Berkhamsted Annual Town Meeting Thursday 1 May 2014 at 7.30Pm
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St Peter’s Church, High Street Berkhamsted Annual Town Meeting Thursday 1 May 2014 at 7.30pm The Great Hall Town Hall AGENDA 1. Presentation of the Centenary Civic Awards by the Town Mayor and President of the Rotary Club of Berkhamsted Bulbourne 2. Apologies for absence 3. To receive and confirm the minutes of the Annual Town Meeting held on 16 May 2013 4. Welcome from the Town Mayor, Councillor Ian Reay 5. Report from Berkhamsted Youth Town Council Interval and refreshments 6. Reports from Chairs of Committees i Finance and Policy Cllr David Collins ii Transport and Environment Cllr Peter Matthews iii Town Planning Cllr Laurence Handy iv Allotment Management Cllr Anthony Armytage v Canal & Riverside Partnership Cllr David Collins 7. Open Forum - Question and Answer Session Only registered electors of the Town of Berkhamsted may speak or vote at the meeting Page 2 of 24 INTRODUCTION FROM THE TOWN MAYOR Welcome to the 41st Annual Town Meeting, which provides the opportunity for the Town Council to report on its work over the last 12 months to the electorate and residents in Berkhamsted. Before I move onto the work of the Council, I would like to welcome two new Town Councillors – Councillors Danny Bonnet and Julian Ashbourn – who were elected to vacancies brought about by the sad deaths of Councillors John Lithgoe and Ron Cowie. Turning to the work of the Town Council, the Chairs of each of the Town Council’s Committees will soon present their reports to you. I do not want to steal their thunder, but I want to highlight some of the work of the Town Council over the last 12 months against the backdrop of what is still a period of austerity for public services. Once again the town council has frozen its share of Council Tax (the precept) and continues to provide value for money in the services it provides to the town. The precept remains at £19.18 per average household – less than 40p per week. The Town saw a very successful Festival of Light in November, which raised over £10,000 for local schools, organisations and charities. I pass on thanks to all those groups and volunteers who join together to make the Festival of Light such an enjoyable time for everyone in the town and visitors from far and wide. I also want to mention Lagley Meadow Youth Centre, which only a few years ago was faced with closure, but is now being run by the Town Council and running very successfully as home to Happy Days Pre- School and BASH, a local after-school club. Much of the work of the Town Council is in influencing others to ensure the town receives the attention and services it needs. All of you will have noticed the state of the roads and how some improvements have been made such as tarmacing repairs to Kings Road. But much more needs to be done and the Town Council continues to press the County Council for repairs to be made. I am pleased to report that some interim road safety improvements for the increased number of pupils travelling to Ashlyns School have been put in place at the three-way junction of Kings Road, Kingshill Way and Shootersway, pending a traffic light system when funding for this is available. Improvements have also been made to the footpath to Bridgewater Schools; and more are planned to provide safer routes to other schools in the town. Many will have also seen the work to replace the cobblestones on Church Lane. This work is now almost complete and was brought about by a strenuous campaign by the Town Council to bring together sufficient funding for the work, including a £10,000 contribution from the Town Council. By far the busiest Town Council Committee is the Town Planning Committee, which meets on average every three weeks. My thanks go to Councillor Handy and fellow Councillors on that Committee, for their continued and sustained hard work in considering planning applications and making planning recommendations to the Borough Council. Page 3 of 24 2013/14 has been a challenging year for planning, including the initial application for the Taylor Wimpey development of houses at the junction of Shootersway/Durrants Lane and the sheltered housing development at the former Laundry on the High Street. Further substantial applications are anticipated in the coming year, including for a possible new multi-storey car park at Lower Kings Road and a new Lidl supermarket. And we await the outcome of the legal challenge to the Borough Council’s Core Strategy by Grand Union Investments who, as you will know, have plans to build 800 homes to the south of the town. I also want to use this opportunity to thank everyone who invited me as Mayor to your community events this year. The number and variety of my engagements from Petertide, Pepper, the Lions Club, the 1066 