Full Council Minutes

Minutes of the Billinghay Parish Council Meeting held on Monday 4 November 2019 at the Ringmoor House, Ringmoor Close, Billinghay.

Present:

Cllr. Locke (KL) in the Chair, Councillors Chatten (RC), Miller (RM), Cassidy (TC), Jackson (JJ), Walters (AW), Harvey (FH) and Bell (AB)

District Councillor Ogden (GO)

District Councillor Sanderson (AS)

Parish Clerk & RFO Carol Willingham (CW)

Minutes Secretary Lou Hird (LH)

0 members of public.

Public Session

No

1. Acceptance of apologies for Absence and reasons given (LGA1972 Sch. 12, Para 40)

Apologies with reasons had been received from Cllr Clark.

County Cllr Young advised that he had been delayed by a prior meeting.

2. Receive Declarations of interest and consider applications for dispensations in relation to DPI’s.

RM declared an interest in the Village Hall item on the agenda

3. Notes of PC & Planning Meetings held 7 October 2019 to adopt by resolution as true record and minutes

It was proposed by TC, seconded by RC and carried unanimously that the notes for 7 October 2019 be accepted as minutes subject to the removal of reasons in the Acceptance of Apologies.

4. To elect Chair of HR Committee

It was proposed by KL, seconded by AB and carried unanimously that TC should be the Chair of this Committee.

5. To accept minutes from EGM and any update

The prepared minutes are not yet available.

6. a. To request/receive a report from Quiscom Committee following meeting held 22 Oct 2019

Report not yet available. Next Meeting of Quiscom is 11 Nov Parish Office

6.b. To approve policy from Quiscom meeting- Advertising Policy, Community Grant, Standing Orders and Financial Regs.

Work has only been partly completed and so report not yet available.

7. To request/receive an update on Highways and Police Matters

a. Community Speedwatch Update (TC)

TC reported that the first “on the job” training took place earlier in the day and it had gone well. Of 99 cars checked only 5 were exceeding 35mph. He now proposed drawing up a roster of the volunteers to schedule further checks. He proposed that to facilitate the operation, a further set of signs be purchased. This was seconded by RC and was carried unanimously with a limit on expenditure of £100.

b. Police/Highways

No specific information had been received.

8. To request/receive a report from Planning Committee (AB)

a. Received Applications

Two recent applications had been revised, these being:

• Glasshouse Farm – change of access and parking areas.
• Bridge Farm – merely redrawing of plans as original ones had location of buildings wrongly positioned.
• New application 19/1597/FUL – Rear of 59 High Street. Erection of bungalow. Cllrs felt that the building was too large for the plot and also instructed the Clerk to send the usual proviso re Drainage. They also mentioned that the use of the passageway should not be affected for those residents with the right to use it.

b. Approved Applications

Nil reported

9. To request/receive update from the Environment Committee

a. Burial Matters and agree expenditure for grey-water run- off risk assessment It had been established that there was a requirement for the grey-water risk assessment following discussions with District Council and LALC. A quote had been obtained from a specialist Company, Cemetery Development Services. This totaled £4950 plus Vat. In addition, they would charge a further £250 to train people to self-monitor for the future. It was pointed out that we would normally expect three quotes to be obtained for this level of work. However, it was pointed out that there were few Companies who did such work (especially in Cemeteries). It was proposed by KL, seconded by AB and carried with one abstention that the work be commissioned.

b. To receive an update on the legal aspects of the farming allotments. Full information had not been received and CW was contacting more people with experience of dealing with Farming Allotments.

c. To agree dates for committee meetings Committee Chairs were asked to let the Clerk know the dates of their proposed Committee meetings so these could be published. The Burial & Allotment Committee gave the dates that they had agreed.

d. To receive/request an update on the playing field land at the former Lafford High School site. No update had yet been received and it was agreed to cover this item at the next Quiscom Meeting.

e. To consider increase of hours for environment enforcement warden This item was moved to the end of the meeting for discussion in Closed Session.

10. To request/receive an update from the Emergency Community Plan Committee

a. Emergency Plan to date – JJ confirmed that progress was being made and the next meeting of the Emergency Planning Committee is scheduled for the 25 November 2019.

b. To receive a report on Resilient Communities Conference by Cllrs AW and JJ – both Councillors reported that the meeting had been very professional with excellent presentations on Emergency Planning. They agreed that it had been very useful and had enabled them to make useful contacts for the future.

