September 2019 Minutes
A meeting of the Parish Council was held on Monday 9th September 2019, in Jubilee Hall, High Street, Heighington and commenced at 19:30.
The Community Police Team Report:
Public Participation
There were 2 members of the public present.
Present: Councillor Buckley-Jones (Chairman)
Councillor Briscoe
Councillor Chantler
Councillor Sockell
Councillor Dziadkiewicz
Councillor Rushby
Councillor Spencer
County Councillor Oxby
District Councillor Goodwin
District Councillor Tinsley
Absent: Councillor Sargent
Responsible Finance Officer: J James
Before the meeting commenced a minutes silence was held due to the death of Councillor Webster on the 24th August 2019 who had served on the Parish Council for over 30 years.
74/M/19 Chairman’s welcome.
The Chairman welcomed those present and thanked them for coming.
75/M/19 To receive Apologies for Absence, Declarations of Interest and Requests for Dispensations.
Apologies for Absence:
Apologies received from Councillor Cann and District Councillor Carrington.
Declarations of Interest: Councillor Chantler and County Councillor declared an interest in the grant application from the Garretts Charity.
Requests for Dispensations: There were no Requests for Dispensations.
76/M/19 To approve notes as minutes from the meeting of the Parish Council on 8th July 2019.
The notes having been distributed before the meeting were taken as read and it was resolved to approve them as minutes.
Planning Matters
Tree works received from NKDC.
77/M/19 19/1205/TCA Heighington Hall, Potterhanworth Road, Heighington. T1-T7 Sycamore, reduction in height from 75ft to 50ft. It was resolved to leave this matter to the discretion of the Tree Protection Officer.
Tree works decision notices received from NKDC.
78/M/19 Hall Cottage, Chapel Lane, Heighington. T2 Damson – fell, T1 Sycamore exempt as Deadwood only. NKDC notified that the Council will not be making a Tree Preservation Order received from NKDC.
Planning applications received from NKDC
79/M/19 19/1139/HOUS 23 St Aubins Crescent, Heighington LN4 1HG.Erection of single storey rear extension and conversion of garage into living accommodation. Members had no comments to make on this application.
80/M/19 19/1175/HOUS Walnut Cottage, Potterhanworth Road, Heighington LN4 1RJ. Erection of a single storey rear extension to form a garden room. Members had no comments to make on this application.
Planning decision notices received from NKDC
81/M/19 19/0827/HOUS 5 Carlton Mews, Washingborough (in the Parish of Heighington). Erection of first floor dormer extension on front elevation to form bedroom over existing garage, approved by NKDC. Members noted this application has been approved.
82/M/19 18/1343/FUL Village Hall, High Street, Heighington. Application for demolition of the village hall to form extension to existing car park has been withdrawn. Members noted that this application has been withdrawn.
83/M/19 17/1876/FUL East Mills House, Chapel Lane, Heighington LN4 1RS.Application to discharge conditions 2 (finished floor levels), 4 (landscaping details) and 10 (construction method statement) attached to planning permission 18/1723/FUL – Erection of dwelling with access off Chapel Lane, approved by NKDC. Members noted this application has been approved.
84/M/19 19/0996/HOUS 2 Martin Close, Heighington.Demolition of conservatory and erection of a single storey rear extension, this has been approved by NKDC. Members noted this application has been approved.
85/M/19 Clerk’s Report (for information only).
- The storeroom at the Jubilee Hall has been tidied and the rubbish discarded into the skip. Rubbish from the Bowls Club and the Football Club was also placed in the skip.
- To note the email received regarding the invitation of the Chairman of the Council to open Picnic in the Park on the 4th July 2020.
- To note the Lincoln Eastern Bypass Scheme road closures.
- To note that May Bank Holiday for 2020 has been moved from Monday 4th May to Friday 8th May.
- To note correspondence from Community Lincs.
86/M/19 Correspondence (Read file for Members’ perusal).
- Litter picker’s reports for July and August.
- Environmental Warden’s reports for July and August.
- Police Crime Reports.
