Chairman’s Report for the Annual Parish Meeting
May 2022
Your Parish Council. What we do and who we are
Can you help us change our community for the better?
We still have one vacancy for a Parish Councillor for the Kings Walden ward. Please talk to us if you are interested. You will find all our contact details on the website, www.kwpc.org.uk
What we do:
We make decisions on behalf of the people who live in the parish. We are responsible for managing and spending the money the Parish Council receives, the bulk of which comes out of the Council Tax you pay to North Herts District Council. In the last financial year, our income from this precept was £27,975, which works out at about £70 per year per Band D house. The money is largely spent on maintaining community facilities such as the recreation grounds and play areas in Ley Green and Breachwood Green, the Youth Club in Breachwood Green, benches and bus stops. We also give grants to community groups. The Parish Council’s powers are limited. However, we can influence and negotiate with organisations who do make decisions, such as the District and County Councils and the airport. Parish Council Meetings usually take place on the third Monday of the month, at 7.30pm. We meet in Breachwood Green Village Hall. There are no meetings in August or December. These meetings are held in public so please do feel free to come along.
Your Parish Council, who we are:
We are very sad to have lost one of our team this year. Cllr David Bennett died on 23rd April, just weeks after being diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour.
David served the Council for nearly seven years, having been co-opted in May 2015. David represented the Ley Green ward and was a valued member of the community. Always fair and equitable, he was a conduit for the views and needs of Ley Green residents. Each year, when we were setting the budget for the new financial year, he would be strongly against increasing the precept, arguing that the Council should not add to the financial burden of residents.
The Council is delighted to welcome a new member of the team: Cllr Maria McCann team to represent Kings Walden: Maria lives in Kings Walden and used to run the wedding business at Lodge Farm. We are already making use of her skills in organising the Breachwood Platinum Jubliee on Saturday 4th June.
The rest of the Council comprises
• Paul Harman (Chair) lives in Breachwood Green and is a full-time policeman
• Amanda King (Vice-Chair) lives in Breachwood Green and works part-time managing the counselling Service at Watford Women’s Centre. She has two sons in Year 7 at Hitchin Boys.
• Jon Chamberlin lives in Breachwood Green and runs a family agricultural business. He also has a son in Year 7 at Hitchin Boys.
• Joe Graziano lives n Breachwood Green and works part-time as a home improvement and energy manager for Age Concern Luton and is also doing a freelance consultancy role as Director of Customer Experience at Naples International Airport.
• Martin Mulgrew lives in Breachwood Green and is a full-time barrister.
• Brenda James lives in Breachwood Green and works full-time as an accountant
• Lisa Lathane, the Parish Clerk, has two daughters at The Priory and lives in Kings Walden. She is also the Parish Clerk at Preston Parish Council
Luton Airport
Airport Committee: We have an airport committee to maximise the Parish Council’s resources, increase knowledge and ensure a cohesive and streamlined response to airport issues. This consists of Cllr Joe Graziano and Breachwood Green resident, Andrew Mills-Baker.
London Luton Airport Consultative Committee (LLACC): The Parish Council is a full member with voting rights and Cllr Joe Graziano is our representative.
Airport Expansion from 18m to 19m passengers per annum: Luton Borough Council approved this in January, but it has been ‘called in ‘by the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove. This means that he will make a determination on this application.
Airport Expansion to 32m passengers per annum by 2043 and the building of Terminal 2 on Wigmore Valley Park. Luton Rising (the new name for the airport operating company) opened a public consultation on these plans (8th February to 4th April). To ensure our response accurately reflected residents views, we conducted a survey. The vast majority were against airport expansion and we used residents’ comments too inform our objection response to the airport consultation.
FASI Future Airspace Strategy Implementation South (FASI-S). Cllr Joe Graziano attended an online meeting on 22nd February . We are in Northholt, LDN Standsted, Heathrow shared airspace. There are certain rules which can’t be changed, e.g. flying south over Northolt and over the Gliding Club at Dunstable Downs. Our provisional success is the submission of a request for 15 degree track change which means aircraft turning 15 degrees at 9,000 feet right (3 miles) avoiding Breachwood Green . The final decision will be given by the Civil Aviation Authority in 2024.
Highways
Welcome to Breachwood Green signs: These have just been installed, thanks to the dedication and perseverance of Cllr Joe Graziano who has spent the past three years trying to get Hertfordshire County Council Highways department to install these.
Speeding: We are part of the Police Commissioner’s Community DriveSafe scheme. This means that registered volunteers can use speed guns to monitor the speed of passing cars. The information is passed on to the police and speeding drivers could receive a warning letter. The last speed monitoring done in f you’d like to be part of this, please contact Joe Graziano or the Clerk. We have sites registered in Ley Green and Kings Walden as well as in Breachwood Green, but as yet, no volunteers from these areas.
Road Safety: We continue to follow-up on measures to improve local road safety.
Breachwood Green Village Hall
Car Park: a new high car park barrier has been purchased and installed to allow the car park to be used at all time, increasing the safety of users and reducing road congestion.
Projector & Screen: these will be purchased and installed prior to the Platinum Jubilee film shows on Saturday 4th June.
Youth Club, Youth Hut, Breachwood Green
The Youth Club reopened, post Covid in August 2021. It closes in the winter and reopened on 29th March. It runs on Tuesdays 6-8pm for children aged 7 plus (younger children can also attend if accompanied by a parent.) Entry costs £2. The children have an opportunity to meet up with their friends, play games, and to buy tuck. The Parish Council has recently employed an assistant to support the Youth Leader, Andrew Spyrou.
Play Areas and Recreation Grounds
In Ley Green, we have purchased and installed a new kissing gate into the adjacent field to allow access to pushchairs and wheel chairs. The Parish Council has also purchased a marquee for Ley Green community events.
In Breachwood Green, the Parish Council granted a licence for the football season to Stopsley Sharks junior football team.
Ley Green Noticeboard a new noticeboard has been purchased which will be shortly installed outside the shop, making it easier and safer for people to both post and read notices.
Planning
Bailey’s Farm Close: Following concern from Breachwood residents, the owner of the site, Cube Metals addressed the March Parish Council meeting and answered questions. Work on the site is currently on hold pending planning approvals.s
Grants
The council has a grants budget which is available for community groups for future projects and events. The forms are on the website (www.kwpc.org.uk). The process is not difficult, and we can help you with the forms if needed. We also encourage applicants to come along to a Parish Council meeting to tell us about their project. We do want to help and we are quite friendly. Over the past year the following grants have been awarded: to Breachwood Green Pre-School
• £641 towards the installation of a permanent outside canopy to allow the outside space to be used by the children all year round, whatever the weather.
• £200 towards the repair of the outdoor storage facility enabling the storage of outdoor play equipment
Notice Boards
The dilapidated notice board on The Heath was refurbished and re-sited in the bus shelter. Please feel free to use the right had side of this notice board, and the one opposite the Red Lion to publicise community events and information. Please don’t forget to post community events on the notice board in Ley Green, opposite the shop, as well as on the two boards in Breachwood Green.
Gateway Features
We are continuing to work with Highways on this.
Parish Council Website, www.kwpc.org.uk
Please check out our new website and if you’d like to list your business or event, please contact the clerk. If you have an interest in the history of the parish, please have a look at the history pages; we’d be interested in your comments, additions or photos.
In the meantime, if you have any questions, concerns or suggestions for the Parish Council, please contact the Clerk, Lisa Lathane, email: clerk@kwpc.org.uk, mobile: 07887 875442; or the Chairman, Amanda King, mobile: 07989 382321.
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