Agenda, decisions and minutes

There were no apologies received from Members for this meeting.  

Audio recording – 57 seconds

There were no apologies from Members received for this meeting.

To take as read and approve as a true record the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on the 6 December 2021.

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 6 December 2021 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

Audio Recording – 1 minute 04 seconds

Councillor Jim McNally, as Chair, proposed and Councillor Michael Muir seconded and, following a vote, it was:

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 6 December 2021 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

Members should notify the Chair of other business which they wish to be discussed at the end of either Part I or Part II business set out in the agenda. They must state the circumstances which they consider justify the business being considered as a matter of urgency.

The Chair will decide whether any item(s) raised will be considered.

There was no Other Business notified.

Audio recording – 1 minute 39 seconds

There was no other business notified.

Members are reminded that any declarations of interest in respect of any business set out in the agenda, should be declared as either a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest or Declarable Interest and are required to notify the Chair of the nature of any interest declared at the commencement of the relevant item on the agenda.  Members declaring a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest must withdraw from the meeting for the duration of the item. Members declaring a Declarable Interest, wishing to exercise a ‘Councillor Speaking Right’, must declare this at the same time as the interest, move to the public area before speaking to the item and then must leave the room before the debate and vote.

(1)  The Chair reminded Members to make Declarations of Interest before an item, the full reminder about this was set out under Chair’s Announcements on the agenda.

(2)  The Chair advised that, in accordance with Council Policy, that this meeting would be audio recorded and available to listen to on Mod.Gov.

(3)  The Chair gave advice to public participants regarding the meeting procedure and giving presentations.

Audio recording – 1 minute 47 seconds

(1)  The Chair reminded Members to make Declarations of Interest before an item, the full reminder about this was set out under Chair’s Announcements on the agenda.

(2)  The Chair advised that, in accordance with Council Policy, that this meeting would be audio recorded and available to listen to on Mod.Gov.

(3)  The Chair gave advice to public participants regarding the meeting procedure and giving presentations.

To receive the annual update from Hertfordshire Constabulary on their work in the Baldock & District area.

Sergeant Lisa Perks, from Herts Police Safer Neighbourhood Team, gave a verbal update to Members on the work being done in the Baldock and district area.

Audio recording – 2 minutes 33 seconds

Sergeant Lisa Perks, from Herts Police Safer Neighbourhood Team, gave a verbal update to Members on the work being done in the Baldock and district area, including:

·         Overall crime had reduced from 487 reported crimes last year to 467 this year.

·         Reports of both residential and business burglary were down this year from last year, from 9 to 5 and 15 to 10 respectively. This is attributed to an increase in patrols in the area to make the area more hostile for criminals and crime.

·         Theft from a motor vehicle had reduced from 30 to 16 and ongoing operations were in place to educate people around the importance of locking their vehicle.

·         Violence against the person reports had reduced from 237 last year to 217 this year, shop lifting was down from 25 to 10 and personal robberies had remain static at 1 report.

·         Due to the increase reports of graffiti in the town, the number of reports of criminal damage had risen from 38 last year to 90 this year.

·         The three priorities identified for the Baldock and Letchworth areas were vehicle crime, anti-social behaviour and speeding. These were reviewed every 6 months.

·         The Team were aware of an increase in reports of graffiti affecting Baldock and the local officer in Baldock, Jane Keating, had been working on dealing with this.

·         There had been communication with schools from the PCSOs to try and identify the ‘tag’ involved. It was reported that one local school had a tagging demonstration in class and this may have encouraged people to do it for real. The police would investigate and work with the school if this was the case.

·         The British Transport Police have a database of tags, but the ones identified in Baldock were not on their records.

·         There had been communications made on social media and via OWL to try and encourage anyone in the community with information to come forward.

·         There would be an increase of patrols in affected areas and a patrol plan was in place for the next 6 weeks, but without knowing a specific time of day, it can be difficult to target effectively.

·         At this stage, no request for CCTV has been made, as it was unknown the exact time that the offence happened and it was not possible to go through all footage.

