Minutes of Meeting of Woolmer Green Parish Council
Held on Tuesday 9th March 2004

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

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

1.      Apologies for absence: Received from Cllr. Mrs J. Thom

2.      All were in agreement that the minutes of meeting held on 13th January 2004 be signed as a correct record, proposed by Cllr. Bryant, seconded by Cllr. Kirk.

3.      Matters arising from minutes.

i.        Footpath maps have all been printed.  Council were still waiting for refund of cost from Countryside Management.

ii.      Three weeks after the boiler had broken, the HallÕs second boiler also failed.  This was an unforeseen, unbudgeted expense.  The total cost of repairing both boilers and repairing the pressure system was £1,470+VAT.

iii.     Dave, from Tornado has put together a leaflet on how to use the disco equipment located in the Hall.  The equipment has now been hard wired, so there are no trailing leads.

iv.     Cllr. Evans reported that the latest suggestion regarding Admissions to Secondary schools was that Woolmer Green be on priority list for single sex schools Bishops Hatfield (girls) and Richard Hale (boys).  The Council had reported that it was very much in favour of this proposal. 

v.      The chain link fence was now in place at the Garden road playground.  Some complaints had been received reporting that no gap had been left for children to retrieve balls that go over the fence, for example.

4.      ChairmanÕs report and meetings attended.

i.        On 21st January, Chair attended a Focus Group at Welwyn Hatfield offices and on 26th January presented a petition to the joint Highways Committee for a safe crossing at Lisles Garage, but has as yet received no reply.

ii.      On 1st February, Chair attended the Parish Council at St MaryÕs church to welcome the new Curate.

iii.     On 18th February there was the Inter-parish meeting for East Herts at Waterford. 

iv.     The Annual Chinchilla Show was held in the Village Hall on 28th February, was very successful day and well attended.

v.      On 6th March, Bob Gould and his Camerata players held a concert in the Hall, at no charge, to raise money for the Monread Lodge ResidentsÕ fund.  £130 was raised.

vi.     The new toilet block at St MichaelÕs Church was officially opened on 7th March. 

Standing Orders were suspended to welcome Mr Kevin Fitzgerald, of the CPRE, who had been invited to talk about the issue of buying up Green Belt Plots.  Mr Fitzgerald explained that this was the practice where a speculator would purchase farmland cheaply, divide the land up into plots and sell them off as speculative building plots.  This has been happening in Hertfordshire, the nearest plots being in Tewin, St Albans and Potters Bar.  To date, planning applications submitted have been turned down, but pressure would be put onto Councils when these plots turn to waste ground.  Mr Fitzgerald reported that there was a ÒCompulsory Purchase and Planning BillÓ going through at the moment, which would change the procedure so that all changes of use of land would need planning permission, and making Article 4 (which prevents the erecting of fences) retrospective, so fences already raised would be forced to be taken down.  When asked what individuals can do to help; Mr Fitzgerald informed the Council that it was important to spot these happenings immediately at the first signs (small stakes in the ground, plotting out areas) and notify District Council immediately that an Article 4 might be needed. 

Mr Fitzgerald announced the annual meeting of the CPRE, which will be held in Woolmer Green Village Hall on 30th March 2004.

5.      Village Hall Report (Cllr. Kirk):

i.        New floor (reported by Chair): The tile fitter, nominated by Cawdor Stone Gallery, the company offering to provide half priced tiles for the new floor in the entrance area, had submitted an excessively high quotation. Therefore, an alternative quotation had been obtained, which was significantly lower, at £875.  This work will be done during the second week of April, Easter week, when the Hall is used less often.

ii.      Concession agreement for Tornado: Following their successful initial 6-month trial period, a new legal document needs to be raised in order to formalise the agreement for Tornado to run the bar in the Village Hall. Action: Chair

iii.     Fridge: A new fridge had to be purchased for the kitchen.

