Minutes of the Meeting of Aldbury Parish Council Held on 7 September 2015 in the Aldbury

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF ALDBURY PARISH COUNCIL HELD ON 7 SEPTEMBER 2015 IN THE ALDBURY MEMORIAL HALL

Members Present: Councillors: Cllr Eggar (Chairman) Cllr McCarthy (Vice Chairman) Cllr MacGregor Cllr Page Cllr Pearce

Officer Usha Kilich Parish Clerk took minutes of the meeting. 7 members of the public were present.

111/15 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Cllr Cobb, Cllr Juniper and Cllr Tollinton,

112/15 MINUTES OF MEETING ON 6 JULY 2015

With no alteration, the minutes were signed as a true and correct record of the meeting held on 6 July 2015. Proposed by Cllr Page, seconded by Cllr Eggar.

113/15 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST AND REQUESTS FOR GENERAL DISPENSATION UNDER SECTION 33 OF THE LOCALISM ACT 2011

Cllr McCarthy reported that the Hertfordshire Association of Parish and Town Councils (HAPTC) had recommended that the council did not need to have declarations of interest at each meeting when those interests had already been disclosed on the notices of interest lodged on the Dacorum Borough Council (DBC) website. He also reported that the DBC Monitoring Officer had confirmed that requests for general dispensation under Section 33 of the Localism Act 2011 were no longer required following a reinterpretation by the government of the requirements of Section 33 of the Act.

114/15 CHAIRMAN’S BUSINESS  Standing Orders & Financial Regulations (SO & FR) Cllr Eggar stated that the Standing Orders & Financial Regulations for the council needed to be updated. He recommended that the SO & FR needed to be specific to the council. He proposed that Cllr Pearce should produce drafts at the November meeting following any necessary research. This was agreed.

 Hertfordshire Rail Strategy Consultation. Cllr Eggar said that individual councillors had commented after the July meeting to Hertfordshire County Council (HCC) on the Hertfordshire Rail Strategy Consultation. The council was very concerned that it had not been formally consulted in view of the various implications for Tring Station, including the possible extension of Crossrail to Tring and the increasing demand on parking at Tring Station from Aylesbury Vale residents. Cllr Eggar proposed that Cllr Juniper should lead a working group on this matter and keep the council updated. This was seconded by Cllr McCarthy and agreed by the meeting.

1  Superfast Broadband. BT’s (Bill Murphy) projected date of December 2016 for delivery to Aldbury was noted and that the delivery date would be firmed up ‘by end September’. It appeared that delivery to Tring Station would be in a later phase. It was agreed to invite Annette Thorpe (BT) to give a formal update at the council meeting on 2 November. Cllr Eggar would write to Annette Thorpe accordingly.

 Ivinghoe Parish Neighbourhood Development Plan. Cllr Eggar reported briefly on the work under way to produce the Ivinghoe Parish Neighbourhood Development Plan and the work, resources and referendum required for its adoption. These factors would need to be borne in mind when Aldbury Parish Council came to develop its own future agenda.

 Training. It was noted that Cllr Eggar had received Session 1 (of 2) of the HAPTC New Councillor Training on 19th May 2015 at Kimpton Memorial Hall and that the other six new Councillors (joined by Cllr McCarthy)had received this training at the Aldbury Memorial Hall on 11th August 2015. Additionally Cllr Eggar received HAPTC 1-2-1 Chairman training at Kimpton on 13th July 2015. Cllr Eggar mentioned that the training sessions were very good and that HAPTC should be commended. Cllr Pearce seconded that. Cllr McCarthy pointed out that the county was very fortunate to have such good quality training available and that not all counties were so fortunate.

 Transparency Code for Smaller Councils. The recent HAPTC correspondence on this was noted. Cllr McCarthy was asked to lead a working group to bring forward proposals to the Council as and when appropriate. Cllr McCarthy stated that there were various items of information that had to be made publicly available such as year-end accounts, details of expenditure over £100 and audit reports just to name a few. All the information would have to be included on the council website. There was also work that needed to be done to improve the website and there was a possibility that the council would receive funding towards achieving compliance with the Transparency Code. Cllr MacGregor asked if this was a government code. Cllr McCarthy confirmed that it was. He undertook to circulate the code to members for information

 Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) payment arrangements. The council noted and agreed to the DBC proposals for the procedures for CIL payments to be made to the council but that a dedicated bank account would not be set up until such time as the first CIL payment was to be received. Both Cllr Eggar and Cllr McCarthy felt that the current small scale developments in the parish would not produce any CIL payments.

 Recruitment of new Clerk, setting up of interviewing panel and delegation of authority to that panel.

