Annual Parish Meetings

The Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting of Little Hale held at the Methodist Chapel, Chapel Lane, Little Hale, on Tuesday 6th May 2014 at 7.30 pm.

Present: Parish Cllrs P Ireland, J Needham, N Rooke, NKDC Cllrs S Ogden and S Tarry, 7 members of the public and Mrs D Scott (Clerk)

1. Councillor Ireland welcomed all to the Annual Parish Meeting. Apologies had been received from Cllrs P Pocklington and D Cox and Mr J Moore

2. The minutes of the last Annual Parish Meeting, held on 16th May 2013. It was proposed by Cllr Needham, seconded by Mr Doughty and agreed unanimously, that the minutes were an accurate record and were duly signed.

3. Matters for discussion

i. Mr Doughty explained about a letter recently received concerning the distribution of moneys from the Little Hale Charities. Over the years the interpretation of ‘the poorest of the poor’ had been redefined to include all pensioners and those in receipt of state benefits. He suggested that, in future, recipients who weren’t strictly in need could be encouraged to donate their ‘gift’ to a fund perhaps to raise money for a community facility in the parish. As similar letters had been distributed in Great Hale and Helpringham there was concern that the assets of the charities may be at risk of being amalgamated into a larger charity, possibly not specific to Little Hale.  On behalf of the Charities, Mrs Freeman explained that of the two Charities, the larger one had over recent years been distributed to Pensioners with also one-off grants to people in need, transport grants and support for the Heckington Area Voluntary Car Service. The smaller one was intended to benefit the community and donations had been made to Churches, Girl Guides (for Parva House), to support village festivities and to buy book tokens for yr 6 and 11 schoolchildren. It also intended to re-introduce grants for students in full-time education. After discussion it was suggested that the charities themselves were not in a position to set up a new fund but would support a fund being set up by the Parish Council to hold funds donated for a community facility. The Parish Council was asked to investigate the best way forward, eg to set up a new charitable group, or to set up an ‘earmarked reserve’ to receive donations (including those made by beneficiaries of the Little Hale Charities). Mrs Scott agreed to take advice from LALC.

ii. Flooding in Little Hale. Mrs Freeman asked for an update on action being taken to avoid re-occurrences of last year’s problems.  Cllr Ireland explained that County Highways had agreed to take on the role of Lead Local Flood Authority for Little Hale and had promised action on improvements to the dyke along Main Road behind the Phone Box. Questions were raised about the capacity of the existing pipes.  It was noted that the drains had coped with the rainfall over the past winter as there had been fewer torrential downpours. It was recognised that other villages faced more severe risks but the Parish Council would continue to press for the works to be carried out

iii. Mr Doughty asked whether there was any chance of reviving a village newsletter. Cllr Ireland said that a document was in hand. Help with distributing would be appreciated.(post meeting note: Ms Read kindly offered to help)

There being no other items brought for discussion, the meeting closed at 7.55 pm

12th May 2015 - The Minutes were agreed as a true record and signed by Cllr Paul Ireland