2020 Parish Council Meetings - Minutes

Notes of the Meeting of the Parish Council held using Zoom on Tuesday 3rd November 2020 at 7.30 pm.

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

113/20 Welcome - At Cllr Ireland welcomed all to the meeting.

114/20 Apologies for absence – Cllr J Stapleton, Cllr S Ogden (NKDC).

115/20 Declarations of Interest and Applications for Dispensation – none

116/20 Notes of the previous meetings, 1st September and 15th October 2020 – both were approved as accurate record. Arrangements were made for signing at a later date.

117/20 Finance 2020-21

1. Mrs Scott had shared copies of transactions to date. Cllr Poulton commented that he had checked the transactions against the bank statements provided and was happy that they matched.
2. VAT – Mrs Scott had submitted the claim for £21.85
3. Payments were approved for the Clerk £201.63 (October and November, inc expenses (reimbursement of travel, and Data Protection Fee, etc) and HMRC £38.80 (mth 7 due 19/11/20)

118/20 Finance 2021-22 – Mrs Scott had shared a draft budget for next year. Councillors agreed to defer the decision until January 2021 by which time the provisional Tax-base would have been published by NKDC.

119/20 Clerk’s Report and Correspondence

1. Covid-19 updates from LCC, NKDC, LALC and LRF - noted
2. Heathwatch Lincs – Citizens’ Panel - noted
3. Electoral Commission NKDC Boundary Review – closing date 19th October - noted
4. NKDC Licensing Taxis Consultation – closing 16th November - noted
5. Community Lincs – Big Energy Saving Network – noted, Cllr Lennox agreed to mention on facebook
6. LALC AGM 13 October and County Committee Vacancies - noted
7. NKDC Community Champions Awards - noted
8. NKDC Draft Tree Strategy – Cllr Ireland agreed to look at it and report back. Cllr Tarry agreed to investigate LCC’s free tree scheme.
9. Red Cross – Tackling Loneliness Digitally - noted
10. LCC – School Admissions consultation - noted
11. Lloyds Bank Statements and any other correspondence received

120/20 Policing Update – Mrs Scott had shared the NPT newsletter recently received, Cllr Ireland reported that hare-coursers had again been active in the parish, as many as 3-4 groups in a week. Occurrences had been reported and on at least one occasion recently culprits had been challenged by the Police and moved on.

121/20 Highways Matters

1. Potholes – no changes. It was noted that the T junction near Burton remained in a very poor state, as did potholes down the Fen.
2. One-Way system – it was noted that most HGVs seemed to be complying. It was noted that one resident had asked if could be extended to all vehicles; Cllrs explained that this had been suggested before but most residents were against it, due to having to travel further to follow the route rather than taking the shorter distance from their home to the main road. It was noted that some on-street parking, although not illegal, was probably unnecessary and agreed that residents could be advised by other residents that this might lead to accidental damage to their vehicles from HGVs passing through.

122/20 Flooding - Cllrs reported that recent heavy rain had not seemed to have caused too many problems; it was still thought that there must be a further blockage, evidenced by the variation in levels at Main Road and Chapel Lane. Cllrs Lennox and Poulton had not yet had a chance to check the dyke behind the houses but would do so shortly.

Cllr Tarry reported that NKDC officers had confirmed their offer to LCC to pay for the remedial work on the culvert under the lamppost. It was understood that LCC Lighting had now asked IDB about the drains in the area. She agreed to ask for a further update.

123/20 Broadband – Cllr Ireland reported that he had requested an update from Quickline and would report back to Cllr Lennox to add to notes to facebook, and to Mrs Scott for the website.

(The Zoom meeting closed briefly and resumed at 8.10 pm)

124/20 Planning Matters

Planning Applications – see www.n-kesteven.gov.uk/planningonline

1. 20/1345/DISCON and 20/1347/DISCON re Plot 1 and Plot 2 respectively, Land Off Fen Road Little Hale Sleaford Lincs discharge of conditions re trees, Archaeology and Ecology -  approved by NKDC 20th October 2020 - noted
2. 20/1256/HOUS 19 Fen Road NG34 9BD Erection of front porch and pitched roof over garage – noted decision awaited (post meeting note – approved by NKDC 5th November)

125/20 Planning Inspectorate –

1. Viking Link – Cllr Ireland reported on the recent Community Panel meeting. He explained that any grants to local communities would not be cash grants but rather practical help from their contractors. He had suggested that broadband cable-laying down the fen could be an option.
2. Triton Knoll – it was noted that some of the infrastructure built for Triton Knoll would be re-used for the Viking Link project.

126/20 Community Defibrillator – it was noted that checks were ongoing. Cllr Poulton reported that he had replaced the zip-pulls on the bag to make it easier to access. He offered to re-paint the box during the current lockdown; Cllr Ireland agreed to retrieve the paint left over from previous painting.

127/20 Dog Fouling – minor issues on Chapel Lane were reported, thought to be non-residents walking dogs.

128/20 Land at Pump Lane – Mrs Scott shared the draft application to the Sleaford REP Community Fund for funding towards new gates, etc. Cllr Rooke agreed to get a quote for supply of gates and fencing material, for installation by volunteers and ask residents to confirm their support.  The deadline for submission was 9th December; Mrs Scott was authorised to submit, once the additional information was received.

129/20 Parish Website – Mrs Scott reported that, with help from Mr Langford, sourced via the LALC Clerk’s forum, she had been able to get the new website running. It was still a work in progress and not yet officially live, with several items to be added. She asked that Councillors consider the statements on accessibility, cookies and privacy. These were approved for publication. Mrs Scott explained that the old website was still live but since LCC technical support had been withdrawn, it was becoming harder to edit and even access as a visitor.

130/20 Autumn Clean Up – Cllr Ireland thanked Cllr Rooke and Poulton for holding the fort. It was noted that the turnout had otherwise been disappointing which may have been due to a number of things. Nevertheless a good amount of litter had been collected and the litter picking kit had since been collected by NKDC. It was agreed that another Clean Up be arranged for the Spring, to be agreed at the January meeting.

131/20 Matters for the next meeting – Budget 2021-22 and as above.

132/20 The Dates of Meetings for 2020-21, at 7.30pm

5th Jan 2021, 2nd Mar, 4th May (Annual Meeting, Annual Parish Meeting)

The meeting closed at 8.48 pm.

5th January 2021 - the Minutes were agreed as a true record and were signed by Cllr Paul Ireland