2 Based on prior correspondence, it was agreed to formalise the delegation of authority for the recruitment and interviewing process to the Chairman and interviewing panel. Cllr Eggar informed the meeting that he had kept council members informed of developments. Cllr Eggar, Cllr McCarthy and Cllr Cobb had formed the interview panel as they had been available. They had interviewed two applicants but both applicants had subsequently withdrawn their applications. There would be a private and confidential meeting of council members to discuss the outcome after the public part of the council meeting had ended.

 Consider booking with DBC Saturday refuse collections in February/March and September/October 2016. Cllr Eggar commented that as a newcomer he was not familiar with the arrangement. Cllr McCarthy stated that the refuse had to be taken to the refuse truck. The truck was sited at Tring Station from 9 – 11am and from 11am to 1pm at Stoney Croft. It was a popular service within the parish. DBC would be charging for the service from 2016 although it was not known what the cost would be. Cllr McCarthy proposed that the service should be continued. Cllr McCarthy would report back to the council when he had made contact with DBC and found out what the cost would be.  Dates for 2016 Parish Council meetings. Cllr Page proposed that there should be a meeting date in August in order to deal with any urgent matters that arose between the July and September meetings. This proposal was agreed. Meeting dates were fixed for Mondays as follows o 4 January (subject to need), o 1 February, o 7 March, o 4 April, o 9 May (Annual Council Meeting), o 6 June, o 4 July, o 1 August (subject to need) o 5 September, o 3 October, o 7 November, o 5 December.  Date of Annual Parish Assembly (not a Parish Council meeting) The date was agreed as Monday 25 April.  Topic and speaker at Annual Parish Assembly. Cllr Pearce suggested that one of the hospices should provide a speaker. Cllr Cobb would be asked to approach the Hospice of St Francis in Berkhamsted.

115/15 Playground/Green/Rec  Vandalised posts – Cllr Page had obtained a quote from King Acre to replace the posts at a cost of £170.00 plus VAT for the four posts. Cllr McCarthy asked if it was worth replacing the posts, Cllr Page suggested that it would be appropriate to replace the posts with taller ones so they were visible when reversing cars. He believed that the problem had mainly arisen because the posts had not been clearly visible. Cllr Eggar proposed and seconded by Cllr Pearce to go for taller posts. This was agreed.

3  Overgrowing trees and bushes – Cllr Page would ask the Parish Warden to arrange the cutting back of the bushes overhanging the tennis court fence.  Fallen bough - thanks were due to Luke Mabbett for his quick action in making the fallen bough safe.

116/15 Allotments (including Play Area) Cllr Page reported that the collection of allotment rent would have to be delayed by one month because due notice had not been given. He also stated that residents in properties backing onto the allotments should seek permission from the council when they needed to have access to the allotments in order to carry out work to their properties. The residents had no right of way over the allotments. This was agreed by the meeting. Cllr Page reported briefly on the ROSPA report on the playground. No immediate action had been required as the risk levels were not high.

117/15 Footpaths  Bridleway 49 and footpath 64. The meeting noted Cllr Tollinton’s report that: o the Footpath 64 at Tring Station which had been reported to be overgrown had been improved, o the issue of the obstruction of bridleway 49 above Northfield Road had not been resolved and the matter was being considered by Hertfordshire County Council.

118/15 Works The Clerk had advised that there was nothing to report.

119/15 Highways/Transport The Clerk had advised that there was nothing to report. Communication with cycling bodies had yet to be initiated by Cllr Eggar

120/15 Planning Matters  Planning applications for comment: o Saddlegate, Stocks Road, Aldbury 4/02538/15/FHA Single Storey Rear Extension. NO OBJECTIONS o 2 New Villas, Tring Station 4/02600/15/FHA Single Storey Rear Extension. NO OBJECTIONS o Posting House, Tring Station 4/00223/15/LBC Communal Satellite Dish. NO OBJECTIONS o 5 Stocks Road (should be 5 Stocks Barns), Aldbury, 4/02902/14/LBC Installation of log burner and external flue. NO OBJECTIONS  The Retreat off Newground Road. Cllr Eggar said that both he and Cllr Pearce had been contacted about a potential planning application for this site. It would not be appropriate for the parish council to comment prior to a formal planning application being made to Dacorum Borough Council (DBC), the local planning authority.  The subject of streamlining the processing of planning applications to synchronise with the DBC planning system was discussed. It was agreed that this should be covered in the Standing Orders that were to be developed by Cllr Pearce.

4 121/15 Finance:  Mandates – these had been set up for Cllrs Eggar, McCarthy, Juniper, Cobb and Pearce.  Bank account. Bal Current A/C £300, Reserves A/C £12,763.03 NS&I £33,357.41 45.60 Dacorum BC 656.75 Zurich Insurance 41.77 E-On £162.00 BDO Audit Eternal £37.35 Rob McCarthy Travel Costs £18.00 Aldbury Memorial Hall rental of the hall 11th Aug 15 £444.28 Usha Kilich Salary Jul & Aug @£250.14 less £56 allowance for four months £735.00 Andrew McClarnon May to Aug 15 re: maintenance of parish Payments were approved to be made as in the table above.  AON/Zurich insurance, Clerk confirmed that AON have reimbursed APC with £448.56 which was appropriate to be paid to Zurich..  It was noted that as the audit had been approved, the annual return and notice of conclusion of audit should be displayed in conspicuous places for 14 days as soon as reasonably possible and before the 30 September 2015.