The following Members asked questions:

·         Councillor Jim McNally

·         Councillor Michael Weeks

·         Councillor Michael Muir

In response to questions Sgt Perks advised:

·         It was important to remain realistic when it came to dealing with graffiti and vandalism. It would be the Safer Neighbourhood Team who deal with this, not the 999 response team, but it would be possible to make night patrols aware so they can keep an eye out in the town when passing through.

·         If people see this happening, they should call 999 or 101 to ensure the police can respond. It is difficult to respond if the report comes through the next day  ...  view the full minutes text for item 37.

Melissa Ahmet, Allesandro Marsili and Lina Nieto, from Affinity Water, gave a verbal update to Members.

Audio recording – 28 minutes 10 seconds

Melissa Ahmet, Allesandro Marsili and Lina Nieto, from Affinity Water, gave a verbal update to Members, including:

·         The water industry was an extremely complex system.

·         Affinity Water are responsible for supply from Surrey through to North Herts and this area is expected to experience population growth which will further impact on water supplies.

·         Chalk streams account for approximately 8-9% in this area.

·         This area has the lowest annual rainfall compared to other parts of the UK, therefore droughts will happen and this will be increasingly unavoidable due to climate change. It is important to make the system as resilient to this as possible.

·         No single action will solve the issues regarding water supply and combatting droughts and it will continue to be a problem as everyone requires water access.

·         Affinity Water has worked in partnership with others to try and improve the supply, including consumer groups, river action groups and local organisations and will continue to develop these partnerships.

·         Affinity Water was the first company in the UK to launch two consumer campaigns.

·         The network is very complicated and the Affinity Water network is made up of 17 companies and the system was not fully connected, so these would need to be joined up through investment in the assets to assist with moving water around the system from wetter to drier locations.

·         Water Resources Management Plans were detailed plans to demonstrate how supply and demand would be managed in the years to come. These demonstrates the issues and explain the mitigatory factors and these are scrutinised.

·         North Herts is an extremely dry part of the supply area, but Surrey has a lot of water. There needs to be a better way of moving water around the system to mitigate with the shortages experienced in some areas.

·         While there has been an increased focus on limiting leakage of water from the system, this action alone will not be enough to prevent water shortages with the planned increases in population and therefore better ability to move water around the system would support the work being done regarding leakage. 

·         Large schemes of intervention to improve the system will require a lot of planning and will take time to develop, but this is being explored not to deal with the expected increases in population.

·         In this area there will be a slight decrease in extraction from 2025 from 1477 to 1407 megalitres per day. This will not improve the issues, but will help to prevent the situation getting worse.

·         The Environment Agency has a system to flag where an area is at risk and this was flagged for Ivel Springs in 2015 and an investigation was begun by Affinity Water. This found that the extraction in Baldock had an impact on the spring.

·         The proposed augmentation scheme would help mitigate against the depletion of water at Ivel Springs.

·         The 90% over-extraction rate previously quoted was a very simple measurements and was very inaccurate as it did not  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.

Rob Bakewell and Iain Page, from the Environment Agency, gave a verbal update to Members.

Audio recording – 69 minutes 11 seconds

Rob Bakewell and Iain Page, from the Environment Agency, gave a verbal update to Members, including:

·         The Environment Agency is the regulator for England, primarily dealing with floods, but also look at waterways, air quality and other areas.

·         Concerns regarding population growth are not specific to North Herts and is replicated across the area covered in the East of England.

·         A primary piece of work of the Environment Agency was the Water Frame Directives, which aimed to get water bodies to good ecological status. This does not mean a constant water flow, but must meet certain environmental targets, for example with flora and fauna.

·         Anyone can be granted a licence to extract water and water companies have much larger licences. This was due to the distribution of licences prior to the existence of the Environment Agency where it was assumed people would always need water and large licences were handed out freely.

·         Growth is having an impact on the environment and this means targets are not being met.

·         River augmentation at Ivel Springs could provide a small amount of water when needed, but would not guarantee flow. It was important for local residents to get involved in consultations as this would help the Agency to understand when the augmentation was required. This would then be monitored to ensure it is working effectively. 

·         A new Water Source Management Plan was due in 2024 and the consultation will being on this shortly, with responses vital to ensure appropriate action to deal with the demands. It was expected that this new Plan would have more of an emphasis on the environment.

