2020 Parish Council Meetings - Minutes

Notes of the Meeting of the Parish Council held at The Chapel, Little Hale on Tuesday 7th January 2020 at 7.30 pm.

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

1/20 Welcome – Cllr Ireland welcomed all to the meeting and wished everyone a happy new year. He advised that Cllrs Tarry and Ogden needed to leave the meeting shortly and asked for any questions for them to be put.

1. Possible vermin at 19 Fen Road – it was understood the property was now empty, but rats had been seen in the garden – Cllrs would raise the issue with NKDC Environmental Health
2. Environment Day – advice was sought regarding the organisation of an event – Cllrs advised that this could be done either at District or Parish level.
3. Local Electricity Bill (Agenda item 16) – Cllr Tarry confirmed that NKDC full council had recently resolved to support the power for people campaign.

2/20 Apologies for Absence – none

3/20 Declarations of Interest and Applications for Dispensation – none.

4/20 The notes of the Parish Council Meeting, held on 5th November 2019: it was agreed unanimously that these were an accurate record.

5/20 Finance 2019-20 - The Clerk circulated updated financial statements

1. Payments authorised between meetings - none.
2. Bank Balance, before this meeting’s payments, was £1377.03, including the payment of £592, received from the Burial Board re the War Memorial Refurbishment.
3. Payments were approved for Clerk £155.30 (December-January plus expenses (reimbursement of travel, stationery etc)), HMRC £35.40 (mth 10 due 19/02/20), plus £40 reimbursement for payment to Information  Commissioner (DPA fees) paid online by DS.
4. Restricted funds – these had been updated to reflect recent activity and it was agreed that the £74 remaining in the War Memorial Fund be transferred to the Burial Board for ongoing maintenance of the Memorial and its surroundings. It was agreed that the balance of the Community Building Fund (£35.40) could be put towards any costs associated with the Community Space project.

6/20 Finance 2020-21 It was noted that the tax base had now been set provisionally by NKDC at 77.83, slightly higher than 2019-20. The Clerk advised that this meant that keeping the precept at £2000 would result in a reduction in the Band D Council Tax of 2.65% to £25.70. Keeping the Band D Council Tax the same as 2019-20 would result in an increase in precept of £54.53.  Each additional £100 increase in Precept would raise the Band D Council Tax by approximately £1.28.

It was felt not necessary to put aside funding for emergency supplies such as sandbags as these were available from NKDC.

After discussion, it was agreed unanimously that the Precept be set at £2100.00 to meet the projected costs for 2020-21.

7/20 Clerk’s Report and Correspondence received

1. Environment Agency – Flooding updates – shared on facebook - noted
2. LALC weekly news and newsletter no 171 - noted
3. LCC School Admissions Policy Consultations - noted
4. NKDC Brains of Kesteven – Charity event - noted
5. LALC Clustering Consultation Conclusions - noted
6. Community Lincs – updates - noted
7. Armed Forces Covenant – updates – noted, possible source of support for Community Space
8. Lloyds Bank Statements - noted.
9. Boundary Commission for England – consultation now open.

8/20 Policing – No update.

9/20 Highways Matters

1. HGV route – it was noted that the signs had not yet been installed
2. Potholes – Main Road and T-junction near Burton. All to be reported, as spotted, to LCC, via https://fixmystreet.lincolnshire.gov.uk/ with photographic evidence, measurements etc. wherever possible.
3. Roadside Signage – it was noted that three road signs had been damaged – Cllr Ireland agreed to send photos to the Clerk to report.

10/20 Flooding – it was noted that flooding had also occurred near the building site at the junction of Burton Lane. It was understood that the site developer had since cleared the dykes and resolved the issue, re-instating the flow to the culvert under the road to the dyke near the Phone Box.

The issue of blockages in the dyke between the Fen Road and Chapel Lane properties remained. Cllr Ireland had spoken to all property owners and left them information about their responsibilities. He recommended waiting until the next meeting for a full set of responses before taking any further action. It was noted that offers of help had been received should owners not be able to fulfil their responsibilities. Where vehicular access was possible, IDB or a drainage contractor, would be asked to carry out the work, at cost to the landowners. Cllr Ireland agreed to remove the flood warning sign when not applicable.

11/20 Planning Matters – see www.n-kesteven.gov.uk/planningonline 19/1578/LBC and 19/1577/HOUS, 8 Fen Road, NG34 9BD. The Clerk had submitted an informal supporting comment as agreed by email. No decision had  yet been made.

12/20 Planning Inspectorate Matters

1. Viking Link Interconnector Project – no update
2. Triton Knoll – work ongoing at Bicker.

13/20 Community Defibrillator – it was noted that weekly checks were still ongoing, thanks to volunteers involved. In the bookswap, it was noted that some books had suffered water damage and had been removed.

14/20 Dog Fouling – some instances, close to dog bin; any information about offending dog-owners could be reported by email EHTeam@n-kesteven.gov.uk.

15/20 War Memorial. The event on 10th November had gone very well, thanks were expressed to the Clerk and to everyone involved in the organisation. Cllr Poulton and the Clerk were both sorry not to have been able to attend due to work commitments. The event had been attended by over 50 people but there had been plenty of cakes to go round, thanks to the bakers. The Clerk advised that she had submitted the claim on behalf of the Burial Board and also updated the records about the Memorial on the warmemorialsonline.org.uk website.

16/20 Powerforpeople – as discussed briefly earlier, the Clerk explained that this was to support the Local Electricity Bill. It was noted that the Local Electricity Bill 

• aimed to address the current situation, whereby the very large financial setup and running costs involved in selling locally generated renewable electricity to local customers result in it being impossible for local renewable electricity generators to do so,
• if made law, would make these financial costs proportionate to the scale of a renewable electricity supplier’s operation and therefore empower councils, together with their communities, to sell locally generated renewable electricity directly to local people, businesses and organisations, and
• would result in councils or community organisations that set up local renewable electricity companies receiving revenues that could be used to help fund local greenhouse gas emissions reduction measures and to help improve local services and facilities

1. accordingly it was resolved to support the Local Electricity Bill, supported by a cross-party group of 115 MPs during the 2017-19 Parliamentary session; and
2. further resolved to write to the organisers of the campaign for the Bill, Power for People, expressing its support.

17/20 Land at Pump Lane. Cllr Poulton had set out ideas in an email prior to the meeting, to create a small open space for community use, with some fruit trees, seating and space for a beehive. The meeting welcomed the ideas on environmental and community grounds. It was noted that ownership of the land in question was unknown and a previous attempt to claim ownership had failed. There were various sources of funding available. The Clerk agreed to investigate the legal situation and report back to the next meeting.

18/20 Spring Clean 2020. Following the success of last year’s event, it was agreed that it be repeated, and a date was set – Sunday 23rd February 2020, meeting at the Bus Shelter at 10.00 am. Clerk to arrange for supplies of bags etc from NKDC and Keep Britain Tidy. Cllr Poulton agreed to create a large sign for display near the Phone Box.

19/20 Matters for the next meeting – Website accessibility (due by September 2020); VE Day event

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

3rd Mar (apologies Cllrs Tarry and Ogden), 5th May (APM and Annual meeting).

The meeting closed at 9.05 pm

3rd March 2020 - The Minutes were agreed as a true record and signed by Cllr Steve Poulton