Meeting documents

Southern Rural Committee
Thursday, 19th January, 2012 7.30 pm

  Printer Friendly
 Date: Thursday, 24th November, 2011 Time: 7.30pm Place: Committee Room 1, Council Offices, Gernon Road, Letchworth Garden City
 PRESENT: Councillor D.J. Barnard (Chairman), Councillor A. Bardett (Vice-Chairman), Councillor Tom Brindley, Councillor Tricia Cowley, Councillor Jane Gray, Councillor Cathryn Henry.
 IN ATTENDANCE: Stuart Izzard (Community Development Manager) and Hilary Dineen (Committee and Member Services Officer).
 ALSO PRESENT: At the commencement of the meeting 25 scouts and 2 members of the public.
Item Description/Resolution Status Action
PART I
38 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor David Miller and Mrs C.P.A. Strong.
 Noted   
39 MINUTES
Data/Southern Rural Committee/201201191930/Agenda/Minutes

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the Meeting held on 28 September 2011 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chairman.
 Agreed   
40 NOTIFICATION OF OTHER BUSINESS

The Chairman advised that he had agreed that an urgent grant application from Lilley Village Hall could be heard. This would be considered under Item 6 - Champion News and Finance report.
 Noted   
41 CHAIRMAN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS

(1) The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting;

(2) The Chairman advised Members that NHDC was hosting a democracy event for the Scouts in the Council Chamber and that they would be present during part of the meeting in order to see a committee in action.

(3) The Chairman advised Members that the Codicote Streetscene project had decided to postpone their grant application and would therefore not be making a presentation to this meeting.

(4) The Chairman reminded the Members that any declarations of interest in respect of any business set out in the agenda should be declared as either a prejudicial or personal interest and are required to notify the Chairman of the nature of any interest declared at the commencement of the relevant item on the agenda. Members declaring a prejudicial interest should leave the room and not seek to influence the decision during that particular item.
 Noted   
42 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION - CODICOTE STREETSCENE

The Chairman had previously announced that the Codicote Streetscene Project had decided to postpone their grant application and would therefore not be making a presentation.
 Noted   
43 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION - SCOOTS

Kate Belinis DL, Chief Executive Officer of the Community Development Agency, thanked the Chairman for the opportunity to address the Committee. She apologised that Ricky Moore, Scoots Director has been unable to attend the meeting and gave a PowerPoint presentation which included the following information:
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
- To support young people to access employment, training and further education opportunities throughout rural Hertfordshire;
- Breaks down the transport access barriers to such opportunities faced by some;
- To improve young peoples' access to life chances.
HOW IS THIS ACHEIVED?
- By provision of loan transport for a fixed duration of a 50cc Scooter;
- Support for ongoing transport needs at the end of the loan.
WHO DOES THE SCHEME CURRENTLY SUPPORT?
- The 16 - 25 age group;
- Living or working within rural Hertfordshire;
- That have no or limited access to transport;
- Received a firm offer of an employment, training or further education placement.
WHAT DO WE PROVIDE PARTICIPANTS OF THE SCHEME WITH?
- Training - an essential element to the success of the scheme and the safety of the participants;
- Equipment - including clothing, helmet. Tax and insurance;
- Monitoring;
- Support.
SCOOTS STATISTICS
- Received 700 + enquiries;
- Helped 158 clients;
- 80/20% split in favour of education;
- 30 scooters and clients on the road;
- At full capacity, 4 application on going;
- First "wheels to work" to go green with electric scooters;
- First to provide a public charging station.
NORTH HERTFORDSHIRE SCOOTS STATISTICS
- 443 total enquiries;
- 103 clients helped (out of 158);
- 15 active clients;
- 2 applicants;
- SCooTS uses A & M motorcycles based in Letchworth, helping the NHDC economy.
PLANS FOR THE FUTURE
- Explore Loan to Own Concept - with users paying a weekly amount;
- Develop electric SCooTS - currently have 2 electric scooters and plan to purchase more;
- Secure additional funding to expand the project further to meet the demand - by applying to different organisations for funding.

