done as yet, Council have decided to put something in next newsletter.

20.   Correspondence received: Chair reported having received a number of letters of concerns that there was no Midnight Mass at the Village Church this year.  Chair wrote to the Bishop, receiving the reply that unfortunately, with decreasing numbers of clergy, it is not possible to offer all services one would wish.  It was reported that a new priest would soon be joining, so all were in agreement that a letter be written asking them to reconsider their decision not to hold mass for next year.             Action: Clerk

21.   Date of next meeting: Tuesday 9th March 2004.

22.   Any other business:

i.        Village day: Following the unsuccessful day last year, it was suggested by Chair that something different be done this year, such as asking all those who hire the hall for groups, (such as the parent and toddler group, dance groups etc.) put on a demonstration of what they do.  It was suggested that this might be better attended if during term time.

ii.      The Annual Parish Meeting: This was set for 6th April 2004 when Gary Sage would give a presentation on the proposed Parish Plan

iii.     New licence for people at Chequers: All were in agreement that a letter be sent saying the Parish Council had no objections to the licence.            Action: Chair

iv.     Hedgerow at back of Garden Road: It had been suggested that this might be a fire hazard.  As this is an ancient hedgerow, nothing can be done apart from trimming and clearing of leaves from underneath.  All were in agreement that the letter to Rona Grace and Chris Janes include a request for this work to be completed.

 

 

 

Mrs Linda Vincent
Minutes Secretary
Woolmer Green Parish Council                                                                             21st  January 2004