Meeting documents

Southern Rural Committee
Thursday, 25th November, 2010 7.30 pm

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 Date: Thursday, 30th September, 2010 Time: 7.30 pm Place: Committee Room 1, Council Offices, Gernon Road, Letchworth Garden City
 PRESENT: Councillor D.J. Barnard (Chairman), Councillor John Bishop, Councillor Tom Brindley, Councillor Tricia Cowley, Councillor Sal Jarvis, Councillor Mrs C.P.A. Strong.

NB: Councillor John Bishop arrived at 8.25 p.m.
 IN ATTENDANCE: Mary Caldwell (Development and Conservation Manager), Garry Gover (Community Develeopment Officer) and Hilary Dineen (Committee and Member Services Officer).
 ALSO PRESENT:
Item Description/Resolution Status Action
PART I
27 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Alan Bardett and Jane Gray.

Councillor John Bishop had advised the Chairman that he would arrive late for the meeting and had offered his apologies for this.
 Noted   
28 MINUTES
Data/Southern Rural Committee/201011251930/Agenda/Minutes

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the Meeting held on 29 July 2010 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chairman.
 Agreed   
29 NOTIFICATION OF OTHER BUSINESS

The Chairman advised Members that the Development and Conservation Manager would address them regarding a proposed Member Workshop regarding Section 106 monies.

The Development and Conservation Manager advised that she would like to offer Members the chance of nominating a small informal working group to discuss Section 106 monies on a quarterly basis. This would be in addition to a formal report being presented to the Committee annually.

Members considered a working group to discuss Section 106 monies to be a valuable addition to the formal reports to the Committee, although felt that memberships of the group should consist of non- Cabinet Members.
Councillors David Barnard, John Bishop and Sal Jarvis expressed an interest in joining the working group.

RESOLVED: That Councillors David Barnard, John Bishop and Sal Jarvis form the Southern Rural Committee - Section 106 Working Group.

REASON FOR DECISION: To ensure that the Members of the Southern Rural Committee are fully engaged in the Section 106 process.
 Agreed  Development & Conservation Manager
30 CHAIRMAN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS

(1) The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting;

(2) 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   
31 PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

There were no presentations by members of the public.
 Noted   
32 THE REVIEW OF GRAVELEY PARISH
Report
Appendix A - Questionnaire
Appendix A.1 - Working Timetable

The Community Development Officer presented the report of the Chief Executive regarding The Review of Graveley Parish. He referred Members to section 3 of the report which gave details of the background and Appendix A which contained the consultation letter that had been sent to all households in the Parish and included a timetable of the process. He informed the Committee that two public consultation sessions over a 5 hour period in each location had been arranged to which 8 and 5 members of the public attended respectively.

Members debated the report including that the review was welcomed as the parish now constituted the 2 very different communities of a small rural village and a dense urban population which the Parish Council represented, but found difficult to balance. Members felt that warding the Parish would not be a suitable alternative as the village of Graveley would then be unable to represent itself with a large number of Great Ashby Councillors. They were concerned that the proposed boundary was too close to Great Ashby therefore not leaving room for further expansion meaning the same issue would arise again in the future and that the residents of Great Ashby had not been asked whether they would wish to become part of Stevenage. They agreed that different options such as 2 separate Parish Councils or 1 Parish Council and the other un-parished should be considered and consulted on.

RESOLVED:
(1) That the Chief Executive be requested to take the following comments as the Southern Rural Committee's contribution to the consultation process:
(i) That warding of the Parish would not be a suitable solution to provide an effective Parish Council for either Graveley Village or Great Ashby;

(ii) That consideration be given to either 2 separate Parish Councils or 1 Parish Council for Graveley and 1 un-parished area of Great Ashby;

(iii) That the proposed boundary between Graveley and Great Ashby be moved to include some rural land in Great Ashby to allow for expansion;

(iv) That consideration be given to consulting the residents of Great Ashby as to whether they would wish to be part of Stevenage.

(2) That the Southern Rural Committee recommend that the process of reviewing the Parish of Graveley is progressed to the next stage.

REASON FOR DECISION: To ensure that the Southern Rural Committee is able to contribute to the consultation process regarding the review of Graveley Parish.
 Agreed  Democratic Services Manager
33 CHAMPIONS NEWS AND FINANCE REPORT
Report
Appendix 1 - Financial Spreadsheet
Appendix 2 - Highways Work Programme
Appendix 3 - Area Committee Work Programme

The Community Development Officer presented the report of the Head of Policy, Partnerships and Community Development regarding Champion News and Finance Report and drew attention to the following:

2010 Village of the Year Competition
That the Community Development Officer had attended the CPRE Working Group on 23 August 2010 at which the CPRE had undertaken to contact all Parish Councils, Parish Meetings and Primary Village Contacts in order to discover why there had been a low number of entries into the Village of the Year Competition in 2010. The CPRE had subsequently sent out electronic surveys and would collate the responses to enable them to effectively manage and deliver the competition in 2011.

Members debated the issue including what questions had been included in the survey and when the survey would be sent out; when the process would start for the 2011 competition; whether applications had to be through the Parish Councils or Parish Meetings; that Parish Councils and Parish Meetings should be encouraged to publicise the competition in village newsletters in order to encourage community groups to enter and that the entrance procedures should be simplified.

