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Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: First Floor Rooms 2/3, Council Offices, Gernon Road, Letchworth Garden City

Contact: Hilary Dineen (01462) 474353  Email: hilary.dineen@north-herts.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

4.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Decision:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Paul Marment.

Minutes:

Audio recording – Start of Item – Session 1 - 59. seconds

 

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Paul Marment.

5.

MINUTES - 7 MARCH 2018 pdf icon PDF 298 KB

To take as read and approve as a true record the minutes of the meeting of this Committee held on the 7 March 2018.

Decision:

RESOLVED:

 

(1)       That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 7 March 2018 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chairman;

 

(2)       That the Senior Communities Officer be requested to prepare a list of sites in the town centre where cycle racks would be positioned and circulate it to all Members of this Committee.

Minutes:

Audio recording – Start of Item – Session 1 - 1 minute 10 seconds

 

Members requested updates on the number of attendees at the Groundwork project and what would happen if all of the grant funding allocated was not spent. They also asked for details of the proposed location of cycle racks in the Town Centre.

 

The Senior Communities Officer advised that the Groundwork project had been advertised through the NHDC website and Facebook page and would commence on a few weeks.

 

In respect of the cycle racks, the Senior Communities Officer was liaising with the Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation and was waiting for them to confirm locations.

 

RESOLVED:

 

(1)       That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 7 March 2018 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chairman;

 

(2)       That the Senior Communities Officer be requested to prepare a list of sites in the town centre where cycle racks would be positioned and circulate it to all Members of this Committee.

6.

MINUTES - 17 MAY 2018 pdf icon PDF 179 KB

To take as read and approve as a true record the minutes of the meeting of this Committee held on the 17 May 2018.

Decision:

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 17 May 2018 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chairman.

Minutes:

Audio recording – Start of Item – Session 1 - 4 minutes 28 seconds

 

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 17 May 2018 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chairman.

7.

NOTIFICATION OF OTHER BUSINESS

Members should notify the Chairman of other business which they wish to be discussed by the Committee at the end of the 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 Chairman will decide whether any item(s) raised will be considered.

Decision:

There was no other business notified.

Minutes:

Audio recording – Start of Item – Session 1 - 4 minutes 38 seconds

 

There was no other business notified.

8.

CHAIRMAN'S ANNOUNCEMENTS

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 Chairman 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, wished 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.

Decision:

(1)       The Chairman welcomed everyone to this meeting of the Letchworth Committee;

 

(2)       The Chairman thanked Councillor Rice for his Chairmanship last year and those who were no longer members of this Committee, Clare Billing, John Booth, Lorna Kercher and Sandra Lunn;

 

(3)       The Chairman welcomed new Members of the Committee, Councillors Daniel Allen, Kate Aspinwall, Sue Ngwala and Helen Oliver;

 

(4)       The Chairman reminded Members that they had previously been advised that an additional item had been added to the agenda and welcomed Councillor Michael Weeks, Executive Member for Waste, Recycling and Environment, who would be discussing the Waste Contract;

 

(5)       The Chairman advised that, in accordance with Council policy, this meeting was being audio recorded, members of the public may use their own devices to record the meeting or take photographs, but ensure that the meeting was not disrupted;

 

(6)       The Chairman drew attention to the item on the agenda front pages regarding Declarations of Interest and reminded Members that, in line with the Code of Conduct, any Declarations of Interest needed to be declared immediately prior to the item in question.

Minutes:

Audio recording – Start of Item – Session 1 – 4 minutes 49 seconds

 

(1)       The Chairman welcomed everyone to this meeting of the Letchworth Committee;

 

(2)       The Chairman thanked Councillor Rice for his Chairmanship last year and those who were no longer members of this Committee, Clare Billing, John Booth, Lorna Kercher and Sandra Lunn;

 

(3)       The Chairman welcomed new Members of the Committee, Councillors Daniel Allen, Kate Aspinwall, Sue Ngwala and Helen Oliver;

 

(4)       The Chairman reminded Members that they had previously been advised that an additional item had been added to the agenda and welcomed Councillor Michael Weeks, Executive Member for Waste, Recycling and Environment, who would be discussing the Waste Contract;

 

(5)       The Chairman advised that, in accordance with Council policy, this meeting was being audio recorded, members of the public may use their own devices to record the meeting or take photographs, but ensure that the meeting was not disrupted;

 

(6)       The Chairman drew attention to the item on the agenda front pages regarding Declarations of Interest and reminded Members that, in line with the Code of Conduct, any Declarations of Interest needed to be declared immediately prior to the item in question.

9.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION - BEST BEFORE CAFE

Decision:

Mrs Sue Holdin, Director , Best Before Café, thanked the Chairman for the opportunity to address the Committee in support of their grant application.