Club for the Blind and Partially Sighted, the British Legion, the Chamber of Commerce Westfield and Ashlyns Schools for example, shows the range and diversity of groups in the town. A full list of my engagements for the year is attached to this introduction and my thanks, and those of the Town Council, go to all the groups and the hundreds of volunteers who do so much for the town and for its residents. I would like to mention that Brian Shepherd is displaying details of the latest audio trail walk which takes in some historic sites dating back to WW1 including The Inns of Court WW1 Memorial on New Road and the WW1 practice trenches, used by the Inns of Court Regiment before being sent to fight in France. Many thanks to Brian for his work on audio walk which is one of a number of commemorative events being planned in the town in the week of 26 July to commemorate the centenary of the start of World War I. I want to finish by emphasising that the job of the Town Council is to represent the interests of the whole community and that means consulting and engaging with them and the range of groups around the town. For example, the Town Council has recently met with representatives of B-Hive to discuss their ambitious plans for part of the town centre and we are currently in discussion with the Borough Council about those plans. On that note, I would use this opportunity to remind residents that Town Council and Committee meetings are open to the public and the press, and are a forum for residents to express their views on local issues being considered and which affect them. You are very welcome and are encouraged to attend those meetings. The Chairs of the Town Council’s Committees will report to you shortly and then there will be an opportunity to ask questions. But first, I would like to introduce members of Berkhamsted Youth Town Council to tell you about their work over the last year. Councillor Ian Reay Town Mayor Page 4 of 24 MAYORAL EVENTS 2013 -14 2013 22 May Mayor Berkhamsted Arts Trust AGM 15 May Mayor Petertide Fair 8 June Mayor The Dacorum Borough Council Talking Newspaper AGM 9 June Mayor Chesham Town Council Civic Service 10 June Mayor The Hertfordshire Company of the Year Competition 14 June Mayor Westfield First School’s 50th Anniversary 24 June Deputy Hertfordshire Scouts AGM2013 24 June Deputy Armed Forces day – Fly a Flag Ceremony 25 June Mayor Visit of 25 Spanish Schoolchildren 28 June Mayor West Herts District Scout Council AGM 30 June Mayor Hertfordshire County Council Music Service Concert 2 July Mayor Berkhamsted School Vale 2013 4 July Mayor Berkhamsted school Speech Day Various Neither County Youth Music Groups Summer 2013 Concert Series 19 July Mayor Pepper Concert 22 July Mayor The Happy Wanderers 57th Birthday Party 8 August Neither Chamber of Commerce Summer Networking BBQ 11 August Mayor Sunnyside Allotment Open Day 26 August Mayor Berkhamsted Lions August Bank Holiday Fete 7 September Mayor Co-operative Funeralcare Chapel Blessing & Open Day 8 September Neither DBC Mayor’s Fundraising Family Fun Day 19 September Neither Home-Start Dacorum AGM 2013 21 September Mayor 35th Charter Anniversary of Berkhamsted Lions 22 September Mayor DBC Mayor’s Fundraising Tea at Shendish Manor 24 September Mayor ASK Restaurant Berkhamsted Charity Cheque Presentation 27 September Mayor Northchurch Parish Council Annual Reception 28 September Mayor Graham Greene Birthplace Trust Festival Supper 4 October Mayor Tring Mayor’s Charity Tring Brewery Visit 9 October Mayor Rennie Grove Hospice Care AGM 2013 9 October Deputy Citizens Advice Bureau AGM 11 October Neither Volunteer Centre Dacorum AGM 15 October Mayor Young Person of the Year Award 18 October Mayor Founder's Day 2013 at Berkhamsted School 21 October Mayor Tring Mayor’s Charity Flower Arranging Evening 24 October Mayor Gateway Club 30th Birthday Party 25 October Mayor Farewell Reception for DBC Chief Executive 2 November Mayor Waterstone Re-launch 9 November Mayor Royal British Legion Poppy Stall 10 November Mayor Royal British Legion Remembrance Day Parade & Service Page 5 of 24 22 November Mayor DBC Mayor's Charity Quiz Night 22 November Mayor Age UK Dacorum Annual General Meeting 24 November Mayor Berkhamsted Festival of Light 2 December Mayor 1066 Club for the Blind & Partially Sighted Christmas Party 5 December Mayor Official Opening of Ashlyns as a Secondary School 6 December Deputy Lockers Park School Junior Department Christmas Performance 7 December Mayor Berkhamsted Choral Society Christmas Concert 7 December Mayor Young Enterprise Scheme Stall and Small Business Saturday Visit 9 December Neither Community Action Dacorum AGM 11 December Mayor The Town Mayor’s Christmas Lunch for Volunteers Various Neither County Youth Music Groups Autumn 2013 Concert Series 13 December Mayor Connect Dacorum/Dacorum