·         The augmentation scheme will not solve all the problems and the previously discussed long term fixes, such as water transfer and leakage reduction, would probably be required to see wider improvements.

·         The Environment Agency cannot have a say on actions, but do have an input in decision making and so local feedback was useful to pass onto the water companies.

·         There was an aim to reduce the licences in this area and, with support from the augmentation scheme, would help to meet the environmental targets set.

·         The development of new reservoirs would be explored by the Regional Planning Groups.

·         In the main chalk streams are included within the Water Framework Directive and this means that the Environment Agency is obliged to put forward schemes for the water companies that are affordable and Ofwat compliant.

·         The main concern today is what can be done to deal with the issues between now and the big schemes coming online.

·         East Anglia is water stressed and it would be required for planning authorities to build water reduction measures into developments to assist with mitigating the issues. 

The following Members asked questions:

·         Councillor Steve Jarvis

·         Councillor Michael Muir

·         Councillor Tom Tyson

In response to questions Rob Bakewell and Iain Page advised:

·         Regional, county and water boundaries do not match the situation of water on the ground, but when water management  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.

To receive petitions, comments and questions from the public.

A verbal presentation was given by Merry Smith from Ashwell Playgroup regarding their grant application.

Audio recording – 99 minutes 36 seconds

A verbal presentation was given by Merry Smith from Ashwell Playgroup regarding their grant application, including:

·         The group was now branded as Ashwell Preschool.

·         The group was performing better than this time last year, with 27 children from 25 families.

·         They had decided to cut from 5 days to 4, but would open from 8am to 2.45pm, offering breakfast, lunch and an afternoon session.

·         Income generation had been difficult, usually autumn term is slow, spring term tended to break even and then summer would bring some financial returns. This year they were still expecting a loss, but smaller than last year.

·         Last year the group had much reduced attendance, but had to remain open.

·         Most years the group would raise £4-5,000 from grants and a further £4-6,000 would be made through fundraising activities.

·         It has been difficult to get people along to events and, while there have been some held, these have not been as well attended as previously or as required to make money.

·         There were events planned for the upcoming summer months and it was hoped attendance at these would be better.

·         They are looking to explore what further funds from central and local government may be available for a preschool, as the only funding received at the moment is for the children – nothing is received to support with the venue hire, staffing or equipment.

The following Members asked questions:

·         Councillor Michael Weeks

·         Councillor Tom Tyson

In response to questions Merry Smith advised:

·         The funding was really important for the group, especially with reduced fundraising, and would be required as soon as possible.

·         There were some attendees from Baldock in the past and there was some advertising done in the town, but mostly they were from surrounding villages. The staff at the group were from Baldock.

·         Things are feeling more positive this year and it was hoped more funds would be raised from events than last year.

·         The playgroup was a really important stepping stone for those attending prior to starting school.  

The Chair proposed that the remaining grant funds be merged for this meeting and would be redistributed, along usual pro rata, after allocation of tonight’s grants. This was seconded by Councillor Tom Tyson and carried by a vote of Members.

Following this agreement, the Community Engagement Officer advised that the overall remaining amount was £7257.

RESOLVED: That grant funding of £850 be awarded to Ashwell Playgroup to assist with venue hire costs for 1 academic term. (Summer) as outlined in 8.1.1.

The Community Engagement Officer advised that prior to the pandemic the group had only come to the Committee in 2011 and 2015 for purchasing equipment. This grant request was solely down to the financial impacts the group had suffered due to the pandemic.

Councillor Tom Tyson proposed and Councillor Steve Jarvis seconded and, following a vote, it was:

RESOLVED: That grant funding of £850 be awarded to Ashwell Playgroup to assist with venue hire costs for 1 academic term. (Summer) as outlined in 8.1.1.

A verbal presentation was given by Annie Taplin-Paine from Nightingale Residents Association regarding their grant application.

Audio recording – 118 minutes 29 seconds

A verbal presentation was given by Annie Taplin-Paine from Nightingale Residents Association regarding their grant application, including:

·         The Association was also known as the Nightingale Community Group and was started 7 years ago in an attempt to turn part of Nightingale Park into a community area.

