2020 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

Date/Time: Monday 2nd November 2020, 7.30pm

Location: Zoom meeting.

Present(Cllrs): Mr S Caunt, Chairman; Ms Ann Sampson Vice Chair, Mr D Morison; Mr G Greenhalgh; Ms Jane Hodcroft. Mr J Fane; Mr P Hughes.

In Attendance: County Cllr Alexander Maughan; District Cllr Penny Milnes; Mrs K Elson, Clerk.

Absent(Cllrs): None.

1. Chairman’s welcoming remarks.

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and said it was good to see everyone well in these current times.

2. Apologies for absence and declarations of interest in accordance with the requirements of the Localism Act 2011. Consider any applications for dispensations in relation to disclosable pecuniary and/or prejudicial beneficial interests.

Cllr Fane declared two interests, one in tree work planning applications and the other with his daughter who is carrying out a housing survey that will be discussed later in the meeting.

Cllr Morison has one application for tree works in planning applications.

3. To consider and sign the minutes from the previous Parish Council meeting, held on Monday 7thSeptember 2020.

Cllr Morison pointed out one error in point 18 of the minutes; ‘Cllr Marsden’ should be corrected to ‘Cllr Maughan’. The clerk agreed to correct this. Cllr Sampson proposed that the minutes should be signed and adopted, cllr Morison seconded, it was therefore RESOLVED.

4. Adjournment of business for public questions and comments.

No members of the public present.

5.Reports on Matters outstanding – Clerks report.

The chairman stated that the clerk is settling in well and is certainly getting emails out to all councillors. There are one or two issues with the bank, but these are being sorted out.

• Yorkshire bank – The clerk had not received any bank statements.  The clerk has spent quite a while on the phone to the bank to sort this and to stop the previous clerks standing order, however this is yet to be resolved. The new clerks standing order has finally been set up.
• HMRC – FPC’s account says there are payments overdue, but the cheques for the payments have been taken to the bank on time. The clerk has been trying to contact HMRC by phone, however the line has constantly been busy and the clerk has not yet been able to get through. The clerk has also asked Yorkshire bank to do a trace on the cheque in question, they said that they would do this and get back to the council, but have failed to do so. 

Chairman – requested the cheque number and would go into the bank to ask for more information. Cllr Greenhalgh – asked if the cheques that have been paid to HMRC are on the bank statements? The clerk found both cheques on the bank statements. Clerk, Chairman.

6.Financial Matters

a. Accounts for payment.

c. Payments Received

The balance of the Yorkshire bank account as of 27th October is £9731.35.

It was proposed, seconded and therefore Resolved that all payments given above were authorised to be paid.

7. Planning matters.

1. Planning Applications received
   • S20/1696 – T1 – To fell, T2 Walnut – To remove RH northern limb, Field View House, Rectory Lane. Closing date 23rd October – No comments from the council.
   • S20/1695 – T1,T2 – Sycamores – To fell, T3 Horse Chestnut – To fell. Fulbeck Manor, Lincoln Road. Closing date 23rd October – No comments from the council.
   • S20/1693 S20/1694 – Alterations and extensions to dwelling, including replacement windows and doors, reinstatement of first floor window, provision of roof lights to kitchen, provision of single storey infill extension, provision of open porch/canopy to front door, provision of car port, provision of gates to driveway. The old farm house Sudthorpe Hill. 

- The Councillors agreed that they needed to look into the plans further, before making a decision as to whether any comments were to be made.

                       S20/1691 – Removal of one Douglas Fir tree by felling. The Barn North End Lane.

• Planning Applications determined.

Leatherbottle Farm, poultry units. The replacement of the back two units have been approved. A landscaping condition has been added to the approval.

8. Highway Matters.

HGV signs have been put on Fossgate road. 

Cllr Morison queried about signs for North end Lane that the council have been waiting for four years now. There has been problems with HGV’s and large vehicles going along the road.

9. Correspondence - Please see the next page.

10. To consider the parish council meeting dates (below) for 2021.

     (4th January; 1st March; 5th July; 6th September; 1st November)

The council agreed that the meetings will be held on the second Monday of the month. The Parish council meetings for 2021 will therefore be held on the following dates:

Monday 11th January; Monday 8th march; Monday 12th July; Monday 13th September; Monday 8th November.

The Annual Parish Meeting and Annual General meeting will be held on Monday 10th May.

11.To Receive the Asset Policy and discuss the list of assets.

It was highlighted that two changes need to be made to the asset list.

1. The seat in the brick built bus shelter, outside the playing field, has a recycled seat and not a metal seat. 
2. Playing field  – there is a bench made of recycled material that needs to be added to the list at a value of £200.

It was proposed by Cllr Sampson and seconded by Cllr Fane that the council agreed to adopt the list of assets once the two changes have been made. Clerk

12. To consider whether the Parish Council will contribute £630 towards repairing the village car park.

The secretary of the village hall has been trying to contact the original contractor (who repaired the village car park) since February on numerous occasions and there has been no response. A second contractor has been contacted and given a quote for the new repairs.

The Chairman requested that the original quote to be sent to all councillors for the original work that was done. 

A decision will be made at the next meeting.

13. To begin discussions for the 2021/2022 precept.

Cllr Greenhalgh stated that the parish precept for last year was £7400, and taking all annual costs into consideration, there will be approximately £1100 left to spend on any other project in the next financial year. The £2500 for the speed Indicator Sign will come out of reserves this year. The cost of fixing church clock and the car park (£730 + £630 = £1360) will increase the precept before adding anything else. 

Cllr Fane questioned how much the council need to have in reserve. Cllr Morison highlighted that NALC advise (as a guideline) that councils should have 20% – 100% of their expenditure in reserve. 

Cllr Sampson pointed out that the tree survey will need to be done in 2021, works might need to be done as a result of the tree survey and the cost of this all needs to be accounted for.

Cllr Hughs stated that the Parish Council should have a reserve of at least £2000 for current and future tree maintenance, so any work that needs to be done, can be carried out immediately.

14. To consider a request from two parishioners that the Church clock’s hourly chime is rectified and that the cost be borne by the PCC, Parish Council and Village Hall.

The council agreed that this would be considered in the precept. 

15. To discuss the diseased trees on Northend Green.

It was concluded that the trees will be inspected in the 2021 tree survey and this will highlight any work that may need to be done to the trees.

Cllr Greenhalgh suggested that the precept may have to be increased by 10%. 

It was concluded that the precept needs to be discussed further and the parish council will hold an extraordinary meeting on Monday 23 November at 7.30pm by zoom.

16. District Councillor’s report – Update from DC Milnes on outstanding matters.

SKDC have provided bins to the Gypsy families, to stop rubbish fires, they are also trying to charge council tax from day one. This doesn’t mean that if the planning appeal goes against the gypsies, that they can use any of the above as a right to validate them being there.

SKDC have a smaller truck to go down the lanes in the village to pick up these bins. This should help with preventing waste from being burnt. The commercial activity has been inspected over several weeks – scrap cars have been taken to the site during the night and they are taking them off the next day. They have not been leaving them onsite, or working on them on the site. If that was to change or if anyone notices any change then please report it to SKDC. 

Cllrs highlighted that the speed at which the gypsies have been driving through the village is a concern.

A fifth caravan has been removed (this was a visitor) they have been rehomed in their local area. Another caravan has been swapped for a newer version; they apparently did give notice of this change.

The traffic problems can be reported to the police and the inspectorate, the neighbourhood team have been told about it.

The drainage – portacabins have been housing their toilet blocks and two klargester’s were put in place with an outflow pipe to the eastern boundary, the environment agency has not yet responded as to whether this is acceptable or not. The klargester’s are supposed to produce really high-quality water. Any discharge into a ditch needs special dispensation, so these are only viewed as temporary measures. 

The flood lighting – The enforcement officer had spoken to the gypsies about this and the lights are now being pointed down.

Littering can be reported to the inspectorate and the neighbourhood team. They are looking at the site every week and taking photographs to make sure the gypsies are concurring with the injunction that was put in place.

Councillors will be notified when they will have a meeting with the inspector. 

17. County Councillor’s report – Update from CC Maughan on outstanding matters.

Flooding on the gypsy site – Cllr Maughan and Cllr Milnes both had detailed conversations with highways and planning officers when objections were first raised. 

New Lockdown - Local councils will be responsible for distributing grants for local businesses who are required to close by law, it is not yet clear which local authority. The cases in Lincolnshire remain below the national average. The Council have received a lot of money from the government to support vulnerable residents and to keep certain services going.

Highways – The A607 resurfacing work has been completed.

Grantham bypass – Phase two should be completed by next autumn, preparations for phase three has begun. 

18. Village Organisations report – Village Hall and Playing Field Committee.

New lockdown – The village hall will shut from the 5 November to the 2 December. Finances are in a sound condition despite the circumstances. A £500 donation was given to the village hall from Leadenham farm shop. A further £101 was also donated.

19. Matters for urgent discussion.

An email has been received from a resident saying the parish council will not be doing any more about the gypsies. 

Chairman – “ The Parish Council have never stated this!” 

Clllr Sampson will write the Parish Councils letter to the inspectorate giving villagers and Parish councils concerns. The Parish Council has always considered putting in a letter of evidence to the inspector/planning department.

The Chairman ended the meeting at 22:03 The next Parish Council meeting will be held on Monday 11January 2021. There will be an Extraordinary meeting held on Monday 23 November 2020 at 7.30.

Correspondence