Minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 8th January 2026 held at 7.30pm at Reed School.
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Present Cllrs: K Langley (Chair), S Aries (Vice Chair), E Kilby, B Blower and N Payne.
In attendance the Clerk Catharine Toms, County Cllr. Ruth Brown, and 7 members of the public (incl. 2 members of The Police)
This meeting would be recorded for the purpose of the minutes.
1.1.26 Attendance. As listed above.
2.1.26 To receive apologies for absence. None received.
3.1.26 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.
4.1.26 To approve the Minutes of the Meeting of the Parish Council held on 5th November 2025 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
Standing Orders were suspended.
5.1.26 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.
The Police Officers present, Chris Brabrook and Hannah Moss gave a report.
There had been very little crime locally in the last 6 months. Outbuilding burglaries and hare coursing were an ongoing issue. They were asked if speed enforcement could be carried out on the A10 through Reed. A session was due to take place in the next two weeks by Police with a speed gun.
The Police had been attending recent community events in the area in conjunction with other emergency services (and happy to attend any future events). A member of the public asked if the Police could liaise with Reed School and parents about safety after school closed when children seemed to run off whilst parents chatted.
The Police were thanked for their reports and departed from the meeting at 7.40pm.
Standing Orders were resumed.
6.1.26 Chair’s Report – (See Appendix A).
Standing Orders were suspended.
7.1.26 To receive report from District Councillor – No report.
8.1.26 To receive report from County Councillor, including Highways matters – It was reported that County Cllr. Brown’s Highway Locality Budget for 2026/27 would be funding a second Speed Indicator Device (SID) for Reed to face southbound on the A10. A 20mph speed restriction could be implemented within Reed village on the residential roads if it could be demonstrated that there was a 75% support for this from residents. (See item 9.1.26). Reed was on the list for the scheme, but the money had not yet been allocated. There was a possibility that Reed could contribute up to 50% of the cost, but this would be confirmed.
It was asked if the data from the existing SID could be obtained. Cllr. Brown to send the Clerk a link to put forward a request to Herts County Council (HCC).
It was reported to Cllr. Brown that there seemed to be a lack of clearly visible white lines on many roads in the area at the moment.
In addition it was reported that The Joint was in a really poor state of repair, with severe verge erosion and work needing doing there ahead of the building development starting on site BK3 in Barkway.
It was noted that HCC was conducting a Speed Management Strategy survey – a response would be submitted. Action: EK
It was queried why no retrospective planning application had yet been submitted for works on the land opposite The Silver Ball. In addition, what time frame would need to elapse before an enforcement procedure commenced due to lack of planning consent? The temporary Stop Notice issued had now expired, as it only lasted for 6 months. Cllr. Brown agreed to look into the matter.
It was agreed that regular photographic evidence would be needed by North Herts Council (NHC). Action: Reed PC. The Environment Agency and Planning really needed to liaise on this case.
The review of the NHC Local Plan was underway and a new Local Plan would need to be completed by April 2028 before the proposed Unitary Council came in. In the meantime, planning applications were considered against the current Local Plan, but as there was a deficiency in the 5 year housing supply, there was a risk that hostile planning applications could get approved under the tilted balance rule, with ‘a presumption in favour of development’.
Cllr. Brown had recently spent mainly the remainder of her Members’ Locality Budget – £250 to Reed School and £150 to Reed Gardening Club. Her budget for 2026/27 would be available for applications from May/June 2026.
Cllr. Brown was thanked for her report.
Standing Orders were resumed.
9.1.26 To agree to conduct a village survey to ascertain the desire for a 20mph speed limit – It was proposed, seconded and agreed by all to go ahead with a household survey. The practicalities of this would be discussed informally. The question to be asked: ‘Would you support a Herts County Council introduction of a 20 mile per hour speed limit on the residential roads in Reed village?’ Resolved. Action: EK
10.1.26 To review action points from meeting on 5th November 2025 – reviewed. (See Appendix B).
11.1.26 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 £31,441.91, 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 £13,361.68.
Income received since the last meeting was £14.92 being additional donations received from Bonfire Night.
Cllr. Aries verified the bank balance stated in the financial summary against the bank statement (as required by the Financial Regulations).
12.1.26 To agree accounts for payment – Payments made since the last meeting were £400.00 as a donation to Friends of Reed School (from the Push Energy Fund) to contribute towards the cost of a sensory trail. Payments to be authorised at the meeting were Clerk’s salary and PAYE. Proposed, seconded and approved by all.
13.1.26 To consider and agree budget for 2026/27 and associated Precept Application – Further to an informal meeting, the draft budget had been previously circulated to Councillors. The recommendation was to request a small increase in Precept of £337 (4%) per annum from £8,418 to £8,755. This would affect the Parish Council element of the North Herts Council Tax bill (on a Band D property, increasing the Parish Council contribution from £51.54 per annum to £52.41 per annum/87p per annum). This moderate increase was to try and preserve a good practice level of reserves in a climate of higher prices now being paid for goods and services by the Parish Council. It was therefore proposed, seconded and agreed by all to approve the budget for 2026/27 and apply for a Precept of £8,755 from North Herts Council. Resolved.
The Clerk to submit Precept application to North Herts Council. Action: Clerk
14.1.26 To receive matters for report and or referral to next agenda (Information only) – Review of policy on Push Energy Fund Expenditure, RD1 Planning Application.
NHC consultation on Reserved Matters Application for site BK3 in Barkway – a response would be submitted raising concerns about the condition of The Joint as this would be the access route to the site. Action: KL
15.1.26 To agree date of next meeting. Wednesday 4th March 2026 – Resolved.
Items by exception:
Play Area Inspection – This had been carried out by Cllr. Langley.
RD1 and Turney Trust – There had been an unexpected delay in submission of their planning application due to Ecology reports. They expected to receive these in early January and then submit their full application. It was agreed to ask a representative of the Turney Trust to attend the March PC meeting if a planning application had not been submitted by that time. Action: KL
Reed House – This was due to have been determined by the NHC Planning Control Committee in December but the item had been withdrawn from the Agenda at the last minute as new information was needing to be submitted.
The Cabinet and report from SCAG – It was understood that the whole site had been auctioned and did not sell, but was then sold subsequently. However, it was not known who the buyer was or what their intentions were for the place. The Italian restaurant occupied part of the building on a 7 year lease. The planning status on The Cabinet would still remain and would be the responsibility of the new owner, assuming the sale completed.
There being no further business the meeting closed at 8.56pm
Appendix A – Reed Parish Council Meeting – Thursday 8th January 2026
Reed Parish Council
Chair’s Report January 2026The following to report since the last meeting of the Parish Council in November 2025:
1.Councillors and the Clerk met at the start of December to plan a budget for the financial year 26/27. Item 13.1 on the agenda for the January meeting refers.
2.Also in December, councillors had the benefit of an informal meeting with County Councillor Ruth Brown for a general discussion of planning policy and Highways matters.
3.As a Parish Council, we noted the publication by central government in December of a revised National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF). This is being consulted on for early implementation in the new year. Councillors will, of necessity, have to take into account the implications of this for Reed, going forward. Also, of the government’s Planning and Infrastructure Bill which is also pending.
4.The position of Clerk to the Council has been advertised. We look forward to interviewing and hope to appoint by March.
That completes the Chair’s Report for this period.
Ken Langley, Chair, Reed Parish Council
Please note that the venue for the Thursday, January 8th meeting of Reed PC is Reed School, not the Village Hall