·         The group work with local primary care network to work with people who have been referred by doctors.

·         The community garden area is quite large and is surrounded by around 200 properties.

·         The group had formed to deal with anti-social behaviour and crime in the area and turn it into a useful space.

·         The current increase in vandalism had seen one of the benches in the park destroyed and the funding request was to repair the bench.

·         A quote for the work had been received and, while it cannot be easily replaced due to the depth into the concrete it has been set, it can be repaired using the broken parts.

·         Part of the issue is that the park is in quite a dilapidated state and it was hoped that if the park was brought up to a better standard the anti-social behaviour and vandalism would not be as much of an issue.

·         The basketball court on site was no longer a suitable size.

·         There was a volunteer group who turned up weekly to work on the garden.

·         It was hoped that tonight would be the start of a bigger project to develop the site by making necessary repairs and ensure the park was a nice and tidy space for community use.

The following Members asked questions:

·         Councillor Michael Muir

·         Councillor Michael Weeks

·         Councillor Juan Cowell

·         Councillor Jim McNally

The Community Engagement Officer advised that this was the group’s first application since 2013 and some funds had been found elsewhere to help with other repairs on site.

In response to questions Annie Taplin-Paine advised:

·         The group had contacted Sport England for help with replacing the basketball court, bit they confirmed they were currently not taking on new projects.

·         There had been an application submitted for £20k from Aviva to conduct repairs to the entire site, but this was not successful as the funds were for new schemes rather than repairs.

·         Further grant schemes were being explored.

·         They were unsure how much it would cost to replace the bin which had been vandalised the night before.

RESOLVED: That grant funding of £1000 be awarded to Nightingale Residents Association to assist with costs for repair and maintenance works at Nightingale Park as outlined in 8.1.4.

Councillor Michael Weeks proposed that the grant request be made up to £1000, to assist with repairing damage caused by vandalism last night and Councillor Michael Muir seconded and, following a vote, it was:

RESOLVED: That grant funding of £1000 be awarded to Nightingale Residents Association to assist with costs for repair and maintenance works at Nightingale Park as outlined in 8.1.4.

A verbal presentation was given by Melinda Fleming from Ashwell Tennis & Sports Club regarding their grant application.

Audio recording – 134 minutes 40 seconds

A verbal presentation was given by Melinda Fleming from Ashwell Tennis & Sports Club regarding their grant application, including:

·         This was a small village club, with two hard tennis courts built in 2011 and a small dedicated parking areas.

·         The funding request was for a clubhouse, which would be fenced in to ensure security.

·         There were around 300 members at the club and they try to keep membership fees as low as possible to ensure affordability.

·         The club had shown its importance throughout the pandemic

·         Membership generally came from Ashwell, Hinxworth or Bygrave, but there were several members from Baldock.

·         Coaching was offered for both adults and children, and a summer camp is run throughout the summer holidays.

·         Children are not required to be members to play on the courts.

·         The clubhouse will make it a more attractive club and will encourage more members to join. It would provide shelter from the weather, changing facilities and storage for the club equipment.

·         It was hoped that this could develop into a Community Hub which could be used socially by the entire community.

·         By March 2022, £2500 had been raised for the project, but it has been difficult to fundraise in the two years since due to the pandemic. There had been a couple of small club tournaments held, but these did not raise huge amounts of money.

·         There were fundraising evening planned as we start to emerge from the pandemic restrictions.

The following Members asked questions:

·         Councillor Michael Weeks

In response to questions, Melinda Fleming advised that planning permission had been submitted and the outcome was expected very soon. There had been no objections to the application and the Parish Council recommended the plans.

RESOLVED: That grant funding of £980 be awarded to Ashwell Tennis & Sports Club to assist with costs for the purchase of a new clubhouse at the venue as outlined in 8.1.2.

Councillor Michael Weeks proposed and Councillor Tom Tyson seconded and, following a vote, it was:

RESOLVED: That grant funding of £980 be awarded to Ashwell Tennis & Sports Club to assist with costs for the purchase of a new clubhouse at the venue as outlined in 8.1.2.

