Part I of the Meeting of the Bovingdon Parish Council
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Bovingdon Memorial Hall
5 September 2016 starting at 7.30 p.m.
Present:
Councillor Graham Barrett (Chairman)
Councillor Ben Richardson
Councillor Julie Steer
Councillor David Stent
Councillor Richard Taylor
Councillor Giles Turner
Councillor Pauline Wright
Also present:
Herts County Councillor Richard Roberts
Mike Kember, Parish Clerk
Representatives from the Village:
10 villagers
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3.1
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5.1
5.2
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7.1
7.2
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10.1
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11.1
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16. / 1. To elect a Chairman to hold office until the next Annual Meeting of the Council
Councillor Graham Barrett was elected Chairman. Proposed by Councillor Taylor. Seconded by Councillor Steer.
To receive the Chairman’s Declaration of Acceptance of Office or, if not then received, to decide when it shall be received
The Parish Clerk received the newly elected Chairman’s Declaration of Acceptance of Office.
Councillor Richard Taylor was elected Vice-Chairman to hold office until the next Annual Meeting of the Council. Proposed by Councillor Wright. Seconded by Councillor Steer.
Apologies for Absence
To receive any apologies for absence
Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Alison Gunn and Julia Marshall.
Declaration of Interests linked to any of the Resolutions
To receive any declarations of interest
There were no Declarations of Interest.
Public Question Time
Car Parking
A resident commented on an advertisement displayed on land owned by The Box Moor Trust, which indicated that there was over 40 acres of parking available on the airfield for visitors to the Bovingdon Market.
Broadband
There was a question about how to obtain faster broadband connections in village. Residents were advised to register on the BT Infinity website. Councillor Turner to put a link on the Parish Council’s website.
To approve Part I of the minutes of the Meeting of Bovingdon Parish Council held on 4 July 2016
Those present agreed that Part I of the minutes of the meeting of Bovingdon Parish Council held on 4 July 2016 were a true representation of the meeting and the minutes were signed by Councillor Graham Barrett.
Matters arising from Part I of the minutes of the Meeting of Bovingdon Parish Council held on 4 July 2016
Speeding vehicles
Councillor Richardson reported that the multi-agency (comprising Parish Councillors, pupils, parents and staff from the Academy and local police) action plan to raise awareness amongst road users has been completed after a two month period and that there will be a review of progress once PCSO Bardhyl Agallili returns from holiday.
Granville Dene
The Parish Clerk was asked to raise with Dacorum Borough Council the issue of vehicles parking on the large green in Granville Dene.
Crime Report
In the absence of a police representative, there was no report.
To discuss filling of casual vacancy via co-option
The Parish Clerk reported that there had been a couple of people express interest in the vacancy, but that they have not followed this up. Agreed to put an article in the November edition of the Bovingdon News.
Parish Clerk’s Slot
Mayors visit
The Mayor of Dacorum, Councillor Bob Mclean will be visiting Bovingdon on 14 November 2016 as part of his Community Tour of Towns, Parishes and Villages. It is proposed to include a visit to Bovingdon Primary Academy and HMP The Mount.
Parish Council website
Following a meeting of the Communications Group, Councillor Giles Turner has updated the website. There is still some final ‘tweaking’ to be carried out.
To receive and adopt the following Committee reports:
Minutes of the Finance & General Purposes Committee Meeting held on 5 May 2016
Resolved that the minutes of this meeting as circulated, be received and adopted.
Minutes of the Outdoors Committee Meeting held on 13 April 2016
Resolved that the minutes of this meeting as circulated, be received and adopted.
Minutes of the Planning Committee Meetings held on 1 June, 15 June, 4 July and 27 July 2016
Resolved that the minutes of these meetings as circulated, be received and adopted.
Feedback from Chairman of Committees:
Finance & General Purposes Committee
Councillor Turner reported that there had been no further meetings since the last Parish Council meeting in July.
The Parish Clerk reported we have received confirmation from BDO our External Auditors that the Parish Accounts for 2015 -16 have ben agreed and signed off. A notice will be published to this effect on the noticeboard outside the Memorial Hall and on our website for two weeks.
Memorial Hall Management Committee
Councillor Steer reported that a meeting of the Committee is being arranged to take place in October 2016.
Councillor Steer confirmed that following the independent advice sought, the majority of the actions contained in the Memorial Hall Health & Safety Audit should be completed by 30 September 2016. As a result the Conditions of Hire will need to be revised to take account of new recommendations about the storage of furniture and cleaning of the building.
Outdoors Committee
The Committee had last met on 1 September. Councillor Richardson reported that as part of the £3,300 grant received from Fields in Trust, the new memorial stone has been installed on Bovingdon Green and the ‘Welcome to Bovingdon Green’ interpretation board highlighting some of the history of the Green. The balance of the grant will be used to purchase three hornbeam trees to help obscure the view of the radome in Long Lane.
Three further interpretation boards have been installed. Two of the ‘Welcome to Bovingdon Village’ boards are located in the High Street (outside Simon Michael’s dentist and one by the bench at the Docks. One ‘Welcome to Bovingdon Airfield Site’ board, sited by the posts near the junction of Chesham Road and Ley Hill Road. Finally a further two’ Welcome to Bovingdon Churchyard’ boards, will be installed at a later date at locations to be confirmed.