Minutes:

Audio recording – Start of Item – Session 1 – 8 minutes 27 seconds

 

Sue Holdin, Dougal Muir and Henry Haldney, Best Before Café CIC, thanked the Chairman for the opportunity to address the Committee regarding their grant application as follows:

 

·                The Best Before café was not for profit community café run by a group of local residents, who volunteer in different organisations around the town;

·                Three of their volunteers also volunteered at the Letchworth Food Bank and therefore were aware of the need for this type of service;

·                They belonged to the real junk food project, a charitable organisation trying to solve two problems, that of food waste and feeding those who would otherwise go hungry;

·                The Best Before Café offered fresh food to those residents most in need on a pay you feel basis;

·                Pay as you feel was a pricing model that enabled customer to pay what they wanted, or could afford;

·                The Café offered surplus supermarket food which had been donated to them;

·                The food was collected by volunteers and displayed in the style of a food boutique;

·                Tea, Coffee and light snacks were also offered;

·                Customers came from all areas of the town;

·                They wanted to support diversity and unity by binging people together to discuss the issues addressed by the Café;

·                They had so far placed one post on Facebook and this had reached 14,000 people, had 3,000 interactions and 132 likes, showing that there was great interest in this project;

·                They hoped that the more vulnerable people would feel that they were helping solve the problem of food waste;

·                Grant funding was requested to pay for liability insurance, leaflets and posters and café equipment.

 

In response to questions from Members Ms Holdin advised that:

 

·                During the Summer months they would be based at Ms Howard Hall and in September would be moving to the Brotherhood Hall;

·                They would be open each Wednesday;

·                They were part of the Fair Share organisation, which had Tesco’s signed up and in October 2018 Waitrose would also be signed up to this organisation;

·                The food bank offered dry and canned foods in parcels, where the client did not get a choice, whereas the Café offered fresh ingredients and dry foods that they could choose from and they would aim to offer hot food;

·                The experience of Watford café was that there was no food left, however any leftover food would be utilised to make food for the following week or be frozen:

·                They collected from the supermarkets the day before or the day that the café opened and therefore did not require storage space;

·                The food banks provided a valuable service which supplied food to 493 people from Letchworth in the last quarter;

·                The café aimed to reduce stigma and get people to talk about food waste;

·                They had received grants funding of £200 from County Councillor Bloxham and would be applying for funding from County Councillor Hone and Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation;

·                They would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

10.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION - CRYSTALITES MAJORETTES

Decision:

Mr Stuart Chaffey; Crystalites Majorettes, thanked the Chairman for the opportunity to address the Committee in support of their grant application.

 

Minutes:

Audio Recording – Start of Item – Session 1- 25 minutes 49 seconds

Audio Recoding – Item Continued – Session 2 – 24 seconds

Audio Recording – Item Continued – Session 3 – 17 seconds

 

The Chairman advised that the Crystalites Majorettes would give a short demonstration in the Council Chamber. All Members moved to the Council Chamber to watch the demonstration.

 

Stuart and Katie Chaffey thanked the Chairman for the opportunity to address the Committee in support of the grant application.

 

Mrs Chaffey advised that the demonstration would be by a small number of girls from the troupe, however the full troupe consisted of girls of varying ages.

 

Members retuned to the meeting room.

 

Mrs Chaffey informed Members that:

 

·                The Crystalites stated in 2015;

·                The girls would love to look the part;

·                They were doing lots of events in the community including the Armed Forces Day, fetes and performing in care homes;

·                All the costumes were homemade.

 

In response to questions from Members Mrs Chaffey advised that:

 

·                They trained 2 days a week for 2 hours and performed every weekend either in a show or a competition;

·                The requested £750 would cover new pom-poms and some material for dresses;

·                Making dresses rather than buying ready-made, enable them to be altered as the girls grew;

·                The troupe was open to both boys and girls, although it was difficult to attract bots to join;

·                They mainly promoted themselves through social media although had undertaken a leaflet drop;

·                They were based in Letchworth;

·                They had won a few trophies;

·                There were currently 16 in the troupe.

 

Councillor Hone suggested that they apply for funding from his County Council Locality Budget.

 

The Chairman thanked Mr and Mrs Chaffey for their presentation and congratulated the Crystalites on their performance.

11.

PUBLIC PARTCIPATION - HEADWAY

Decision:

Mr John Archer, Headway, thanked the Chairman for the opportunity to address the Committee in support of their grant application.

 

Minutes:

Audio recording – Start of Item – Session 3 - 10 minutes 13 seconds

 

Mr John Archer, Headway Herts, thanked the Chairman for the opportunity to address the Committee in support of their grant application and informed Members of the following:

 

·                They looked after people with Acquired Brain Injury, who were over 18 years old and lived in the Letchworth Area;

·                They had 300 live cases of which 140 were active in the group;

·                Work was split 50/50 between those who had suffered the injury and those caring for them;

·                The carers were not expecting to be a carer and therefore Headway provide carer education and support programmes;

·                The survivors had access to occupational therapists to try to get them back to meaningful activity and to give the best quality of life possible;

·                Brain injury was life changing and Headway did not exclude anyone;

·                Approximately 50 percent of relationships for people with brain injury broke down;

·                Headway provided 1-1 visits by an occupational therapist at home and offered support with benefits, support plans, legal cases and anything else that would help make their life easier;

·                Peer support groups helped survivors recognise they were not alone and gave the opportunity to get out into the community to reduce social isolation;

·                The HADIT programme was run by occupational therapists for people who were high functioning and capable of getting back to work;

·                Headway Herts was a County wide organisation requiring approximately £250,000 per year.

 

Mr Archer concluded by advising that Headway Herts was requesting a total of £10,000 across three area committees to support people from the local areas.

 

In response to questions from Members Mr Archer advised that:

 

·                Headway UK received lots of money, but the local groups received no money from that central body and had to raise their own funds;

·                They received funding from Herts County Council and the community with the rest coming from trusts and grants;

·                The Hertfordshire turnover was approximately £200.000 per year;

·                For this project they had applied for grant funding from Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation, the Post Code Lottery, St Albans Marathon and personal donations;

·                At the moment they were providing a free at the point of delivery service but they would soon have to start charging;

·                Occupational Therapy support was available on the NHS but there was a 16 week waiting list and the provision was only for 6 weeks;

·                They would be approaching Clinical Commissioning Groups for funding.

 

The Chairman thanked Mr Archer for his presentation.

12.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION - LETCHWORTH RINK HOCKEY CLUB

Decision:

Mr Andrew Allen, Chairman, Letchworth Rink Hockey Club, thanked the Chairman for the opportunity to address the Committee in support of their grant application.

Minutes:

Audio recording – Start of Item – Session 3 – 22 minutes 44 seconds

 

Mr Andrew Allen, Chairman, Letchworth Rink Hockey Club thanked the Chairman for the opportunity to address the Committee regarding their grant application and informed Members of the following:

 

·                Rink hockey was formerly known as roller hockey and had been going since 1907;

·                The Club was run as professionally as possible;

·                They had a full committee including a safeguarding officer;

·                They had safeguarding and GDPR Policies in place;

·                The Club was founded in 1984 and had fielded 50 National players;

·                Members were aged from 6 to 64 years old;

·                They had teams playing in under 11s, under 13s, under 15s and senior teams;

·                They played in the National Division 1;

·                There was a strong sense of community in the Club;

·                They wanted to start a roller-skating academy for children aged 5-9 years old;

·                The benefits included getting children to be active therefore aiding fitness and learning new skills such as balance, spacial awareness, concentration and team work:

·                The aim was to run 12 one hour sessions on a Saturday with the National Rink Hockey coach and a coach from North Herts Leisure Centre, both will be paid;

·                The courses would be advertised through leafleting of schools and social media;

·                The aims were teamwork, respect, sportsmanship and discipline.

 

In response to questions from Members Mr Allen advised:

 

·                They were looking At Knights Templar Gym Hall and North Herts;

·                Leisure Centre which costed between £40 and £55 pe hour;

·                The Senior Coach would charge £25 per hour;

·                The children would be charged £4.50 per hour;

·                The children would use strap on plates instead of boots;

·                The club already had children with ADHD;

·                The Academy would only take 15 – 25 children at each session;

·                The Academy would just teach skating rather than the Club that plays Rink Hockey;

·                Subs at the Cub were £50/month for senior players, £37/month for juniors and £27.50/month for under 15s;

·                The Club currently had 38 members;

·                They had £4,600 in reserves, although most of this was committed;

·                Members came from Letchworth, Hitchin, Stotfold, Cambridge, Ely and Plymouth.

 

The Chairman thanked Mr Allen for his presentation.

13.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION - NORTH HERTS MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY

Decision:

Mr Matthew Pinto-Chilcott, North Herts Multiple Sclerosis Society, thanked the Chairman for the opportunity to address the Committee in support of their grant application.

Minutes:

Audio recording – Start of Item – Session 3 – 40 minutes 51 seconds

 

Mr Matthew Pinto-Chilcott, Chairman, North Hertfordshire MS Society, thanked the Chairman for the opportunity to address the Committee regarding their grant application as follows:

 

·                The Society provided their Members with support and information;

·                They provided a lunch club to members, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and Pilates;

·                All services were free except for a £3 payment for lunch;

·                Sessions were attended by between 10 and 25 of the 110 members;

·                The North Herts MS Society covered Hitchin, Letchworth, Baldock, Royston and surrounding areas;

·                Funding was requested to purchase an innovative bike that would be of enormous benefit to the North Herts MS group;

·                It would provide bilateral and symmetrical exercise, enabling mobility, strengthening and co-ordination for upper and lower limbs;

·                The stability of the design offered more support for a greater range of users, including for those with more limited movement;

·                The bike would help members to achieve more mobility and strength;

·                They were also looking for support for their Tuesday and Wednesday clubs.

