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ALDENHAM PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the meeting of the PARISH COUNCIL held at 8pm on Tuesday 28 June 2005 The Radlett Centre, 1 Aldenham Avenue, Radlett.

In attendance: Ms. Carrie Lloyd – Clerk

21. Councillor Mrs Ann Reith

Members stood in a minute's silence to remember Councillor Mrs Ann Reith who had died on 18 June 2005 .

22. Prayers

The Vice Chairman, Councillor Worthy, led prayers.

23. Apologies for Absence

Councillor Burke, Councillor Mrs Charrett, Councillor Howley and Councillor Lambert.

24. Urgent Late Items

The Chairman advised that under item 14 To Consider reports from the Chairman he would be raising two items which had only just come to his attention;

(i) Temporary BMX track at Phillimore Recreation Ground and Salter's Field

(ii) Hertsmere Borough Council Car Parking Strategy – an update

25. Declarations of Interest by Members

There were no declarations of interest by Members.

26. To approve the signature of the Minutes of the Meeting held on 31 May 2005

The minutes were signed as a true and accurate record.

27. Matters arising from the Minutes of the Meeting held on 31 May 2005

(i) Speeding down Craigweil Avenue – A response from Hertfordshire Highways was still awaited to the Clerk's request that a survey be carried out as a matter of urgency.

(ii) Trees/Shrubs along Gills Hill Lane and Craigweil Avenue – The Clerk advised that a works order had been issued by Hertfordshire Highways to get the basil growth removed from the trees in Gills Hill Lane , Newberries Avenue and Craigweil Avenue .

(iii) Hertsmere Mobility Scheme – Leaflets were now available for the scheme which would operate on a Wednesday in Radlett and to larger shopping centres such as Watford or the Savacentre on a Friday. It was understood that the leaflets were being distributed through luncheon clubs, surgeries etc.

(iv) Gutters and gullies – The Clerk was requested to advise Hertsmere Contract Services that the gutters and gullies around Radlett were blocked with weeds.

(Action: Clerk)

(v) Bus Shelter outside the Post Office – The Clerk advised that the bus shelter would be replaced but no timescale had been given.

(vi) Youth and Community Centre Petitions – The Deputy Clerk had written to the relevant parties and a response was awaited.

28. To authorise the payment of accounts

The Clerk was requested to check the period of work dates listed for cheque numbers 700442 and 700445 payable to Mr Gray.

The accounts were approved and the month's cheques signed.

29. Approval of the recommendations within the minutes of the following Committees

It was noted that Item 5 on the Minutes of the Transportation Committee needed the second sentence to be removed or amended.

RESOLVED that the recommendations contained within the five sets of minutes be approved;

30. To note the minutes of the meetings of Sub Committees

The minutes of the following meeting were noted;

31. Planning

(i) Planning Statistics

228 applications had been received, since 1 st January 2005 , 62 had been approved, 32 had been refused, 6 had been withdrawn and 128 remained outstanding.

(ii) Applications of special interest:

(a) TP/2005/0637 – Public Toilets, Radlett Gardens - Change of use from public convenience to café with single storey extension and associated works to roof – The application had been withdrawn for further discussions but the Committee had had various concerns not least at the introduction of another café in the area without any parking nearby, the design of the building, the use of Parish Council land for access to the building and the lack of consultation with the Parish Council prior to the submission of the application. It was suggested that an internet style café open particularly during non-school hours would be more appropriate for the site. It had been agreed that discussions would take place between the Parish & Borough Council before another application was submitted and these points would be raised at that meeting.

(iii) Other Planning Matters

A joint meeting would be held with the Parish Council, The Radlett Society & Green Belt Association and Mr Young, Principal Planning Officer (Development Control) at Hertsmere Borough Council on 6 th July 2005 at 6.30pm . All Councillors were invited to attend. The meeting of the Boundaries and Planning Committee would follow promptly at 7.30pm that night.

32. Reports by the Clerk

(i) Approval of the Annual Accounts Return 2004/05 and Risk Assessment Sheets – Members noted the Annual Accounts Return and Risk Assessment sheets as circulated and RESOLVED that the Year End Accounts be approved.

(Action: Clerk)

(ii) To consider changing Standing Order No. 47 - Members were requested tp consider changing Standing Order No. 47 to read “47. Except where ordered by the Council in the case of a Committee or by the appropriate Committee in the case of a Sub Committee, the quorum of a Committee or Sub Committee shall be one third of its Members or three Members whichever is the greater.” to enable the Council to have a greater number of Members on the Boundaries and Planning Committee without affecting the existing quorum of 3 Members. RESOLVED accordingly.

