September 2018 Minutes
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held in the Village Hall, Kettlethorpe, on Monday 3rd September 2018 at 7.40 pm
Present
Cllr Richard Elliott, Chairman,
Cllr Richard Barnard,
Cllr Tim O’Callaghan,
Cllr Catherine Turner,
Mr. Ron Gee, clerk. Mr A. Scawthon, prospective councillor
1. APOLOGIES
Cllr David Byrne, PC Martin Doherty, PCSO Glenn Patchett.
2. MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING
The minutes of the meeting on July 3rd, had been circulated to all members and were proposed as a true record by Councillor T. O’Callaghan, seconded by Councillor C. Turner, and approved by the meeting.
3. MATTERS ARISING
3.1 Local Policing issues – The July Crime Report advised of one burglary, four thefts, no vehicle crimes and two criminal damages. There were no recorded incidents for this Parish, although Neighbourhood Alert had warned against accepting fake invitations to join the LinkedIn scheme.
The Report for August listed six burglaries, five thefts, four vehicle crimes and two criminal damages. One item on the Report referred to an attempted theft from a shipping container in Kettlethorpe, that was aborted when the alarm was activated. An e-mail from Neighbourhood Alert advised of a Range Rover stolen from Saxilby.
3.2 Jubilee Park
i. Painting – fence panels, bus shelter & exit barriers Richard had purchased 2 x 10 litre tins of Forest Green preservative for the Park fence and a tin of One Coat black for the exit barriers. He will use a spray gun on the fence and may need help with brushing any moss off first. He plans to liaise with residents before spraying any shared fences.
The exit barriers are to be sanded and then painted with ‘One Coat’ black.
3.3 Highway Matters - The land owner has given permission for posts to be erected on the verges of Pumping Station Lane [off Kettlethorpe Road], across which the barrier chain is to be hung. Richard suggested that snap on clips or carabiners could be used instead of locks / keys and Tony had a chain that he thought might fit the bill. If this chain is not long enough, Cllr Catherine Turner proposed that a longer chain should be purchased. This was seconded by Cllr Tim O’Callaghan and agreed by the meeting. The clerk had advised Severn Trent of the scheme and had received an acknowledgement.
3.4 Data protection – The Chairman, Catherine and the clerk are to meet on Monday 10th to discuss this issue further.
3.5 Npower problems – Catherine had received a response from the Ombudsman in respect of the Parish claim, which mentioned the compensation to be paid by Npower, a sum which she said, was pretty much as expected.
Tony stated that considering that such a small amount of electricity is used for just one month a year, the fees charged by NPower are extortionate. He asked if an approach had been made to the street lighting authority for permission to tap into their supply. All agreed that it was certainly time to look for another source and asked what notice of cancellation Npower may require.
Enquiries are to be made into the cost of solar powered tree lights in lieu of the existing ‘mains powered’ variety, which will need an extra length in any case, due to the growth of the tree,
3.6 Flower troughs – Tim had been contacted by residents who felt that rather than the current advertising slogans on the troughs, notices saying ‘children at play’, or ‘slow down’ would have been better. He had explained that by using sponsors, all six troughs had been provided at little or no cost to the Parish. Catherine is to contact Easy Grass in respect of their advert: and the Chairman offered to look into what stock to provide, when the present flowers have died off. It was suggested that metal trays, made to fit inside the troughs and hold soil, would be a safe way of changing the plants ‘off-site’ when necessary. Tim offered to speak with Mike Miles to see if he could provide or make them.
3.7 Parish Council Surgery – The Friendship landlord with whom Catherine had been dealing has now left and a new person is expected shortly. She has created a draft letter quoting the times of the Surgeries, inviting residents to come in and raise any problems with a Councillor or just have a chat. She will approach the pub’s new owner and will do the first surgery in October herself. She mentioned that in publicising the surgeries, it was necessary not to miss out Kettlethorpe.
3.8 Slaughterhouse waste – D/Councillor Kinch had been contacted again to check if he had any news and in an e-mailed response to the Parish, (Correspondence item 4.7) he said that although they were very reluctant to give out actual names and numbers, he now had an email address for a person at the Environment Agency North for land spreading. He is to email the Lincoln EA office shortly and suggested that if the smell became really bad, everyone should call the emergency line 0800 807060. Tim mentioned that on that score, Dunham Bridge staff and the Trentside Links’ editors had made strong complaints and he was aware that a head office representative from Pears appeared to be investigating the situation, which was thought to relate to the inadequate use of a thermal oxidiser, said to be expensive to operate.
Tim mentioned that he was still receiving complaints about the dumping of chicken manure just off Newark Road, where it was thought that Andrew Arden was using the area as a Waste Disposal Site.
3.9 Mr Alex Thompson vacancy – It was proposed by Councillor Tim O’Callaghan, seconded by Councillor Richard Barnard that Mr Tony Scawthon should be co-opted on to Kettlethorpe Parish Council to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of Mr Alex Thompson. There was full agreement from the meeting and the clerk passed the necessary papers to Tony for signature and return, before being forwarded to WLDC.
3.10 Mrs Sharon Evans vacancy – The Chairman asked members to weigh up suitable candidates for consideration at the next meeting.
3.11 Christmas Event Planning – Richard, with the help of the Newton School secretary, had pencilled in a tentative date of 2nd December, as it did not appear to clash with other local Christmas events (Lincoln Christmas Market, Saxilby switch-on etc) and the children would be available for the carol singing. He mentioned that there had been a change of Head Teacher since last year, following the retirement of Mrs Bristow with Ms Amy Riley, assuming the reins.
A slightly changed format was suggested, with the carol singing to take the form of a general sing-along. For the food, it was remembered that Mr Guy Lister and Mr Kevin Gilbert did a sterling job serving the burgers last year and for Santa Claus, the name of Mr Simon Evans (Sharon’s husband) was put forward, if he is willing. The clerk is to check if Jamie Kyme will be free to provide the music. It was suggested that a fundraising raffle or quiz could be held at the pub in conjunction with the event.
3.12 Fund-raising day resume’- £125.60 had been raised in total, plus a donation of £50, from Mr & Mrs Kevin Gilbert, with all monies to go towards traffic calming measures in Laughterton. It was suggested that if the fund raising is to be carried out next year, there is a strong case for setting up a committee of like-minded people for which several names were put forward.
4.0 CORRESPONDENCE
4.1 Police Crime Reports for July and August
4.2 Parish footpath letter to LCC and Highway’s response
4.3 Silver Trees Farm - Parish statement to Planning Inspectorate
4.4 Sharon – resignation letter, Chair response
4.5 Richard / clerk – footpath Kettlethorpe Road to Fenton – LCC response
4.6 WLDC – vacancies, Approval to co-opt for each
4.7 Slaughterhouse waste - D/Cllr Kinch, response to Parish enquiry
4.8 Fundraising, ex-Cllr S. Davis - £18 banked
4.9 Fake camera / Speed van in Marton - clerk and Chairman’s letter to LRSP
4.10 WLDC – Meetings Sept to December
4.11 Severn Trent – response regarding chain barrier
4.12 Hedges - Newark Road
4.13 Npower / Ombudsman
4.14 Community Emergency Planning
4.15 Hand held speed cameras
4.16 Speeding in Laughterton – Chairman letter & response from LRSP
Circulars
4.a Clerks & Councils Direct - magazine
4.b LALC – Annual report
Items received after agenda printed
4.17 Message from Lincs Fire & Rescue – to be forwarded to local organisations who may benefit, such as the WI, the Church, the Bowls Club, the Village Hall.
5. PLANNING
None
6. FINANCE
6.1 MKS Groundcare – grass cutting for July. Cut & collect Play Area & Churchyard - £60, strim verges & paths, £100 – Total £160 incl: VAT, Invoice 1148. Payment of this account was proposed by Cllr Turner, seconded by Cllr O’Callaghan and agreed by the meeting.
MKS Groundcare – grass cutting for August. Cut & collect Play Area & Churchyard - £60, strim verges & paths - £100 –Total £160 incl: VAT, Invoice 1175. Payment was agreed by the meeting, proposed by Cllr O’Callaghan, seconded by Cllr Barnard
6.2 MKS Groundcare – Spray weeds and clean up block paving footpath, Jubilee Park - £50.00 incl: VAT, Invoice 1126. Payment was proposed by Cllr C. Turner, seconded by Cllr T. O’Callaghan and approved by the meeting.
6.3 PAYE / Salary - for end July and end of August. Having been approved for monthly payment at the start of the year, approval was agreed for the payment of these items.
6.4 Parish Accounts – for end July and end August - The balances at the bank for the end of July (£15,465.61) and at the end of August (£14,830.26), were shown to agree with the Accounts statements and the meeting recommended that Chairman and clerk should sign the statements’ sheets.
7 ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION
7.1 Facebook – The clerk reported that several residents had complained about the Parish Facebook account not being up to date. He had explained that the app: was linked to a retired Councillor’s e-mail address and would need to be changed before it could be brought into service again. He asked the meeting if anyone had experience in setting up a new site and Catherine offered to speak her husband who may be able to help.
8. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
It was agreed to change the date of the next meeting from 1st to 8th October as insufficient members will be available to form a quorum on the 1st. Clerk to confirm the availability of the Hall.
As there was no further business, the meeting closed at 9.40 pm