Supporting Papers for a Meeting of Council to Be Held on Monday 4 November 2019 at 7Pm
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Basing House, 46 High Street, Rickmansworth WD3 1HP Louise Steele, Locum Clerk [email protected] 01923 590201 Supporting Papers for a Meeting of Council to be held on Monday 4 November 2019 at 7pm . 1 Minutes of the meeting of the Batchworth Community Council held on Monday 7 October 2019 at 7pm Basing House, 46 High Street, Rickmansworth, WD3 1HP Present Cllr Emma Brading Cllr François Neckar Cllr Paul Dawson Cllr Neelima Payne Cllr Peter Loader Cllr Nigel Stewart Cllr Alan Moss Also present: Louise Steele, Locum Clerk to the Council District Councillor Joanna Clemens District Cllr Debbie Morris Two members of the public The meeting opened with Cllr Paul Dawson (Vice-Chairman) in the chair. Cllr Dawson welcomed everyone to the meeting, particularly Mrs Louise Steele as new Locum Clerk. Cllr Dawson expressed the Council’s thanks to Cllr Neckar the previous Chairman and to all Councillors who had worked behind the scenes between Clerks. 2019/058/FC Election of Chairman Upon the proposal of Cllr Stewart, seconded by Cllr Loader, Cllr Alan Moss was unanimously elected as Chairman for the remainder of the Local Government year 2019/20 and made his Declaration of Acceptance of Office. 2019/059/FC Apologies for Absence Cllr Barber 2019/060/FC Declarations of Interest None received 2019/061/FC Minutes The minutes of the Meeting of the Batchworth Community Council held on 2 September 2019 were agreed as an accurate record of the meeting and signed as such by the Chairman. 2019/062/FC Public Participation session A member of the public asked whether funding and license arrangements were in place for Festive Lights in 2019. Cllr Neckar responded to the question indicating that funding was in place but that the relevant consents were still being sought from Three Rivers District Council and Hertfordshire County Council. 1 of 5 2 An update was also requested about the community safety project for Eastbury and whether progress had been made on advertising planning applications as per the last meeting’s minutes. A further update was requested about Eastbury verge trees [the new Locum Clerk was reassured that neither the verge nor the trees were in the Community Council’s ownership] and the answer was given that that was a matter for Hertfordshire County Council. Another member of the public made a statement in support of the annual Rickmansworth Festival, thanking the Community Council for its financial support and expressing the hope that the support would be continued. The full text of that statement is appended to these minutes. The member of the public explained that the Waterways Festival would like to apply to the Community Council for a grant for next year. 2019/063/FC Reports from other bodies No reports were received from representative of Three Rivers District Council, Hertfordshire County Council, or other bodies. 2019/064/FC Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group The Council received an oral update from the Chairman of the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group about a meeting of that group held on 25 September 2019. Troy Hayes Planning had presented an initial paper which will be distributed more widely amongst Councillors. The wider Neighbourhood Plan group has not met since January and that must be remedied along with wider community engagement and communication via the website and the Rickmansworth Festival. Councillors asked a number of questions, in answer to which it was established that: the Neighbourhood Plan process is at this point two months or so behind schedule; Cllr Brading will be developing a job description for an administrative assistant post; Cllrs Moss, Loader and Brading attended the meeting on 25 September; and the Chairman of the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group will check with Troy Hayes Planning about their knowledge/experience of Councils funding Neighbourhood Plans from Community Infrastructure Levy. 2019/065/FC Membership and Chairmanship of Committees Council noted the resignation of Cllr Moss from the Finance Committee and Staffing Committee and the resignation of Cllr Neckar from the Planning Committee. It was also noted that Cllr Stewart resigned as Chairman of the Staffing Committee. Accordingly it was agreed for the remainder of the Local Government year membership of Committees would be as follows: a) Finance Committee: Cllr Dawson, Cllr Loader, Cllr Neckar, Cllr Payne and Cllr Stewart b) Staffing Committee: Cllr Barber, Cllr Brading, Cllr Dawson, Cllr Payne and Cllr Stewart c) Complaints Committee: Cllr Loader, Cllr Moss and Cllr Neckar 2 of 5 3 d) Planning Committee: Cllr Barber, Cllr Brading and Cllr Stewart The following Councillors were appointed as Chairmen to Committees as indicated: e) Finance Committee – Cllr Stewart f) Staffing Committee – Cllr Dawson g) Complaints Committee – Cllr Neckar h) Planning Committee – Cllr Barber Some discussion ensued about whether the Complaints Committee was necessary and how the Planning Committee might best operate. It was agreed that these matters should be the subject of agenda items at future meetings of Council. 