September 2018 Minutes
A meeting of the Parish Council was held on Monday 10th September 2018, in Jubilee Hall, High Street, Heighington and commenced at 19:30.
The Community Policing Team Report:
For the period 10th July 2018 - 13th August 2018 there were 2 crimes recorded.
26/7/18 Criminal Damage (arson) on Back Lane. Arrest made.
31/07/18 Criminal Damage to a Motor Vehicle (minor damage to windscreen and wing mirror).
For the period 14th August – 10th September 2018 1 crime was recorded.
22/8/18 Criminal Damage – Blacksmith’s Lane, window smashed by egg.
Public Participation: There were no members of the public present.
Present: Councillor C J Dunning (Chairman)
Councillor A Buckley-Jones
Councillor D Chantler (Vice-Chairman)
Councillor J R Dziadkiewicz
Councillor V Sargent
Councillor S Sockell
Councillor P Spencer
Councillor C Watson
Clerk: W Skelton
County and District Councillor: Councillor R Oxby
District Councillors: Councillor I Carrington
Councillor E Herring
93/M/18 Chairman’s opening remarks and welcome.
The Chairman welcomed those present and asked those present to stand and observe a minutes silence in respect of our former District Councillor and friend Marion Brighton who died over the summer.
94/M/18 Apologies, Declarations of Interest and Requests for Dispensations.
Apologies for absence: were received from Councillor Robinson and Councillor Briscoe.
Declarations of Interest: were received from Councillor Dunning in respect of letter from Branston and Heighington Patient Participation Group.
Requests for Dispensations: no requests were made.
95/M/18 To approve the Clerks notes as minutes from the meeting of the Parish Council on 9th July 2018. To receive for information the Notes from the Property Services meeting on 30 July 2018.
The notes for the Council meeting on 9th July 2018, which had been circulated before the meeting and were taken as read, were approved as minutes.
The Property Service Committee notes from the 30th July meeting were received for information.
96/M/118 Planning Matters
i. Applications for Tree Works received from NKDC
18/1141/TPO 5 Old Stackyard, Heighington. Removal of dead limb on Willow.
It was resolved to leave this matter to the discretion of the NKDC Tree Officer.
ii. Tree Work decision notices received from NKDC
There was no Tree Work decision notices received from NKDC.
iii. Planning Permission applications received from NKDC
97/M/18 18/0913/HOUS 6 Fen Road, Heighington. Erection of concrete wall and hard standing.
The Parish Council considered this application but had no comments to make.
iv. Planning permission decision notices received from NKDC
18/0833/HOUS Lectron House, High Street, Heighington (78/M/18) -approved.
18/0910/HOUS 80 Washingborough Road. Removal of garage & erection of single storey side & rear extension – approved.
Planning Application 18/0079/LCC (LCC ref PL/0043/17) Land off Heighington Road Canwick.
Erection of gas to grid anaerobic digestion plant on agricultural land and comprising of a new road access, weighbridge shed, pre-treatment tank, clamp store, two feed hoppers, two digester tanks, plant room, CHP unit, propane tank, grid entry unit (GEU) and ancillary equipment. This application was withdrawn on 2nd August 2018.
98/M/18 Clerk’s Report (for information only).
• Name of the new road access to the new properties at the rear of 51 Washingborough Road has been decided as Bramley Grove.
• 5 years of Minutes have gone away for binding into books.
• A reminder to Councillors that in the recently adopted training policy, members are to undertake at least one training course per year. Please contact the Customer Services Manager with your requests. The Customer Services Manager also has a copy of the training schedule which can be emailed on request.
• Credit card application has stalled as the bank feel we do not use the account and therefore cannot monitor the activity on the account.
• The summer children’s activities this year were well received although a little light on previous years.
99/M/18 Correspondence (Read file for Members’ perusal).
