Minutes of Meeting of Woolmer Green Parish Council
Held on 14th December 2004

Present:              Cllr. G Daniels (In Chair)  Cllr. Mrs. J. Watson        Cllr. Mrs J. Thom   Cllr. Marriott
Cllr. Mrs C. Evans

In attendance:   Mr Alan Edmonds (Clerk)              Mrs. L. Vincent (Minutes Secretary)

1.      Apologies for absence: Received from Cllr. H Bryant

2.      Minutes of Council Meeting on 9th November 2004.  Signed as a correct record. 

3.      Minutes of the Extra Meeting of 23rd November 2004. Signed as a correct record. 

4.      Frequency of Council Meetings:  All were in agreement that Council meetings be held monthly until the end of the year (April) and then to be reviewed.

5.      Meetings attended by Councillors: Cllrs. Evans and Thom had attended the CPRE meeting on ÒNew Planning ChallengeÓ.  It was reported that the duration of consent for planning was now cut from 5 to 3 years and the period for lodging appeals from 6 to 3 months.  Council now has the Regional Spatial Strategy document.

6.      Bus Passes: This issue was discussed at the HAPTC meeting, but nothing was decided.  Deferred to next meeting.

7.      Private Access to Council Land.  Council have now received 5 signed responses out of the 9 letters sent and a 6th is expected.  Cllr. Watson intended to talk to the remaining 3 concerned.       Action: Cllr. Watson

8.      Matters raised with Highways Dept of HCC.  A letter was sent.  No reply received yet.

9.      Neighbourhood Watch: Letter of thanks to John Roper. No information. No further action.

10.   PPP: Chair to ask whether Paul Jarczewski has been invited to attend Council           Action: Cllr. Daniels                                                               

11.   Litter picking: No further action.

12.   Light Pollution: To be inserted into Website.  Cllr. Watson to find documentation.

                                                                                                                           Action: Cllr. Daniels/Cllr Watson

13.   Hall Structure Report (Cllr. Marriott):

(a)       Repairs to front canopy and drainage works will be carried out over the Christmas holidays and will be overseen by Cllr Marriot t                                                                  Action: Cllr. Marriott

(b)       A new boiler for the showers was needed.  Agreed to go ahead with the replacement.

14.   Hall Management Report. (Cllr. Watson):

(a)       Hire Charges.  All were in agreement that all charges to remain the same, except the all day charge to be £400 (see note b) and football charges to be increased to £40 a game.

(b)       All were in agreement that a surcharge of £10 be added to those hiring the hall for large parties for removal of rubbish. This would allow the hire of a large waste bin for 75p a week with an additional charge of £6.90 when it needed emptying.

15.   Grounds Report (Cllr. Evans):

(a)       Work on both playgrounds was underway.

16.   Environment (Reported by Cllr. Watson)

(a)        Email received from Kevin Fitzgerald regarding the East of England Plan for the CPRE.  This needs to go into the Newsletter, once all Councillors have reads it by email.  Cllr. Watson to send.                                                                                                          Action: Cllr. Watson

(b)       An elderly lady in the village had fallen into a hole in the pavement outside the Chinese Takeaway and ended up in hospital.  The hole had been filled in, but three days later there was a problem again.  Had now been filled in again.

17.   Publicity (Cllr. Daniels):

(a)       The Parish Plan: The first meeting of the group committee was held on Monday 13th December. The committee will report into the Parish Council on a regular basis.  Initial meeting invitations will be extended to businesses (Wed 5th Jan Ð 6pm) and non-commercial groups (Tues 4th Jan Ð 7pm), with information then fed into a draft questionnaire and a public meeting held on Thurs 10th February.  It was agreed that the School and Nursery Group be included in the initial invitations.

(b)       Website update: The website was now up to date.  There had been a request for a forum to allow questions to be asked of the Council on the web.  It was agreed that an email address be posted that would allow emails to be forwarded to Councillors.         Action: Cllr. Daniels

18.   Planning (Cllr. Thom):

(a)       Applications: No more applications had been received.

