2019 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

KEXBY PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on 14th November 2019

Present; R. Gore (Chair), C. Hunt, S.Farrow, D. Forrest, D. Edwardson

53/19 Apologies for absence; were accepted from C. Cuckson who was ill, L. Hoggarth (work issues) and Cllr. Jessie Milne who was on WLDC business.

54/19 Minutes of the meeting held on 5th September were approved unaltered and signed

55/19 Clerk’s Report on progress since last meeting;

 Telephone box – had been sited on the village green and had attracted a great deal of positive comment.

The work had come in considerably under budget due to a generous donation and shrewd purchasing of materials. The council expressed sincere thanks to all concerned. One small issue was the cork notice board which had not stood up to the damp conditions, the clerk was asked to look into alternative solutions.

Action GP

Cllr. Hunt asked whether specific public liability insurance was required for the phone box, the spring on the door was quite strong and could cause injury if someone (particularly a child) trapped their fingers. The Clerk was asked to check this out with the insurance company.

Action GP

 Speed Indicator Device – still issues downloading the data in the most useable form, the Chairman and Clerk to liaise with the suppliers next time data required downloading.

Action RG/GP

• Broadband speeds Kexby was just one of seven parishes to be represented at a recent forum organised by WLDC giving the issue a high profile for this parish. Tenders were currently out for a new round of upgrading of the rural network to start in March 2020 and the Clerk would be attending a meeting in March to discover where this work would be focussed and the timescales involved.
• Burial ground – the new notice board had arrived and would be installed shortly, the Upton and Kexby Community Fund had made a generous contribution for which the Parish Council expressed their gratitude.
• Former site of phone box – the area had been levelled and grass seed sown

56/19 Financial Report – the budget was still predicting a healthy end of year balance. There were several unresolved issues with Nat West bank, not helped by the fact that the account was based at Scunthorpe. It was decided that alternative banking arrangements should be investigated. The Clerk was due to attend a Clerk’s Forum on 27th November and would try to find out how other parishes managed their banking arrangements.

Action GP/RG

57/19 Matters outstanding

 Defibrillator – a request had been made for a second defibrillator sited closer to the village green. There was still a significant subsidy available from WLDC so equipment could be purchased by Parish Councils for £400.

It was agreed that the purchase should go ahead subject to a suitable site being procured. Since an electricity supply would be required and there were no public buildings in the vicinity it would need to be on a private dwelling. Informal approached had been made and a likely location identified, the Clerk would make a formal approach to the property owner and, subject to their agreement, would contact WLDC to proceed.

Action GP

The Clerk was also asked to investigate additional funding possibilities

Action GP

• Hedgerow encroaching onto road – this matter appeared to have been resolved
• VE Day 75 Celebrations – Cllr Hoggarth who was organising the event was not present, it was thought that there may be a lack of volunteers from Upton – the Chairman agreed to speak to the Chairman of Upton PC.

The Clerk would contact Cllr. Hoggarth for an update.

Action GP/RG

• Neighbourhood Plan – the drop-in session on 6th November had been very successful, attracting around 70 parishioners. Attendees were very positive about the exercise and had raised a number of issues for consideration. Janet Clark from Community Lincs had co-ordinated the responses and produced a report for the working group copies of which had been circulated to the Parish Council. The working group was due to meet again in early December to review the report and to plan future activity.

58/19 Facebook update – there were now 102 followers who were beginning to share comments and information which was very positive. Members were invited to post directly onto the site or, if they would prefer, pass information to Cllr. Hunt who would put them on. The Clerk was asked to forward information regarding the Christmas market for uploading onto the site.

Action GP

59/19 Correspondence

• Lincolnshire Association of Local Councils Annual Report was made available to councillors.
• Clerk’s Networking Day 27th November – approval given for the Clerk to attend.
• Citizens Advice – request for donation proposed by SF, seconded by CH, approved unanimously.
• Nat West presentation on common scams – in view of current issues with the bank it was agreed not to accept this offer.
• WLDC request for volunteer councillors to assist with standards complaints – this had been circulated
• Neighbourhood Plan -request for interim funding of up to £200 to be made available until grant funding was obtained, this was approved.
• LCC Corporate Plan consultation – details to be circulated to councillors Action GP
• Speeding traffic on Kexby Lane – a resident had contacted Lincolnshire Highways to request a speed restriction. They had been advised that such requests should be made via the Parish Council. The Clerk was asked to write to Lincolnshire Highways supporting the proposal.

ACtion GP

60/19 Clerk’s pay and expenses – these had been circulated in advance of the meeting, they were approved and signed off

61/19 Any other business

• Tenancy Agreement – Cllr Hunt pointed out that these now had to be renewed annually so any existing agreement for 28 High Street would be out of date. The Chairman agreed to give priority to getting a current agreement in place. Thereafter it would be renewed annually at the landlord’s inspection.

Action RG

• Post Office – a parishioner had complained to Sir Edward Leigh (MP for Gainsborough) about the poor service and had passed on his reply to the Chairman. Sir Edward had raised the matter with the national Post Office who had investigated and responded to say that their absence had been due to a broken key in the lock prohibiting access. This had been the case on one day but the complaint had been about numerous occasions when the post office had not turned up. Anecdotal evidence suggested that they had missed three sessions in the current week. The Chairman agreed to follow this up

Action RG

62/19 Date and time of next meeting – this was agreed as 7:30pm on Thursday 16th January 2020, the Clerk would book the village hall.

Action GP