Agenda November 2022

Meeting Minutes – 16th November 2022

19:00 in St. Bartholomew’s Church

Present

Cllr John Fisher (Chairman)                Cllr Michael Priestley (Vice-Chairman)          Cllr James Pask

Cllr Ivan Jones                                     Cllr Ian Shippey                                             Cllr Sarah Trotter (SKDC)

In Attendance 

Roel van Aken (Clerk)

Apologies

Cllr Martin Hill (LCC)

1. Apologies for Absence

Nil.

2. Confirmation of eligibility, quorum and Declaration of interest

All councilors present remained eligible, the meeting was quorate and no declaration of interests declared.

3. Public Representations

The public were allowed to be in attendance, but on this occasion no parishioners attended.

4. Minutes of previous meeting

It was resolved that the minutes of the previous meeting dated 14th September 2022 were an accurate record of the parish council meeting and were signed off by The Chairman.

5.   a) Reducing speeding through Welby

• Speed watch: to receive an update from the speed watch team.

No update as no sessions have taken place.

• SID: review results to date.

Review of the latest report shows similar results as from other periods. In general there seems to be a slightly better overall compliance with the speed limit compared to earlier periods although there are still some significant excess speeds recorded.

b) Fundraising strategies for Speed Indicator Devices (SID) and white gates.

All works complete – item closed.

6. County and District Councillor Reports (if Councillors present at meeting)

• Nil update from County Councillor Martin Hill on Lincolnshire County Council matters.

• Update from the District Councillor Sarah Trotter on South Kesteven District Council matters:

SKDC are trying to help with the cost-of-living crisis through an on-line hub aiming to provide targeted assistance. Details can be found on the SKDC website.

SKDC are involved in the “Homes for Ukraine” initiative

The police have a new team in place which should help with improved dissemination of local information.

7. Lincolnshire Police Report (if PCSO present at meeting)

No update available from PCSO Stuart Bowden regarding local police matters.

8. Correspondences

To receive a report from The Clerk on relevant correspondences received and action taken since last meeting.

9. Planning Applications: 

Planning applications to consider with the following planning applications received:

10. Highways

Update from The Clerk on highway faults including those reported by WPC to LCC Highways and SKDC.

11. Village Matters

a. Dog-waste bin Red Lane: currently being emptied by councilors on a Rota basis. WPC have purchased a general purpose waste bin which was installed. Sara Barnes has provided a quotation to empty this bin plus the new gold-coloured bin. This service is fully licensed and professionally executed with all the required PPE to meet the necessary safety and hygiene requirements.

WPC have approved the quotation based on a service every 2 weeks for both the gold-coloured bin and the Red Lane bin for the remainder of the FY. This will be reviewed towards the end of the FY with the aim of continuing this next FY. WPC is grateful to all the people who have been emptying the Red Lane bin on a voluntary basis to-date.

The new gold-coloured bin has been added to the asset register.

b. Repairs to bench and village sign on village green:

• park bench on village green:
  • loose coping stones on one side: will attempt to complete this in the near future before the frost sets in.
  • woodwork could do with painting: will be delayed till the spring due to the weather.
• village sign: metal post needs sanding down and repainting: will be delayed till the spring due to the weather.

c. Trees on village green: quotation for pruning work was accepted and works are scheduled for 14 December. In addition Western Power will be trimming the branches that are growing into the power lines.

d. Pigeons at Chestnut Farm.

Netting has been installed which seems to have made a substantial difference but there are still a significant number of pigeons around.

Cllr Sarah Trotter (SKDC) is still investigating if anything can be used from SKDC Environmental Health resources.

e. Restarting council surgeries.

A surgery has taken place but no villager attended. Next surgery scheduled for Saturday 7 January 10-11 am. Nearer the date this will be published on the WPC website.

A suitable pre-printed notice board will be purchased.

f. NHW: as this has restarted as suitable text together with a link to the NHW UK website will be put on the WPC website.

g. Siting of BKV bin – has been installed on the village green near the bench. Some of the prize money will be used for a Christmas tree on the village green.

h. 2023/24 precept: as this is passed on directly through the council tax charge, Welby Parish Council decided to keep this unchanged at £1,571.27 which means there has been no increase for at least 3 years.

i. Draft Code of Conduct procedure.

As part of any on-boarding of new parish council members a code of conduct statement is included in the documents required to be signed off by each individual member. Not withstanding that these documents already cover requirements adequately, WPC have also adopted an additional policy to further augment and detail the already existing procedure. This additional procedure will be published on the WPC website. As a matter of principle all policies and procedures are reviewed annually as part of the AGM.

A job description for the position of the parish clerk has also been reviewed and adopted.

12. Finance

Current bank balance stands at £4,837.59.

Since last meeting the following income has been received:

Since last meeting payments made from bank account:

Cheques raised during meeting:

The petty cash has a balance of £0.00 as of today’s date. The balance was deposited into the main a/c.

Since last meeting payments made from Petty Cash:

The Chairman signed off Cashbooks as a true record after agreement from Councilors that both bank statement and cash books were accurate.

13. Urgent business

No urgent business was raised.

14. Decide next meeting of the parish council.

The next ordinary meeting of Welby Parish Council will take place on Wednesday 18 January 2023 at 19:00 in St. Bartholomew’s Church.

Signed: ……………………………………………………………..   Chairman

Dated:………………………………………………………………..