The Community Development Officer advised that the survey had already been sent to Parish Councils electronically, however he would send a copy to Members of the Committee; that the launch of the 2011 competition was planned for February 2011 with application closing at the end of April 2011; that applications could be made by any group of people and that the Portfolio Holder for Community Engagement and Rural Affairs would be invited to attend the meeting of the Village of the Year Working Group due to be held on 4 November 2010.

2010/2011 Rural Grants Fund
The Community Development Officer advised that applications were currently being received for the 2010/2011 Rural Grant Funds, with the closing date being 1 October 2010.

Diversionary and Additional Anti Fly-Tipping Measures
The Chairman advised that he had attended a meeting with the Head of Housing and Public Protection Service, who had provided a table of indicative costs for various anti fly-tipping measures (tabled at the meeting) which may be considered for funding by this Committee.

Members debated the issue including whether livery of new vehicles should include anti fly-tipping messages; whether signs could be attached to the "Welcome to Hertfordshire" signs; that this created opportunities for partnership working for instance sharing adverts with other departments and Authorities to include the anti fly tipping message and asking Parish Councils to include the message in their village newsletters as well as NHDC Outlook; that magnetic signs to attach to the side of waste collection vehicles should be costed and that other Area Committees may wish to contribute towards any costs.
Members considered that the issue of tackling fly-tipping requires more innovative solutions and requested that the following be costed:
- Magnetic signs for other Council used vehicles such as Enforcement and Courier vehicles;
- Inclusion of anti fly-tipping messages on existing adverts of the rear of buses;
- Stickers for wheelie bins;
Members agreed that a report including costings for these items together with any other initiatives be presented at the next meeting of the Committee.

Highways Issues
The Community Development Officer drew attention to section 3.9 of the report including that Hertfordshire Highways were in the process of arranging a Stage 3 Road Safety Audit of the pedestrian crossing and paragraph 3.10 which stated that Officers would seek clarity regarding any future highways proposals.

Members were concerned regarding the statement on page 17 of the report that there were legal reasons which prevented the placement of warning signs in advance of the pedestrian crossing in Great Ashby, as signs could only be placed in advance of controlled crossings and agreed that Hertfordshire Highways should provide sight of the relevant legislation referred to.
.
Budgets
Members noted the current financial position.

RESOLVED:
(1) That the budgetary expenditure, balances and carry forwards from the Development and Visioning Budgets be noted;

(2) That the actions taken by the Community Development Officer to promote greater community capacity and well -being for the Southern Rural area be endorsed;

(3) That the Community Development Officer be requested to report the findings of the CPRE survey regarding the Village of the Year Competition to this Committee as soon as they are available;

(4) That the Community Development Officer be requested to circulate a copy of the CPRE survey regarding the Village of the Year Competition to all members of the Committee;

(5) That the Community Development Officer be requested to invite the Portfolio Holder for Community Engagement and Rural Affair to attend the meeting of the Village of the Year Working Group due to be held on 4 November 2010;

(6) That the Head of Housing and Public Protection be requested to investigate the costs associated with purchasing magnetic signs with an anti fly-tipping message, which could be attached to the side of waste collection vehicles;

(7) That the Southern Rural Community Development Officer be requested to approach other Area Committees to discuss anti fly-tipping and canvass opinion regarding contribution of funds towards projects;

(8) That the Community Development Officer be requested to provide a report regarding Anti Fly-Tipping Measures to the meeting of the Southern Rural Committee due to be held on 25 November 2010;

(9) That the Community Development Officer request that Hertfordshire Highways provide sight of the legislation which would prevent warning signs being placed in advance of the pedestrian crossing at White Horse Lane, Great Ashby.

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 Officer - GG, Head of Housing & Public Protection Service
34 GRANT APPLICATION - GROUNDWORK HERTFORDSHIRE - OFFLEY AND COCKERNHOE

The Community Development Officer presented two urgent grant requests from Groundwork Hertfordshire to support delivery of youth projects in Offley and Cockernhoe. He advised that the total project cost for each project should read £6,500 and that the projects were planned to operate for 44 weeks.

Members asked several questions including what would the projects be delivering; where the residual funding was coming from; what would happen once the initial 44 week project was complete and what was covered by this application.

The Community Development Officer advised that consultation sessions were being undertaken to determine what young people would like provided; that grant applications were being made to Offley Parish Council, Hertfordshire County Council, Big Lottery - Reaching Communities Fund and the Extended Schools Co-ordinator for Priory and North Hitchin; that it was hoped to enlist volunteers to operate the projects once the initial seed-corn funding had ceased and that the funding from this application would be used towards hire of halls, youth worker salaries and travel costs.

RESOLVED:
(1) That a grant of £1,500 be awarded to Groundwork Hertfordshire from the Youth Activities Development Budget as support funding towards the delivery of a youth project in Offley;

(2) That a grant of £1,500 be awarded to Groundwork Hertfordshire from the Youth Activities Development Budget as support funding towards the delivery of a youth project in Cockernhoe;

REASON FOR DECISION: To improve services provided by local organisations and groups which are accessed by the community.

 Agreed  Community Development Officer - GG
Published on Thursday, 21st October, 2010
9.00 p.m.