 

In response to questions from Members, Mr Pinto-Chilcott advised:

 

·                That the MS Therapy Centre charged for their services, whereas the North Herts MS Society was free;

·                The bike would be based at Hadleigh House;

·                All funding was by fundraising, the National Charity helped with large purchases.

 

The Chairman thanked Mr Pinto-Chilcott for his presentation.

14.

PUBLIC PARTICPATION - NORTON BOWLS CLUB

Decision:

Mr Lesley Leader, Chairman, and Mr Bob Downey, Norton Bowls Club, thanked the Chairman for the opportunity to address the Committee in support of their grant application.

Minutes:

Audio recording – Start of Item – Session 3 – 52 minutes 59 seconds

 

Mrs Lesley Leader, Chairperson and Bob Downey, Member, Norton Bowls Club, thanked the Chairman for the opportunity to address the Committee regarding their grant application as follows:

 

·                The Club was formed in 1908 and was Letchworth’s oldest bowls club;

·                The Club was totally independent and self funding;

·                They relied on membership fees and fundraising;

·                There was a small, loyal group of members who paid £70 per year membership fees and £3 green fees;

·                Equipment had a tendency to wear out and they regularly raised funds to replace it;

·                The premises were owned by Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation and the annual rent was £2,100;

·                The ditch liners had been in poor condition for a number of years with two of the four ditches being relined 2 years ago;

·                It was now time to renew the two other ditch liners;

·                They were requesting funding to help with these.

 

The Chairman thanked Mrs Leader and Mr Downy for their presentation.

15.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION - TRANSITION TOWNS

Decision:

Mrs Julia Sonander and Mrs Diane Ketcher; Transition Towns, thanked the Chairman for the opportunity to address the Committee in support of their grant application.

Minutes:

Audio recording – Start of Item – Session 3 - 57 minutes 53 seconds

 

Councillor Hone declared a declarable interest as he was the Executive Member for Waste at Hertfordshire County Council.

 

Mrs Julia Sonander and Mrs Diane Ketcher, Transitions Towns, thanked the Chairman for the opportunity to address the Committee in support of their grant application as follows:

 

·                The latest project for Transition Towns was Plastic Free Letchworth;

·                There were 5 objectives being: to get the Council to pass a resolution, to get plastics removed from local businesses, to gain community support, hold community events and to have a steering group to move the project forward;

·                Letchworth Festival was holding an art competition, which Plastic Free Letchworth was sponsoring;

·                They were working with children to educate them;

·                They were seeking grant funding to buy books to hand out to children to help educate them about the effect of plastic on the community and the countryside and first aid training.

 

The Chairman thanked Mrs Sonander and Mrs Ketcher for their presentation.

16.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION - WILBURY COMMUNITY FORUM

Decision:

Mrs Sue Lines. Wilbury Community Forum, thanked the Chairman for the opportunity to address the Committee in support of their grant application.

Minutes:

Audio recording – Start of Item – Session 3 - 1 hour 7 minutes 15 seconds

 

Councilor Hone declared a declarable interest in that his wife attended the Wilbury Community Forum.

 

 Ms Sue Lines, Wilbury Community Forum, thanked the Chairman for the opportunity to address the Committee regarding their grant application as follows:

 

·                Wilbury was a depressed area whi9ch was high in child poverty and elderly isolation;

·                They had the concept of a free community café;

·                They had donation pots for money and collected pre-used items for reuse in the community;

·                The aim was to build a community;

·                Families on low incomes struggle to meet the costs of living;

·                They built in activities such as arts and crafts and games as well as sessions with Citizens Advice to help engage those who were isolated and young people;

·                Last autumn they received a Lottery grant, which enabled them to rent a hall for family activities;

·                This had been extended to provide exercise with yoga;

·                They were requesting grant funding to help with hall hire.

 

In response to questions from Members Ms Lines advised that take up varied enormously depending on weather and other activities in the Town.

 

The Chairman thanked Ms Lines for her presentation.

17.

PUBLIC PARTICIPATION - LETCHWORTH RAIL USER GROUP

Decision:

Representatives of the Letchworth Rail User Group, thanked the Chairman for the opportunity to address the Committee regarding the problems faced by commuters and other rail users following the introduction of a new timetable.

