Annual Parish Meetings – Heighington Parish Council

March 2024 Annual Parish Meeting minutes

Notes of the Heighington Annual Parish Meeting

The Annual Parish Meeting was held on Monday 18th March 2024 at 7.00pm, in the Jubilee Hall.

The meeting was attended by 46 members of the public, including Parish Councillors and officers.

The Chair of the Parish Council, Councillor Sue Sockell, presided and opened the meeting with a welcome to those present.

There were stalls/displays from the Parish Council, Heighington Bowls Club, the Garrett’s Charity and the Red Arrows Aerobatic Team.

1. The notes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on 24th April 2023 were agreed.

2. The Parish Clerk shared a review of Council activities in the last year:

Our council

Local elections were held in May 2023. Heighington was uncontested (fewer nominations than seats). We now have our full complement of11 councillors, which is quite unusual as many councils struggle to fill all their seats.
Congratulations to Cllr Alison Buckley-Jones and Nikki Briscoe our RFO for their nominations in the 2023 Lincolnshire Association of Local Councils (LALC) Shining Stars Awards.
We received a great report from our external auditors for 2022-23 and also from our intermediate internal audit for 2023-24.

Community Litter Pick

At our Community Litter pick in October, 20 volunteers collected 10 bags of rubbish from around the village.
The next litter pick is planned for 28th April. Meet at the Jubilee Hall at 10:00. Refreshments afterwards.
We’re also lucky to have our regular volunteer community litter picker. In 2023 alone he collected 33 bags of rubbish from around the village and generously donated 42 hours of his time to do this.

Community Events

We ran a number of free community events for children, which are all well supported, including a Hoolahoop Megastructure workshop; free tennis coaching sessions; Halloween workshop making spooky lanterns and decorations; circus workshop.
We took part in the village scarecrow festival, in conjunction with Washingborough and Branston parish councils.
Remembrance Sunday was again commemorated with the knitted poppies.
Council was happy to support A Good Yarn and their amazing, knitted Christmas Tree.

Festive Tea & Cake

Our annual Festive Tea generated a fantastic response from residents.
Branston & District u3a ukulele band got everyone singing.
Representatives from Branston Academy student council attended and joined in.
Our thanks go once again to AF Blakemore & Son Ltd/Spar for their generous donations and for the support of all the volunteers.

More Events to Come

27th March - Easter Tea & Cake
9th April - Hoolahoop Megastructure workshop
7th May - Adults card making/crafting event
12th June - Pre-school bubble workshop, veg critters & balloons
23rd October - Halloween workshop
11th December - Festive Tea

Environmental

LCC Zero Carbon Parishes grant (totalling £3839.69) helped fund:
- Energy-efficient LED lighting at Jubilee Hall
- Cycle racks at Station Road, Potterhanworth Road
- Water butts for Station Road & Jubilee Hall
- Daffodil & narcissus bulbs for Station Road
- Thermal blinds for Station Road pavilion
Free trees (from the Woodland Trust) planted at Station Road – thank you to all the volunteers
Free hedgerow trees due to be planted at Potterhanworth Road
We had lots of people interested in the idea of a Repair Hub, but unfortunately not enough stepped forward to form a committee to organise and run this so the idea is currently paused.

Flooding

Despite the heartbreak and disruption caused by the floods in October and January, it has been impressive to see the community spirit amongst residents helping others out.
The parish council continues to work with LCC (the lead flood authority) and other agencies to see how the flooding situation can be improved.
We were able to provide some filled sandbags for residents and we’re in the process of setting up a sand bin at Jubilee Hall so that residents can fill their own sandbags.
Work is ongoing with our Emergency Plan.

Station Road Development

Trees & bulbs planted – bulbs just coming up now
Due to be installed imminently:
- New bench (with back)
- New accessible picnic table
Thanks to Cllrs Buckley-Jones and Sowerby for driving this forward.
Any other ideas?

Speeding and Traffic

A new solar powered speed sign due to be installed on Washingborough Road.
We need more volunteers interested in starting up a Community Speedwatch group to get this off the ground.
It was a shame to see the attitude and behaviour of some motorists during the High Street closure in August. Unfortunately, some reckless motorists ignored the road closure, putting pedestrians and other motorists at risk.

Other Achievements

Jubilee Hall wooden floor was stripped back and re-waxed - many years of polish and grime was removed.
Working with volunteers to get the knitted poppies up for Remembrance Day.
Tennis courts were professionally cleaned and re-marked out. A local tennis coach is now planning to run coaching sessions for children, running from April through to July.
Free play tennis for residents will continue.
The extended period of wet and warm weather caused lots of tree and hedge growth around the village, resulting in complaints about obstructed footpaths. We ask residents to please cut foliage to keep footpaths clear.
The parish office has been extended, hopefully providing a more welcome visit for parishioners. Also, our storeroom has been revamped, with new shelving and storage.
The clothing bank situated in the rear Jubilee Hall car park generated £168 in the last year, allocated to community projects.
As part of our ongoing play area maintenance, we replaced the universal joint on the cantilever swing at Almond Avenue, at a cost of £1,821.

Book Swap

This goes from strength to strength, attracting a number of regular visitors.
We also extended this to the phone box on the high Street (creating a book kiosk).
Unfortunately, we had some vandalism to both the books and the kiosk and removed the books over the winter but hope to put some back in the better weather.
Cllr Jacki Rushby is our council ‘librarian’, looking after the books.

Projects in Progress

Continuing to try and cut our village carbon footprint.
Possible use of Station Road pavilion for smaller groups who don’t need all the space of the hall.
Currently liaising with a local fabricator to find a way of displaying the old flagpole top at the Jubilee Hall.
Plan to get the Jubilee Hall car park marked out to maximise space – it can get a bit chaotic when the parking is uncontrolled.

Feedback

Please put forward any suggestions or ideas.
The Parish Office is open Monday – Thursday, 9:00 – 13:00.
If you have any burning issues, please contact us and we’ll try to help.
Reminder that parishioners are welcome to attend our council meetings (15-minute public participation session at the start of each meeting).

3. The following updates were given from our local clubs, groups and organisations:

Nick Eyre gave an update from the Garrett’s Charity:

Parishioners were reminded of the great age and history of this charity, which is due to become 403 years old in March 2024.

St Thomas’ Chapel of Ease and the adjacent Thomas Garrett Heritage Rooms are owned by the charity for the benefit of the local community. The charity is supported by up to 9 Trustees (2 nominated by the Parish Council, 2 nominated by the Parochial Church Council of Washingborough with Heighington, 4 residents of Heighington and ex officio the Rector). Currently there are 2 Trustee vacancies for residents of Heighington.

Thanks were expressed for the work of recently retired Trustees Mick Bowbanks, Michelle Hunter and Neil Hunter.

The premises of the charity continue to be well used and supported with usage now largely back to levels seen prior to the Covid-19 pandemic. There are 14 varied groups currently using the Heritage Rooms on a regular basis. It is positive that the general day to day running costs for the premises are covered by the existing income level, which has also been supported by regular contributions, the 100-Club and specific fund-raising events during 2023 including a car boot sale, arts exhibition and Christmas raffle.

Whilst Trustees know that running costs will increase over the coming year, the principal challenge relates to funding necessary building repairs. Following a professional survey undertaken in August 2023 we know that the roof needs attention. This project, which is likely to be split into three separate phases for reasons of affordability is likely to cost about £45,000 overall. The Trustees will seek grant funding to cover some of this cost, but a significant proportion will need to be found from the local community. Trustees are hopeful that the local community will rally together to secure the future of this valuable and distinctive historic asset at the heart of Heighington.

The report concluded with an expression of thanks to everyone already involved in support of the charity; the regular users, the Parochial Church Council, the Parish Council and, in particular, the Friends of the Garrett’s Charity, who take much of the day-to-day responsibility for running the premises.

Cllr David Trafford gave an update from the Pyke and Eure George Walker Educational Foundation:

The Pike and Eure is a very old educational charity established by the founders Timothy Pike in 1728 and Ralph Eure in 1627 to cover both the villages of Heighington and Washingborough. Its aim was to help youngsters, leaving school to start apprenticeships, to pay for tools and other equipment or further their education. Also, alongside it is the George Walker Sports Foundation which was started in 1997 from the donations on the death of George Walker by his family as George was a Trustee. The Charity is run by 10 Trustees, 5 from each village who meet at least twice a year.

Over the years just prior to 2023 the Trustees through a solicitor drew up a new Trust Deed which came into force from 1.1.2023 as the old one of 1954 was very outdated plus the receipt of further income which has been invested. The New Trust Deed merged the George Walker funds into just one unit and expanded its scope of grant aid to include voluntary groups within each village albeit that the main function is for youngsters between the ages of 16 – 25 for further education at universities, apprenticeships etc. The group eligibility covers the ages of 5 – 25 years for equipment, instruction days or coaching. Grants are considered once a year, usually in October of each year.

For 2023 the Trustee were able to help 14 youngsters with grants towards further education and sporting activities. The new grant for groups has really benefited 3 groups who have all been very grateful for this help. The Trustees feel that the extended grant section has been a great success and they do through varies means advertise these grants hopefully to help as many youngsters as they can from the interest only from their investments.

4. There were no questions from the floor on any of the updates.

5. Squadron Leader Chris McCann (Red 2) and Chief Technician Natalie Sockell from the Red Arrows Aerobatic Team gave an informative and interactive presentation on ‘Red Arrows: A Great British Brand’ and answered lots of questions from the floor.

The Chair thanked everyone for attending. All were invited to have refreshments and view the stalls and reminded that Councillors were on hand to answer any queries.