2019 Parish Council Meetings

7th May 2019 Minutes - Annual Meeting

Notes of the Meeting of the Parish Council held at The Chapel, Little Hale on Tuesday 7th May 2019 at 7.59 pm.

Present: Cllrs N Rooke, P Ireland, J Stapleton, S Poulton and A Lennox, Mrs D Scott (Clerk).

Prior to the meeting all Councillors, being newly re-elected, or elected, signed their Declarations of Acceptance of Office and Declarations of Interest forms.

36/19 Election of Chairman and Vice-Chairman.

It was proposed by Cllr Rooke, seconded by Cllr Stapleton and agreed unanimously that Cllr Ireland be elected Chairman.

It was proposed by Cllr Ireland, seconded by Cllr Stapleton and agreed unanimously that Cllr Poulton be elected Vice-Chairman.

37/19 Apologies for Absence –Cllr Sally Tarry and Cllr Stewart Ogden (NKDC) and Cllr Barry Young (LCC)

38/19 Declarations of Interest and Applications for Dispensation – none

39/19 General Power of Competence – it was noted that the Parish Council, being 100% elected Councillors and having a qualified Clerk was now eligible to use the GPoC.

40/19 Code of Conduct – it was agreed that the Code of Conduct provided by NKDC, suitably amended to fit the Parish Council, be adopted.

41/19 The notes of the Parish Council Meeting, held on 5th March 2019: it was agreed unanimously that these were an accurate record.

42/19 Annual Finance 2018-19

  1. Internal Auditor’s Report - Mrs Gascoyne had completed that Internal audit and reported that all was in order.
  2. Exemption Certificate 2018-19 for submission to the External Auditor – It was noted that the Council’s income and expenditure for the year were both under £25,000 and therefore exempt from sending the completed forms to the External auditor.  The Exemption Form was signed and would be submitted to the External Auditor, and the approved statements would need publishing on the PC website and the dates for inspection by electors advertised.
  3. Statement of Governance for the year ending 31st March 2019 - Proposed by Cllr Rooke, seconded by Cllr Ireland and agreed unanimously, that the statement was approved
  4. Statement of Parish Council Accounts for the year ending 31st March 2019 - Proposed by Cllr Ireland, seconded by Cllr Poulton and agreed unanimously, that the statement was approved

43/19 Finance 2019-20 The Clerk circulated updated financial statements, including receipt of precept from NKDC, showing a balance of £3413.04 in the Lloyds account before this meeting’s payments.

  1. Insurance – it was noted that Community Lincs was no longer acting as a broker for Parish Council insurance but Zurich had provided a quote directly which matched last year’s premium and the payment was agreed.
  2. The following payments were approved: Clerk (April and May) plus expenses (reimbursement of travel, renewal of 365 subscription etc) £220.20, HMRC £35.20 (mth 2 due 19/06/19, to be paid by bank transfer), Hale Magna and Hale Parva Burial Board £100 (contribution to Cemetery Costs), Mrs Gascoyne Internal Audit £35, Zurich Insurances £226.82 (as above), LALC (for annual subscription only) £73.61, Community Heartbeat Trust (replacement pads) £54. Payments by transfer were authorised for HMRC, Zurich, Burial Board, LALC and CHT.

44/19 Clerk’s Report and Correspondence.

  1. Seafarers UK/ Merchant Navy Fund – Merchant Navy Day 3rd September
  2. LALC News 168 and weekly updates
  3. Keep Britain Tidy Spring Clean – and report back from 7th April litter pick, the Council had been congratulated by the NKDC Waste Team
  4. LALC Local Councillors’ Networking Day
  5. NKDC – Dog Fouling Briefing Note
  6. NKDC – various election notices, forms, Code of Conduct Training 18th July.
  7. NKDC – various Euro Election notices.
  8. Dr Caroline Johnson MP – funding for village halls
  9. Cllr Tarry – NKDC Achievements 2018-19
  10. Lloyds Bank Statements

45/19 Policing Update – Cllr Ireland reported that there had been a farm break-in on Burton Road but no other update had been received.

46/19 Highways Matters – Cllrs Poulton, Cox and Ireland had met with LCC Cllr Young the previous week and walked through the village. The visit had concluded that better signage could increase the use of the voluntary one-way route and Cllr Young had agreed to arrange a site meeting with Highways Officers. New signage was suggested for the junctions of Fen Road/Main Road and Chapel Lane/Main Road and improved (i.e., more visible) signage approaching the junction of Fen Road and Chapel Lane. It was noted that on-street parking was the root of most of the issues, but yellow lines were not felt appropriate by Highways and enforcement would be difficult. Most problems were concentrated at certain times of the year. Driver education was thought to be the best way forward.  It was noted that potholes were still an issue but not so much on the Fen. Cllrs agreed to await the meeting with Highways officers.

WPD had been in touch with residents to let them know that they would be finishing off the underground cabling on Chapel Lane shortly.

47/19 Broadband – Cllr Ireland reported that he had been searching for alternative quotes in order to complete the application for funding, through Triton Knoll. However BT Openreach /Community Fibre project was proving elusive and Virgin Fibre didn’t seem interested. Despite previous suggestions he had also discovered the On-Lincolnshire’s Stage 3 didn’t cover Little Hale. Some Councillors reported that they were getting improved mobile broadband signals now which met their needs better. It was also noted that the rollout of wireless technology would make cable broadband services redundant possibly hence the reluctance of BT to help with new Fibre projects.

48/19 Planning

  1. 19/0502/HOUS- erection of single storey rear/side extension – 3 Fen Road NG34 9BD. It was noted that the plans and documents for the application had not initially been available on planningonline. After discussion it was noted that there had been no objections from the neighbours and therefore it was agreed that the Council had no comments and no objection.

49/19 Planning Inspectorate Matters

  1. Viking Link Interconnector Project – it was noted that work seemed to have started, marking out the footprint for workings on the A17 at Heckington.
  2. Triton Knoll – no update

50/19 Community Defibrillator – Checks continued. Mr Cox had confirmed that he was willing to carry on as part of the defib reporting group while he was still in the village. As above the battery and one set of pads had been duly replaced and the spare pads would be replaced later this year, unless needed sooner.

51/19 The Clerk reported that the application to the War Memorial Trust had been submitted and the outcome was expected within a few weeks. The Burial Board had agreed that the Parish Council should go ahead and commission the work if the application was successful, so that the work could be completed if possible in time for an unveiling in November this year or next Easter, being the 97th anniversary of the original unveiling ceremony, with an event to celebrate the completion. It was agreed that if the WMT award was sufficient to cover the current shortfall, the Clerk would set the commissioning process in operation.

52/19 Matters for the next meeting – War Memorial next steps; Verges: Bank account signatories.

Cllr Ireland also asked Cllr Rooke to pass thanks to Sam for his work on the bus shelter

53/19 Dates of Next Meetings: for 2019-20 at 7.30pm, mostly Tuesdays.

(Monday) 1st July, 3rd Sept, 5th Nov, 7th Jan 2020, 3rd Mar, 5th May (APM and Annual meeting)

The meeting closed at 9.14 pm

1st July 2020 - The Minutes were  agreed as a true record and signed by Cllr Paul Ireland