 

Minutes:

Audio recording – Start of Item – Session 3 – 1 hour 19 minutes 18 seconds

 

Mr Steven Rose, Ms Leanne Stott and Mr Steve McMullen, Committee Members, Letchworth Rail User Group, thanked the Chairman for inviting them to address the Committee regarding the new rail timetable as follows:

 

·                The Rail User Group was set up last year in response to the timetable consultation by Govia;

·                The group had 900 members;

·                This was mainly a Facebook group with were no subscription fees;

·                They had been lobbying Govia, the Department for Transport and the MP;

·                They were working with the Royston and Ashwell User Groups;

·                They were the main source of information regarding trains;

·                There would be a public meeting on 13 June 2018 in La Concha;

·                A new timetable was introduced on 20 May, with the aim of connecting Letchworth to the Thameslink train service;

·                Implementation of the timetable had been chaotic with up to 35% of trains being cancelled;

·                Currently there seemed to be an emergency timetable in operation.

·                Many of the stopping trains had been cancelled;

·                Govia still wanted to implement the timetable;

·                Originally Letchworth would lose all non-stop trains into London, although though lobbying 5 non-stop trains had been re-introduced;

·                Some fast trains in the off-peak hours had been removed resulting in a 30 minute longer journey into and out of London;

·                Some limited concessions had been achieved;

·                The group had produced a White Paper that detailed some solutions and demands;

 

Mr Rose concluded by asking Members to lobby the Department of Transport.

 

Councillor Needham advised that the Council had asked for a meeting with all rail user groups and would go to either Chris Grayling and or the local MP.

 

Mr McMullen advised that the uncertainty of whether trains would run was stressful and the biggest challenge at the moment was communication regarding which services were actually running.

 

Members agreed that communication was a big problem. They noted that the timetable in itself was a problem and this was compounded by the lack of trained drivers.

 

Councillor Hone advised that the County Council was also taking action and the Leader of the County Council had written to the Minister all of the local MPs He suggested that all information and letters etc be copied into County Councillor Derrick Ashley, Executive Member for transport.

 

Members queried whether there was any information as to when the current situation would be resolved.

 

Mr Rose advised that the more organisation that can lobby the better

 

The Chairman thanked Mr Rose, Ms Stott and Mr McMullen for their presentation.

18.

WASTE AND RECYCLING CONTRACT

The Executive Member for Waste, Recycling and Environment to be available to answer questions from Members of the Letchworth Committee regarding the Waste Contract.

Decision:

Councillor Michael Weeks, Executive Member for Waste, Recycling and Environment, thanked the Chairman for inviting him to address the Committee regarding the issues and problems encountered following the introduction of a new Waste Contract.

Minutes:

Audio recording – Start of Item – Session 3 – 1 hour 44 minutes 31 seconds

 

Councillor Michael Weeks, Executive Member for Waste, Recycling and Environment, thanked the Chairman for the invitation to address the Committee and gave a verbal presentation regarding the issues and problems that had occurred since the introduction of the new waste contract as follows:

 

·                The waste contract was in some disarray, for which he apologised;

·                 The issues were operational and the Council did not have a lot of control over these issues;

·                The main issue was regarding residents who had paid on-line for brown bin collections that had not been collected;

·                The data regarding several thousand properties was not transferred to the Urbaser system;

·                Some of the rounds were not accurately recorded on Urbaser’s system resulting in areas where streets were missed;

·                Whilst it was believed that most of the staff would transfer to Urbaser a number of staff did not do so for various reasons;

·                The new vehicles were not in place at the start of the contract resulting in a lot of hired vehicles being used;

·                The hired vehicles were not up to the job, but these had now been replaced with more appropriate vehicles;

·                The delivery of food caddies was 1500 caddies short. This was solved by borrowing stocks from East Herts District Council;

·                In response to these issues, Urbaser made the decision to collect every brown bin. This was seen as an opportunity to catch up, although this had now ceased;

·                Urbaser were throwing tens of thousands of pounds and as much resource as possible at the contract.

·                There were a lot of new and agency staff and Urbaser were undertaking appropriate staff training;

·                NHDC Waste Team was short staffed and were working hard.

 

A statement was issued yesterday as follows:

 

“Councillor Michael Weeks, NHDC’s Executive Member for Waste, Recycling and Environment said:

 

Unfortunately, at the start of our new contract with Urbaser there had been some issues with the reliability of data held for those customers who have signed up to the garden waste service, this had led to a number of brown bins being missed on several collection dates.

 

Urbaser had been working hard to catch up with collecting missed bins, however, given the inconvenience this caused, last week they decided to collect any brown bins that were put out for collection.as a short term measure whilst the issues were worked on.

 

Urbaser were now confident that they had identified the data issue and therefore they would shortly be reverting to only collecting brown bins that had been paid for. The operation would be kept under close review.”

