May 2024 DRAFT Minutes Annual Parish Meeting
KEXBY PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on 9th May 2024
These minutes are in draft form and may be amended
Present; Cllr. D Strollo (Chair), G. Payne (Clerk)
Cllrs. S. Farrow, C. Cuckson, L. Hoggarth, D. Forrest, J. Scott, Cllr. Emma Bailey (WLDC), Cllr. Richard Butroid (LCC), Mr Paul Mann (Playing Field Committee), Mrs Carol Wells (Village Hall Committee), Mrs Pat Dooley, Ms Mia Stallman, Mrs K Payne
1. Chairman’s welcome – the Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and stressed that it was an open meeting at which discussion would be most welcome.
2. Apologies; were received from Cllr. R. Gore and Dr. Richard Wilkins
3. Minutes of meeting held on 18th May 2023 - these had been circulated to Parish Councillors, they had been posted on the village website following the last meeting, and a copy had been posted on the village notice board for seven days prior to the meeting. Cllr. Cuckson proposed that they be accepted, seconded by Cllr. Farrow and passed unanimously. The chairman signed them off.
4. Matters Arising
a) Energy Park/Solar Farm – the Parish Council continued to work with the 7000 acre group in their opposition to the scale of the proposed developments (potentially up to 13,500 acres). The next meeting of this group was scheduled for 15th May at Glentworth Village Hall, it would be an open meeting and everyone was encouraged to attend.
b) Scampton Airfield Asylum Seekers – Cllr. Butroid outlined the current position; agreement had been reached by which 500 – 800 would be housed on the site for up to three years with the potential to increase to 1,200 in an emergency. The developers would be able to begin to implement plans for the £300million Heritage Centre with a view to its full implementation at the end of the three years. There was still considerable local opposition but it was a compromise which would avoid losing the £300million funding for the Heritage Centre.
5. Finance Report
The accounts had been audited and passed by the internal auditor, because turnover was less than £25K the full accounts did not need to go to the external auditors provided a certificate of exemption was lodged. The Chairman signed this off and it would be sent to the auditors, details of the Annual Guidance and Accountability Report would be available on the Parish Council website.
A copy of the balance sheet had been posted on the village notice board for seven days prior to the meeting and copies were circulated to the meeting, no questions were raised. The accounts were required to be made available for public scrutiny for a period of 30 days. This was known as the Exercise of Public Rights and would run from 3rd June until 12th July. They would be held by Cllr. Cuckson for any period in which the Clerk was not available and could be inspected at any reasonable time by prior appointment.
6. Chairman’s Report
The Chairman of the Parish Council was unable to attend the meeting due to business commitments but had produced a report which was read out by the Chairman of the meeting. He thanked the Clerk and Cllr. Strollo who had supported him as Vice Chairman throughout the year. Cllr. Scott had been seconded to the Parish Council to fill the vacancy which existed at the previous meeting. A new District Counsellor, Cllr. Bailey, had been elected in May 2023 and had been very supportive, attending meetings whenever possible.
He encouraged people to support the 7000 acre group in its opposition to the solar farm developments and, in particular, encouraged attendance at a meeting scheduled for the following week. He complemented Cllr. Scott who, as a member of the village hall committee, had successfully applied for grant funding to upgrade the kitchen and toilets. She had managed to secure 100% funding which was quite an achievement. The Quickline broadband connection which had been promised for the village hall had yet to materialise but the Parish Council were working with the village hall committee with support from WLDC Broadband Officer to move this forward.
7. Open Forum – the Chairman welcomed question and/or comments from the community.
a) Seat on village green – whilst acknowledging the effort that went in to maintaining the current seat it was suggested that it had seen better days and should be replaced with a modern version made from recycled material which would be almost maintenance free and virtually indestructible. There was general agreement for this proposal and a suggestion made that one with a table might be even better. Cllr. Butroid said that grants had been available and promised to look into whether this was still the case. The Clerk was asked to research some costings to take to the next Parish Council Meeting.
Action Cllr. Butroid/GP
b) Dogs on playing field – this was still an issue, in particular irresponsible owners who were not clearing up after their pets. WLDC had recently appointed an Enforcement Officer (a second post was still being advertised). It was suggested that it would be useful for him to speak to the Parish Council if possible to see how they could work together. Cllr. Bailey promised to look into this and suggested, in the interests of efficiency, it may be helpful to invite representation from other local Parish Councils to such a meeting. She agreed to liaise with the Clerk once she had consulted staff at WLDC.
Action Cllr. Bailey/GP
c) Youth Activities – it was felt that there was a lack of activities for the youth of the community and suggested that something like a drama group may be beneficial. There was currently limited availability of the village hall but it was something that should be considered and was certainly worth further consideration.
8. Reports from village organisations
a) Village Hall – the accounts for 2023/24 were still with the auditors but would be available in time for the AGM in June. There had been four fund raising events in the previous financial year which had raised a total of £1,300, the first jumble sale of the new financial year had raised £434.
As mentioned in the Chairman’s report, grant funding had been secured to upgrade the kitchen and toilets, the work had been allocated to a local firm and would commence in the autumn. As a result the village hall would be closed for 5 weeks from 9th September 2024.
Mrs Payne complimented the village hall committee (and, in particular, their cleaner) on the cleanliness of the hall for which there was general agreement.
b) Playing field – plans for a complete replacement of the play park with facilities for all ages and all abilities had been compiled and were shared with those present. The re-development would cost in the region of £100,000 and grant aid was being sought. The grant application was due for consideration on 5th June, if successful it was likely to take about three months before implementation.
9) Presentation of portrait – local councils had been offered an official portrait of His Majesty King Charles III, Kexby Parish Council had taken up this offer and presented it to the village hall so that it would be accessible for all to see. The Chairman presented the portrait to Mrs Wells as representative of the village hall committee.