The Southern Rural Community Forum met on Thursday 12 December 2024. The meeting was scheduled to include presentations about local issues and discussions about funding applications from local groups. The forum was also scheduled to receive an update about the activities of the Community and Partnerships team.

Community Grant applications

The forum was scheduled to consider applications for Community Grant funding from:

• Cassel Hall Trust, who were seeking £2,000 towards the cost of replacing the boiler at Cassel Memorial Hall, Lilley.
• Hitchin Town Youth FC, who were seeking £700 towards the cost of new goalposts.
• Pirton JoyCare, who were seeking £870 towards their running costs.
• Preston Parish Council, who were seeking £594 towards the cost of an external defibrillator cabinet for Preston Recreation Ground.
• The Living Theatre Whitwell CIO, who were seeking £2,435 towards the cost of running an outdoor art trail project.

The report pack included for the meeting states that

If the applications outlined in Appendices 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 are recommended by the Forum and subsequently approved by the Executive Member for Community & Partnerships, there would be £3,930 available for Community Grants for the remainder of the 2024-2025 financial year.

REPORT FOR RECOMMENDATIONS BY SOUTHERN RURAL COMMUNITY FORM - DEC 2024

Parking Tariffs

Councillor Daniel Allen, Leader of North Hertfordshire Council, was scheduled to give a presentation on the subject of parking tariffs.

Connecting with Parishes

The forum was scheduled to hold an open discussion on the topic of Connecting with Parishes. The agenda states that this would be an opportunity

To open the floor to questions and discussion relevant to the Southern Rural area.

Agenda frontsheet 12th-Dec-2024 19.30 Southern Rural Community Forum

Community Update

The forum was scheduled to receive a community update to ensure members were kept informed of the work of the Community and Partnerships Team. The report pack included a summary of the team's activities since the previous meeting. The report pack also included information about an upcoming series of free events. The events, described as wild play sessions, are being run at Knebworth Recreation Ground by Groundwork East, who received funding from the forum at their September meeting.

Ward Matters & Outside Organisations

The forum was scheduled to receive verbal reports from members on the topic of ward matters and outside organisations. The forum was also scheduled to invite questions from members of the public on this topic.

Future Community Forums

The forum was scheduled to discuss topics for future meetings.