6.      Grounds Report (Cllr. Evans):

i.        Garden Road playground:  The base of the Horse Rocker and the Seesaw has now been removed.  The new equipment will be arriving within the next 10 days.  There will be a safety surface laid under the roundabout and the Multipondo, which will be installed shortly.

ii.     Private access to CouncilÕs land: A letter will be sent to all those who have a gate on to any recreational land, warning them that the Council need to formalise the access permission.  The Council will allow access onto the land, but this does not give any legal rights; a legal right of way is not created.  All those affected will be asked to sign an agreement.  All were in agreement that an initial informing letter be sent.                                   Action: Clerk

iii.   Football matches: The number of matches played on the pitch has dramatically decreased, following a reduction in the number of teams in each league.  All were in agreement that a letter be written to the Herts Football Association to advertise the Woolmer Green facilities.                          Action: Clerk

 

7.      Environment Report (Cllr. Bryant):

i.       High kerbs outside Cawdor Stone Gallery: All were in agreement that a letter be sent to Highways (Alan Clerk) asking for the kerbs on the B197 outside the Stone Factory be lowered to allow pushchair and wheelchair access.                                                                                                     Action: Clerk

ii.     PPP training: Chair reported that details had been received for this training.

8.      Publicity (Cllr. Daniels):

i.        Annual Parish Meeting: To be held on 6th April.  At this meeting, the Parish Plan will be launched.  Gary Sage will be attending to give a talk on Parish Plans.  John Roper is also being asked to give a talk on Neighbourhood Watch.  A page in the Village Newsletter announced the intention to launch the Parish Plan at the annual meeting.  All Councillors still need to provide Cllr. Daniels with their thoughts on his proposals.  Cllr. Daniels agreed to e-mail all councillors requesting their feedback within the week.                                                                  Action: Cllr. Daniels and all Cllrs.

ii.      Village Website: Council is still waiting for a reply whether the .gov address can be used.  In the meantime, there is the website woolmergreenpc.co.uk.  This will be kept up to date by Cllr. Daniels Action: Cllr. Daniels

iii.     Village Newsletter: This seems to be going well and everyone should be receiving a copy.

9.      Planning (Reported by Chair in absence of Cllr. Thom):

i.        Minutes of extra planning meeting held on 3rd February 2004: were signed as a correct record.

ii.      Minutes of extra planning meeting held on 24th February 2004: were signed as a correct record.  Two letters to Planning were written as a result of this meeting. 

iii.   New application (2004/304): Conservatory at rear of No 1 Twin Foxes.  No objection.

iv.     Access/Exit at Lisles: A letter had been written, but no reply received as yet.

10.   Finance (Cllr. Watson):

i.        Cllr. Bryant proposed, seconded by Cllr. Daniels that the payments made in January and February be accepted.  All were in agreement.

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

iii.   Financial regulations: All were in agreement that a separate finance meeting be arranged to discuss this issue further                                    Action: Chair

11.   Computing in the Community: The first course was completed and proved very successful.  There are still some places available for a rerun of this basic computing course. 

12.   Village Day date and format:  The school has asked about having a barn dance on the evening of 17th July.  If this goes ahead, it might make sense to have the Village Day on that day, asking all those who use the Hall to give a demonstration of what they do.

13.   Village of the Year Competition: Cllr. Daniels agreed to put together this years entry, which needs to be submitted by 6th May 2004                             Action: Cllr. Daniels

14.   Emergency Booklet:  This will be discussed at the Annual Parish Meeting.

15.   Correspondence received: A letter had been received advertising the Countryside sponsored walk on 25th April.  The next playground inspection will be in May.  A letter had been received informing Council of the Council Tax base.  Chair will be attending training on Welwyn Hatfield Standards.

16.   Date of next meeting: Tuesday 11th May 2004. (The CouncilÕs annual meeting)

17.   Any other business:

i.        All were in agreement that Ken Barker remain as Auditor.

ii.      Council agreed to put some thought as to whether anything could be done to improve the look of the pathway outside the Red Lion, where currently the concrete posts are erected.

 

 

 

Mrs Linda Vincent
Minutes Secretary
Woolmer Green Parish Council                                                                                11th March 2004