 

In response to Members observations, concerns and questions, the Executive Member for Waste, Recycling and Environment advised:

 

·                There were penalty clauses in the contact with Urbaser, but it was not the appropriate time to discuss this;

·                The contracts for staff working for Urbaser had not changed;

·                Brown bins should be marked with the house number;

·                Urbaser were trying to ensure that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

19.

LETCHWORTH BID MANAGER

To receive a presentation from Patricia Saunders, Letchworth BID Manager, regarding activities, events and issues in Letchworth Town Centre.

Decision:

The Chairman advised that Mrs Patricia Saunders, Letchworth BID Manager, had offered he apologies for this meeting however she would be attending future meetings of this Committee.

Minutes:

Audio recording – Start of Item – Session 3 – 2 hours 7 minutes 2 seconds

 

The Chairman advised that Mrs Patricia Saunders, Letchworth BID Manager, had offered her apologies for this meeting however she would be attending future meetings of this Committee.

20.

GRANTS AND COMMUNITY UPDATE pdf icon PDF 259 KB

REPORT OF THE COMMUNITIES MANAGER

 

To update  the Committee on the activities and actions of the Communities Officer, to advise on the current expenditure and balances of the delegated budgets and to consider applications for grant funding.

Additional documents:

Decision:

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 Letchworth Garden City be endorsed;

 

(3)     That the Communities Officer be requested to produce a list of the places at which bike racks had or would be installed;

 

(4)     That the Communities Officer be requested to provide more detailed information in respect of grant applications such as details of previous grant awards, matched funding and self fundraising;

 

(5)     That the Chairman be requested to discussfuture requirements for information regarding grant applications with the Communities Manager.

 

REASON FOR DECISION:To keep Members of the Committee apprised of the latest developments in community activities in Letchworth Garden City.

Minutes:

Audio recording – Start of Item – 2 hours 7 minutes 36 seconds

 

The Senior Communities Officer presented the report of the Communities Manager entitled Grants and Community Update and drew attention to the following:

 

Cycle Rack Project

Paragraph 8.2.1 contained a list of the proposed sites for the placement of bicycle racks.

 

The Senior Communities Officer was awaiting confirmation from the Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation regarding racks proposed for their land.

 

Once locations had been confirmed she would provide a complete list to the Committee.

 

Discretionary Section 106 Capital funds for Letchworth

Paragraph 8.3 of the report detailed the amount of Discretionary Section 106 funding available in each category.

 

If Members had any ideas for projects could they please e-mail the Senior Communities Officer.

 

Section 106 funding was now collected for specific projects. The Communities Team was putting together a list of ideas and projects for the future, so that the Planning Team could use draw on these ideas and projects when negotiating Section 106 agreements.

 

If Members had any ideas and projects for the future, please email the Senior Communities Officer.

 

Budgets

Paragraph 10 of the report outlined the grant funding available as follows:

 

2018/19 - Discretionary Grant Budget                                    £13,700.

2017/18 – Discretionary Grant Budget Carried Forward       £18,496

Total funding available                                                        £32,196

 

Highways Matters

Highways matters should be reported directly to Hertfordshire County Council.

 

The three County Councillor covering Letchworth were:

County Councillor Bloxham;

County Councillor Hone;

County Councillor Muir.

 

Grant Processes

Members expressed concern that the information supplied in order to assess grant funding requests had reduced.

 

The Senior Communities Officer advised that the information previously contained in the appendices was now provided in the report.

 

If any Member wanted further information on a particular application, please contact her directly.

 

The Senior Communities Officer was asked provide details of previous grant awards, matched funding and self fundraising for future applications.

 

The Chairman to discuss future requirements for information regarding grant application with the Communities Manager.

 

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 Letchworth Garden City be endorsed;

 

(3)     That the Communities Officer be requested to produce a list of the places at which bike racks had or would be installed;

 

(4)     That the Communities Officer be requested to provide more detailed information in respect of grant applications such as details of previous grant awards, matched funding and self fundraising;

 

(5)     That the Chairman be requested to discussfuture requirements for information regarding grant applications with the Communities Manager.

 

REASON FOR DECISION:To keep Members of the Committee apprised of the latest developments in community activities in Letchworth Garden City.

21.

GRANT APPLICATION - BEST BEFORE CAFE

Decision:

RESOLVED:That grant funding of £576 be awarded to Best Before Cafe from the 2017/18 Discretionary Budget towards the cost of setting up a weekly community café aimed at tackling food poverty and food waste.

 

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

Minutes:

Audio recording – Start of Item – Session 3 – 2 hours 24 minutes 6 seconds

 

Prior to the item being discussed Councillor Ian Mantle advised that he had not realised until the presentation, that the Best Before Café would be held in Mrs Howard Hall. He was a Trustee of Mrs Howard Hall and would therefore declare a declarable interest.

