DATCHWORTH PARISH COUNCIL

 

MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL PARISH MEETING

25th JUNE 2007, HELD AT THE VILLAGE HALL

 

Present:

Chairman: Councillor Mr C. Wilkins

Councillors: Mr. A. Brown

                     Mr. T. Stowe

                    Mr F. Pearman

 

In Attendance: Mrs L. Chambers, Clerk

 

Parishioners:  Mr W. Emms

                      Mrs M. Coleman

                     

Item 1. The Chairman read the Notice of Meeting.

 

Item 2. Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mr J. Austin, Mrs F. Chambers, Mrs V. Marshall, Mr T. Charles and District Councillor T. Jackson

 

Item 3. Chairman’s Report – The Chairman circulated his report:

The Datchworth Sports Club

We have continued to meet regularly with the Sports Club both to minimise the impact of the large number of vehicles at busy weekends and also to plan for the long term.  The Sports Club representatives are very aware of our expectations and have done much to address the issues we have raised with them.   The rugby section match schedule is now a key document that we work with to anticipate peak parking problems.  By its use rescheduling by the club has become a key means of avoiding the problem of too many home games taking place at the same time.  

 

For the longer term we have engaged our solicitor to look at the lease we have with the club with a view to drafting a new one that incorporates a management agreement and access issues.  This is still subject to negotiation with the club, but the meetings we have are very positive and constructive.   At present I am optimistic about getting the result we want that both enables the club to thrive while at the same time not swamping the green and surrounding area with more cars than we and the residents here can tolerate. 

 

Moving the goal posts

If you attended this meeting last year you will remember a request from some young parishioners for new goal posts on the Turkey farm.  As a result of that we ordered the Goal Posts at a cost of £579.  So the goal posts did move, although the new ones are pretty much where the old ones stood.

 

Following the map

In September Nick Collingridge, a Woolmer Green parish councillor, spoke to us about their experience of the Parish Path Partnership.  He explained the nature of the Partnership, what it involved and why he felt Datchworth should be involved.  Following that Viv has run with this and we are now close to having a new map that shows walkers where they are able to go.  Andrew Marr has volunteered to ‘walk’ the paths to monitor their condition.  A decision is still to be made on the distribution of the map and the charge to be made for it.

 

Traffic Survey

At an unnamed resident’s request a Traffic Survey by Highways was made of Bury Lane and the surrounding areas.   A public presentation of the resulting plans was held here in the Village Hall on 8th December and your views were sort.  The view of the Parish Council was to keep road signage to a minimum and only make changes where there was shown to be a compelling reason to do so.   The results of the survey we made on the 8th showed that, on the whole, you were in agreement with that.  Oddly, the HCC survey of your opinion, made the same night, differed markedly.  We had a meeting with HCC Highways officers on 19th March and we went through the list of the14 proposals and made an effort to resolve the differing views.  The result, for practical purposes, was a win for common sense.   If we were not supportive of the HCC expenditure, the item fell to a priority that made it very difficult to happen.   A win via the bureaucratic process you might say.

 

One further point.  An area outside of the area surveyed was the crossroads by the post office and the shop.  This was the spot most commented on and the overwhelming view was that it was not safe, did not have good visibility and the layout needed to change.   The Highways view was that as there were no accidents it would be difficult to justify their expenditure.   This is an item we will have to revisit to make it change.

 

Thanks are due to Tony Charles on this item as much of his time went into the detail of the analysis made.

 

Tree Survey

The phase of work this year concentrated on the Green. This included the trees between 48 and 50 Datchworth Green and the work that was needed on the Packman’s trees. The work will cost approx £6000, which will mean there will be no carry forward for next year. Councillor Charles drew up a list of the work that was required for Gristwood and Toms.

 

This has been a big item of expenditure for us, but now that we are coming to the end of the program of work, we will be able to consider other items in need of investment in the village.

 

Village Category

East Herts. Council submitted their Local Plan last year and it was reviewed by the inspector towards the end of the year.  Although the plan had Datchworth remaining as a category 2 village, the inspector’s view was that our status should be changed to category 1.   The significance of the change is how much development will be permitted within the village itself.  Initially we thought it would be in our interest to define the boundary of the built up village area so that the extent of the change would be defined.   In the event, after consultation with the inspector, is was realised that the change could not be immediate as consultation and due consideration was required to take place first.  In effect this means category 2 rules will continue to apply to Datchworth for about another three years.

 

The Chairman invited questions.

Mrs Coleman questioned the changing of the Village category. The Chairman agreed this was a serious issue that had been delayed but will be implemented.

 

Mrs Coleman raised the issue of a strip of land beside her property which belongs to the Housing Association. She outlined the problems she had been having concerning maintenance of the land, which has been left to her and she is no longer able to do it. After a long discussion a course of action was suggested involving the pricing of the removal of the shrubbery and passing this on to the Housing Association. Action: the Clerk to make enquiries and put on the Agenda for the next PC meeting.

 

Item 4. Financial Report – Please see the Clerk for a copy

Mr Emms queried whether there were any Five Hide Village books left. The Clerk said there were only the Addendum versions left and there was a waiting list for a reprint. Mr Elms said he had a couple of copies which he will sell to people waiting for them. Action: The Clerk to Liaise with Mr Emms.

Mr Emms thanked the PC for the maintenance work competed on the trees in front of his house but said he was convinced they were the responsibility of Highways or EHC. The Clerk and Chairman explained the in depth enquiries had been made and the PC were satisfied that the work should have been included in the Tree survey. Mr Emms said he would continue to pursue with Highways/EHC the ownership of the trees for ongoing maintenance.

 

Item 5. District Councillor’s Report – There was no report

 

The meeting closed at 8.40pm