11. To request/receive an update from Village Hall representative

RM advised that RoSPA would carry out their inspection at the end of the November. He advised that some minor remedial work had already taken place.

12. Finance

a. Payments & Receipts for information – a list of financial transactions for October 2019 was circulated prior to meeting (see Appendix A). It was proposed that these be accepted by KL, seconded by RC and carried unanimously.

b. To approve Accounts for the Quarter ending 30 September 2019

It was proposed by TC, seconded by AB and agreed unanimously that these be accepted.

c. Update on the opening of Investment Account (Octopus)

Clerk advised that she needed documentary evidence of identity to proceed and she will email Cllrs for the relevant information.

d. To agree Quiscom Committee members to approve payments as signatories

It was agreed that all members of the Quiscom Committee should be set up as signatories. CW will send the relevant Bank forms for completion and request the documentary evidence required.

e. To consider employing additional member of Office Staff

It was agreed that the HR Committee would consider the role for an additional employee and consider the Pay Scale applicable to the role. The Clerk is to be consulted on the role aspects.

13. Correspondence received

• CW reported that the Parish Council application as Co-op Community champions had been successful and would be in March 2020. The money is to be used to finance the Community Speedwatch project.
• NKDC have confirmed that the grant for the LAP function of the Office has been discontinued. The issue has already been raised by other discontinued LAPs as the residents will still expect the Parish Office to help with District issues.
• There is to be a drop-in session at Ringmoor House organised by NKDC and concerning energy savings both in use and monetary.
• Cameron Johnson has applied to become a Councillor and usual co-option process will be initiated.

14. Clerk’s Report

• The British Legion had requested assistance with handling the road closures on Remembrance Day. Several Cllrs volunteered and TC agreed to liaise.
• A new Union Flag had been purchased for Remembrance Day and RM agreed to erect the flagpole and flag.
• CW asked for volunteers to deliver Newsletters on Walcott Road and AB agreed to help.
• Allotment Rents have all been collected.
• CW advised the there was no longer a position of Flood Warden under the Environmental Agency procedures. They now relied on technology to warn residents. Cllrs still thought that we should have one under the Emergency Plan to ensure nothing was overlooked.
• In the past, Cllrs were allotted areas of the village where they made regular inspections and reported problems back to the Parish Office. They were encouraged to report Highways problems direct via the “Fix My Street” app. and website to save delays. Areas of responsibility were discussed and the Clerk agreed to email Cllrs with details of the area they were expected to cover. There is a report form to advise the Parish Office and they will be sent copies of this.

15. Councillors Reports

• District Council advised that they had been briefed by Police Chief Inspector Vickers on the current position with ASB in Lincolnshire. He said he was impressed by the NKDC approach and, although there was an increase in incidents countywide, NK remained the safest district in the county.
• District Council also advised that Councillors could arrange a visit to the Lincs Energy from Waste Centre. This is available to a lot of groups including Schools.

• It was reported that a wall along the alleyway between West Street and Victoria Street was starting to lean dangerously. CW agreed to report on Fix My Street” to try and establish responsibility and initiate remedial action.
• Comment was made on the withdrawal of lighting columns and this has been highlighted in the latest newsletter.
• A deterioration of the road surface in Princess Square was reported.
• A tree root outside 47 The Whyche was causing the path surface to become dangerous. CW to report.
• The streetlight outside 59 The Whyche had been damaged and needs repair. CW to report.
• Problems with the drainage of Surface water outside 1 Sprite Lane were reported.
• There is a tree obstructing the footpath on Field Road.

16. To consider Councillor Surgeries and agree venues

It was agreed that the idea was good in principle but there needed to be a suitable and regularly available venue. It was suggested that the Coffee Morning on the Thursday each week in the Community Rooms would be ideal. CW will check to see if this is OK. It was pointed out that name badges would be required and CW will arrange for these.

17. Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony

It was reported that the Community Rooms had been booked from 5.30pm. The Ship have agreed to provide refreshments again. Stalls are still available free of charge on a first come first served basis.

The meeting agreed to go into closed session to resume discussion on item 9e above and the open meeting closed at 8.55pm. At this stage, the County Cllrs left the room and only Councillors and Office Staff remained. The meeting re-opened at 8.56pm and details are recorded in the Confidential Notes.

Appendix A

Financial Activity October 2019