Agenda, decisions and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Ralph Muncer, Terry Tyler and Faye Frost

Councillors Sam North and David Barnard were absent

 Audio recording – 1:12

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Ralph Muncer, Terry Tyler and Faye Frost

Councillors Sam North and David Barnard were absent

To take as read and approve as a true record the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on the 30 June 2022.

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 30 June 2022 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chair.

Audio recording – 1:19

Councillor George Davies, as Chair, proposed and Councillor Mandi Tandi seconded and, following a vote, it was:

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 30 June 2022 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 – 2:11

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 welcomed those present at the meeting, especially those who had attended to give a presentation;

(2)         The Chair 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.

Audio recording – 2:34

(1)       The Chair welcomed those present at the meeting, especially those who had attended to give a presentation;

(2)       The Chair 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.

To receive petitions, comments and questions from the public.

The Chair invited David Sample from Offley Parish Council to give a verbal presentation for Members in support of their grant application.

Audio recording – 2:34

David Sample, Parish Clark at Offley Parish Council, thanked the Chairman for the opportunity to address the Committee regarding funding for a new noticeboard as follows:

·         Offley Parish has two villages and two hamlets

·         We need your support and are applying for a small grant to help replace one of the noticeboards within Offley village.

·         The noticeboard is run down, it leaks, the wind makes it rattle, among other things

·         We have received a small grant from Councillor Barnard on his locality budget and we have been saving some money within the Parish precept over the last 12 months.

The Chair thanked Mr Sample for his presentation.

There were no questions from Members.

RESOLVED: That the Committee allocate £500 to Offley Parish Council towards a new noticeboard for the village of Offley as outlined in 8.1.1-8.1.4 of the officer’s report.

Councillor Claire Strong proposed, Councillor Lisa Nash seconded and, following a vote, it was:

RESOLVED: That the Committee allocate £500 to Offley Parish Council towards a new noticeboard for the village of Offley as outlined in 8.1.1-8.1.4 of the officer’s report.

The Chair invited John Ferguson from Kimpton Primary School to give a verbal presentation for Members in support of their grant application.

Audio recording – 4:39

John Ferguson, Head Teacher of Kimpton Primary School, thanked the Chairman for the opportunity to address the Committee regarding funding for a painting station as follows:

·         Since covid, like a number of schools, we have faced problems as children have returned back to school

·         Our two main areas were physical development for our younger children and social, emotional and mental health battles and challenges that they have faced

·         Set a project as a school to develop the Key Stage 1 playground outside.

·         The project that we have started in total will cost £25,000.

·         Over the last two years, thanks to the PTA and members of the school, we have managed to raise £12,500

·         We have started work on the playground this week, starting with the physical side. The play trail is being fitted now

·         We are looking to bring in the other elements which will support our children around social, emotional and being able to express themselves

·         This is why we are looking for a grant of £1157 which will be for the art station

·         As a school we are experiencing a high number of pupil premium children from disadvantaged families and there is the cost of living crisis that is affecting families.

·         We’re hoping that the outdoor art space will give opportunities for children that they may not have at home

·         As a small school, with staffing we don’t have the facilities to be able to have an art area indoors at the same time as break time. This will allow art to take place outside where it can be managed and supported by the adults at lunchtimes.

The Chair thanked Mr Ferguson for his presentation.

The following members asked questions:

·         Councillor Ian Moody

·         Councillor Claire Strong

In response to questions, Mr Ferguson advised:

·         This is a small part of a bigger project. The £12,500 that we have already saved will go towards the physical side. We have climbing frames going in this week and we have a stage for children to perform on with a seating area for them to watch each other. There are other elements such as the painting station, an alphabet spiral, a roadway for them to move around and there is a water tower that they are able to use. We have chosen the art as the one area we want to start as the next part of the project.

·         We haven’t spoken directly to the County Councillor. One of our governors went to the local Parish Council meeting yesterday and they are going to hopefully help with £500 towards marketing to increase numbers. One of the biggest issues we face as a school is numbers. We have quite low numbers where we are based and this has impacted on the running costs of the school.

Councillor Claire Strong informed Mr Ferguson that she had contacted Councillor Thake.

RESOLVED: That the Committee allocate £657 to Kimpton Primary School towards a painting station as part of their playground development as outlined in 8.1.5-8.1.10 of the officer’s report.

The Chair noted that Councillor Ralph Muncer, who was unable to attend this evening, has expressed his support for this grant application.

Councillor Claire Strong informed Mr Ferguson that Councillor Richard Thake is considering awarding £500 from his locality budget towards the painting station and that Mr Ferguson should contact Councillor Thake regarding this. She proposed an amended amount of £657 should be awarded.

Councillor Claire Strong proposed, Councillor Ian Moody seconded and, following a vote, it was:

RESOLVED: That the Committee allocate £657 to Kimpton Primary School towards a painting station as part of their playground development as outlined in 8.1.5-8.1.10 of the officer’s report.