Members asked several questions including how long could participants keep the scooters and how many of the 15 users from North Herts were from the Southern Rural Area.

Ms Belinis informed Members that participants were able to keep the scooters for a maximum of 12 months and that, if equipment was returned in good order, half of the money paid would be returned and they would be signposted to alternative methods of transport including the loan to buy scheme and that she would investigate the number of people using the scheme who come from the Southern Rural area and other parts of the District and advise Members accordingly.

The Chairman thanked Ms Belinis DL for her presentation.
 Noted   
44 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION - LILLEY VILLAGE HALL

Steve Patmore, trustee of the Castle Trust, thanked the Chairman for the opportunity to address the Committee. He informed Members that Lilley Village Hall was used by people from all walks of life. The boiler, which was only 7 years old, had ceased to function resulting in the Committee having to heat the hall via protable calour gas heaters, which were expensive and ineffective. The trust did have some funds available, but this was insufficient to cover the costs of replacement, which had been estimated at £3,500.

Members asked several questions including what had happened to cause the boiler to fail and whether any incident had caused the problem.

Mr Patmore advised that the heat exchange unit had failed and was beyond reasonable repair and that the boiler had been well maintained and kept on low during the winter ensuring no burst pipes.

The Chairman thanked Mr Patmore for his presentation.
 Noted   
45 CHAMPION NEWS AND FINANCE REPORT
Report
Appendix 1 - Budget Sheets
Appendix 2 - Highways Work programme
Appendix 3 - Area Committee Work Programme
Appendix 4 - Parish Conference Draft Agenda
Appendix 5 - Community Pot Fund
Appendix 6 - Rural Grant Fund
Appendix 7 - Grant Application - Codicote Screetscape Project
Appendix 7 - Codicote Streetscapre Proposal

The Community Development Manager presented the report entitled Champion News and Finance Report and drew attention to the following:

PARISH, TOWN AND COMMUNITY COUNCIL NETWORKING MEETING
The Community Development Manager advised that the Parish, Town and Community Council networking meeting had taken place on 6 October 2011 and had been a success with issues such as the distribution of funds from the Community Rural Pot Fund and the election process regarding the North Herts Local Strategic Partnership were discussed. The Community Rural Pot consisted of £40,000 (£10,000 capital and £10,000 revenue) with grants being limited to a maximum of £1,000. The majority of the funds had been allocated and there would be a further opportunity to apply for the remaining funds at a later date.

Members asked how the Community Rural Pot was administered.

The Community Development Officer advised that the Government had provided the funding to the North Herts Local Strategic Partnership making NHDC responsiblr for the administration, distribution and monitoring of the funds.

NHDC PARISH, TOWN AND COMMUNITY COUNCIL CONFERENCE 2011
The Community Development Manager advised that the NHDC Parish, Town and Community Council Conference had taken place on 22 November 2011. The Leader of the Council opened the conference, which was attended by 39 parish representatives as well as NHDC Officers and Councillors and closed by the Portfolio Holder for Community Engagement and Rural Affairs. Three themes had been discussed being sharing resources, new planning arrangements and grants. A Town, Parish and Community Council Association for North Herts was in the process of being organised. The Strategic Director of Planning, Housing and Enterprise had given a presentation regarding planning and the likely effect of the Localism Act. Parishes had expressed concern about the possible effect that the Localism Act would have on the development within Parishes

Members agreed that it would be helpful to have information on the effects of the Localism Act once more detail was available and that Parishes should be invited to attend.

NORTH HERTS DC RURAL GRANTS FUND PROGRAMME 2011/12
The Community Development Manager advised that the North Herts District Council Rural Grant Fund consisted of three elements being Community Buildings Refurbishment Fund £25,000, Environmental Improvements £15,000 and Playgrounds £10,000. Applications received so far totalled £42,000 which would be assessed over the next 2 months and any grant awards made would have 2 years to draw down the funds. The amount of the Rural Grants Fund Programme would be reduced by 7.1 percent each year in line with the reductions in other grant funding.