 

Councillor Hone advised that he has received an application for funding from his County Council Locality Budget, but would look at that that in isolation

 

RESOLVED:That grant funding of £576 be awarded to Best Before Cafe from the 2017/18 Discretionary Budget towards the cost of setting up a weekly community café aimed at tackling food poverty and food waste.

 

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

22.

GRANT APPLICATION - CRYSTALITES MAJORETTES

Decision:

RESOLVED: That grant funding of £750 be awarded to Crystalites Majorettes from the 2017/18 Discretionary Budget towards the cost of new uniforms and to support members from disadvantaged backgrounds.

 

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

Minutes:

Audio recording – Start of Item – Session 3 – 2 hours 7 minutes 48 seconds

 

The Senior Communities Officer reminded Members that the Crystalites Majorettes have requested £750 for uniforms.

 

County Councillor Terry Hone would be providing £300 from his Locality Budget so that they could buy pom-poms.

 

It was proposed, seconded and:

 

RESOLVED:That grant funding of £750 be awarded to Crystalites Majorettes from the 2017/18 Discretionary Budget towards the cost of new uniforms and to support members from disadvantaged backgrounds.

 

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

23.

GRANT APPLICATION - HEADWAY

Decision:

RESOLVED:

 

(1)       That grant funding of £1,500 be awarded to Headway from the 2017/18 Discretionary Budget towards the cost of providing therapy sessions;

 

(2)       That the Senior Communities Officer ensure that Headway report back to this Committee regarding how the money was spent and the impact f not receiving the full amount requested.

 

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

Minutes:

Audio recording – Start of Item – 2 hours 26 minutes

 

The Senior Communities Officer advised that this grant application had been split between Hitchin, Baldock and District and Letchworth Committee on a per capita basis as follows:

 

Baldock and District Committee         £2,500

Hitchin Committee                              £3,750

Letchworth Committee                       £3.750

 

Baldock and District Committee had decided not to award grant funding and Hitchin Committee agreed £1,500

 

Members expressed reservations that grant funding was being requested for running costs when this was a National charity. Organisations need to make sure they put measurers in place to ensure running costs were covered.

 

They requested a report back on how the money is spent and the impact on not receiving the full grant.

 

It was proposed, seconded and

 

RESOLVED:

 

(1)       That grant funding of £1,500 be awarded to Headway from the 2017/18 Discretionary Budget towards the cost of providing therapy sessions;

 

(2)       That the Senior Communities Officer ensure that Headway report back to this Committee regarding how the money was spent and the impact f not receiving the full amount requested.

 

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

24.

GRANT APPLICATION - LETCHWORTH RINK HOCKEY CLUB

Decision:

RESOLVED: That the request for grant funding to Letchworth Rink Hockey Club be refused.

 

REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Letchworth Committee to choose whether to award grant funding to groups and organisations.

Minutes:

Audio recording – Start of Item – Session 3 – 2 hours 30 minutes 33 seconds

 

Members expressed concern that this organisation brings little benefit to Letchworth with membership being from many areas, not Letchworth and this felt like a recruitment exercise. They felt that this application was about excellence and that Council funding should be used for more deserving causes.

 

It was proposed, seconded and unanimously:

 

RESOLVED: That the request for grant funding to Letchworth Rink Hockey Club be refused.

 

REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Letchworth Committee to choose whether to award grant funding to groups and organisations.

25.

GRANT APPLICATION - NORTH HERTS MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS SOCIETY

Decision:

RESOLVED:

 

(1)       That the MS Society be requested to withdraw their grant application;

 

(2)       That the Senior Communities Officer be requested to work with the MS Society to identify where clients come from, encourage collaboration with the MS Therapy Centre and support them with governance issues.

 

REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Letchworth Committee to choose whether to award grant funding to groups and organisations.

Minutes:

Audio recording – Start of Item – Session 3 - 2 hours 43 minutes 40 seconds

 

Members expressed concern regarding the governance of the Society. They noted that clients for the Society came from across the District and therefore the grant should be presented to all of the area committees.

 

They were concerned that the MS Society and MS Therapy Centre were not collaborating in any way and the grant application could have been to enable members of the Society to use the equipment at the Therapy Centre

 

Members discussed the District Wide Grant that was implemented some years ago and queried whether a District Wide grant process should be implemented

 

Members asked that the Senior Communities Officer work with the MS Society to identify where clients come from, encourage collaborative working with the MS Therapy Centre, support them with governance issues and to ask them to withdraw this grant application.

 

RESOLVED:

 

(1)       That the MS Society be requested to withdraw their grant application;

 

(2)       That the Senior Communities Officer be requested to work with the MS Society to identify where clients come from, encourage collaboration with the MS Therapy Centre and support them with governance issues.