(Action: Clerk)

33. Reports by the Chairman

(i) Temporary BMX track at Phillimore Recreation Ground and Salter's Field

Members were advised that t here had been a few problems regarding funding for the BMX ramps. Unfortunately the need for the Parish Council to formally decide to permit the ramps on its land had meant that a funding bid was submitted too late to receive part funding from Herts In Trust. They had written back to Bernice Curry, Youth Worker, advising that the funding bid form needed to be submitted 2 weeks before the trustees met. The application was only a couple of days out, but the application could not be processed. The Trust would meet again in September and had said they would consider it then, however this was too late for the Summer Holiday plans.

The Police Authority had been requested to fund for the other half of the money required, but this had been refused as they considered it too much money for just a temporary 8 week structure.

Members were concerned that the provision of Summer Holiday activity should proceed and RESOLVED that 50% be funded from the Parish Council's Tennis Court repair budget and if the Youth Worker could not get a full 50% funding from other sources, the scheme should not be jeopardised because of lack of funding and the shortfall would be met by the Council up to the maximum budget of £5,000.

(Action: Clerk)

(ii) Hertsmere Borough Council Car Parking Strategy – an update

The Vice Chairman and Clerk had met with Richard Grove, Head of Planning, Transportation and Building Control, Hilary Shade, Head of Asset Management, Clare Fensome, CPZ Manager, and Brian Blake, Transportation Officer at Hertsmere Borough Council on Monday 27 June to discuss the areas of concern raised by the Council;

100 Spaces at Newberries Car Park

100 spaces would be marked out as Radlett Centre priority parking bays in Newberries Car Park. The Parish Council would pay for the lining work and the Borough Council would pay for new signs promoting the bays. If the bays were required for a large corporate booking the Borough Council's CPZ Manager undertook to issue specially designed prepaid parking tickets but it would be up to the Radlett Centre Trust to “police” the parking bays on the day.

Some Members were still concerned at the allocation of 50 commuter spaces before the effects of the parking restrictions along Newberries Parade had been established. It was considered that the new restrictions may force more cars into Newberries car park thus reducing the number of available bays than at present.

£10,000 fee for free one hour parking

The tender for the new ticketing machines would specify the requirement for software to download the free one hour parking details used at Newberries car park. This would enable accurate billing in future.

Parking in front of Newberries Parade

The CPZ Manager advised that one parking attendant had been allocated to Radlett. She had walked Newberries Parade with an officer and it had taken her one hour to note down all of the car number plates. It would therefore take 2 hours for an officer to enforce the half hour only rule. For the effective enforcement of the 30 minute rule pay & display machines were required. It was accepted that this created more street furniture but the benefit outweighed the environment and financial costs. It was not intended to make this a lucrative scheme but to enable better parking management. She estimated that 70% of the cars currently parked along Newberries Parade belonged to shop keepers and better management would free the spaces up for shoppers. Other schemes had been tried (such as a clock in the car window/purchasing tickets from shop keepers etc) in other boroughs but the system proposed by Hertsmere was, in their opinion, the only effective method to be used. The Borough Council had seemed more flexible about the first 30 minutes or hour being free as they stressed that this was not a money making exercise but a means of controlling use of the parking bays.

Discounting the petitions, 10 – 12 Radlett residents had written in objecting to the car parking scheme. Members were advised that a public meeting would take place at 7.30pm on 11 th July at Christ Church Hall, Watling Street , Radlett, organised by the Borough Councillors to listen to local residents views.

34. Recycling Bins

Members were minded to progress the restoration of Tykeside Bridge in memory of Cllr Mrs Reith and in order for this to happen expeditiously, the removal of the recycling bins was of paramount importance.

The Clerk was requested to approach Hertsmere Borough Council's officers again to hasten the re-siting of the bins and to investigate sources of funding. The Vice-Chairman undertook to speak to Mr Reith regarding his input to the scheme and to approach Councillor N Payne to assist in getting the bins removed.

(Action: Vice Chairman/Clerk)

35. July, August and September 2005 Meetings

(All commence at 8pm unless otherwise stated)

Members noted that an alternative date needed to be set for Joint Councillors as the Borough Council had had to schedule a meeting of the Bushey/Aldenham Planning Sub Committee for that night.

Closure 9:05pm
Chairman