Members asked several questions including who administered the fund; expressed concern that parishes seemed to be using the Environmental Improvement fund as a way to fund grass cutting rather than using their precept and agreed that, as Pirton had an existing Village Hall, it perhaps was not necessary to fund another community Hall within the village such as the old Sunday School building to the rear of the Methodist Church.

PARISH COUNCIL SUPPORT - PLANNING CONTRIBUTION FUNDING
The Community Development Manager advised that they continue to assist Parish Councils with potential projects which may be eligible for funds through Section 106 Planning Contributions/Unilateral Undertakings.

FINANCE REPORT
The Community Development Manager advised that the committee had £12,540 unallocated funds available in the discretionary Budget.

SOUTHERN RURAL COMMITTEE ON THE MOVE
Members considered that the Committee should hold a meeting in the Community and suggested that an Open Forum be arranged prior to this meeting. It was suggested that Great Ashby, St Ippolyts, Codicote and Knebworth be considered as locations for the March meeting of the Committee. It was suggested that Parish Councils be invited to the Open Forum and that a subject such as Localism be the focus of the Forum.

OLYMPIC AND JUBILEE CELEBRATIONS
The Community Development Officer advised that he was beginning to receive phone calls regarding Olympic and Jubilee celebrations and asked Members to consider whether they wished to allocate a sum of money to this subject and whether a limit should be placed on the amount of each grant request.

Members asked that Parish Councils be made aware of local government ordering opportunities such as Herts Direct and that request for funding for Olympic and jubilee celebrations should be presented as soon as possible. In respect of the amount required to cover applications for funding and any limits to grant request they agreed to defer a decision until the next committee meeting due to be held on 19 January 2011.

RESOLVED:

(1) That the actions taken by the Community Development Officer to promote greater community capacity and well being for rural communities be endorsed;

(2) That the Committee's budgetary expenditure, balances and carry forwards from the Ward Development Budgets and the allocated Visioning Budgets be noted;

(3) That the Committee and Member Services Officer, in liaison with Councillor Henry, investigate the availability of facilities in Great Ashby at which to hold the March meeting of the Committee;

(4) That the advice of the Head of Policy and Community Services be sought in regard to the appropriate timing to make a presentation to Parishes regarding the effect of the Localism Act and whether a presentation to Parishes in the Southern Rural Area could be arranged, preferably at an Open Forum meeting prior to a Southern Rural Committee meeting;

(5) That the Community Development Manager be asked to contact all Parish Councils to advise them of the local government ordering opportunities such as Herts Direct and that requests for funding for Olympic and Jubilee Celebrations should be presented as soon as possible.

REASON FOR DECISION: To ensure that the Committee is kept informed of the work of the Community Development Officer and to inform Members of the financial resources available to the Committee.
 Agreed  Community Development Manager, Head of Policy & Community Services
46 GRANT APPLICATION - CODICOTE STREETSCENE

The Chairman had previously announced that the Codicote Streetscene Project had decided to postpone their grant application.
 Noted   
47 GRANT APPLICATION - LILLEY VILLAGE HALL

Members were concerned that emergency grants awards of more than £500 could not be released in a timely manner.

The Community Development Manager advised that NHDC Financial Regulations required full paperwork and Officer recommendations were required for the release of funds over £500.

It was proposed and seconded that a 50 percent matched funded grant of up to £1,750 be awarded, in principal to Lilley Village Hall, with £500 being released under the fasttrack system.

RESOLVED:
(1) That a 50 percent matched funded grant of up £1,750 be awarded, in principal, from the 2011/12 discretionary budget to Lilley Village Hall as support towards the costs of replacing the boiler;

(2) That £500 of the grant awarded in (1) above be released under the fasttrack process.

REASON FOR DECISION: To improve services provided by local organisations and groups which are accessed by the community.
 Agreed  Community Development Manager
Published on Thursday, 5th January, 2012
9.00 p.m.