 

REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Letchworth Committee to choose whether to award grant funding to groups and organisations.

26.

GRANT APPLICATION - NORTON BOWLS CLUB

Decision:

RESOLVED: That grant funding of £500 be awarded to Norton Bowls Club from the 2017/18 Discretionary Budget towards the cost of purchasing ditch liners.

 

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

Minutes:

Audio recording – Start of Item – Session 3 – 2 hours 34 minutes 6 seconds

 

Members were keen to support this Club who provided spot for older people and noted that they had not applied for funding previously.

 

Members suggested that they consider increasing fees.

 

It was proposed, seconded and

 

RESOLVED: That grant funding of £500 be awarded to Norton Bowls Club from the 2017/18 Discretionary Budget towards the cost of purchasing ditch liners.

 

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

27.

GRANT APPLICATION - TRANSITION TOWNS

Decision:

RESOLVED: That grant funding of £300 be awarded to Transition Towns Letchworth from the 2017/18 Discretionary Budget towards the cost of project resource and first aid training for volunteers.

 

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

Minutes:

Audio recording – Start of Item – Session 3 – 2 hours 37 minutes 47 seconds

 

It was proposed, seconded and

 

RESOLVED: That grant funding of £300 be awarded to Transition Towns Letchworth from the 2017/18 Discretionary Budget towards the cost of project resource and first aid training for volunteers.

 

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

28.

GRANT APPLICATION - WILBURY COMMUNITY FORUM

Decision:

Prior to the item being discussed Councilor Terry Hone declared a declarable interest in that his wife attended the Wilbury Community Forum. He stated that he would not take part in the debate and vote.

 

Prior to the item being discussed Councillor Gary Grindal declared a declarable interest in that he attended the Wilbury Forum. He stated that he would not take part in any debate or vote.

 

Councillor Helen Oliver took the Chair.

 

RESOLVED: That grant funding of £342 be awarded to Wilbury Community Forum from the 2017/18 Discretionary Budget towards the cost of venue hire for the community café.

 

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

 

Councillor Grindal returned to the Chair.

Minutes:

Audio recording – Start of Item – Session 3 – 2 hours 28 minutes 30 seconds

 

Prior to the item being discussed Councilor Terry Hone declared a declarable interest in that his wife attended the Wilbury Community Forum. He stated that he would not take part in the debate and vote.

 

Prior to the item being discussed Councillor Gary Grindal declared a declarable interest in that he attended the Wilbury Forum. He stated that he would not take part in any debate or vote.

 

Councillor Helen Oliver took the Chair.

 

Members were concerned that this previously self-sustaining organisation was requesting help with venue hire. Generally speaking the Committee didn’t give grants for running costs.

 

They acknowledged that the Forum had a good reach into the community

 

RESOLVED: That grant funding of £342 be awarded to Wilbury Community Forum from the 2017/18 Discretionary Budget towards the cost of venue hire for the community café.

 

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

 

Councillor Grindal returned to the Chair.

29.

GRANT APPLICATION - ASHWELL, BALDOCK AND LETCHWORTH SCOUTS

Decision:

Prior to the item being discussed Councillor Daniel Allen declared a declarable interest in that he had 6 children in the scouts. He would therefore take no part in the debate and vote.

 

RESOLVED: That subject to satisfactory paperwork being received and the final approval by the Chairman, grant funding of £246 be awarded to Ashwell, Baldock and Letchworth Scouts from the 2017/18 Discretionary Budget towards the cost of purchasing high visibility bibs.

 

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

Minutes:

Audio recording – Start of Item – Session 3 – 2 hours 50 minutes 34 seconds

 

Prior to the item being discussed Councillor Daniel Allen declared a declarable interest in that he had 6 children in the scouts. He would therefore take no part in the debate and vote.

 

The Senior Communities Officer advised that this grant application had been split between Baldock and District Committee and Letchworth Committee.

 

Satisfactory paperwork had not yet been received, therefore the request was for an agreement in principle and delegate the final decision to the Chairman.

 

It was proposed, seconded and:

 

RESOLVED: That subject to satisfactory paperwork being received and the final approval by the Chairman, grant funding of £246 be awarded to Ashwell, Baldock and Letchworth Scouts from the 2017/18 Discretionary Budget towards the cost of purchasing high visibility bibs.

 

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

30.

WARD MATTERS AND OUTSIDE ORGANISATIONS - MEMBERS' REPORTS

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

Decision:

No Ward or Outside Body reports were presented.

Minutes:

Audio recording – Start of Item – Session 3 – 2 hours 53 minutes 48 seconds

 

No Ward or Outside Body reports were presented.

Audio Recording of Meeting MP3 9 MB

Additional documents: