September 2023 Minutes
KEXBY PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on 13th September 2023
Present: Cllrs. R. Gore (Chair), S. Farrow, D. Forrest, L. Hoggarth
In attendance; Cllr. E. Bailey (WLDC), G. Payne (Clerk)
Apologies; were accepted from Cllrs. D. Strollo, C. Cuckson.
37/23 Input from Playing Field Committee – no-one from the committee attended the meeting to brief the Council on the plans to upgrade the playpark and discuss the budget for this work. As a consequence the Parish Council were unable to approve their request for a letter of support at this stage. The Clerk would notify them accordingly.
Action GP
38/23 Approval of minutes of meeting held on 26th July – these had been circulated, were approved and signed off by the Chairman
39/23 Matters arising
a) Email addresses – this matter was being handled by Cllr. Strollo, since he had been unable to attend the meeting the matter was deferred to the next meeting.
b) Tree Planting – Cllr. Hoggarth was liaising with the Bloomers group to arrange for the trees to be planted in the autumn. A small planting ceremony would be organised, Jessie Milne (the previous representative on WLDC) who had arranged the original donation had asked if she could attend. Tree guards and stakes would be required which the Parish Council would fund.
Action LH
c) Planning application (amendment) Tennyson House – given the short notice for responses to the amended application members had been asked to respond to the Clerk electronically. All the responses received objected to the removal of the element containing multiple “affordable homes”. An objection was lodged along these lines and this had been supported by Cllr. Bailey, however, the planning officer had ruled that the site was only suitable for two dwellings. The meeting was concerned that an opportunity for provision of affordable housing had been missed. However, there was little that could be done once the planning officer had ruled unless the developer could be persuaded to request a re-evaluation. The Chairman agreed to speak to the developer.
Action RG
Cllr. Bailey explained that unless there were at least 5 objections planning applications did not go to the planning committee. The current application was only at the outline planning stage so there would be a further opportunity to consider the size of proposed dwellings when a final application was submitted. The new administration at WLDC would be reviewing the planning procedures in due course and the Parish Council were invited to raise any particular areas of concern that they might have.
Action GP
d) Post Office – The Chairman had received a communication from Sir Edward Leigh MP to say that Upton & Kexby would not be getting a post office provision in the foreseeable future. Cllr. Hoggarth pointed out that other local Post Office services had been discontinued resulting in a very poor local offering. Upton Parish Council had tried to initiate a petition but this had attracted very little support so it was not possible to demonstrate a significant demand.
40/23 Co-option of new member – no-one had yet been appointed, Cllr. Hoggarth had been in contact with a potential candidate and would follow this up.
Action LH
41/23 Village Hall update – plans had been drawn up for refurbishment of the kitchen and multiple quotes were being sought prior to applying for grant aid, it was likely to cost in the region of £25K. It was felt that this was quite a high figure but bookings had been lost because the kitchen was not up to the catering standard required so there was a need for a significant upgrade.
Estimates were also being obtained to upgrade the toilets which, it was agreed, was also needed.
Cllr. Bailey reminded the meeting that grant funding was available from WLDC Community Development Fund which was aimed at this type of improvements. The Clerk agreed to speak to the village hall committee.
Action GP
42/23 Financial Report – there was a healthy balance in both the current and business reserve accounts, if there were no significant expenses likely to occur a decision to move more money into the business reserve account could be made at the November meeting.
Action GP
43/23 Correspondence
a) WLDC Budget Consultation – Cllr. Bailey encouraged members to each complete the survey and to encourage as many residents as possible to do the same.
Action all
The Clerk would forward this to members once again and would arrange for links to be inserted on facebook and the website, he would also include an article in the next newsletter.
Action GP
b) Village Hall Christmas Fayre 19th November – all regular users of the village hall were being invited to have a table at this event to promote their organisation. The Clerk was asked to book a table and members were asked to consider how best to use it at the next meeting.
Action GP
44/23 Solar Farms update – the next meeting of the 7000acre group was scheduled for 4th October at 7:00pm in the Rose and Crown. The Chairman said that he was unlikely to be able to attend but encouraged other members to attend if possible.
Action all
Cllr. Bailey informed the meeting that at least two new proposals were likely to come forward shortly, although they may not be in the immediate vicinity they would add to the already large development.
45/23 Power outages – numerous brief power cuts had been experienced recently which had caused several issues including disruption to broadband supply, radios, TVs and lights being switched on and potential damage to electric motors. The Clerk would look into who the supplier was and ask them to investigate and rectify the problem.
Action GP
46/23 Clerk’s pay and expenses – a claim for the previous six months had been circulated in advance, this was agreed and cheques for the Clerk and HMRC signed.
47/23 Any Other Business
a) Dogs on playing field – Cllr. Strollo had counted in excess of 50 instances which indicated the extent of the problem. The Clerk had asked the playing field committee to renew the signs following the last meeting but this had not yet been actioned. The Parish Council agreed to pay for the signs if this would help. The Clerk had been in touch with WLDC to ascertain the legal position but had been referred to LCC Rights of Way department. It was agreed that the playing field was not a public right of way, the path in the south east corner was to give access to the playing field from the public footpath from High Street to Upton only. Cllr. Bailey offered to speak to staff at WLDC to see if she could get more information for the Clerk who would then publicise this in the newsletter and on facebook and the website.
Action EB/GP
b) RAF Scampton ¬– WLDC had issued a Temporary Stop Notice to the Home Office as they considered that there had been a breach of planning control. This was unlikely to have a significant effect long-term but made the point that proper procedure should be followed.
c) Book on the History of Kexby – this had been published some 20 years ago but there was renewed interest. The publishers had indicated that they still had the copy and could produce a short run (possibly 10-20 copies) if required. Cllr. Forrest was in touch with them and would ascertain the cost of such a run. The Council were in favour of ordering such a run if the cost proved reasonable.
Action DF
Date of next meeting – Wednesday 15th November 6:30pm (not the 8th as originally planned)