To receive any announcements from the Mayor, Leader of the Council, Member of the Cabinet or the Head of Paid Service.
Minutes:
The Chief Executive, Ka Ng, introduced the Staff Achievement video highlighting the work of officers.
Mayor
“Thank you to those who attended my Italian Night in October, we raised a fantastic amount of £1400 for my chosen local charity, Herts Young Homeless. In total so far, we have raised just over £4,618 which is brilliant, and I hope we can continue to raise more with my future events.
In connecting with our different cultural communities, I have attended the local synagogue and also attended Diwali festival in Hatfield. We connected with the Romanian community in Hatfield when they had a cultural day in Hatfield a few weeks ago. I also opened the Ukrainian Saturday School a few weeks ago, and attended the Polish Independence Day celebration at the Polish Saturday School with all the children singing, reciting poetry and I also learned the Polish national anthem.
Thanks to those of you who are attending my quiz night on Friday to raise money for my chosen charity, Hertfordshire Young Homeless. The event has proved very popular so if you were unable but would still like to make a donation, please visit my Just Giving page. Please also note in your diaries my gala dinner next year. More details to follow which will be held at Mill Green Golf Club on Friday the 7th of March 2025.
We were
saddened to hear of the passing of former WHBC Councillor James
Bond who died in hospital on Saturday 26th October at
the age of 83, following a long illness.
James served as a Conservative councillor for Hatfield Central up
until last year and was a county councillor for three years as a
member of HCC’s Environment Cabinet Panel, representing the
residents of the Hatfield North division.
He also served as a Hatfield Town Councillor for the Central and
Newgate Street Village Wards and was Hatfield Town Mayor between
2022 and 2023.”
Leader of the Opposition – Councillor Kingsbury
“Thank you Mr. Mayor for the opportunity to remember and honour Edwin James Bond,
known to us all as James Bond.
James passed away as you said on Saturday the 26th of October at the age of 83, with his family at his side at the Lister Hospital in Stevenage.
My first memory of James was in the run-up to the May 2019 election. He applied to be a candidate in Hatfield Central and worked incredibly hard to achieve a good result. He only missed being elected by just under 150 votes, not a bad result for us in that ward at that time.
I recall how eager he was to stand again in May 2020. However, as we all remember, a global pandemic delayed the borough elections by a year. When 2021 came, and with it also an election for Town, Borough and County, his hard work in Hatfield earned him the opportunity to stand for all three positions, with hopes of perhaps winning at least one. One of my fondest election memories is the count of May 2021, a really good result for us across the board, but a truly historic result for James. To our delight, he won all three elections, never being a councillor before, a remarkable achievement that speaks volumes about his hard work in the lead up to this.
As leader of this council at the time and as a colleague at HCC, it was my privilege to work with him. Despite having much to learn and facing health challenges, James set to work always supporting the community however he could. Through those years, despite the ongoing health challenges, James' resilience was deeply appreciated.
He could always be counted on attending really critical meetings where he was needed and his work particularly for Hatfield on the town council demonstrated a sincere commitment to making a lasting and positive difference the lives of his residents.
Our thoughts are with his wife, Ann, and their three children, Heath, Chad, and Lisa as they mourn the loss of a husband and father. We hope they find comfort in the shared grief of those who knew him and worked with James.
The funeral service of James will be held at Oak Hill on Tuesday the 26th November at 1 pm. I encourage all who knew him to join in honour in his life and legacy
Rest in peace James”
Leader of the Council – Councillor Holloway
“Thank you, Councillor Kingsbury, for leading the tributes to Councillor Bond this evening and sharing those stories about him so that we all might know him a little better. I too want to pass on the thoughts of everybody in this council chamber.
I never really knew Councillor Bond well, only the sort of pleasure of a few polite exchanges in the Council Chamber. So I do fear there's little I can add to what you've said. But what I do know however is that nobody would get involved in public service rooted in their community unless they truly wanted to make a real difference. And Councillor Bond obviously wanted to make that difference because he threw himself into three councils at the same time for the first time. So perhaps it should also be said of Councillor Bond that he was never shy of taking on a challenge.
We, of course, send our sincerest of wishes to his family, his friends and those members here and across Hertfordshire who have worked closely with him across the years.”
Deputy Leader of the Council – Councillor Quinton
“We were all very sad to hear the news of Councillor Bond's passing two weeks ago.
He was a true gentleman who continued to work tirelessly for people in the community, even when he was already ill, never seeming to let his illness slow him down.
I must admit I didn't know him very well, but others in our group have said how they
enjoyed all the stories he told, particularly about his days in the forces and how it shaped his outlook on life.
Above all, I think he will be remembered for his kindness and consideration to everyone, no matter what their politics and his common sense when dealing with council issues.
I would also like to send our thoughts and condolences out to his family and also to his conservative colleagues.”