Minutes of Meeting held on 13 February 2007

 

Present: Cllr Mrs J Watson (Chair), Cllr N Collingridge, Cllr Mrs C Evans.

 

In attendance: A Edmonds (Clerk). (There were no members of the public)

 

Prior to the official meeting, the Council welcomed PCSO Katherine Bays in order to thank her for her help over the two and a half years in which she worked for the Woolmer Green community. She was now going to train as a Police Officer. The Chair presented PCSO Bays with a bouquet of flowers. PCSO Bays replied saying she had felt privileged to have worked with the community and thanked everyone for making her feel welcome. She left a letter of thanks with the Council.

 

1.          Apologies for Absence: Apologies were received from Cllr G. Daniels and Cllr Mrs J Thom

2.          Minutes of Council Meeting on 9 January: The Minutes were agreed and signed as a correct record.

3.          Meetings attended by Councillors: Cllr Watson had attended an open WHC Planning Meeting concerning the East of England Plan.

4.          Correspondence: Cllr Watson had received a Legal Briefing from NALC on the Consultation on Amendments to the Code of Conduct for Local Authority Members, which she circulated to members.

5.          Planning: a. Decisions – The Clerk reported that WHC Planning had refused the proposed development at 11 Holly Road on the grounds that it would have a detrimental impact on the appearance of the character of the two semi-detached dwellings and the surrounding area. The Council felt strongly that this was a wrong decision and asked the Clerk to make their views known to WHC.

b. 11 London Road – The Clerk was requested to write to WHC Planning querying certain points in their recent letter concerning the apparent change of use and the new sign.

6.      Grounds: (Cllr Evans) Regarding access to and from St Michael’s School from the Hall grounds, following negative responses from the residents of Wolvesmere, it was generally agreed that it would not be worthwhile pursuing this matter.

7.      Finance:

         a. The payments and Accounts for January had been circulated and were agreed.

         b. Cllr Watson explained that, due to a delay on the part of Groundwork Trust, the proposed event would not now take place within the current financial year and the £2,000 expected expense would not now be incurred. This had had the effect of increasing the expected year-end balance this year and reducing the Precept required next year.

8.      Meeting of Councillors with WHC: Cllr Watson advised that she would be attending this meeting and intended raising the following points:

         a. After April, WHC will be making planning applications available on-line. Will they, therefore, provide this Council with a projector for viewing the applications?

         b. What is the process for Parishes to liaise with WHC with regard to Parish Plans?

         c. What action is WHC taking to combat climate change?

9.      Woolmer Green Sports & Social Club: Cllr Watson advised that this Club had asked for the showers in the Hall to be made available on Saturday mornings for youngsters playing football, even though no charge was made for the use of the pitch. Following discussion, it was agreed to accede to this request for a trial period on the strict understanding that the shower room be left in a perfectly clean and undamaged state.

10.     East of England Plan: The meeting concluded with a discussion regarding the Council’s response to the East of England Plan. The Mayor of Welwyn Hatfield, Cllr John Hawkins, was present for this discussion.

11.     Next Meeting: Tuesday, 13 March, 2007.

 

 

AAE 15.02.07