The Parish Council meets for the last time before it’s summer break at 7.30pm on Thursday, 17 July in the Church Room at Potten End. The agenda can be downloaded and contains links to all the supporting papers, some of which are replicated below. There are some big local issues under consideration and if you want to express an opinion as always your attendance at the meeting is welcome.

Dan Blesovsky from Berkhamsted Golf Club will be attending the council meeting to update us on the club’s plans.

And if you feel exercised by the issues facing Nettleden, Frithsden or Potten End, there is a vacancy for a new councillor. Please contact me for more information.

Highways

The Highways Working Party has had a quiet month. The DriveSafe team were out and about measuring speeding last Friday and after the recent flurry of roadworks in and around the parish we’re back to more normal levels which are summarised here or for more up to date information please refer to Causeway one network.

Planning

An application to install two forestry storage buildings in Browns Spring Wood which attracted a lot of local opposition at the last council meeting and to which the council objected has been rejected by Dacorum.

Since its last meeting the Council supported planning applications for plans to refurbish the existing rooms at Ashridge House for visitor accommodation (25/01374/MFA). Whilst outside the parish the council did express a concern that Nettleden and Frithsden might be impacted by more traffic. The council also supported an application from Jenady on Water End Rd for a raised patio (25/01505/FHA).

At its meeting on Thursday it will consider the following application:

• Martins, The Green, Potten End – replacement of ecementitious render with lime together with external works and internal alterations (25/01578/LBC).

Open Spaces

This is where much of the action is this month.

The Council will be debating the replacement of the village sign which was destroyed when a car drove over The Green in 2023.There are all sorts of issues to consider; was it in the right place, should it be bigger, should we keep the original design, what material should it be made of, should it be single or double-sided? It’s unlikely that a final decision will be taken on Thursday but your views will be welcome.

Then there’s the question of how to ensure the boundary behind the goal on the Spencer Holland recreation ground is as secure as possible. One element of the proposal involves the removal of the large hedge behind the goal. This will have a big impact on how the recreation ground looks but the council can’t identify a practical alternative to stop children climbing the hedge and invading the privacy of Four Oaks behind it.

The Council will discuss a package of proposals to improve The Green. The sleepers along The Green (the road) will be repaired and replaced where necessary and new sleepers added where there are gaps. Concrete blocks will be placed at the junction of Hempstead Lane with The Common and The Green with Water End Rd to stop vehicles cutting off the corners. The pudding stones and cobbles at the junction of Hempstead Lane and The Common will be repaired. And an access ramp will be installed next to the bus stop opposite the dropped kerb outside the church.

In September 2024 the council approved major works to the pond to reduce by 50% the water lily rhizomes, some of which had got so large that it isn’t possible to maintain them by hand and so a mechanical digger will have to be used. The work couldn’t be scheduled in 2024 and it will now take place in September 2025.

The Council undertakes weekly reviews of the play equipment on Spencer Holland augmented by three professional reviews every year to ensure that the equipment is safe to use. The most recent review has highlighted problems with the cross bars of the two sets of swings; the swings have been removed until we can ensure that they’re safe.

And the Council will be awarding a contract to review the safety of the c. 350 trees on council land. This will be the second review the council has undertaken and will inform works to trees over the next three years.

There is more – parking, hedge trimming and edge maintenance on the sports field, a rotting fence on the allotments, and why the water company suddenly decided to double the allotment water bills because after years of just supplying water someone arbitrarily decided that they must be providing sewerage services as well (they’re not!). But this will do for now.

Infrastructure investment in our Parish

This is the initiative about how the council should spend the money it received from new developments, largely the new housing at Valerie Way. 

The Council has already spent or decided to spend some of the funds on projects which it considered either small scale enough or of sufficient importance to justify the expenditure without consultation; these include new signage along Frithsden Lane, the gates on The Common, the noticeboard outside Cedar, and the work to The Green including the pond maintenance mentioned above.

The results of the public consultation were published last month and the council will now decide how the money should be spent. The proposal is as follows:

• A grant toward a new scout hut
• Improvements to the Old Green
• A new junior goal on Spencer Holland
• A grant to the Village Hall toward improvements to the caretakers cottage
• A grant to Holy Trinity PCC for the cleaning of the war memorial

The grant to the Village Hall has been re-prioritised slightly relative to the public consultation whilst the work to the war memorial wasn’t consulted on but has been included as a result of feedback received during the consultation. You can read more information about the rationale behind the proposal here.

A number of people commented on the condition of the church war memorial relative to the memorial at the top of New Road which is maintained by the Golf Club. In fact the Club haven’t cleaned that memorial for many years and the difference in condition may be more a result of the stone that was used. There are also quite a few constraints about how war memorials (which are listed buildings) can be cleaned – so this probably won’t be as easy as getting the pressure washer out!

Local Government Re-organisation

This won’t be everyone’s cup of tea by a long chalk, but for those of you who have got to the bottom of this long email and are still interested, this is about the future of Herts County Council and the borough and district authorities like Dacorum.

The government wants county and borough/district authorities replaced by what are called Unitary Authorities and has asked for proposals by the end of November 2025 with a view to new Unitary Authorities being in place by April 2028. Hertfordshire originally proposed five alternative approaches, and one of these, the suggestion that there should be just one Unitary Authority covering all of Hertfordshire, has been rejected – look at page 7 of this presentation from Hertfordshire CC.

Things are starting to get just a little more real and I’ve been invited to sit on a working group of town and parish clerks to advise Hertfordshire CC of the possible impact of the re-organisations on Town and Parish Councils.

At the moment it’s all very theoretical, but at some stage it will start being about who cuts the grass, who mends the potholes, and who empties the bins.

Meeting held on Thursday 15th March 2018
In the Church Rooms, Potten End at 7.30pm
Continue reading “Annual Parish Meeting Thursday 15th March 2018”

The funfair will be arriving on the Village Green on Sunday 12th May and will be open for rides on Thursday 16th May to Sunday 19th May 2019.

Each year the Parish Council’s Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR) needs to be reviewed by an external auditor. The unaudited AGAR has been published with this notice – please note that until the external audit has been completed it is subject to change.

From Monday 22nd June to Friday 31st July 2020 inclusive, any person interested has the right to inspect and make copies of the accounting records for the financial year to which the audit relates and all books, deeds, contracts, bills, vouchers, receipts and other documents relating to those records. Details of how to obtain access to this information is provided in the Notice of Public Rights document below.

Notice of Public Rights and Publication of Unaudited Annual Governance and Accountability return and explanatory notes.

Annual Internal Audit Report 2019/20

Annual Governance Statement 2019/20

Annual Accounting Statement 2019/20

Council Management Accounts 2019/20 (published here for information – not part of the formal AGAR process)

Nettleden with Potten End Parish Council and the residents of the parish would like to extend their condolences to Her Majesty The Queen and members of the Royal Family on the death of His Royal Highness, The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh.

A Book of Condolence is available at Holy Trinity, Potten End for those who wish to sign it; the church will remain open until 8pm each day until the funeral and will instigate suitable COVID protection measures. If you’re concerned about maintaining social distance and still wish to show your respects there are online books of remembrance on the Buckingham Palace website and the website of the Lord Lieutenant of Hertfordshire.