Financial Matters:
87/M/19 To approve the monthly accounts for July and August 2019. The monthly statements were signed by Councillor Spencer. It was resolved to approve the monthly accounts for July and August 2019.
88/M/19 To note that Unity Trust Bank has notified the Council that the signatories have been updated.
89/M/19 The completed change of signatory forms has been sent to the Co-operative Bank and the CCLA.
90/M/19 To receive recommendations from the Policy and Resources Committee: amendments to the Constitution and Terms of Reference and Policies.
- Vulnerable Persons Policy – minor amendment
- Volunteer Policy
- Communications Policy
- Complaints Procedure and Handling Method
- Filming and Recording of Meetings Policy
- Social Media Policy – minor amendment
- Public Participation Policy
- Health & Safety Policy
- The Constitution and Terms of Reference Committees – minor amendment
Members approved the minor amendments to the Vulnerable Persons Policy, the Social Media Policy and The Constitution and Terms of Reference Committees.
91/M/19 To consider the Co-Option of a new Councillor.
There has been one candidate who put themselves forward for the position.
It was resolved to co-opt Mr George as a Councillor.
92/M/19 To consider applications from the Garretts Charity for a grant in 2019/2020.
Members, after a brief discussion, it was resolved to grant the application of £1000.00.
93/M/19 To consider the quote for six electronic handheld devices for use in Council meetings.
After a brief discussion it was resolved to purchase five electronic handheld devices at a cost of £541.63 for use in Council Meetings only.
94/M/19 To consider the quote for a battery backup system for the NAS drive. Members resolved to purchase the battery backup system at a cost of £85.00
95/M/19 To receive the notes dated Monday 25th March 2019 from the Four Parishes Cluster Group. Members had no comments to make.
96/M/19 To receive feedback from the Chair and Clerks course, Code of Conduct meetings and Boundary Changes meeting.
Chair and Clerks Course : July 2019
Attended by Alison Buckley-Jones (Chair) and Janet James (RFO)
It started off with the basic work of LALC (Lincolnshire Association of Local Councils) and NALC (National Association of Local Councils) before progressing onto what the roles of the Chair and Clerk entail and what powers and duties a Parish Council has. It was regularly emphasised the fact than the Chair and Councillors cannot act alone but have to do so as a body by making decisions at meetings whether they be full council or at a committee level. The Chair heads the policy making team ie the Council or committee and, although does not have any special powers is first amongst equals and is expected to lead while the Clerk is the administrator on behalf of the corporate body which is the Council or committee. Working together they play a big role in ensuring that the business runs smoothly and that there is effective decision making. During meetings the Chair is expected to remain open minded, gives everyone who wants to speak the opportunity to do so, challenges ideas but not the person behind them while at the same time respecting other points of view. They bring the discussion to a conclusion so that a resolution can be made. The Clerk is a facilitator, advisor and note taker. They are not a participant, decision maker or a referee.
Code of Conduct Meeting: July 2019
Attended by Alison Buckley-Jones
The Code of Conduct covers Councillors behaviour as well guiding the registration of interests and declaring interests in any agenda items. Each Council must adopt its own version of the Code based on the Nolan principals which we do so at the Annual Meeting of the Parish Council each May. It includes mandatory interests provisions and makes arrangements to deal with allegations of any breach of the code which at a Parish Council level these are handled by the District Council. The Nolan principals of public life are: Selflessness, Integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty and leadership.
The NK code of behaviour which only applies when a Councillor is acting as a Councillor are: treat others with respect, don't bully or attempt to bully, don't compromise impartiality of officers, don't use the position improperly to confer an advantage, don't place yourself under any financial obligations, use resources properly, don't disclose confidential information and don't bring the Council or the role of Councillor into disrepute.
The course then covered the various aspects of Disclosable pecuniary interests, other registrable interests and non registrable interests. It also briefly covered bias and predetermination. When we make any decisions the underlying general principle is that they should be in the public interest, we are all to listen to each side of the argument and be willing to change our own minds. We need to take decisions for proper reasons. This is not a gag on campaigning but a reminder of the need for fairness within our discussions. In other words Councillors are not expected to have empty minds are entitled to their own views, however, they need to make sure that these views do not become predetermined.
