Recognising the importance and public sentiment surrounding the proposed Old River Lane development project, the Council has decided to hold a Special Meeting on 7 September 2023 at 7.30pm, at The Council Chambers, Windhill, Bishop's Stortford, CM23 2ND.

It will be an opportunity for Town Councillors to receive a brief on the history and current status of the proposals and to consider questions and responses submitted to East Herts District Council.  There will be an opportunity for Members of the Public to speak to Members. 

The Agenda for the meeting can be viewed here.

NOTICE OF PUBLIC RIGHTS AND PUBLICATION OF UNAUDITED ANNUAL GOVERNANCE & ACCOUNTABILITY RETURN

ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2023

Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014 Sections 26 and 27
The Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/234)

NOTICE

1. Date of announcement Tuesday 27th June 2023

2. Each year the smaller authority’s Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR) needs to be reviewed by an external auditor appointed by Smaller Authorities’ Audit Appointments Ltd. The unaudited AGAR has been published with this notice. As it has yet to be reviewed by the appointed auditor, it is subject to change as a result of that review.

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 must be made available for inspection by any person interested. For the year ended 31 March 2023, these documents will be available on reasonable notice by application to:

        Mark Westwood, Responsible Financial Officer
        The Old Monastery, Windhill, Bishop’s Stortford, CM23 2ND
        01279 712140, mark.westwood@bishopsstortfordtc.gov.uk

       commencing on Wednesday 28th June 2023

       and ending on   Tuesday 8th August 2023

3. Local government electors and their representatives also have:

• The opportunity to question the appointed auditor about the accounting records; and
• The right to make an objection which concerns a matter in respect of which the appointed auditor could either make a public interest report or apply to the court for a declaration that an item of account is unlawful. Written notice of an objection must first be given to the auditor and a copy sent to the smaller authority.

The appointed auditor can be contacted at the address in paragraph 4 below for this purpose between the above dates only.

4. The smaller authority’s AGAR is subject to review by the appointed auditor under the provisions of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014, the Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 and the NAO’s Code of Audit Practice 2015. The appointed auditor is:

PKF Littlejohn LLP (Ref: SBA Team)
15 Westferry Circus
Canary Wharf
London E14 4HD
(sba@pkf-l.com)

5. This announcement is made by Mark Westwood, Responsible Financial Officer

View the Notice of Public Rights, Summary of Your Rights, Annual Internal Audit Report 2022/23 and the Unaudited Annual Governance & Accountability Return 2022/23.

Following the local elections that took place on 4th May 2023, East Herts Council has declared the results which can be found here.

The elected Town Councillors for Bishop's Stortford Town Council are:

Cllr Martin Adams (LD) – All Saints

Cllr Richard Bower (LD) – All Saints

Cllr Yvonne Estop (Lab) – Central

Cllr David Jacobs (Lab) – Central

Cllr Matthew Bird (Lab) – Chantry

Cllr Miriam Swainston (LD) – Chantry

Cllr Richard Townsend (LD) – Parsonage

Cllr Chris Wilson (LD) – Parsonage

Cllr Sarah Copley (LD) – Silverleys

Cllr Stephen Skinner (LD) – Silverleys

Cllr Alex Chapman (Lab) – South

Cllr Oliver Diffey (Lab) – South

Cllr Holly Drake (Con) – Thorley Manor North

Cllr Calvin Horner (LD) – Thorley Manor North

Cllr Mione Goldspink (LD) – Thorley Manor South

Cllr John Wyllie (Con) – Thorley Manor South

Cllr Murray White (LD) - Waterside

Bishop's Stortford Town Council is seeking tender responses for the fit out of a new allotment site. Further information can be found here.

Bishop's Stortford Town Council is inviting tenders to station an Ice Cream van on Sworders Field and at the Splash pool during the period 1st April 2023-30th November 2025. Full details are available at www.bishopsstortfordtc.gov.uk and tenders must be received no later than 16th December 2022

Bishop's Stortford Town Council is seeking a contractor to fully manage the replacement of garages at the Old Cemetery. Full details can be found here.

NOTICE OF CONCLUSION OF AUDIT

ANNUAL GOVERNANCE & ACCOUNTABILITY RETURN FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2022

Sections 20(2) and 25 of the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014
Accounts and Audit Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/234)

1. The audit of accounts for Bishop's Stortford Town Council for the year ended 31 March 2022 has been completed and the accounts have been published.

2. The Annual Governance & Accountability Return is available for inspection by any local government elector of the area of Bishop's Stortford Town Council on application to:

        Mark Westwood, Responsible Financial Officer
        Bishop's Stortford Town Council
        The Old Monastery, Windhill, Bishop’s Stortford, CM23 2ND
        01279 712140, mark.westwood@bishopsstortfordtc.gov.uk

       Between the hours of 10:00 and 15:00 Monday to Friday

3. Copies will be provided to any person on payment of £0.25 for each copy of the Annual Governance & Accountability Return.

Announcement made by: Mark Westwood, Responsible Financial Officer

Date of announcement: 13th September 2021

View the Notice of Conclusion of Audit and the Audited Annual Governance & Accountability Return 2021/22.

We are seeking to recruit handypersons/outdoor workers to join our maintenence team.  These varied and interesting roles play a vital part in maintaining the town's facilities and would suit people who are practically minded, able to undertake a variety of DiY and maintenance tasks as well as park/lawn maintenance etc.

For further details and to apply visit our vacancies page

The following statement was issued jointly by from Bishop’s Stortford Town Council and East Herts District Council re Sworder’s Field skate park on 19th August 2022

The extension and reconstruction of the skate park at Sworder’s Field in Bishop’s Stortford forms part of the Castle Park redevelopment project that is supported by funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and National Lottery Community Fund.  

Works commenced in May 2022 but during initial exploratory excavations, the contractors discovered the original facility only had partial foundations along with drainage issues.  Work was suspended temporarily while these issues were investigated.  The problems were rectified and works recommenced at the end of June with a new completion date set for September 2022.

The Freestyle Collective Limited are the main contractors and through our site monitoring we are aware that little, or no work has been carried out in recent weeks.  As a matter of urgency, we are doing all we can to establish why the contractors are not on site and why they are not responding to any of our communications.

The wider redevelopment of Castle Park is unaffected and will progress as planned.

Bishop’s Stortford Town Council is making available up to £500,000 to provide capital grants to local non-commercial organisations which benefit the residents of the Town.  Grants from this fund will be for a maximum value of £50,000 per organisation, and any organisation may apply for only one grant.  Organisations which were awarded a grant in November 2021 under the Major Sports Grants fund are not eligible to apply.  Grant applications must be for capital purchases only, revenue expenses, other than those directly required to implement the capital project (e.g. costs of design, planning consent etc) will not be funded.

Applications must be received no later than 31st July 2022. 
The application form, which includes details of the supporting documents required and the principal conditions which will be attached to any grant, are available using this link:  
https://www.bishopsstortfordtc.gov.uk/council-services/grants   
Applications must be submitted electronically.