2019/066/FC Appointment of Proper Officer and Responsible Financial Officer (RFO) Council noted the appointment of Louise Steele (employed through contract with the Local Government Resource Centre (LGRC)) as Locum Clerk to the Council and confirmed that Mrs Steele is the Council’s Proper Officer and RFO for the period of her appointment. Council also confirmed that the Council’s bank mandate should be amended to give Mrs Steele as Clerk (and subsequently whoever holds the post) access to the Council’s Unity bank accounts to view the accounts and to set up payments. The previous Clerk to be removed from the mandate. 2019/067/FC Planning a) The Council noted a list of planning applications received since the last meeting of the Council. It was agreed that, except for 19/1661/FUL and 19/1788/RSP, the Council had no objection to the applications listed. No agreement was reached as to observations to be submitted on the applications 19/1661/FUL and 19/1788/RSP. 2019/068/FC Finance and Administration a) A schedule of payments made between 1 August 2019 and 30 September 2019 £10,431.39 was retrospectively approved. A second schedule of payments dated 7 October 2019 and comprising sums yet to be paid totalling £1,676.09 was also approved. The two schedules are attached to the record minutes. b) Accounting information for the 2019/20 financial year to 31 August 2019 had been distributed with the agenda and an additional report comparing expenditure to 30 September 2019 against budget was tabled at the meeting. The Clerk was asked to restructure the accounting codes. 2019/069/FC Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR) for the year ended 31 March 2019 Council received the External Auditor’s report for the year ended 31 March 2019 and the AGAR Sections 1 & 2 to which it refers (both attached to the record minutes). Members considered and agreed an action plan to deal with the auditor’s findings and that action plan is also attached to the record minutes. 3 of 5 4 2019/070/FC Grant Applications None received 2019/071/FC Winter/Festive Lights a) For a time during discussion of this item the Chairman suspended Standing Orders to hear from a member of the public who was able to add more information about the Winter Fair. After Standing Orders were resumed and upon the proposal of Cllr Moss, seconded by Cllr Loader it was agreed to approve a payment of £2,5000 to the Rickmansworth Town Team CIC as a contribution to the costs of running the Winter Fair on 29 November 2019. b) It was noted that an additional £675 has been committed to the necessary repair of Festive Lights. c) In consideration of the obstacles to obtaining a license to install Festive Lights in Rickmansworth High Street it was agreed that up to £3,000 of Community Infrastructure Levy could be applied to purchase additional infrastructure and lights to enable the lighting of the “library tree”. d) It was confirmed that all necessary funding is in place for the Eastbury Christmas event. At 9.30pm and in accordance with Standing Order 3(w) the Chairman closed the meeting and agenda items 2019/072/FC to 2019/079/FC inclusive were not considered. Chairman Date 4 of 5 5 2019/062/FC Public Participation session – Statement re Rickmansworth Festival I am David Montague, Chairman of Rickmansworth Waterways Trust and 2020 will be my 19th year as Festival Director. The annual Rickmansworth Festival, which started in 1993, is the major event in the Three Rivers Area which brings together Canals, Community and Environment. It is organised by local volunteers from the Rickmansworth Waterways Trust. We partner with Three Rivers District Council to use the space in the Aquadrome and the Canal and River Trust to use the canal and the towpath. All the voluntary donations given by the public at the Festival support our Heritage education work at Batchworth Lock for which we have received national recognition, including the Queen's Award for Voluntary Service in 2017. Between 20,000 and 30,000 people attend during the course of the weekend, which is the highlight of Rickmansworth Week. All the funds required to put on the event for our community have to be raised in advance so we ensure the event opens with all bills covered. This is essential as the Trust does not have the funds to underwrite the costs if it rains all weekend! Last year a total of £32,000 was raised by the sale of the Trade and Catering Franchises. The 2019 event required £45,500 to stage and would not have been possible without the generous support from Batchworth Community Council and many other sponsors.