Boundary Changes within NK Briefing: July 2019
Attended by Alison Buckley-Jones Chair and Janet James, RFO
This was last carried out mid 2000s. Parish boundaries will not be changed by this exercise but the review will cover the total number of Councillors, Wards and number of Councillors in each ward along with the names of Wards.
The Boundary commission want to know how local ties and features define any particular area along with amenities, landmarks and transport links
Peter Maddison – Lead Commissioner
This will take effect from 2023
www.lgbce.org.uk for examples of previous reviews.
97/M/19 To note that Mr Jamie Leeson from Fields in Trust will be giving a presentation on the 14th October 2019 at 6.30pm before the full Council meeting. Members agreed that the presentation would be of value to the Council and all were encouraged to attend.
98/M/19 To note correspondence received from Branston and Heighington Surgery. Members expressed concerns regarding the issues at the surgery and would continue to monitor the situation.
99/M/19 To note correspondence received from the 3rd Resilient Communities Conference. Members noted that the scheduled conference date had been cancelled do the flooding at Wainfleet and had been rescheduled for Monday 21st October 2019. Councillors were asked to contact the Responsible Finance Officer if they wished to attend.
100/M/19 To receive reports from County and District Councillors (for information only).
County Councillor Ron Oxby:
The County's new web site is to be launched on Wednesday 4th September. https://pre.lincolnshire.gov.uk Initially this will run in tandem with our old web site until December when this will be switched off. The site will enable,
- Online transactions, including the ability to pay for services or complete forms
- Members of the public to 'self-serve' by accessing services or information without having to contact us directly.
- People to interact with the council through a wider range of devices, including mobile phones and tablets.
- New transactions include; Freedom of Information requests (FOI), Childcare providers requesting support. Applications for a dropped kerb. Requests for Trading Standards business advice. Requests for temporary traffic signals.
- Other transactions, which include online payments, will follow on the next release, including, Booking a Heritage Wedding. Paying a fixed penalty notice for school absence and paying for a Blue Badge.
- Adult learning has been rated as good by ofsted, with some areas rated as outstanding.
- Greenwich Leisure who run our Libraries, have announced they will be investing in new IT equipment next year, enabling users to do more on line.
- Lincolnshire A-level results remain strong. Provisionally 97.6% shows that most achieve internationally recognised gold standard.
- GCSE results in Lincolnshire also show an improvement, with students who combined Maths and English improved by 2.7% from last year.
- Health visitors will have a 'career progression scheme' which will be implemented in October.
District Councillor Goodwin
Electoral review - a panel is in the process at NK of putting a report together for full council to consider as a submission on the number of District Cllrs required, going forward. Once this has been considered, the next step will be for the boundary commission to look at ward boundaries and sizes for the council to then respond to. - this wont be until early next year.
Paper & card trial. A trial is taking place in areas across NK, Boston and South Holland. 1700 homes in NK from a total of 7700 across all three areas, will be given a new bin to separate out the paper and card. The reason for this is that for this waste stream to be of value it needs to be uncontaminated and, as it accounts for almost half of the present recycling total, we need to ensure it is clean enough to be of value to an end user. Whilst there will be set up costs for the trial, these will be offset by the return from the processor and the reduced cost of disposal against the current method.
At last full council, a motion for declaring a climate emergency was debated and accepted after the leader proposed 3 amendments which moved it from an aspirational motion to one that proposed actions to ensure NKDC moves toward zero carbon emissions and looked to new technologies that could be incorporated into the district where appropriate.
A scheme has been approved by full council to build a new 3 screen cinema in Sleaford. Funded by the council, it will be on land behind properties in the Market Place and will provide a walk through to Monies Yard, via a new footbridge across the Slea, forming a new public space referred to as the Heart of Sleaford.
A further £2,2 million has been agreed to be invested in work space units in the LN6 area, as there is further demand and NK’s current workshops are all occupied.
Negotiations continue over the South East Quadrant Sustainable Urban Extension, known as Canwick Heath, but at this time there isn’t any firm statement that can be made.
There being no further business the meeting closed at 21.12 hours .
Signed: Date: