Minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 4th March 2026 held at 7.30pm at Reed Village Hall.
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Present Cllrs: K Langley (Chair), S Aries (Vice Chair), E Kilby, B Blower and N Payne.
In attendance the outgoing Clerk Catharine Toms, new Clerk Roberta Negrao, County Cllr. Ruth Brown, District Cllr. Martin Prescott and 15 members of the public.
This meeting would be recorded for the purpose of the minutes.
1.3.26 Attendance. As listed above.
2.3.26 To receive apologies for absence. The Police – apologies accepted.
3.3.26 To receive Members Declarations of Interest and note dispensation granted. None received.Cllr. Kilby, for his period of office, a dispensation granted allowing him full participation at meetings in issues arising concerning The Cabinet public house including, but not limited to, planning matters.
4.3.26 To approve the Minutes of the Meeting of the Parish Council held on 8th January 2026 and to authorise the Chairman to sign them as a true record. It was proposed, seconded and all voted in favour to approve the minutes. Resolved. Approved minutes to be posted on the website. Action: Clerk/Webmaster
5.3.26 To ratify decision made under delegated authority to appoint Roberta Negrao as the new Clerk/RFO and to agree expenditure to provide the necessary updated equipment/software – The Chair introduced and warmly welcomed Roberta Negrao, the new Clerk/RFO, onto the Parish Council. It was proposed, seconded and agreed by all to ratify the decision to appoint Mrs Negrao De Almeida.
Cllr. Kilby proposed that for practical purposes, to enable small expenses to be paid by the Clerk/RFO, that the process was commenced to obtain a Parish Council debit card. This was duly agreed and this new arrangement would be formally approved by the Council at the May meeting ahead of any usage of the card. Action: Clerk (CT)
Standing Orders were suspended.
6.3.26 To invite Members of the Public to address the meeting – No one wished to speak at this point.
The Chair agreed to suspend Standing Orders further during the meeting should members of the public present wish to contribute to the discussion.
Standing Orders were resumed.
7.3.26 Chair’s Report – (See Appendix A).
Standing Orders were suspended.
8.3.26 To consider and make comment on planning application:
Full Planning Permission : Erection of 21 Dwellings including creation of two vehicular access roads and off-site highways improvements, provision of play area, landscaping and associated infrastructure.
Land Opposite Silver Ball, London Road, Reed, Hertfordshire, SG8 8BA – Case Ref No: 26/00276/FP – Mr Chris Anderson, Land Agent for The Turney Trust, was present to explain about their planning application. He explained that it was an allocated site within the North Herts Council (NHC) Local Plan and that they had been through lengthy pre-application discussions with NHC ahead of submitting this proposal for approval. The development would incorporate a broad mix of housing. Of the 21 dwellings, 7 (2 x 2 bed and 5 x 3 bed) would be ‘affordable’ (meaning 80% of market value) and 14 (2 x 4 bed detached and 12 x 3 bed houses) would be ‘market’ dwellings. The Turney Trust was in conversation with some Housing Associations regarding the ‘affordable’ dwellings. Of the ‘market’ dwellings, The Turney Trust would be retaining some for tenants of Reed and Therfield, as their remit as a charity was to provide housing for local people.
Members of the public present commented that it was positive to see this planning application finally come forward providing a balanced mix of smaller properties, although it was noted that there were no proposed bungalows. Concern was raised about the 4 dwellings that would be facing outwards onto the busy A10, also about the two cul-de-sacs which seemed to invite an extension onto the site next door to the north. It was assured that this was not the intention and that there would be a sizeable landscaped buffer zone between the two sites. There was worry about the two access points from Blacksmiths Lane, one being very close to the A10, which could cause congestion in a hazardous spot.
It was proposed, seconded and agreed by all that the Parish Council was mindful to submit a response under delegated authority indicating ‘no objection’ but would defer completing the response until 18th March, in light of any further comments that may come forward. The submitted response would then be ratified at the May meeting. Action: KL/Clerk
Reasons for proposed response:
- – It was not a surprise application
- – It had followed the proper planning process
- – It was an allocated site within the NHC Local Plan
- – The site was within the SP2 settlement boundary of Reed
- – It offered a mix of homes
- – It had been subject to Pre-Application discussions with NHC and the community over the past 1-2 years
Mr Anderson was thanked for attending and he departed from the meeting.
9.3.26 To receive report from District Councillor – Cllr. Prescott reported that the new ‘Learner Pool’ in Royston was now back on the agenda at NHC, having had a feasibility study carried out, £4.75m had been agreed in the budget. The NHC portion of the Council Tax bill for 2026/27 had risen by 2.99%. The refusal of the planning permission for the 280 dwellings on the Barkway Road, Royston had been appealed and a Public Hearing was due to take place on 12th May at NHC in Letchworth. Anyone would be able to make a representation. There was a current consultation on Local Government reorganisation, where there was a proposal for a Unitary Council (merging District and County Councils). The County would then be split into sections, the most logical being two for Hertfordshire. This should bring huge cost savings on the services they delivered.
10.3.26 To receive report from County Councillor, including Highways matters – Cllr. Brown reported that Herts County Council (HCC) had agreed a £1.2bn budget for 2026/27. After some difficult decisions, a saving of £55m had been made. An extra £1.5m had been allocated towards the 20mph schemes. The result of the residents’ survey in Reed was awaited and it was hoped that Reed could be added to the list. Extra monies had been allocated to the Herts Lynx bus service, with 2 extra smaller vehicles being provided for this area, in order to make the service more demand responsive. A Speed Indicator Device (SID) was due to be installed into an existing socket southbound on the A10 at Reed in September.
It had been reported to her that the School and parents were concerned that Jacksons Lane was never gritted but this was because the lorries could not turn around. She suggested that the Parish Council could try and organise a community scheme of self-help in this area to carry out some gritting during the winter months.
Cllrs. reported the very poor state of the road surface in Brickyard Lane and along The Joint. Missing and damaged road signs in the village were also mentioned. Cllr. Brown to check if repairs to The Joint were still included in the budget for the Integrated Works Programme, as they had been with former County Cllr. Fiona Hill. She asked the Parish Council to report these Highways issues raised online to HCC and she would monitor progress on them. Action: EK
A member of the public asked about discussion on the Community WhatsApp group about setting up of a Community SpeedWatch initiative. Cllr. Kilby responded that this was not something that the Parish Council itself wished to be involved with, but it would be happy for the individuals who proposed the idea to set up such a group if they were minded to do so.
Cllrs. Brown and Prescott were thanked for their reports.
Standing Orders were resumed.
11.3.26 To receive update on progress with survey on possible 20mph restriction on roads within the village – Cllr. Kilby had been researching methods of conducting the survey. It was recommended to conduct this mainly online but with a paper alternative. Each household would have a unique code, which could be used only once. Three questions would be asked:
1) The access code
2) Would you support introduction of a 20mph speed limit on residential roads in Reed village, subject to HCC approval?
3) (Optional) How many adults (18+) live in your household?
It was agreed that Cllr. Kilby should proceed with the survey on this basis. (Action: EK)
12.3.26 To review action points from meeting on 8th January 2026 – reviewed. (See Appendix B).
13.3.26 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 £30,320.28, of which, £9,412.28 was Push Energy Community Contribution (ring-fenced for special projects), £2,112.04 was Bonfire Night reserves, £690.75 was P3 grant balance, S106 Sustainable Transport Reserve was £651.87, Play Park Reserve was £2,792.89, Election Reserve was £750.00, Village Fund was £1,670.40 (proceeds of donations from Bonfire Night 2025), leaving general reserves at £12,240.05.
14.3.26 To agree accounts for payment – Payments made since the last meeting were £525.00 to Mr Edwards for grass cutting in the Play Area for 2025. Payments to be authorised at the meeting were Clerk’s salary and PAYE. Plus £28.49 Clerk’s expenses for stationery items. Proposed, seconded and approved by all.
15.3.26 To review and agree policy on expenditure of Push Energy Fund – This Policy from May 2022 had been previously circulated to all Cllrs. It was proposed, seconded and agreed by all to amend the policy to make the first criteria for money allocation to be less restrictive. (See Appendix C).
The revised policy to be published on the website/noticeboard and via the Village WhatsApp group. Action: EK/Clerk
16.3.26 To ratify response submitted to Reserved Matters Application in Barkway – Case Ref No: 25/03149/RM – (see Appendix C)
17.3.26 To set a date for the Annual Parish Meeting in May – Wednesday 20th May 6-8pm at Reed Village Hall. The Clerk to book the hall (Action Clerk).
It was agreed to have this in the same more popular format as the two previous years and to produce another printed Reed Annual Report to be distributed to all properties in Reed. Village and external organisations would be invited to attend on 20th May and set up a table to promote their activities. Organisations would be asked to also submit a report in advance for inclusion in the Annual Report. The Clerk to send out the invitations. (Action Clerk).
Annual Report to be compiled by Cllr. Kilby (Action: EK).
BB Pizza to be booked for 20th May (Action: EK).
Cllr. Blower agreed to sort out drinks (Action: BB)
Cllr. Langley suggested that it would be interesting if a table could be set up to display some history of Reed. Cllr. Langley to investigate this idea further and enlist volunteers to arrange this. (Action: KL)
18.3.26 To receive matters for report and or referral to next agenda (Information only) – Finalisation of arrangements for the Annual Parish meeting on 20th May.
19.3.26 To agree date of next meeting – Wednesday 6th May 2026 – Annual Meeting of Reed Parish Council, followed by the Ordinary Parish Council Meeting. Resolved.
The Clerk was asked to set up and circulate dates for the formal and informal Parish Council meetings for the forthcoming year. (Action: Clerk)
Items by exception:
Play Area Inspection – This had been carried out by Cllr. Langley.
As this was Catharine’s last attendance at a Reed Parish Council Meeting, the Parish Councillors presented her with a card and some gifts as a token of their appreciation for all her work and support over the past 8 years. She thanked them all very much and said that it had been a pleasure to work with them all.
There being no further business the meeting closed at 9.21pm