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There have been meetings of all 4 PC
committees at which much of the business is essential to transact but not of
great interest to report. A review of Standing Orders, Risk Assessment, how
we get our Public Convenience cleaned during holiday periods and so on. Not
very riveting I fear.
Parish Plan
We expect that the Parish Plan will be published
in time to be delivered to every dwelling in Knebworth together with the
notice publicising the Annual Parish Meeting. To ensure that no dwelling is
missed these documents will be delivered by Parish Councillors, members of
the Parish Plan Team and other volunteers. Our thanks to them.
Annual Parish Meeting
The Annual Parish Meeting is on Wednesday 22nd May at 8pm in the
Village Hall. The chairman of the Parish Council gives his annual overview
and then the chairs of each committee give their annual report. At about
8.30 there is an opportunity for you to put questions to the Parish Council
or to the various officials present from the Police, NHDC or HCC who are
supposed to deliver services to Knebworth. This question and answer session
is extremely important as it drives our thinking and actions for the next
year.
Knebworth Parking initiative
Parking is a major issue in Knebworth. I wrote about it in the February
Parish News. Our NHDC Councillors expressed an interest in seeing if
anything could be done to ease commuter parking in Knebworth. With this in
mind I set up an exploratory meeting with them and Dr Graham Fothergill our
chairman the Planning and Environment committee. The Knebworth Parking
initiative is now up and running. It is coordinated by NHDC Cllr. Jane Gray.
This is not a Parish Council led project although it is fully supported by
the Parish Council.
After three meetings it has become obvious that this will,
of necessity, be a long term project which is probably going to require a
sea change in the way people think about Knebworth and its parking issues.
We will be taking good advice and have already got a HCC Transport Policy
Officer Simon Young on board. He is very knowledgeable on this subject and
keen to help Knebworth as his mother, Mary Young, was a former chairman of
the Parish Council. The Parish Plan team, HCC and others with a real
understanding of the problem are also involved.
Currently there is nothing concrete to put before the
public. Once we have concrete proposals backed up by information on costs,
feasibility and so on we will call a public meeting and see what the public
thinks. Meanwhile do not hold your breath; this could be a very long process
indeed.
Duties of Parish Council
Finally, following a number of conversations with local residents, it has
become clear that many folk are confused about the duties and powers of the
Parish Council. A leaflet is being prepared by our Clerk explaining what
duties we must perform and what powers we have to carry out additional
actions. It will shortly be available in the Library, Village hall and other
local outlets. |