Councillor Richardson thanked Sue Miller for all the work she had done in sourcing funding and producing the interpretation boards for the village.
Lease Renewal – Pond at Bovingdon Green
The Parish Council have agreed the draft lease prepared by Dacorum Borough Council for the pond on Bovingdon Green for a further period of five years.
A sign is to be put up near the pond on Bovingdon Green to remind motorists of the need to be aware of ducks crossing the road.
The second consultation is taking place by Herts Highways for the introduction of double yellow lines on the corner of Green Lane / High Street.
The Parish Council has won second prize in the hanging basket competition organised by the Bovingdon & District Horticultural Society and Councillor Richard Taylor will attend their autumn show on 10 September to accept the prize.
The Outdoors Committee Working Group will be undertaking maintenance of some of the benches in the village during the latter part of September.
Fun Run – Bovingdon Parish 10 “BP 10” - 3 September 2017
Councillor Taylor confirmed that he will be advertising the run after 1 October 2016.
County Councillor Richard Roberts said that he had noted our concerns at the state of Shantock Hall Road and that it will be an item for consideration for resurfacing in his Highways Locality budget for 2017 -18.
Councillor Roberts asked the Parish Council to let him know by the end of October 2016 of other priorities we have for inclusion in his Highways Locality Budget for 2017 – 18. Councillor Roberts confirmed that the resurfacing of part of the footpaths in the High Street are included in the budget for 2016 – 17.
In reply to a question form the public, Councillor Roberts confirmed that the area outside the Lychgate at St Lawrence Church will be attended to in the current year’s budget and that he will report back to the meeting of the Parish Council to be held on 7 November.
Personnel Committee
There have been no further meetings since the Committee met on 25 February 2015, although arrangements will be made for a further meeting to be held in the autumn to review the Council’s Personnel Policies & Procedures.
Planning Committee
Councillor Graham Barrett reported that there had been three meetings of the Committee since the last Parish Council meeting and 20 applications have been considered. He also reported that he had contacted Braiser Freeth the agents dealing with the sale of the former Service Station at the top of the high Street. He was informed that Tesco Stores Ltd will be making a start building the Tesco Express and eight flats during the course of the next four weeks and the project should be completed within a year.
Land West of the Bobsleigh Hotel, Hempstead Road – Application Reference 4/013434/13/FUL
Four days have now been set aside for the Inquiry into the appeal for the Change of Use of land to use as a residential caravan site for 8 gypsy families, each with 2 caravans and a utility building, including the laying of hard standing.
Councillor Barrett explained that the Parish Council had combined with the Village Group and had appointed PHD Planning Consultants to work with us to be represented at the Inquiry.
Following a discussion, the Parish Clerk was asked to investigate the facilities needed for the Inquiry and to see whether the Memorial Hall would be suitable for this.
Councillor Steer asked whether there was any further news about the development of Harding’s Garage by McCarthy & Stone. Planning Permission has been granted but nothing further has been heard.
The Parish Council is waiting to receive the amended plans for consideration in respect of 40 High Street – land at the side of Seaways.
Feedback from the Council’s Representative on Bovingdon Primary Academy
Councillor Stent reported that following Jill Mehwa’s retirement, they are looking to appoint a new Principal. He commented that the Senior Leadership was making very good progress.
Feedback from the Council’s representative on The Friends of The Mount Prison
Kathy Banks, reported that the ‘Friends’ have resumed having a stall at Bovingdon Village Market and that they have sold one work of art. They are still working on the paperwork involved in applying for charitable status.
Feedback from the Council’s representative on DriveSafe Campaign
Councillor Richardson reported that there are 12 volunteers and that they are now running sessions in the Chipperfield Road. To date, over 1750 letters have been sent to motorists who have been registered as exceeding 35 mph and some motorists are now receiving a third letter. 25% of the letters have been sent to people living in Bovingdon.
The Bovingdon Group is working in conjunction with both the Flaunden and Chipperfield Groups in a concerted effort to run sessions on the same roads. Both of these groups have recorded similar high results of speeding.
The top of Green Lane has been surveyed as another potential check point.
The Parish Council continues to receive comments from concerned residents about speeding in the village and it is hoped that the efforts of the DriveSafe Group will help to address some of these concerns.
A letter has been received from the Police & Crime Commissioner stating that the numbers of visits made by the Police Unit in the Chesham Road area are to be increased.
Councillor Richard Roberts said that he would be supportive to help fund solutions, if the figures are proving that so many people are abusing road speeds.
An application to the Road Safety Fund administered by the Police & Crime Commissioner has been submitted and the outcome will be known later in September.
Date of next meeting
Monday 7 November 2016 at 7.30 p.m. in the Memorial Hall
The Council passed a resolution in the following terms:
Exclusion of the public
Part II – That under S 4 (A) of the Public Bodies (Admissions to Meetings) Act 1960 the public be excluded during the item(s) in Part II of the agenda for this meeting, because it is likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted, that if members of the public were present during these items there would be disclosure to them of exempt information relating to the renewal of a Lease: / Councillor Turner
Councillor Richardson
Parish Clerk
Parish Clerk
Councillor Steer
Councillor Taylor
Councillor Taylor
Councillor Roberts
Parish Council
Councillor Roberts
Parish Clerk
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting of Bovingdon Parish Council held on 5 September 2016
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