Meeting Minutes 04.03.2014
ALBURY PARISH COUNCIL (APC) MEETING
Minutes of a meeting held Tuesday 4th March 2014 at 19.00 hrs at the Village Hall
Present:
Abigail Muller, Brigitte Webster, Nuala Barrett, Perry Benton, Derek Kendle, Jane Pettitt (Clerk)
Members of the public:
Reg Crafter, Harvey Palmer, Andrew Cockburn, Sue Cockburn, Russell Thomas, Lynn Thomas, Robert Smith
1. Apologies for absence
None, but Derek Kendle was delayed and was only present for the 2nd half of the meeting.
2. Election of a Chairman
It was proposed and seconded that Abigail Muller be the new chairman. It was proposed and seconded that Brigitte Webster be the new vice chairman. The clerk is to inform EHC Returning Officer.
3. Declarations of interest
None
4. Minutes of the PC meeting held on Monday 10th February 2014
Approval: minutes were signed and approved by Abigail Muller
5. Questions from members of the Public
The members of the public asked if the council are in support of the play frame at the Catherine Wheel, Gravesend. The pub’s owner has submitted a planning appeal, LPA Ref: 3/13/2164/FP, against East Herts council’s decision to refuse retrospective planning permission for the play frame. A member of the public said that the submissions filed on behalf of the pub, in relation to the most recent application and appeal, contain a statement to say that Albury Parish Council have expressed their support for the current application and appeal. The Council confirmed that they have not seen either the latest application or appeal and, furthermore, have made no comment with regard to them, in writing or otherwise. It was agreed that the Council would review the most recent application and appeal (together with previous applications to form a complete understanding of the issues) and then make a decision on whether or not the current Parish Council will take a stance on the application or adopt a neutral position. It is understood that any submissions by the Council should be made to East Herts council by 24th March 2014.
Also see point 8 below.
6. Planning
No applications received or discussed. The clerk is to request that all planning applications be emailed to the parish email account.
7. Council meetings – times and frequency of future meetings to be agreed
It was agreed to hold future council meetings at 7.15pm on the second Tuesday each January, and the first Tuesday of each month from February to July and September to November.
8. Allotments – update on sewerage and post flooding report
The clerk is to contact Thames Water with regards to a key for the allotment gate. Mr Smith agreed to hold a copy of said key. As Mr Smith helped with the clearance he is to provide an estimate of costs for weed killer and grass seed for the council members to consider a reimbursement. Storm water is still causing sewerage flooding issues. The clerk is to chase environmental health with regards to a previous incident number. All current allotment agreements expire in July and it was agreed to update the allotment agreements using templates from the HAPTC website. The clerk is to circulate these templates to the councillors. Final templates are to be agreed at the next meeting.
9. Albury Parish Council Website
Discussion of this item was postponed to give AM time to write a report.
10. Village Notice boards
It was proposed and seconded that the existing boards will be refurbished due to the cost of new boards being excessive. The clerk is to seek out a local person to quote for this work.
11. Finance report from the RFO
Cheques for litter picking, parish website domains, allotment clearance and clerk salaries were signed for issue. The precept form was signed. New bank mandate forms were completed and signed for the addition of new signatories and the removal of old signatories. Enquiries are to be made as to whether the Parish Councils money in the bank could be receiving a better savings interest rate. DK is to forward the details of the auditor, BDO, to the clerk so she can request annual statement audit forms.
12. Report from the Clerk
The clerk is to post the following link on Facebook http://consult.eastherts.gov.uk/portal/district_plan_preferred_options
The clerk is to respond to Herts police that we would like to join Parish Watch. The clerk is to contact Little Hadham Parish Council regarding the public engagement meeting re: Consultation of the East Herts District Plan meeting. The clerk is to forward the discretionary community grants email to PB.
For the full report from the clerk from the meeting see Appendix A.
13. Standing orders
Existing Parish Council standing orders are to be reviewed.
14. AOB
The councillors are to read the A120 bypass information at the following link http://www.hertsdirect.org/services/transtreets/mts/ltbA120BP in preparation for a discussion at the next meeting.
15. Next PC meeting date and time
Tuesday 1st April 2014, 7.15pm at the village hall. AM issued an advance apology for absence from the May 2014 meeting.
Appendix A.
Report from Clerk – for Meeting Tuesday 4th March, 2014
1. EHC Draft District Plan Preferred Options Consultation
This will be available for you to view and comment between the following dates:
Start date: 26/02/14 22:37
End date: 22/05/14 17:30
Please select the following link to view this event:
http://consult.eastherts.gov.uk/portal/district_plan_preferred_options
2. Parish Watch
Herts police are looking to establish a “Parish Watch” network. This network will link Parish Councils across Hertfordshire with their local Safer Neighbourhood Team and the wider Constabulary, and will utilise the Online Watch Link (OWL) system. This is the email messaging system that is currently used for Neighbourhood Watch and a number of other Watch schemes within Hertfordshire. I should stress that Parish Watch would in no way replace local lines of communication which already exist with your Safer Neighbourhood Team, but would rather look to build upon them.
3. Public Engagement meeting
We have had an email from Jenny Pierce regarding the Consultation of the Draft East Herts District Plan. There are still some locations/areas where public meetings still need to be arranged. I would appreciate any assistance you can provide in arranging these if necessary.
4. Discretionary Community Grants
East Herts Council’s 2014/15 Discretionary Community Grants Programme is now planned for the next financial year. Go to www.eastherts.gov.uk/grants for more information on eligibility criteria and what we are interested in funding. If you could post this link on your websites that would help spread the word about this opportunity for financial support.
Signed………………………………….. Date………………………..
Abigail Muller (Chairman)