(b)       22 London Road. It was reported that there was an error in land ownership detailed on the planning application, therefore plans would need to be resubmitted.

19.   Finance (Cllr. Watson):

(a)       Payments in November 2004 were unanimously accepted.

(b)       The accounts for April- November were approved.

(c)       Budget 2005-6: Revised budget including new carpets in meeting rooms, parish plan, repairs to shower heaters and cupboard conversion still left a healthy balance.  Approved.  £75 had been quoted for the cleaning of Harry McDonalds gravestone.  Approved.  Cllr Watson to send a proposed letter for Parishioners to all Councillors to check.         Action: Cllr. Watson

(d)       Audit report.  The report listed three points Ð 1. Council continued to show VAT due in the start and end balances.  2. It was noted that a risk assessment had been carried out after the start of the year.  3. Fidelity Insurance cover was considered too low.  It was agreed to increase cover next year.

(e)       Letter from Church Treasurer, Sue Keach.  This showed a significant deficit for the church.  A lady in the village had offered to donate £3,000 to the church to keep it going when she receives a significant legal compensation.

20.   Young Villagers:  A meeting with Young Villagers has been arranged for 13th January at 7:30pm.  It was agreed that the Parish Plan be discussed with the Young villagers at this meeting.

21.   Infringement of Tree Preservation Order:  This had been reported.  No further action.

22.   Tree trunks dumped in Woods: A letter had been sent to Chris James, but it needs to go to WHC, not HCC.  Chair to inform Cllr. Bryant                                                                                  Action: Cllr. Daniels

23.   Midnight Mass: No further action.

24.   Carols around the Pond: At 4pm, Christmas Eve.  All money collected will go to the church.

25.   Chair cleaning: This will be on Sunday 23rd January from 11am, with brunch provided for all those cleaning.  A spring clean of the hall is also needed and this could be done at the same time.

26.   Clerks Conditions of employment: There were now National Guidelines.  All Councillors agreed to read and comment at next meeting.                                                                                              Action: All Cllrs.

27.   Freedom of Information Act: A notice should go up informing that all minutes etc. were available to all Parishioners.                                                                                                                                 Action: Clerk

28.   CCTV:  Clerk to send a letter of reply.                                                                                        Action: Clerk

29.   Herts Policing Plan, PCSOs: Council had received the Herts Policing Plan 2005/6 and the Strategic Plan 2005/8.  Clerk to send reply saying no comment by the deadline of 12th January 2005.  There is now a new number to ring for Herts Constabulary on non-urgent matters: 0845 3300222                           Action: Clerk

30.   Celebration of ParishÕs 5th Birthday in 2005: All were in agreement that this be combined with the planned St Georges Day celebration, with a special open day at the hall on Saturday 23rd April.  It was agreed that neighbouring parish councils also be invited.  It was agreed to progress this through the Entertainments Committee.                                                                                    Action: Cllr. Thom/Watson

31.   Appointment of a Hall Booking Clerk: With the increase in hall bookings, this was becoming a significant job.  All were in agreement that this post be advertised in the Newsletter.    Action: Cllr.Watson

32.   Date of next meeting: Tuesday 11th January 2005

33.   Any other business:

(a)       Council had received an invitation to attend the Inter Parish Conference on 21st February 2005.  A letter of thanks to be sent. .                                                                               Action: Clerk

(b)       The CPRE meeting in Knebworth is on March 1st 2005.

(c)       The HAPTC meeting is on 20th January 2005.

(d)       Cllr. Watson agreed to produce again a list of forthcoming events/dates.   Action: Cllr. Watson

(e)       All were in agreement that the new Curate be invited to attend the celebrations on 23rd April.

(f)        All were in agreement that there was no need for the sale of garden bags now that most villagers had a brown wheelie bin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mrs Linda Vincent
Minutes Secretary
Woolmer Green Parish Council                                                                          16th December 2004