June 2019 Minutes
A meeting of the Recreation Advisory Forum was held on Monday 22nd June 2020 via video conferencing and commenced at 19.30hrs.
Present:
Councillor D Chantler - Forum Chairman
Councillor J Rushby
Councillor I George
Councillor L Nicklin
Councillor N Briscoe
Co-Clerk (Operations) - E Salter
Councillor A Buckley- Jones (meeting host)
Organisations:
Mrs J Dunning – The Garrett’s Charity
Mr P Howden – Heighington Bowls Club
Mrs J Kennedy – Guiding Movement
Mrs J Jelfs – Heighington WI
Mr K Salter – Picnic in the Park Volunteer
The Chairman opened the meeting by welcoming those present.
01/A/20 Apologies and Declarations of Interest.
Apologies for absence had been received from Mr G Snelson (HVA) and Mrs A Binns (Heighington Gardening Club).
There were no declarations of interest or dispensations sought.
02/A/20 To approve the draft notes from the last meeting of the Recreation Advisory Forum on Monday 10th February 2020.
The draft notes from the meeting of Monday 10th February 2020 were agreed and approved as minutes.
03/A/20 Officer’s Report & Parish Council update
a. Covid-19
All Council buildings were closed due to the Covid-19 outbreak the week commencing 23rd March 2020.
b. Heighington Good Neighbour Support Network
Heighington Parish Council would like to thank everyone who has signed up to the Good Neighbour Support Network. We are still receiving requests of help from residents who need shopping and medication collecting.
c. Curry Jacks
Curry Jacks are still providing a takeaway service from Jubilee Hall every other Friday, using an online booking system.
d. Bowling green repairs
Repairs to the bowling green boundary with neighbouring properties have taken place.
e. Potterhanworth Road sports ground
New locks have been fitted to the main gate and one of the containers at Potterhanworth Road sports ground. We are in the process of having the containers refurbished and reorganised by Parish Council, HBW Football Club and Heighington Cricket Club.
04/A/20 Chairman’s statement on Covid-19 and general discussion on recommencing club activities and the opening of parish properties
The Chairman informed members that village and community halls could possibly re-open on Monday 6th July 2020, however this has not yet been confirmed by government. A brief statement was read out to members published by ACRE setting out regulations for re-opening.
A discussion took place on how Jubilee Hall could plan for re-opening. It was agreed that a questionnaire be sent out to all groups and clubs asking when they plan to return. It was noted that larger groups may be restricted to smaller numbers and that each group would need to be responsible for the cleaning of the hall. Facilities would be limited to one toilet and the kitchen would be out of bounds for the foreseeable future. Social distancing markers, informative posters and hand sanitising stations would need to be put in place prior to the re-opening of the hall.
The Chairman of the bowls club informed members of how they are now operating and asked the Parish Council to consider the re-opening of the pavilion to members adhering to government guidelines.
It was agreed that a small working group should be formed to work together for the re-opening of Parish Council Facilities.
05/A/20 Reports from village organisations and clubs.
Heighington Gardening Club (Report sent prior to meeting)
Heighington Gardening Club has no meetings scheduled yet and, the Produce Show is cancelled for this year due to the Coid-19 pandemic.
Guiding Movement
Sadly, the Guides group will no longer be meeting due to the current leader giving up. The girls will still be able to meet with either the Washingborough or Branston groups.
All groups have stayed in touch during lockdown by either zoom meetings or social media. The Rainbows and Brownies plan to restart in September adhering to the Girl Guiding guidelines.
Heighington WI
The group managed to hold the Annual Meeting just before lockdown and are pleased to announce Helen Keyworth as President, all other committee members remain the same.
The group hope to hold a summer party in the car park of Jubilee Hall in July and hopefully meet again in August.
Garrett’s Charity
Garrett’s Charity was planning a series of events to celebration 400 years since its foundation. The first of these was to be an exhibition in the Thomas Garrett Heritage Rooms in September as part of Lincolnshire Heritage Open Days. The Covid-19 pandemic and government lockdown measures have made organising the exhibition impossible. The size of the Rooms means that social distancing would be very hard to maintain during an exhibition of the sort planned and the group organising the exhibition has therefore reluctantly decided to cancel the event. We hope to participate in the programme next year and look forward to the theme being announced so that planning can begin for a bigger and better event.
There were also plans to host a Flower Festival, The Lincoln Male Voice choir, and a Thanksgiving Service. These will be reviewed at the next meeting of the Trustees.
The Heritage Rooms remain closed at present. Discussions are underway for a gradual reopening and user groups are being consulted as to their future plans and requirements so that appropriate safety measures can be put in place.
Heighington Bowls Club
Arrangements for the start of our 2020 outdoor bowling season were well underway when
the Coronavirus lock-down came into effect on 23rd March.
Following on from our successful membership recruitment campaigns of 2018 and 2019
which saw approximately 20 new members join the Club, we had planned to hold a number of free open days and coaching sessions in May this year, which unfortunately then had to be cancelled.
Limited maintenance of the bowling green continued during March and April and when lock-down measures were eased at the end of May, we took the opportunity to plan the re-
opening of the bowling green to allow Members to participate in some outdoor socially
distanced sporting activity.
On behalf of the Club our thanks go to the Parish Council for its flexible approach to
facilitating the opening of the bowling green on Sunday May 31st subject to Members
following a number of procedures and guidelines which were put in place. These included
the pre-booking of rink space and the provision of hand sanitiser, disposable gloves, paper
towels and the introduction of a thorough cleaning regime, all of which were intended to
keep the site as safe as possible. As a result, a number of Members have now visited the
bowling green to play. The pavilion and toilets still remain closed at this time.
Following a meeting of local league secretaries earlier this month, there will be no league
bowling this season. However, subject to government guidelines our facilities will hopefully
remain open as usual until the beginning of September.
The Club has kept in touch with Members during the lock-down period by sending out
several electronic newsletters informing of news and developments, including the recent
works on site to remove and replace the old gate on Chapel Lane with a new stone wall
infill. The rest of the stone wall along Chapel Lane was re-pointed and in the past week
further work on our southern boundary has seen the installation of a new retaining wall to
stabilise a soil bank boarding the bowling green. Our thanks go to the Parish Council for
working with the Club to achieve these further improvements to our facilities.
With the Sheepwash Times now back in circulation our usual monthly editorial will be
available for all to read with the publication of the August edition due for distribution at the
end of July. Anyone wishing to join the Club will be very welcome and further details of how to do so can be obtained from our Club Secretary whose details are available from the Parish Council office or by visiting the Parish Council website.
The meeting closed at approximately 20:10. Attendees were reminded that the next meeting of this forum is set for Monday 26th October 2020, starting at 19:30 to be held in the Jubilee Hall.
Signed: _______________________________ Date: ____________________