Apologies

Election of Officers

Chair:               Councillor Carlisle stood down.

Councillor Carlisle was proposed by Councillor Turner and seconded by Councillor Elliott.  Approved unanimously.

Vice-Chair:Councillor Smith stood down.

Minutes of last Meeting

Matters Arising

·        The Clerk reported that she had again spoken to Paul Kerridge from WNS Assistance regarding repairs to the War Memorial.   Cleanaway Ltd is no longer their client and this case is therefore not allocated to anyone.  However, Mr Kerridge’s supervisor is dealing with it “in his spare time”.  Mr Kerridge said that he had written to the Clerk in January and authorised the correct amount but the letter had been returned by the Post Office.  (This had been addressed to the previous Clerk, despite the current Clerk having written to him from her address before this.)  He agreed to send a further letter and said that the contractor should fax him for authorisation if there was any increase in price following the long delay.

·        Councillor Carlisle is to speak to District Councillor Howard Marshall regarding copies of the planning consent and s.106 agreement for Greenbury Close.  The information obtained by the Clerk from the Internet is insufficient.

·        The Clerk has not yet heard from Cliff Barnaby from Hertfordshire Highways following his tour of the village with Councillor Slater regarding the problems identified/action to be taken.  The Clerk has sent a reminder.

Clerk

JC

Clerk

Planning Applications

2 Mount Cottages, The Mount, Barley

Barley Charities

Town House

·        The bookings for May are £1,245.

·        Carole Turner was appointed Chair at the Town House AGM on 25 April 2007, with Councillor Martin as Vice-Chair.  Alison Stacey will take over as Lettings Officer.

·        The Clerk reported that following the visit from Bidwells, the valuation of the Town House for insurance purposes had been increased to £795,000. An additional insurance premium of £746.70 is payable.  After discussion, it was agreed that the Parish Council should be meeting the cost of insurance on the Town House and that it would also pay Bidwells’ valuation fee.  Aon Limited (the insurer) has not contacted Councillor Carlise regarding a proposed visit to survey the property.

·        It was agreed that Drew & Barltrop should be asked to conduct an asbestos survey of the Town House.  Councillor Carlise will ask Janine Drew to quote for the cost of this work.

·        There is nothing further to report regarding a fire alarm system.  Councillor Martin will contact Busy Bee Electricals again for their quotation.

·        Councillor Martin reported that the electrical work on the light switches has been completed.

JC

Health & Safety

·        The fence between the school and the recycling container has been pulled down.  Linda Richmond (School Governor) has been notified but Councillor Carlisle asked the Clerk to write to the school as well.

·        Dog signs are needed for the Plaistow.

Clerk

Recreation Ground

·        The bark for the play area has now been delivered and spread.  RoSPA are due to visit this month.

·        The tennis court path should also be laid this month.

·        The Tennis Club is to hold a “Call My Wine Bluff” evening on 7 July 2007 to raise funds to support the tennis courts.  There will be a Tennis Promotion Day on 20 June 2007 and also regular Club Evenings, starting from 10 May 2007.  These will all be advertised in The Diary. 

Land on Picknage Road

Correspondence

·        A letter regarding Plastic Bottle Recycling facilities has been received from NHDC.   This says that a plastic bottle recycling container will be placed at the rear of the Town House.  This is in preparation for the change from weekly to fortnightly household waste collections in October 2007. The Clerk was asked to contact NHDC regarding hardstanding for the container and also to identify what arrangements were being put in place for other types of waste that was currently collected on a weekly basis.

·        In a letter dated 4 May 2007, Hertfordshire County Council have given notice under Section 27 of the Landlord & Tenant Act 1954 that they are terminating the tenancy of the Clubroom from 5 August 2007.  The Clerk will acknowledge receipt.  The Council will need building surveyors to prepare a schedule of dilapidations and it was agreed that Councillor Carlisle will ask Bidwells for a quote for the cost.  This is usually in the region of 5% of the agreed dilapidations settlement although the fees should be recoverable from the County Council as tenant.  Councillor Smith said that this should include the restoration of the strip of land where a fence has been taken down.  There are also sheds that will need to be removed.  Councillor Carlisle said that the surveyors would prepare the schedule having regard to the terms of the lease and lease plan and also having regard to any ancillary tenancy documents.  The Council’s solicitors, Messrs Curwens, would be asked to provide certified copies of all such documents for the surveyor’s use.