The Chair invited Aimee Flack to give a verbal presentation on behalf of Breachwood Green Charity Group (CIO) for Members in support of their grant application.

Audio recording – 9:29

Aimee Flack presented the grant application on behalf of Breachwood Green Charity Group (CIO) who were unable to attend. She summarised the presentation which included:

·         Breachwood Green Charity Group conduct monthly parish-wide litter picks to keep the area clean using local resident volunteers

·         They provide pop-up not-for-profit coffee shops to encourage social interaction and mobilisation in the local community

·         They would like funding for hall hire and refreshments for two community coffee mornings which will be held in October and December 2022.

·         It is hoped that charging for the refreshments it will go towards funding future events

·         They would like funding for management of their website which is used to communicate and engage with the local residents and avoid paper wastage

·         They would also like funding for the annual insurance for litter picking

·         Local residents will benefit from the groups work.

·         The meetings will provide an opportunity to connect and build community resilience

·         In one year they have increased from 4 to 15 volunteers who are involved in the monthly litter picking

·         We have collected in the parish over 4 skips full of debris over 2021/2022

·         Residents have noticed a positive difference and our County Councillor David Barnard supports this

The following members asked questions:

·         Councillor Ian Moody

In response to questions, Aimee Flack advised:

·         The match funding was £10 from a previous coffee shop in June. The aim would be funds that are raised from these two coffee shops would help towards the future coffee mornings.

RESOLVED: That the Committee approved £369 to Breachwood Green Charity Group (CIO) towards two community coffee mornings and annual insurance for litter picking as outlined in 8.1.11-8.1.14 of the officer’s report. The Committee deferred £300 towards website management to allow Members to ask questions and get further details about what this will go towards.

In response to a question from Councillor Strong, Aimee Flack advised that £300 was for website management, £180 was for hall hire, £90 was for refreshments and £98.97 was for the litter picking insurance

Councillor Claire Strong proposed an amendment to the grant, that the hall hire, refreshments and litter picking insurance should be awarded, totalling £369. The website management could be taken to the parish or their County Council for some of the locality budget. She highlighted that the Council awarded them £441 for their equipment in 2021. She also commented on the amazing work that they do litter picking.

Councillor George Davies suggested that the remainder of the grant application relating to the website management should be deferred so if they cannot find match funding they can reapply and explain this part of the funding to Members.

Councillor Claire Strong proposed, Councillor Ian Moody seconded and, following a vote, it was:

RESOLVED: That the Committee approved £369 to Breachwood Green Charity Group (CIO) towards two community coffee mornings and annual insurance for litter picking as outlined in 8.1.11-8.1.14 of the officer’s report. The Committee deferred £300 towards website management to allow Members to ask questions and get further details about what this will go towards.

REPORT OF THE POLICY AND COMMUNITY MANAGER

To advise the Committee on the current expenditure and balances of the Committee Grant budgets

To bring to the Committee’s attention details of recent requests received for Committee grant funding, made by community groups and local organisations, including:

·         Offley Parish Council

·         Kimpton Primary School

·         Breachwood Green Charity Group (CIO)

To advise the Committee of the activities and schemes with which the Community Engagement officers have been involved in

To bring to the Committee’s attention some important community-based activities that will take place during the next few months

RESOLVED: That the Committee be recommended to endorse actions taken by the Community Engagement team to promote greater community capacity and well-being for Southern Rural.

REASON FOR DECISION:

(1)   To ensure the Members are kept informed of the work of the Community Engagement Team

(2)   This report intended to inform Members of the financial resources available. It draws attention to the current budgetary situation by assisting in the effective financial management of the budgets. 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 – 11:55

The Chair invited Aimee Flack, Community Engagement Officer, to update Members on the budget

·         The 2022/23 base budget was £8700 with £222 carried forward from 2021/22 budget

·         £1780 was granted at the last Committee meeting so this leaves an available budget of £7142.

·         The grant applications from this meeting total £2316 an if the Members agree all the grants outlined in this report it would leave a balance of £4826

Following this information, the Members then voted on the grant applications.

Aimee Flack presented the report entitled Grants & Community Update and gave a verbal presentation, which included:

·         We had our first online parish forum meeting on Monday. This is an opportunity for local Parish Councils to meet online and discuss issues and projects they are working on

·         We had 4 parishes that were represented and thanks to Councillor Claire Strong for attending

·         Christine Adams was also invited. She is the rural engagement officer at Citizens Advice North Herts to introduce her role and what they can offer. She is very keen to meet everyone in the rural area to see how they can support

·         Topics that came up were the cost-of-living crisis and what benefits were out there, as well as the North Herts Council ‘Easing the Squeeze’ campaign.

·         We received positive feedback from the meeting

·         The next one will likely be in Springtime as we are planning to do them twice a year. These details will be shared closer to the time

·         Earlier this week we presented a webinar for Ukrainian guests and their hosts.

·         In the report it says it was the 14^th September, but the date was changed to the 27^th.