A verbal presentation was given by Sarah Hammond-Ward from Knights Templar School regarding their grant application.

Audio recording – 140 minutes 40 seconds

A verbal presentation was given by Sarah Hammond-Ward from Knights Templar School regarding their grant application, including:

·         The application had been put together between the Duke of Edinburgh Award and the Geography department.

·         The funds were to support the Green Knights and the Duke of Edinburgh Award schemes at the school.

·         The Green Knights were a lunchtime group, who had expanded to deal with wider projects looking at the environment. There had been a two year gap due to Covid, but it was hoped this could be restarted.

·         For the Duke of Edinburgh Award in 2020 it was felt that volunteering opportunities would be limited.

·         The Rotary Club enquired whether the group would assist with the planting of trees, which they supported and contributed to part of the volunteering requirements.

·         It was hoped that these volunteering opportunities would develop and expand over the next few years.

·         By being outside and engaging in their local area, young people are engaged in other discussions, so there is a much wider educational benefit.

·         The group had found that the limited resources they had – 6 forks, 1 spade and 1 rake – was preventing them further expanding the opportunities and the ability to purchase tools would be beneficial. There was a desire to buy good quality tools that would last, rather than the cheapest available.

·         Numbers were expected to go up on the Award scheme in 2022.

The following Members asked questions:

·         Councillor Jim McNally

·         Councillor Michael Weeks

·         Councillor Michael Muir

·         Councillor Juan Cowell

In response to questions, Sarah Hammond-Ward advised:

·         The garden site on Park Street would be one of those looked at this summer and was hoped that this would progress, with student maintenance in the coming years.

·         The litter picking sessions were very popular with students, although again this was limited by a lack of equipment available.

·         The environmental focus had come from a lack of external opportunities available for the age groups and the number of students looking for volunteering places, there were now 120 students taking part in the award.

RESOLVED: That grant funding of £862 be awarded to Knights Templar School for the purchase of gardening equipment and litter picking equipment that will be used by two extra-curricular groups at the school as outlined in 8.1.3.

Councillor Michael Muir proposed and Councillor Michael Weeks seconded and, following a vote, it was:

RESOLVED: That grant funding of £862 be awarded to Knights Templar School for the purchase of gardening equipment and litter picking equipment that will be used by two extra-curricular groups at the school as outlined in 8.1.3.

A verbal presentation was given by Agata Kisicka and Ethel Morrell from Nova Wellness CIC regarding their grant application.

Audio recording – 152 minutes 10 seconds

A verbal presentation was given by Agata Kisicka and Ethel Morrell from Nova Wellness CIC regarding their grant application, including:

·         This was a relatively new venture and was established a year ago in response to the pandemic.

·         They run both group therapy events and individual therapy sessions (such as acupuncture, meditation and yoga).

·         The aim was improve the mental health of residents, with a focus on older people, vulnerable people and the long term unemployed.

·         Events were individually tailored based on the requirement of the user and it offers people the chance to experience therapies they would not normally be able to afford.

·         This grant request was to fund two group therapy sessions for carers in Baldock and this would take place during Carers Week in June 2022. 

·         They had developed good connections with partner networks over the last year.

·         People can often feel intimidated coming to a clinic, so the community events help to overcome this issue and these have the most benefit.

·         People attending other session have reported that their confidence has increased, they feel less anxious and are more capable of dealing with the issues in their day to day lives.

·         Most carers are unpaid and this would help to give something back to them for the work they do.

The following Members asked questions:

·         Councillor Michael Weeks

·         Councillor Michael Muir

·         Councillor Juan Cowell

·         Councillor Steve Jarvis

In response to questions Agata Kisicka and Ethel Morrell advised:

·         This was the first move into Baldock but had previously run sessions in Stevenage and Letchworth. It was felt that they needed to run events in different places, as this worked best to attract people to come.

·         If there were specific groups that would benefit they would be happy to look into what support they can offer.

·         Carers would need to get in touch themselves to book onto the session, but they can be referred to the group.

·         All money granted would go towards funding the sessions in Baldock, which included 3 therapists and a tailored session for the day.

·         This was a not for profit group.

·         The grant funds would be for one core session of 1 hour and then further support time afterwards. There would also be time required for setting up and packing away. Often, as these are vulnerable people, other issues are raised and time is spent further supporting individuals. In total it can take around 3.5 hours for a 1 hour session.

·         The sessions usually work well and while it is not one on one, the individuals can choose to do what they feel comfortable with. At the end of the session attendees are asked to review the process.

·         These session helps people socialise where otherwise they would not have the opportunity and with people in similar situations.

·         As a new company there was not a long term model of how this would develop into a continuous service. They are growing and adapting after every session and can  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.

RESOLVED: That grant funding of £1000 be awarded to Nova Wellness CIC to assist with costs for running two, one-hour sessions for 20 carers based in Baldock as outlined in 8.1.5

Councillor Michael Weeks proposed and Councillor Steve Jarvis seconded and, following a vote, it was:

RESOLVED: That grant funding of £1000 be awarded to Nova Wellness CIC to assist with costs for running two, one-hour sessions for 20 carers based in Baldock as outlined in 8.1.5

To advise the Committee of the activities and schemes with which the Community Engagement Officer has been involved in.

RESOLVED:

(1)  That any unspent funds from the 2021/22 financial year be allocated to Community & Environmental Initiatives for the 2022/23 period.

(2)  That the Committee endorsed the actions taken by the Community Engagement Officer to promote greater community capacity and well-being for Baldock

REASONS FOR DECISIONS:

(1)  To ensure the Committee is kept informed of the work of the Community Engagement Officer.

(2)  This report is intended to inform Members of the financial resources available to the Committee. It draws attention to the current budgetary situation by assisting in the effective financial management of the Area Committee’s budget. This ensures that all actions are performed in line with the Authority’s Financial Regulations, the Council’s Constitution, and the guidance of the existing Grants policy as agreed by Cabinet in January 2020.

(3)  The awarding of financial assistance to voluntary organisations and the use of discretionary spending allows the Committee to further the aims of the Council Plan.

Audio recording – 166 minutes 24 seconds

The Community Engagement Officer presented the report entitled ‘Grants and Community Update’ and advised:

·         He would be in touch with Members regarding the remaining grant funds balance and this would be pro rata to each ward as previously.

·         The report detailed possible grant applications to come to the Committee in the future.

·         Farmers Lights Christmas event was very successful, raising over £7500 for Garden House Hospice and there and plans in place to run the event across the towns in the district again this year.

·         The Baldock Beast had taken place in February and numbers were down from last year, but this was only held in October 2021.

·         Street Food Heroes would be back in Baldock town centre once a month from the 15 April through to September.

RESOLVED:

(1)  That any unspent funds from the 2021/22 financial year be allocated to Community & Environmental Initiatives for the 2022/23 period.

(2)  That the Committee endorsed the actions taken by the Community Engagement Officer to promote greater community capacity and well-being for Baldock

REASONS FOR DECISIONS:

(1)  To ensure the Committee is kept informed of the work of the Community Engagement Officer.

(2)  This report is intended to inform Members of the financial resources available to the Committee. It draws attention to the current budgetary situation by assisting in the effective financial management of the Area Committee’s budget. This ensures that all actions are performed in line with the Authority’s Financial Regulations, the Council’s Constitution, and the guidance of the existing Grants policy as agreed by Cabinet in January 2020.

(3)  The awarding of financial assistance to voluntary organisations and the use of discretionary spending allows the Committee to further the aims of the Council Plan.

The Chair advised that the Baldock Big Lunch would be taking place on the 5 June 2022.

Audio recording – 170 minutes 56 seconds

The Chair advised that the Baldock Big Lunch would be taking place on the 5 June 2022.

To receive any verbal reports from Members regarding Ward matters and Outside Organisations.

The Chair requested that Members from outside Baldock report back to the Committee at the next meeting, if they experience any increase in graffiti in their wards.

Audio recording – 171 minutes 29 seconds

The Chair requested that Members from outside Baldock report back to the Committee at the next meeting, if they experience any increase in graffiti in their wards.