Cllr Eggar to advise on:  Cllr Eggar said that he had had no response from DBC on the proposal to clear the restricted funds within reserves. Cllr Eggar would write again to DBC before the next parish council meeting to say that the parish council would have to work on the assumption that there were no longer any restrictions on the use of the reserves.

122/15 Continuation of discussion to identify future areas of focus for the Council It was agreed that Cllr Eggar would set up an informal working party to take this forward and would report back at future parish council meetings.

123/15 Correspondence  Cllr MacGregor said that a councillor with another parish council had complained to the Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) to the effect that parish councils and their residents were not being kept informed of the services CAB provided. Cllr McGregor intended to have posters designed accordingly

 CIL Meeting at DBC on 23 September, Cllr McCarthy would be attending the meeting,  Town & Parish Councils Conference on Friday 27 November at DBC. Members would consider whether they were able to attend. Cllr McCarthy said that the conferences were useful and provided an opportunity for networking. He proposed to attend.

124/15 Matters arising from previous meeting not covered in items above  Repair of the stocks on the village green The council noted the kind offer of well-seasoned wood from Mr and Mrs Cornish. Mr and Mrs Cornish agreed that they would contact Historic England to find out what formalities were required to take this forward.

5 125/15 10-12 Trooper Road – Payment and Access issues. Cllr Page had reported that he had been contacted by Mr Shipperly who lived at 10-12 Trooper Road on two issues: 1. He had not received an invoice for his annual payment for £40 for access over the village green. It was agreed that this should be rectified by the clerk immediately. 2. Due to its poor alignment and also its use as a turning area by third parties, the hardstanding of the access has degraded. Mr Shipperly would like to improve the hardstanding at his own expense, subject to approval of detailed plans by the council. Both Cllrs Page and Eggar had inspected the site and recommended that the council gave approval to the proposal. This was agreed by the meeting.

126/15 Grants. Invitations to make applications for grants had been sent to organisations running the community halls in Tring Station and Aldbury and also to Aldbury church. An application for £400 had been received from the Tring Station Residents’ Association for support of the Iron Room community hall at Tring Station. This was at the same level of support as had been given in previous years and had been budgeted for in the precept. The application had been circulated to councillors by e-mail. Cllr Eggar proposed, seconded by Cllr MacGregor to support the TSRA and issue a cheque for the sum of £400. Cllr McCarthy recommended that a deadline be imposed for the submission of future grant applications.

127/15 Dissemination of Community Information Cllr Eggar said that this topic would be discussed at future meetings. Channels of communication included: Aldbury Outlook magazine Notice Boards School Council website

128/15 Any Other Business and to consider items for agenda of next meeting Cllr Page had looked at the council minutes for the last two years to find out if the parish had done anything about the bus service from Aldbury through to Berkhamsted possibly being reduced or stopped. A notice had been displayed at the bus stop recently stating that the bus service was stopping at the end of August. Cllr Page had spoken to Cllr McCarthy who had informed him that the parish council had in fact objected on 31 March to the cutting of the subsidy for the route in response to the consultation that was then taking place. This fact should have been mentioned at the council meeting on 13 April but it had been overlooked as this had been a very busy meeting and Cllr McCarthy had also had to act as the clerk of the meeting. Cllr Page added the comment that 10% of residents in the local community did not own their own vehicle.

The Mayor of the Borough of Dacorum, Cllr Adeleke, had said that he would like to come and visit Aldbury. Cllr Eggar had contacted the Mayor’s secretary, to check on dates and to ascertain what he might be interested in. Cllr Pearce suggested that he could visit the church and school as being representative of the community.

Cllr Eggar mentioned that he had received an email concerning the Hertfordshire Minerals Local Plan, Initial Consultation which would run until 16 October 2015. The consultation seemed to be more about assessing proposals for the extraction of minerals rather than

6 addressing the preferred sites. In view of that, it did not seem to justify time and attention by the parish council.

129/15 Meeting open to the public County Cllr Hollinghurst mentioned that he was to have a site meeting with a representative of Herts Highways at Beggars Lane, Tring Station in order to discuss extending the double yellow lines further down the lane. He believed that there was a possibility of money becoming available that could be used for this purpose.

130/15 Part 2 meeting – no public attendance To discuss recruitment of new Clerk

Next Council meeting – 5 October 2015 at 8 p.m.in the Aldbury Memorial Hall.

Aldbury Parish Council website – www.aldburyparish.org.uk.