September 2024 DRAFT Minutes
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on 5th September 2024
These minutes are in draft form and may be altered
Present: R. Gore (Chair), D. Strollo C. Cuckson, J. Scott
In attendance: Cllr. Bailey (WLDC), Cllr. Butroid (LCC) G. Payne (Clerk)
Apologies: had been received from D. Forrest, M. Stallman
30/24 Approval of minutes of meeting held on 9th May 2024 – these had been circulated and were approved as a true record, (proposed CC, seconded JS) and signed off by the Chairman.
31/24 Matters arising;
a) Traffic speed – following a review which the Parish Council had requested, LCC had proposed reducing the existing 40mph speed limit on Upton Road to 30mph and had requested comments on the proposal. The Parish Council fully supported the reduction but expressed grave concerns that the restriction did not include the dangerous corner between Kexby Lane and Willingham Road. The Clerk had written to LCC to express these concerns. Both Cllr. Bailey and Cllr. Butroid had also expressed their concerns that the proposals did not include the corner. Cllr. Butroid offered to request a meeting with Richard Fenwick, head of this section at LCC, to press the case on behalf of the Parish Council. Action Cllr. Butroid
b) Email addresses – DS had arranged for members of the Parish Council and the Clerk to move to Gov.UK email addresses for Parish Council business. He agreed to meet with the Clerk to implement this, as the Clerk would be away for two weeks he was asked to contact DS on his return to arrange a meeting. Action GP
c) Telephone Box – Chris Petty had sent a message to the Clerk reminding him that he still had paint available to spruce up the box. The Clerk had spoken to him and agreed to wash the exterior of the box to determine the condition and then to contact him again to agree on how to proceed. Action GP
d) Seat on village green – several designs of maintenance free seats were presented to the meeting, DS agreed to investigate specifications and determine fit with the existing concrete pad and report back to the next meeting. Action DS
e) Playpark – the playing field committee had responded quickly to remove the dangerous items as requested by the Parish Council, the Clerk was asked to thank them for their prompt response. He was also asked to find out the current position regarding grant aid for the upgrade of the playpark and the likelihood of them requiring funding from the Parish Council. Action GP
32/24 Parish Cottage
a) Gas & electricity checks – an engineer had attempted to make an appointment to carry out the checks but the tenant had been unavailable. The Chairman agreed to speak to the engineer and ask him to re-arrange as a priority.
Action RG
b) Proposed maintenance work – the tenant had been given notice that the current tenancy agreement would end in three months’ time. A new tenancy would be created, for which he would be given first refusal, following restoration of the bathroom. It was agreed that advice should be sought from an estate agent on the appropriate rental value of the property following improvements to the bathroom. The estate agent should also be asked about the level of deposit which should be expected at the start of a tenancy and the tenant made aware of this figure. Action RG
Cllr. Bailey reminded the meeting that a deposit (usually one month’s rent) should always be required at the start of a tenancy and that such a deposit must be placed in a government scheme.
The Chairman agreed to consult Steve Hutchinson on the likely cost and duration of the bathroom upgrade. Action RG
33/24 Financial Report – the finances remained in a strong position, there was a need to transfer some money from the current account into the Business Reserve account, £5,000 was agreed. The Clerk had attempted to move the money in the Business Reserve account into a 35 Day Notice Liquidity Manager account following correspondence from the bank. This correspondence had not made clear the need to initially create a Liquidity Manager account. CC was currently working with the bank to arrange on-line banking and agreed to also organise the creation of a Liquidity Manager account. It was agreed to transfer the money from the current account once these matters had been resolved. Action CC
34/24 Correspondence
a) Tillbridge Solar – a package of information regarding this development was tabled, DS agreed to take this away to read and report back to the next meeting. Action DS
b) Hedges on Westgate – a complaint had been received about the field hedge obstructing the footpath, restrictions on cutting farm hedges during the bird nesting season had been lifted so the hedge could now be trimmed. The Chairman, as tenant of the field, agreed to organise the cutting of the hedge. Action RG
c) Planning – notice of a request to upgrade the outline planning permission to full planning for two dwellings adjacent to Tennyson House had been received. It was agreed that the Clerk should respond to say that the Parish Council were concerned about the speed of traffic on the stretch of Willingham Road where the proposed drives were to be located and that they were already in discussion with LCC regarding a speed restriction. Action GP
d) Village Hall request for funding – JS, as a member of the village hall committee, declared an interest in this item and excluded herself from the discussion. The village hall committee were proposing to create more storage space in the upstairs room for organisations using the hall and for items used for hire such as tablecloths glasses, etc. They were also proposing to create a lockable storage space below the stairs in the committee room for expensive items such as the sound system. The estimate for carrying out this work was £3,527 (including VAT which was non-recoverable). They had approached both Kexby and Upton Parish Councils for contributions towards this. There was agreement in principle but, in view of other impending expenditures, a decision on level of support was deferred to the next meeting. The Clerk was asked to contact the playing field committee to see whether they were likely to require support for the playpark upgrade. It was agreed that if the Parish Council did contribute it would be on the understanding that storage space would be available for some parish records since the Parish Council was “an organisation using the hall”. Action GP
e) Lithium-ion battery safety – a request had been received for support towards a campaign to improve the safety of lithium-ion batteries. At this stage it would simply be a matter of saying that the Parish Council supported the campaign. Should more active support be requested at a later date the matter would come back to a future meeting for further discussion. It was agreed that these batteries posed a significant safety hazard and the Parish Council agreed to provide their support, the Clerk was asked to respond accordingly. Action GP
f) Gate Burton Energy Park – a letter had been received offering a meeting to discuss this development once their delivery plans had been finalised. It was agreed that the offer should be accepted and that it should be an open meeting to give residents an opportunity to learn more about the development and to ask questions. The Clerk was asked to respond accordingly. Action GP
It was suggested that WLDC should arrange for their Environmental Officer to visit an operational solar farm to gain first hand knowledge of their environmental impact. Cllr Bailey agreed to raise this with the Council. Action Cllr. Bailey
35/24 Clerk’s remuneration – details had been circulated, these were approved and signed off by the Chairman.
36/24 Any Other Business
a) Resignation – Lee Hoggarth had tendered her resignation following many years of devoted service. The Chairman had responded by thanking her for her service but it was felt that some further recognition was also appropriate. CC agreed to organise this. Action CC
This created another vacancy on the Parish Council and the Clerk was asked to notify WLDC accordingly. Action GP
b) Defibrillator pads – the battery and pads on the device on Glentworth Road were due to expire on 28th September, the Chairman agreed to look into sourcing replacements. Action RG
c) WLDC Environmental Enforcement Officers – their visit had to be postponed earlier due to a change of date for the Parish Council meeting. It was agreed that they should be invited to the November meeting providing it was possible to book the main hall. An invitation would once again be extended to Parish Councils throughout the Lea Ward. The Clerk would liaise with Cllr. Bailey once a date had been fixed. Action GP
d) Wooden Bus Shelter – the inclusion of this item had been requested after a resident raised the issue of the notice board having fallen down and a package having been left behind the shelter. Both issues had been resolved so no further action was required.
Date of next Parish Council meeting – this was left in abeyance pending information on when the main hall was available in November. JS was due to take over as Booking Clerk for the village hall and would liaise with the Parish Clerk regarding available dates. Action JS/GP
There being no further business the Chairman closed the meeting at 8:40pm