Minutes of Meeting of the Parish

Council held on

Wednesday 15 September at 7.30pm,

Reed Village Hall

Download printable copy (opens as PDF document) Chair’s report (opens as PDF document) Present Cllrs: K Langley (Chair), E Kilby and B Blower. In attendance the Clerk Catharine Toms, County Cllr. F Hill and Dist. Cllr. A Hunter. This meeting would be recorded for the purpose of the minutes 1.9.21 Attendance. As listed above. 2.9.21 To receive apologies for absence. Cllr. C d’Ayala (unwell), Cllr. J Kershaw (work commitment). Dist. Cllr. Morris (on holiday). Apologies accepted. 3.9.21 To receive Members Declarations of Interest and to note dispensation granted. No declarations of interests declared. Cllr. Kilby, for the remainder of his period of office, dispensation granted allowing him full participation at meetings in issues arising concerning The Cabinet public house including, but not limited to, planning matters. 4.9.21 To approve the Minutes of the Meetings of the Parish Council held on 21st July 2021 and to authorise the Chairman to sign them as a true record. It was proposed, seconded and all voted in favour to approve. Resolved. Approved minutes to be posted on the website. Action: Clerk/Webmaster 5.9.21 To invite Members of the Public to address the meeting. No members of the public were present. 6.9.21 To receive Chairman’s Report. (See Appendix A). In addition, Cllr. Langley had received an email request to register the defibrillator with the National network. This had been done and in order to maintain this registration, a monthly test needed to be carried out on the defibrillator and the result then logged on the network. Cllr. Langley indicated he would continue to carry out this monthly duty. Action: KL 7.9.21 To receive report from District Councillor – None received. 8.9.21 To receive report from County Councillor – Cllr. Hill reported that the School sign for the A10 was all in hand and the wording had been agreed. Discussion took place regarding relocating the Speed Indicator Device (SID)/installation of another SID. The matter would be investigated by Cllr. Hill, and budgets allowing, would put forward best options. Preparation work was due to start in October for surface dressing on Driftway and High Street. The new Herts Lynx on-demand bus service was due to commence on 19 th Sept. The problem of flooding at Reed End following heavy rain was raised. As this was out of area for Cllr. Hill she agreed to liaise with her colleague for attention on the matter. 9.9.21 To review action points from the meeting on 21 st July (See Appendix B). 10.9.21 To receive report from the Clerk on current financial position - A list of monies received and payments to be authorised had been previously circulated to all Cllrs. Accounts showed a bank balance of £16,871.14 of which £10,133.35 was Push Energy Community Contribution (ring-fenced for special projects), £900.50 was Bonfire Night reserves, £815.75 was P3 grant balance, leaving general reserves at £5,021.54. The second half of the annual Precept had now been received from NHDC. £2,575.00 11.9.21 To agree accounts for payment. Payments to be authorised at the meeting were Clerk’s salary and PAYE, £100.00 grant donation to The Diary and £369.84 to Stagestruck Ltd for the additional informative sign and £30.00 to HAPTC for a Councillor training session. Proposed, seconded and approved by all. Resolved. 12.9.21 To receive update on project to preserve ponds and agree any action required – Cllr. Blower reported that she had met with two people from Countryside Management Services (CMS) the previous day. They had visited both ponds and had recommended that there was not much work that could be done this current year apart from a small amount of clearing. Any vegetation/wood/debris cleared would need to be left by the side of the ponds for a while to allow any wildlife present to relocate. So far, only evidence of common newts had been found. CMS would be returning to collect some samples and then produce a report which would provide a guidance plan going forward. Once this report had been received Cllr. Blower would then liaise with the volunteers to obtain help to carry out the recommended work. Action: BB 13.9.21 To receive update on issue of low water pressure and agree any action required – Following a letter written to Affinity Water and a follow up to get a response, Affinity Water had agreed to monitor water pressure over the summer, report results to the Parish Council and take any appropriate action to address any lack of pressure. Parishioners were concerned that new development in the area had affected the water pressure to existing properties. However, it was understood with surprise, that Affinity were not part of the consultation process prior to permission being granted for development. They were only informed once they had to arrange the supply of water! It was agreed to write to NHDC to query why this was the case (Action: KL) and then to respond further to Affinity Water (Action EK). County Cllr. Hill asked to be kept informed. Action: KL/EK 14.9.21 To review website Accessibility Statement – Cllr. Kilby had circulated a proposal to Cllrs. It explained that this review was an annual requirement. After consideration it was considered that the existing website was more than adequate and not far at all from being totally accessible to all users and that the alternative to purchase a totally compliant package would be very expensive and the software more difficult to work with. Resolved. Cllr. Kilby was thanked for all his work on the matter and his ongoing work maintaining the website. Cllr. Kilby to place the date the statement was reviewed on the website. Action: EK 15.9.21 To ratify decision to hold Bonfire Night this year – A date of Sat. 6 th November had been set to hold the event. Cllr. Kilby informed the Council that the usual company that provided the display in the past was now no longer able to attend. He proposed that the Parish Council should run and manage the event, with himself managing the display, along with an assistant. Cllr. Kilby had attended a course previously on working with fireworks. He proposed to source the fireworks from a company in Chelmsford and had asked them to recommend a package for an appropriate display. These would be collected at the end of October and stored for a few days. Insurance cover had been confirmed through the Council’s insurers. Volunteers had already been sourced to deal with the bonfire, provide the drinks and refreshments, act as marshals and help clear up the following day. There was a worry was that the event might have to be cancelled/postponed if the Government decided to impose a ‘firebreak’ lockdown in late October/early November. After discussion it was decided to go ahead and order the fireworks and proceed with planning the event as it would be an investment in bringing back the normality of community life again in Reed. It was proposed, seconded and agreed by all to ratify the decision to hold Bonfire Night. Resolved. Action: EK/KL 16.9.21 To ratify comment submitted on planning application: Full Planning Permission : Change of use of agricultural land to equestrian land with stable block and menage area Land west of the Grain Barn, Church Lane, Reed, Hertfordshire. SG8 8AP. Case Ref No: 21/02275/FP – The Parish Council had already submitted, under delegated authority, a response to this planning application. It objected to the application because no information had been provided concerning access to the facilities associated with the change of use. It also recommended, should the access concerns be resolved, that a condition be attached to any grant of permission to the effect that the proposed buildings should not be used for residential purposes. It was proposed, seconded and agreed by all to ratify this response. Resolved. For Information: A planning application had been received for erection of a 3-bed detached dwelling on land adjacent to 3 Hobbs Hayes. A draft response of objection was being circulated and this would be dealt with under delegated authority and ratified at the November meeting. Action: KL/Clerk 17.9.21 Save The Cabinet – to receive update – Cllr. Kilby reported that Save the Cabinet Action Group (SCAG) had sent in a formal letter of compliant to the Managing Direction of North Herts District Council (NHDC). It raised a number of points including the failure by NHDC to take effective enforcement action over a period of over 5 years and failure of internal communication between departments of NHDC regarding planning, building control and environmental health. A brush-off reply had been received which invited them to escalate their complaint to level 2, which involved writing to the head of Planning at NHDC. 18.9.21 Wisbridge Reservoir Project – to receive update – No update to report. It was noted that the site now continued to re-wild. 19.9.21 Highways verges and hedges – County Cllr. Hill was asked if it could be clarified what the current instructions were with regards to the cutting of verges and hedges and whether the Parish Council could have any influence over what was carried out. Currently, the work done seemed very random and areas were often left untidy. The Council was informed that 3 different parties may be involved, HCC Highways, NHDC and Settle. Some areas left uncut could be due to the current wilding policies. Cllr. Hill would investigate and report back. Cllr. d’Ayala to follow this up. Action: CD 20.9.21 To receive bi-monthly Parish Council play area inspection report and agree any repairs required – Cllr. Kershaw had conducted the inspection and there was nothing needing immediate urgent action. There did remain the necessity to remove the debris from the collapsed adventure trail and also to find out what happened to the missing swing seat. Action KL 21.9.21 To receive update regarding Play Area New Equipment project – After discussion it was proposed, seconded and resolved to form a working party to plan the future longer-term development of the play area. Action: KL 22.9.21 Push Energy Fund Projects – to consider provision of a new Community Noticeboard – It was agreed in principle that there was a need for a new Community noticeboard in order to allow the existing Parish Council noticeboard to display all notices pertaining to Council business. Cllr. d’Ayala to be asked to consult with the community and investigate costings and possible sites for the new board. Action: CD 23.9.21 To receive matters for report or referral to next agenda. (Information only) Village sign maintenance, Ponds protection project, Water pressure issues, Play equipment project and grant funding, Bonfire Night, Community noticeboard 24.9.21 To note correspondence received. (Information only) – A letter from NHDC asking if Reed Parish Council wanted to be included in the forthcoming round of NHDC play area inspections. Agreed. A letter from the Chair of Reed Village Hall asking if the Parish Council would support them by submitting an application to NHDC for release of S106 monies held under the section for Community Halls of £550.67 to contribute towards their recent expenditure for refurbishment of the hall floor. Agreed. Action: Clerk 25.9.21 To agree date of next meeting. Weds 3 rd November 2021. Agreed. There being no further business the meeting closed at 9.31pm. Appendix A Chair’s Report September 2021 A few items to report since the mid July Parish Council meeting. • The large footpath sign has been erected opposite the village hall. The smaller version of the footpath sign and the Motte and Bailey signs are still to be put up. Thanks to all involved in this project to utilise section 104 monies for “sustainable transport” which have been unused since 2009. • We have written to Duke Partners to advise them of the intention to place the Motte and Bailey sign next to Rokey wood, adjacent to the bench there. • I responded to a request to register our AED in the telephone box with a national network. • Following postponement of the scheduled Sept. 3rd PC meeting due to illness, councillors have confirmed the November firework event should go ahead this year. Thanks to Edwin Kilby for his initiative once again in liaising with various parties to organise the event. • Water: on September 4th two Affinity Water engineers spent the morning checking for leakages in the Brickyard Lane/Kilns area. They apparently identified some minor leaks but nothing sufficient (they said) to explain the low pressure issues reported. Presumably Affinity Water will (as promised in correspondence) update us about this. That completes this report. ..