·        A letter has been received from Andrew Richmond regarding the street lighting in Greenbury Close, in which he expresses concern about the cost to the village as a whole.  He suggests that a timer mechanism to prevent the lighting being used between 10:00pm and 6:00am would be “greener” and prevent wasteful use of money.  Councillor Carlisle said that the Parish Council had specifically asked at the time for them not be installed as there were no street lights in the rest of the village.  However, the County Council insisted.  The Parish Council thought it unlikely that a request from them now to dispense with the lights would meet with a positive response.  Councillor Carlisle said that if specific members of the public, particularly the residents of Greenbury Close, wrote to the County Council requesting timers, the Parish Council would add their support.  The Clerk will pass this on to Andrew Richmond.

·        Complaints have been received regarding cars parked in the village close to junctions.  Councillor Carlisle thought that whilst writing to Andrew Richmond, the Clerk should ask that, if any of the cars belong to his staff and customers, he remind them that they are parking illegally and that they would not want to be responsible for an accident.

·        Councillor Carlisle has received an e-mail from Mark Eldrett asking whether the Langley Fete Committee could, as usual, borrow marquees, tables and chairs from Barley for the August Bank Holiday week-end.  Councillor Carlisle has responded, asking him to speak to Jack Shepherd.

·        Hertfordshire Agricultural Society has sent advertising flyers and posters for the Herts County Show on 26 and 27 May 2007.  The Clerk will put the posters on the noticeboards and take the flyers to the doctors’ surgery.

·        E-mail: regional Gypsy and Traveller Public Engagement Event – unable to open attachments

·        NHDC e-mail regarding Smokefree on 1 July 2007

·        LCR journal May 2007

·        HAPTC Newsletter April 2007

·        HAPTC e-mail regarding Code of Conduct and Model Code of Conduct for Parish and Town Councils

·        HAPTC e-mail: NALC Conf. on new ethical regime for Parish Councillors

·        Local Government Statutory Instrument: Local Authorities (Model Code of Conduct Order) 2007

·        Hertfordshire Archives and Local Studies News Spring 2007

·        SCOOTS leaflets

·        Hertfordshire Travel Information booklets x 2

·        Hertfordshire Highways Information Bulletin April 2007

·        North Hertfordshire Highways Partnership Joint Member Panel 23 April 2007

·        NHDC Members’ Information

w/e 06/04; 13/04; 20/04; 27/04; 04/05

·        Royston & District Committee Meeting 25/04/2007

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Payments

It was resolved that the following payments should be made (proposed: Councillor Smith; seconded Councillor Slater)

P Isle                       Caretaking (Town House)                           

C Robinson             Cleaning (Town House)                      

V Martin                 Expenses and Fees (Town House)       

S Wrangham           Re-imbursement                                 

Busy Bee                 Electrical Work                                   

Herts. CC                Marriage Licence Fee                          

Scott Robinson       Window Cleaning                                   

Bidwells                  Town House valuation fee                  

NHDC                    Council Tax                                            

I Turner                  Repairs to filing cabinets                  

Deans’                    Playbark                                            

Other Business

Telephone in Town House

Councillor Martin emptied this and gave the Clerk £5.90 to pay into the bank account.

Roads etc

Hertfordshire Highways has still not taken action regarding the salt bin at the corner of Bogmore Road and the road going towards Nuthamstead (by Putty Hall Cottages).  The road sign (horse) on Shaftenhoe End Road is still falling over and the road surface at the Picknage Road/ Church End junction is in need of urgent repair.  There is also a large hole in London Road, outside Mortimers.  The Clerk will take these matters up with Cliff Barnaby.

Accounts

It was agreed that if there could not be an internal audit of the annual accounts before the next meeting, a special meeting would need to be held before 29 June 2007 to sign the Audit Commission Annual Return for the year ended 31 March 2007.

Annual Parish Meeting

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