Minutes of the meeting held on 3 July 2019

at 8.09pm at Reed Village Hall

Downloadable/printable version (opens as PDF document) Present Cllrs: K Langley (Chairman), C d’Ayala (Vice- Chair), P Lawrence, M Higgs and J Kershaw. In attendance the Clerk Catharine Toms and 2 members of the public. 1.7.19 To receive apologies for absence. None. 2.7.19 To receive Members Declarations of Interest. Cllr. d’Ayala (items 15.7.19 & 16.7.19). 3.7.19 To approve the Minutes of the Meeting of the Parish Council held on 14th May 2019 and to authorise the Chairman to sign them as a true record. The minutes were approved. It was proposed, seconded and all voted in favour. Agreed. 4.7.19 To invite Members of the Public to address the meeting. It was agreed to suspend standing orders at various points in the meeting to allow contributions from members of the public present. 5.7.19 Chairman’s Report. Since the May meeting, Cllr. d’Ayala and the Clerk had successfully applied, on behalf of Reed Parish Council, to the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) for an extension into 2020 for approval to borrow funds to purchase and re-open The Cabinet (see item 14.7.19). Cllrs. had met with the Contractor working on the Reservoir on Wisbridge Farm (see item 17.7.19). A Crime Awareness Event had taken place on 15th June in the Village Hall which had been well received by all parties. Correspondence was ongoing regarding the error made by NHDC in recording the number of properties in Reed which had affected the Parish Council element of the Council Tax bills and had resulted in a bigger percentage increase than expected when the Council had agreed the Precept increase in January. It was agreed that a short explanation would be posted on the noticeboard and on the website. Action: Clerk The Clerk had been liaising with the Webmaster about development of the website (see item 12.7.19). 6.7.19 To accept conclusion of Internal Audit for 2018/19 – There were no matters arising which needed to be brought to the attention of the Council. It was proposed, seconded and agreed by all to accept the conclusion of Internal Audit. Resolved. 7.7.19 To note dates for the exercise of public rights 2018/19 – Commencing Monday 1st July and finishing on Friday 9th August – notices to be placed on the noticeboard and on the website. Action: Clerk 8.7.19 To consider changing frequency of Parish Council meetings from bi-monthly to monthly and to decide if a Wednesday and a start time of 8pm are still appropriate – Due to length of agendas more recently and time constraints on planning consultations, it was agreed to think about meeting monthly on a trial basis. There would be cost implications regarding additional hall hire and Clerk’s salary. It was proposed, seconded and agreed to defer this until the September meeting. In the meantime, Cllr. Langley to email District and County Cllrs. for their opinion as their attendance at meetings was always considered beneficial. Action: KL 9.7.19 To consider setting up a Parish email distribution list for ease of village communication – A system called ‘mailchimp’ was recommended as easy to use and GDPR compliant. People could be invited to ‘opt in’ to receive messages and could ‘opt out’ at any time. Residents would be made aware of this new method of communication by leaflet, notices on boards and on the website. Cllr. d’Ayala volunteered to set this up with assistance from the Webmaster. All messages would originate from the Clerk who would be the Administrator. It was proposed, seconded and agreed by all to proceed. Resolved. Action: CD 10.7.19 To receive report from the Clerk on current financial position – Copies of the accounts and list of monies received and payments to be authorised were handed to all Cllrs. Accounts showed a bank balance of £15,424.64 of which £10,435 was Push Energy Community Contribution (ring-fenced for special projects), £945.37 was Bonfire Night reserves, leaving general reserves at £4,044.27. 11.7.19 To agree accounts for payment. – Payment made since the last meeting was for hall hire at Reed School, payments at the meeting for the Clerk’s salary, PAYE, stamps and refreshments for the Annual Parish Meeting were agreed. 12.7.19 To receive report from Webmaster and to consider recommendations regarding domains – Standing Orders were suspended to allow the Webmaster to give a detailed explanation of options available. Standing Orders were resumed. It was proposed, seconded and agreed to renew the reedparishcouncil.co.uk domain and allow the .org domain to lapse. Cost would be £50 + VAT for two years and all emails would remain as they were. The Webmaster was thanked for all his excellent work with the website. Resolved. 13.7.19 To consider application by a Parishioner for permission to use of part of the Green on 28.08.20 to put up a marquee to host a Wedding reception – Standing Orders were suspended to allow a member of the public to address the council and answer questions regarding their proposed event. Standing Orders were resumed. It was proposed, seconded and agreed by all to approve the request in principle as the applicant was a parishioner and would be getting married in Reed Church. This approval in principle would be subject to certain conditions, including the need for the applicant to have their own public liability insurance in place, which had been discussed and would be drawn up in a letter of agreement. Cllrs. Kershaw and Langley agreed to draw up the list of stipulations. Action: KL/JK 14.7.19 To note MHCLG approval for extension for a further year of the loan approval granted in respect of The Cabinet – Noted. 15.7.19 To receive a report from Save The Cabinet Action Group (SCAG) – Standing Orders were suspended to allow a member of SCAG to update the Council. It was noted that the owner of The Cabinet had now obtained a Premises Licence, although only granted for a limit of 50 people, excluding staff, due to inadequate toilet facilities. It was understood that despite assurances, the Enforcement Notice, to stop the owner using the premises as a residence, had still not yet been issued by NHDC. The reason being that the Notice was currently still with the NHDC Legal Dept. SCAG had been approached by someone locally who was interested in making a substantial offer to buy and restore The Cabinet as a pub and village amenity again. They were just waiting for the Enforcement Notice to be issued by NHDC and would then put forward their offer. The interested party was hoping that they would have the support both from the village and the Parish Council. Standing Orders were resumed. It was agreed that the Parish Council welcomed this initiative by this person, or indeed by anyone else, to be prepared to buy The Cabinet and re-open it on the full premises and run it as a village pub serving both the village of Reed and the wider community. 16.7.19 To consider and make comment on planning application: Listed Building Consent: Internal and external alterations to facilitate the reinstatement of The Cabinet as a public house (class A4) The Cabinet, High Street, Reed, Hertfordshire, SG8 8AH Case Ref No: 19/01222/LBC – Cllr. Langley had previously circulated a draft response to the consultation objecting to both the retrospective permission sought, as there was no evidence that substantial harm had not been done to the building and also objecting to the proposed works as it was not much different to a previous refused application, which proposed using less than 50% of the ground floor area as a licensed premises, and therefore rendering the building unlikely to be viable as a pub. It was proposed, seconded and all voted unanimously in favour of objecting to the application. The Clerk to respond to NHDC. Action: Clerk 17.7.19 To receive update on matters relating to the construction of a reservoir on land belonging to Wisbridge Farm between Rokey Wood and Bush Wood – Cllrs Higgs, d’Ayala and the Clerk had meet with the Contractor on site to find out more about the proposed project. A full report of meeting had been circulated since to all Cllrs. Work had stopped as the project now needed full planning permission as it was involving waste transfer. It was agreed that as the site was within the Parish of Barkway that the matter would be reviewed again in September. The Clerk to advise if any planning application was notified meanwhile to Barkway Parish Council. 18.7.19 To note current unspent S106 monies being held by NHDC for Reed – A current statement from NHDC showed £550.67 for Community Centres and £1,827.07 for Sustainable Transport. It was agreed that Cllr. Langley would seek advice from the Communities Officer at NHDC as to what projects might qualify for release of these monies. Action: KL. It was noted that there must soon be monies available as a result of The Kilns development. 19.7.19 To note and agree any action re: maintenance of play area following inspection report – The Clerk had produced a draft inspection checklist for the play area. Cllrs. d’Ayala and Lawrence would meet to carry out a full inspection of the equipment and report back at the September meeting. Action: CD/PL 20.7.19 To consider means of protecting and preserving Pitty’s Pond and the Cart Pond – The Clerk had contacted the Conservation Officer at NHDC and had been advised that as far as he was aware there was no conservation order mechanism in place to protect village ponds. It was suggested that Natural England, Herts Ecology at HCC or the Herts & Middlesex Wildlife Trust be contacted for advice. Action: Clerk/PL In the meantime, Cllr. Lawrence would monitor the condition of the Cart Pond and if appropriate organise a village working party to carry out some maintenance. Action: PL 21.7.19 To receive update on possible advisory speed limit for Reed village – As County Cllr. Hill was not present, it was agreed to defer this matter until September. 22.7.19 To receive update on maintenance required for the defibrillator – The Clerk reported that instructions had been received from the Defib Shop to resolve the intermittent problem with the keypad not functioning. Cllr. Langley agreed to try and sort out the keypad and return the defibrillator to the phone box the following day. Action: KL 23.7.19 To consider the most popular ideas for the expenditure of Push Energy funds – Councillors had come up with a list of the most popular ideas. It was agreed that the money should be spent on new items for the village and not on donations towards other village projects. The items considered were a Tom Duke memorial tree and plaque, Informative signage, a War Memorial plaque to go beneath the village sign, picnic benches and items of new play/exercise equipment for the green. Items had been costed and thought given to any future cost implications. It was proposed, seconded and agreed by all to go ahead and purchase two picnic benches immediately, in order that they could be enjoyed by people over the forthcoming summer months. Action: CD/MH/JK 24.7.19 To discuss Neighbourhood Watch / OWL scheme and decide how to implement the scheme, including purchase, location and installation of signage – Standing Orders were suspended to allow Mr Haydon to speak. He informed the Council that he had agreed to become the Neighbourhood (NW) Co-ordinator for Reed and was having ongoing communication with the NW team as to what this would involve. Mr Haydon was thanked by the Council for volunteering to take on this role. Standing Orders were resumed. Cllr. d’Ayala would be contacting the NW team for advice on positioning of the three new NW signs and would endeavour to get these in place as soon as possible. Action: CD 25.7.19 To receive matters for report or referral to next agenda. (Information only) Push Energy money, Play area inspection, The Cabinet and SCAG, The defibrillator, Update on cart pond maintenance, Update on advisory speed limit, Change to schedule of Parish Council Meetings. 26.7.19 To note correspondence received. (Information only) – Nothing not already covered elsewhere in the meeting. 27.7.19 To agree date of next meeting. 4th September 2019. Agreed. There being no further business the meeting closed at 10.38pm.