January 2023 Minutes
KEXBY PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of a meeting held on 11th January 2023
These minutes are in draft form and may be altered
Present; Cllrs. R. Gore, S. Farrow, D. Edwardson, D. Strollo
Apologies; had been received from Cllr. C. Cuckson
01/23 Minutes of meeting held on 9th November 2022 – these had been circulated, they were accepted as a true record and signed off by the Chairman. (Proposed by D. Edwardson, seconded by D. Strollo)
02/23 Clerk’s Report – this had been circulated and was discussed;
• Broadband – drop-in sessions arranged by Quickline had been well attended and work was progressing with an anticipated connection date of February. Quickline had agreed to provide a free service to the village hall of 400Mbps. There was also the potential of funding to support community infrastructure from Quickline, the village hall committee were looking into this and the playing field committee had also been informed.
• Vacancy – D. Strollo had been registered with WLDC and was now a member of the Parish Council (replacing C. Hunt who had resigned earlier).
• Glentham Road drains – there were still issues with these which the clerk was pursuing.
03/23 Matters outstanding from previous meeting
a) Email addresses – Cllr. Strollo offered to look into the provision of separate email addresses for members of the parish council and the parish clerk in accordance with the good practice guidelines provided by LALC. The clerk would forward these guidelines to him.
Action DS/GP
b) Village Hall savings account – the village hall committee had been saving towards building an extension to provide a new committee room on the east side of the building. Plans had been drawn up but the project had been “on hold” during the Covid pandemic, estimates were now being sought with a view to moving this forward if financially viable. There was also some maintenance required such as sanding and re-surfacing the floor and improvements to the kitchen, there were grants available which were being investigated.
c) Solar Developments – two open meeting had been held to ascertain the views of parishioners, these had been overwhelmingly against the proposed developments. The Parish Council was working through the 7,000 acre group which was a single purpose action group opposed to the developments. This group had offered to co-ordinate the responses of the 30 villages which would potentially be affected. One of the issues brought up at the meeting was the hight of the proposed panels (4.5m) and a suggestion had been made that a “mock-up” of a panel be developed to make people aware of the scale. Cllr. Strollo had offered to fund this for the 7,000 acre group. He also agreed to investigate the production of a video providing a virtual image of the proposed developments as seen through the window of one of the dwellings which would be affected.
There were serious concerns about the loss of productive farmland and the adverse-affect upon wildlife along with damage to roads which were already in a poor state of repair in addition to the effect that the propose developments would have on the locality. The clerk was asked to check on the proposed hight of the panels and the amount of noise likely to be produced by the storage batteries with WLDC.
Action GP
d) Banking arrangements – an application had been made to add Cllr. Cuckson to the list of signatories but no progress had been made by Nat West, she had agreed to chase them up.
Action CC
04/23 Correspondence
a) LIVES (Lincolnshire Integrated Voluntary Emergency Service) – a request for a funding donation had been received, in previous year a donation of £100 had been made. Members agreed that this was a particularly valuable service in rural areas. Cllr. Cuckson had suggested a donation of £150 when she sent her apologies, this was seconded by Cllr. Farrow and agreed unanimously. The clerk was asked to arrange payment.
Action GP
b) Parish Council elections – councillors’ present term was due to end on 9th May, nomination papers would be available from early March and the clerk would arrange for these to be circulated. Nomination papers would also be available either via the clerk or WLDC for any other residents wishing to stand. Nomination papers had to be submitted to WLDC by 4th April, they had to be delivered by hand and the clerk was asked to co-ordinate this and take all nomination papers in together.
c) Playing field – a request for a maintenance grant had been received, in previous years £700 had been allocated for this and it was agreed that this figure should again be provided.
05/23 Financial Report – Current account £4,291, Business Reserve account £12,038.
There was some discussion regarding the level of precept to be requested from WLDC a provisional figure of £2,000 had been agreed at the November meeting and submitted to WLDC. The level of precept affected residents’ Council Tax as a proportion of this went towards the parish precept. A £2,000 precept would require a contribution of £16.33 from the Council Tax of an average Band D property, reducing the precept to £1,000 would reduce this contribution to £7.66. It was agreed that the request should remain at £2,000 for this year and the situation would be reviewed again when the estimate for 24/25 was agreed in November. The request was signed off and would be returned to WLDC in time to meet the deadline of 27th January.
Action GP
06/23 Cottage insurance – this was due for renewal by 5th February with the NFU, the renewal documents had arrived and the fee was £388.85, an increase of £47.09 (12.1%). The cover had been with NFU for at least five years and, as such, attracted the maximum discount (Mutual Bonus) of13.5%, this had reduced the premium by £54.18. The premium was agreed and payment authorised.
07/23 Annual Parish Meeting – to be arranged for Thursday 18th May, the Annual Meeting of the Parish Council (at which Chair and Vice Chair for the year are elected) would be at 6:30 followed by the Annual Parish Meeting at 7:30pm. The format for the Annual Parish Meeting to be confirmed at the March meeting of the Parish Council at which suggestions for a speaker would be welcomed.
Further to these minutes the 18th May has been confirmed and the village hall booked.
08/23 Any Other Business
a) Youth activities – Cllr. Strollo asked what amenities were available for the younger members of the community. The village hall was currently occupied most weekday evenings but there was nothing specifically for young people, the clerk was asked to raise the issue at the next meeting of the village hall committee.
Action GP
Date of next meeting Wednesday 8th March 6:30pm.