·         The webinar will be made available on YouTube

·         We highlighted activities and initiatives available such as the North Herts Ukraine support page.

·         We also highlighted the coffee mornings in Hitchin town hall and North Herts museum. This is available to all refugees and is next being held on the 26^th October. It provides an opportunity to speak to local groups and ask for advice with things such as English lessons or career advice

·         We have also been processing grants to utilise the health protection board funding. Some of the funding was awarded to Citizen Advice North Herts, who received £19,327 towards a post-covid rural outreach project which is funding the rural engagement officer role and it was Christine who attended the parish forum meeting.

·         To celebrate local democracy week, we have been contacting local primary schools to coordinate visits from local Councillors. We have had a couple of schools in the Southern Rural area who are interested and thank you to those who are helping with this.

·         Since writing the report there are a couple of updates of grant applications.

·         From the last meeting in June, we awarded funding to Holwell Parish Council to tables, chairs, cooker and a fridge freezer for their new pavilion. The building is almost ready and they are finishing the painting and tiling  ...  view the full minutes text for item 109.

REPORT OF THE SENIOR TRANSPORT POLICY OFFICER

To introduce the Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan consultation with a short presentation and to take questions.

RESOLVED:

(1)   That the Committee note the report

(2)   That Members are encouraged to respond to the North Herts District LCWIP consultation draft and encourage residents and local organisations to do so too

Audio recording – 33:23

Edward Leigh, Senior Transport Policy Officer, introduced the Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan consultation and gave a presentation which included:

·         Presenting a draft Local Walking and Cycling Infrastructure Plan which is now out for consultation as of Monday. This will run until the 7^th November

·         This is important as it is the basis on which the County will be applying from large amounts of funding from Active Travel England and the Department for Transport as well as securing funding from developments through Section 106 agreements to improve the bult environment.

·         This includes wider pavements, safer junctions, more pedestrian and cycle crossings, protected cycle lanes and modal filters and other traffic management measures designed to make cycling and walking safer and more attractive

·         Modal filters means restricting the flow of vehicles to just cycles, or cycles and buses. This is to divert traffic away from areas where there is high conflict between cycling and walking and driving. This is particularly in the town centres

·         There are also other methods to diverting traffic, such as creating one way systems

·         This part of the plan will focus on North Herts towns, Knebworth and the interurban Hitchin-Stevenage route.

·         The routes within this plan were audited on the ground by WSP to evaluate and propose changes to improve this for cycling and walking

·         This needs to be done for rural areas but we don’t have the resources available to create this plan in rural areas.

·         Additionally we need to make towns safer for people to cycle and walk in, so when people commute in from rural areas it is also safer for them.

·         This plan will start in the towns and will be built outwards into rural areas

·         The County and District Councils have agreed to work in partnership to undertake a review of this plan within two years of its adoption.

·         Subject to having available funding, the intention is to commission a second iteration which takes into account all the rural areas and this is the time scale we are working to

·         We are still looking for input and feedback from rural areas now as this will help feed into the second iteration

·         There are key routes that aren’t covered but have been identified as priority routes, for example Ashwell to the railway station and some routes around Knebworth.

·         The consultation is live at Hertfordshire.gov.uk/LCWIP-NorthHerts until the 7^th November.

·         Councillors are encouraged to respond, as well as encouraging residents, local businesses and community groups to respond

·         This isn’t just about cycling, but also walking

·         It is also important for those who use a wheelchair or mobility scooter to respond

·         On the consultation website, there is a story board for each of the towns, Knebworth and the interurban route from Hitchin to Stevenage. In each of these, there is a page dedicated to what is happening in that area, as well as a map showing the details of each route and descriptions of the interventions.

·         You can click  ...  view the full minutes text for item 110.

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

The following items were discussed in relation to Ward Matters and Outside Organisations:

·        Knebworth Twinning Association

·        Three rural policing community surgeries in Hitchwood, Offa and Hoo

Audio recording – 53:53

Members gave updates on the following Ward Matters and Outside Organisations:

Knebworth Twinning Association –

Councillor Lisa Nash advised that the Knebworth Twinning Association are trying to get much younger membership and have been doing a lot more with schools and have the French teacher at the school involved as well as primary schools involved. They are doing things more informal, such as a meeting in the pub for new members.

Three rural policing community surgeries in Hitchwood, Offa and Hoo –

Councillor Claire Strong advised that we have had three of the rural policing community surgeries. There was one in Offley, one in Pirton and one in Whitwell. Heather Barrows, our local PCSO, was trying hard to engage. It wasn’t well attended, but one held in the pub had slightly better attendance. There was a meeting to reset the police priorities for the rural areas and this was a good meeting in Offley. It was well attended and had good discussion and we reaffirmed some of the areas going forward. We will have them again later in the year, and if we boost up the agenda we could invite Parishes to come along and participate.

Councillor George Davies agreed that this was a good idea as we often get Parish Councils requesting police attendance at their annual meetings to give reports. We could use the Southern Rural meetings to centralise this would be positive.