• Dog warden’s report (August & September)
• Litter picker’s report (August & September)
• Police crime statistics (August & September)
• Thank you letter from St Barnabas Hospice re Picnic in the Park (donation)
• Thank you letter from LIVES re Picnic in the Park (donation)
• Thank you letter from Garrett’s Charity (Grant)
• East Midlands Community-Led Housing (an introduction)
• Branston & Heighington Family Practice Patient Participation Group (letter sent to Secretary of State for Health & Social Care; Dr C Johnson, MP; Head of Operations and Delivery, NHS England; Chief Executive Officer, Healthwatch Lincolnshire).
• Lincolnshire Fire & Rescue – Community Emergency Planning.
• North Kesteven District Council – District and Parish Elections.
• Lalc – Local Councils Networking Day
Annual General Meeting and Conference
Annual Report 2017/18
• Periodicals - LCR - Summer 2018
Clerks and Councils Direct – July 2018
Financial Matters
i. 100/M/18 To approve the monthly accounts for July & August 2018.
The monthly statements for July and August were signed by Councillor Sockell.
Councillors approved the monthly accounts for July 2018 and August 2018.
ii. 101/M/018 To approve expenditure for a Tree for Christmas 2018.
It was resolved to purchase a 15 foot Christmas tree at a cost of £100 exclusive of VAT.
iii. 102/M/18 To approve expenditure for IT Support for 2018/19.
The IT Support Contract was reviewed and it was resolved to continue using the current provider.
iv. 103/M/18 To authorise the bank to liaise with the Clerk and to consider including the RFO in the authority.
Members resolved to authorise the bank to liaise with the Clerk and to include the RFO in the authority.
v. 104/M/18 To receive report from the External Auditor for 2017/18.
The notice of conclusion of audit notice has been received and displayed on the Parish Council’s website and notice board.
Section 3 of the Annual Governance and Accountability Return (AGAR) has been returned stating:
‘Sections 1 and 2 of the AGAR is in accordance with Proper Practices and no other matters have come to our attention giving cause for concern that relevant legislation and regulatory requirements have not been met.’
Members sent their congratulations to the RFO and Clerk on receiving a good audit report. Thanks also to the Internal Auditor for his help.
vi. 105/M/18 To approve internal transfer of funds to cover audit charges.
Due to higher Internal Audit fees than expected at the end of year audit, further funds need to be transferred to cover the External Auditors Fees. It was agreed to transfer £65.30 from reserves to cover the shortfall.
106/M/18 To consider providing a training evening on Planning Matters.
After attending a Planning Course by Mr Gleadell run by LALC, the Clerk and Councillor Buckley-Jones suggested that it would be beneficial to have Mr Gleadell hold a course, in Heighington, organised by the Parish Council. It was also suggested that places be offered to the other councils in the Four Parishes cluster. At a cost of £125 for up to 30 students it was resolved to organise a training session in October or November 2018. Costs charged to the other cluster members would be apportioned according to the size of the council attending.
107/M/18 To consider providing a Christmas meal for the benefit of older residents and where appropriate delegate arrangements to named Councillors.
It was resolved to hold a Christmas meal for the older residents of the village with a budget of £300. The Games Group offered to make a contribution towards the meal.
Councillors Chantler, Buckley-Jones and Robinson were delegated to liaise with Customer Services Manager in the organisation of the event.
108/M/18 To approve expenditure to replace the damaged seats in the bus shelter.
Of the two seats in the bus shelter one has had to be removed because of severe damage, the other has lesser damage but will also need replacing.
It was resolved to purchase two new seats for the bus shelter at a cost of £185 each exclusive of VAT.
109/M/18 To discuss how best to overcome the shortages in maintenance from other agencies, which leave the village looking unkempt.
Over the summer the office has received numerous complaints about the untidy look of the village. This is mainly due to other agencies reducing their maintenance cycles.
Members resolved to try a multi faceted approach to the problem.
• Firstly contact the environment agency to confirm which areas of the beck they are responsible for and which areas are riparian owned;
• Ask local contractor if he is willing extend his cutting areas;
• Place article in Sheepwash Times explaining riparian ownership of the beck and requesting residents to cut the verges in front of their property and help keep the village tidy;
• To discuss with the Four Parishes options for engaging a contractor for the Four Parish area.
