HUNSDON PARISH COUNCIL

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Minutes of Parish Council Meeting held at

 8.00pm on Monday 21st April 2008 in the Village Hall, Hunsdon

 

          Present: -           Cllr D Gibbs (Chairman)

                                    Cllrs D Kitching (Deputy Chairman), H Brown, B Toll, S Oliver

 

            In attendance: - J Robinette (Clerk), John Ashley (PPP Warden),

                                                  5 members of the public

 

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1. Apologies for absence.

   

 County Cllr A Dodd, Dist Cllr D Clark and Cllr M Newman

 

2.  Approval of minutes of GP Working Party meeting held 6th March.

 

Minutes approved by cllrs and signed by Chairman.

 

 

3.     Matters arising.

 

None. 

 

 

4.     Reports from members representing the Parish Council on outside organisations and

       attending meetings on behalf of the Council

 

(a)  Hunsdon JMI School Governors.    Nothing to Report.

 

(b)   Parish Paths Partnership.  J Ashley read out a pre-prepared letter, which the council approved to be sent to Savills discussing the restriction of use for pedestrians regarding the gate onto the Airfield from Acorn Street. This will be sent by the clerk. RB12 route. A letter had been recd from N Maddex regarding the surface of this route, in which he accepts that the surface in substandard. John Ashley also informed the council that the 9 bollards were to be placed, however there would only be 3 padlocks provided and not 9 as requested; as 6 of the bollards would be fixed. Cllrs agreed that this would give the emergency services and farm machinery a problem in gaining access along Back Lane as it would be too narrow at these points. A letter highlighting this would be sent to N Maddex asking him to reassess the situation. FP24. No further action has been taken by N Maddex at this stage. John Ashley suggested that the council should contact the Ramblers association directly. Chairman D Gibbs agreed to do this.

     

              (c)   Council for the Protection of Rural England (CPRE).     “Stop the Drop” campaign for litter has now commenced. This subject will be placed on next month’s agenda for further discussion with district cllr D Clark.

 

(d)   Poor’s Land and Stock Charity.       Nothing to report.

 

(e)   Village Hall Management Committee.      Cllr H Brown informed the council that there has been an increase in hire charges of the Village Hall. The cost per hour to the Parish council is now £5.80per hour as of 1st April 08. The AGM for the Village Hall will take place on 15th May. The committee is looking for new committee members as Village representatives.

 

(f) Allotments.   Nothing to report.

 

(g) Police Liaison. Cllr D Kitching informed the council that catalytic converters had been stolen off some cars within the village.   

 

(h) SHN Cllr Newman Nothing to Report.

 

 (i) Dist Council.  Nothing to report.

 

(j) Parish Plans. Nothing to report.

 

 

5.     Police Report.

 

No Police report had been recd

 

6. Village Infrastructure.

 

Trees in the Dell.  Quotations had been recd by the clerk. 3 poplars are diseased and need to be removed. Councillors          approved Matt Kent of Tree Lovers to complete the work. Cost £1170. Clerk to arrange. 

 

7.Planning

i.         Decision by EHDC Development Control on earlier applications.

i.   73 High Street  2 storey ext and rear first floor ext  Granted

ii. 11 Widford Road Conservatory to side  Granted

 

ii.        New Applications:

i.   34 Wicklands Road; side 2 storey ext and rear first ext.

ii. The Warren Hunsdonbury; new stable block to replace existing block

iii. 11 High Street; Vsat dish att to south facing wall

iv.The Pump House 16 High Street; Erection of 1, 5 bed det house with double garage

v.15 High Street; To fit secondary double glazing to windows in porch and living room

vi. Land adj to 8 Homesteads; Change use of land to res garden

 

 

The comments for all planning applications are on the village web site.

The clerk informed the council that another new planning application had been recd this week, concerning a new development of 16 houses in Acorn Street. Plans are at present on the Mail route.

 

               

8.Finance

iii.       Spending for approval

Clerk’s salary for April

£203.46

Cash for Litter pickers

£100.00

 

Rent for the Dell

£50.00

PCC (donation  towards maintenance of lower churchyard) Section 137

£200.00

Haptc ( subscription)

£491.20

Hire of Village Hall for PC meetings ( Jan- March)

£33.00

JB Garden Services

£298.00

Defib grant ( ink/stationery) D Robinette

£25.97

Allianz/Cornhill Insurance

£838.89

EHDC ( emptying of dog bins)

£218.06

V Patel ( Shop Initiative) ( April-June) SECT 137

£70.00

D Gibbs Petrol expenses

£53.82

Petty Cash ( Tombola donation)

£30.00

 

All chqs were signed by Cllrs H Brown and S Oliver

 

 

(b). End of Financial Year 2007/08.

 

The clerk informed the council that the documentation for the year end would be E mailed to them in the next few weeks. All documentation would then go to the internal auditor.

 

 

8.        Correspondence.

 

Resident request. A resident asked Chairman D Gibbs to appeal to Circle Anglia to change their emergency telephone line to a 0800 number rather than a 0870. The Chairman has written to circle Anglia requesting this change, as the premium number was costing certain residents a hardship.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9.        Any other business.

 

BT Pay Phones. 52 Pay Phones are to be removed in the East Herts area. Concerns were raised over the need to have one in the village due to mobile reception being poor and for phoning the emergency services. Chairman D Gibbs will discuss with dist cllr D Clark and write to BT accordingly. 

 

CAB. A request for a donation has been recd, as the grants recd by the cty council have been severely reduced. Chairman D Gibbs asked the cllrs to give it some thought and a decision would be made at next months’ meeting.  

 

Request for a Green house on the allotments. Cllr S Oliver asked if one had been recd. Nothing had been sent as yet to the clerk. A decision would be made by cllrs via E mail if necessary.

 

29th May Rural Conference. Chairman D Gibbs and Cllr B Toll will be attending. 

 

Acorn Street. This road will be closed for maintenance on 28 April for a week.   

 

 

      Meeting closed at 09.10pm

 

 

 

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Minutes are always available on the village web site  -  www.hunsdon.org.uk .