Parish Council Report – October 2026
Walkern Parish Council Report
The Parish Council Meeting was held on Thursday 1st October 2026 at Walkern Sports and Community Centre. This report covers some of the issues we have been dealing with over the last few months. The full minutes of the meeting are available on the Parish Council website and on the Parish Council Notice Board outside Budgen’s shop.
Wilder Walkern
At the last parish Council Meeting Councillor Allingham provided an update on the Green Space Audit undertaken by the Countryside and Rights of Way team at Hertfordshire County Council. The audit formed a very useful basis for a previous discussion held by councillors on Wednesday 16th September2026. The audit was extremely detailed and the Council made the decision that we should co-operate with Wilder Walkern on improving the Froghall Lane site as a peace garden. A simple plan for the garden has been drawn up and the Council is now seeking quotes for the work so we can apply for possible funding.
More information can be found in the Wilder Walkern article in this journal.
Walkern Sports and Community Centre
The Parish Council would like to warmly thank Nigel Bennett, who is retiring as Chair of the Committee, for involvement over many years with the Parish Council, the WSCC and the Ardley and Walkern Cricket Club. Nigel has given hours, often working behind the scene in support of these local organisations.
We all wish him well in his retirement.
Finance
Every year the Parish Council must submit its Annual Governance and Accountability Return (or AGAR) to be audited. This provides independent confirmation that the Parish Council is managed in accordance with good practice and safely manages the public money with which it is entrusted.
This process has now been completed and the resultant AGAR and report can be found on the website https://walkernparishcouncil.gov.uk/finance-audit.
For the last few months of the year it was looking like we would overspend our budget, but a number of matters have been resolved in our favour and the outlook is now good.
Bins Again
The various bins around the village are collected (or not) by a private contractor working for East Herts District Council. The Parish Council pay for this service through the District Council and for many months it has worked smoothly. However, recently the bins have been left to overflow and despite Abi, our Clerk, contacting EHDC many times the problem wasn’t resolved, as a response from them seemed to question which bins are their responsibility!
Abi will now contact Tom Deffley, our District Councillor, to make him aware of this issue.
East Herts Network News
Residents can register to receive this weekly update from our District Council covering a variety of information from political to social topics.
It’s interesting to note that the latest update contains an article entitled “Council sends letter to Secretary of State following recent unauthorised development.” EHDC is calling for stronger planning enforcement and police powers following such a development within the district. It is possible to read the full letter by following a link from the bulletin.
You can register for free on East Herts District Council Sign Up Page
The next Parish Council meeting will be held on Thursday 5th November 2026 at the Walkern Sports and Community Centre commencing at 7.00 pm.
Christine Nudds, Parish Councillor