110/M/18 District and County Councillors reports
County Councillors report:
• The county roads in various areas have received their surface dressing during the summer months. The good weather has also helped with pot hole repairs as 95% of previously reported ones have been dealt with, but this still leaves 1600 mainly on 'B' and 'C' roads needing attention.
• The on line website 'Fix My Street' has gone live during this month replacing the original, which had issues due to the new data protection legislation which recently come in to force.
• The possibility of Horncastle having a ring road to alleviate the rising traffic problems experienced in the town during the holiday traffic movements is being discussed.
• Road Works to replace the bridge at Lincoln’s Dixon Street are on track in their twelve week schedule.
• Tourism has boosted Lincolnshire's economy to £1.47bn during 2017, an increase of 7.3%
• Again Lincolnshire is pressing for a fairer funding system; currently we receive £130 less than the majority of other counties do for each of their residents. It is estimated that by 2020 Lincolnshire will be struggling to deliver its basic services if this situation is not addressed. With this in mind the County Council has put a further £18 million into the reserves for future use.
• Some street lights will be left on in vulnerable areas or those near defibrillators.
• The RAF has confirmed expansion plans for Cranwell, Conningsby and Waddington.
• The North Sea Observatory has now opened and is attracting tourists to the Chapel St Leonards area which serves as an impressive gate way to the Coastal Country Park
• August has seen a summer holiday £1 one way bus ticket for the under 18s who pre book with Call Connect from Monday to Saturday, building on the success of a similar offer last year.
• A partnership is working to help reduce youth offenders entering the criminal justice system. A community-based resolution has been used on 82% of cases, resulting in over a 90% drop in youth cautions.
District Councillors report:
Councillor Carrington:
• Thank you to the Council for the tribute to Mrs Brighton. Mrs Brighton served as a District Councillor for 44 years which is good by any standards but even more impressive as she was first elected when she was in her 40’s.
• Anaerobic Digestion plant planning application generated lots of comments from the area and was asked to be determined by the Lincolnshire County Council Planning Committee by Councillor Cawrey.
The applicant did not respond to any requests for further information by the County Council and was asked to make contact by 26th July 2018. The applicant withdrew the application on 2nd August 2018.
Renewable energy is the future but it needs to be the right scheme in the right location.
• Please comment on the Open Space strategy which is being circulated at the moment.
• The Archaeology from the Eastern By-pass site is still creating lots of interest with the recent road show having full houses at all its locations.
It is hoped to have a permanent display of the artefacts with ideally a visitor centre built to house them.
Councillor Herring:
• Councillors have been on a tour of the area visiting development sites the first being the new fire station in Sleaford. Closer to home a visit was made to Beeswax Dyson at Nocton. They employ 150 people over their 35,000 acre farms, the entire UK farming business is run from their Head Office at Nocton and they have a 100 year business plan. They continue with their drive to recruit employees for the business and the company advise they are happy to give talks and tours to interested community groups.
In anticipation of the next item Councillors Oxby, Carrington and Herring left the meeting.
111/M/18 To resolve to move into closed session. Should this resolution be passed the public and press will be required to leave the meeting at this stage.
Members resolved to move in to closed session.
112/M/18 Staff matters.
i. Resignation of the Jubilee Hall Gardener.
Thanks were sent to the Gardener for all the work put into the garden over the years.
The office staff have offered to ‘put the garden to bed’ for the winter, which will allow time to find a gardener for the spring.
It was suggested approaching a local gardening contractor to ascertain if he was willing to take on the garden.
ii. Office staff Training
• The Clerk has passed her Certificate in Local Council Administration (CiLCA) course and is now a qualified Clerk.
Members passed on their congratulations.
• The RFO and the Customer Service Manager have registered for the Introduction to Local Council Administration (ILCA) qualification with a view to starting in October.
• Members were notified that preliminary advice had been received regarding new pay scales applicable from 2019/2020. The Policy and Resources Committee are to look at them in greater detail and report back to Council.
There being no further business the meeting closed at 20:50
Signed: Date: