September 2019 Minutes
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held in the Village Hall, Kettlethorpe, on Monday 02 September 2019 at 7.40 pm
Present
Cllr Richard Elliott, Chairman,
Cllr Richard Barnard,
Cllr Lauren Flinders,
Cllr Tony Scawthon,
Cllr Catherine Turner,
Cllr Lizzie Smith,
Mr. Ron Gee, clerk.
1. APOLOGIES - Cllr Tim O’Callaghan, PC Martin Doherty (now retired), PCSO Glenn Patchett .
2 MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING
The minutes of the July meeting had been circulated to all members and were proposed as a true record by Councillor Catherine Turner, seconded by Councillor Richard Elliott and agreed by the
3. MATTERS ARISING
3.1 Local Policing issues – The Crime Report for July listed 6 thefts, 7 vehicle crimes, 2 burglaries and 2 criminal damages. There was one report for Kettlethorpe Parish in which valuable parts went missing from a motor cycle that had been left for repair. Correspondence 4.1
The Crime Report for August listed 7 thefts, 4 vehicle crimes, 5 burglaries and 3 criminal damages., but no reports were recorded for this Parish. See Correspondence 4.2
3.2 Jubilee Park
i. Fences and barriers – Members are currently looking for an opportunity to fit in this work along with other pressures.
ii. Soft pour tarmac – although the RoSpa report did not list this as a problem, it was felt that there was still an issue, as the tarmac appears to have lifted a little and if it is left, serious problems could arise. Richard and Tony offered to investigate and Lizzie thought a relative might be able to help..
iii. Christmas lights – Richard reported that he has now received an extra battery box See Finance item 6.4. and suggested that if anyone notices the tree lights starting to fade during the Christmas period, to let him know and he will swap the boxes over. Although Northern Powergrid have accepted that the Festive Lighting has been disconnected from 1st January 2019, and the MPAN Nos are no longer effective, the message does not seem to have reached Npower, and the usual contact officer is currently away on 2 weeks holiday.
3.3 Highway Matters i. Speed Watch. – The Parish now has 3 volunteers for this scheme, and mention was made that interest has been shown by a fourth person, but as stated by Catherine, it was not fair to expect such a limited number of people to operate the system.
Lizzie asked at what times Speed Watch would be operated and what the penalties are for motorists logged as speeding. She was advised that the times of using Speed Watch will be up to the group running it and as to penalties, the Chairman answered that it will depend upon what percentage they are over the speed limit and if they are seen to be regular ‘speeders’, in which case, the police are likely come into the picture. Tony suggested that a prime time for running it would certainly be a Sunday morning with all the motor bikes that tear through the village.
Catherine offered to create another leaflet asking for more volunteers, in the style of “your country needs you”, giving a relatively short deadline, and hoped she could have it done during the weekend, or certainly before the next meeting and in addition will suggest that once the Parish Facebook is fully operational, it can be used to stress the importance of the scheme. The Chairman said that we then have to think of setting up the training by Lincs Road Safety Partnership.
Lizzie asked for her name to be put forward as a Speed Watch volunteer.
ii. Fault Reports – During the Council summer recess, Lincs CC Highways had advised that the bulk of the various reports had now been dealt with, e.g. potholes, road flooding etc., but Tony felt that rather than being properly cleared, only token repairs had been carried out. He suggested that we should request a visit from a representative and mentioned the name of Steve Hudson. The Chairman pointed out that in the past, there had been regular quarterly meetings between the clerk and a Highways Officer, but these had been stopped by LCC in the interests of economy. The clerk was asked to invite our County Councillor, Richard Butroid to the next meeting, to explain the Parish circumstances and indicate that the Council feels that Highways’ are failings in their duty of care.
iii. Tree branch -Tony has cut back the tree branch hiding a road sign near to the Park.
3.4 Parish Council Surgery – There had been a minor hiccup with the July Surgery, but the next will be on September 16th and will be covered by the Chairman.
3.5 Waste, Hatchery Lane – A response from the Environment Agency which is on circulation in the correspondence – item 4.6, stated that ‘they had completed their investigation and certain non compliance issues had been dealt with and there was no further evidence to suggest that other offences are being committed’. It was mentioned by members however, that it may still be worthwhile logging the names and details of trucks collecting from the site to check the validity of claims that the disposal of the manure is all above board..
Members were advised that the land on which the manure is dumped, is now owned by the farmer concerned. He has moved the heap, but only a short distance away. Comments by him that manure will not appear at the new site across the A 1133 did not ease the concern felt by members
3.6 Parish Facebook - The Facebook page has now been set up under the name Kettlethorpe PC, but further work is required to make it more user friendly. The meeting agreed that petty comments or advertising items for sale will not be accepted.
3.7 Troughs 2019 / 2020 – There has still not been any response from the potential sponsor of the Kettlethorpe Road troughs, but Lauren is to have a word with a promising replacement.
3.8 Christmas arrangements – In order to avoid a clash, enquiries are to be made as to when Saxilby are having their switch-on ceremony and Lauren offered to speak with Jennie, the Newton School secretary with a view to holding our event on Sunday 1st December. She also thought it would help the younger children if we started a little earlier in the day, say 5.00 pm. Richard is to look into borrowing floodlights again for the play area.
After the problems experienced in previous years, it was agreed that food would not be provided, although it was thought it possible that we could work in co-operation with the Friendship on this issue, with the provision of burgers and drinks in plastic glasses.
After last year’s switch-on, Richard was of the mind that a new children’s game was needed for 2019, but he was assured that all the kids loved the chocolate coins and hunting for tokens, but just in case, new ideas were requested for the next meeting.
Catherine is to confirm whether her father would continue as Father Christmas and Lizzie offered to check if her mother could bring Santa in her 4 wheeled carriage, Richard put the idea of using spare battery lights to illuminate the carriage and Tony thought the police should be advised as a precaution.
4. CORRESPONDENCE
4.1 Police Crime Report for July
4.2 Police Crime report for August
4.3 Community Speedwatch – other Parish’s views
4.4 Wetpour – new quote and comments from members
4.5 Verges, Kettlethorpe Rd – Request for maintenance – council response
4.6 Hatchery Lane – Response from Env: Agency to Richard (B)
4.7 LCC – Broadband scheme
4.8 Clerks & Councils Direct – magazine
4.9 Parish Surgery – proposed dates
4.10 Facebook comments from other councils
4.11 Npower – end of ?
4.12 LCC – Parish claim for Amenity grass cutting for 2019 - £476.78
Items received after agenda printed
4.2 Police Crime report for August
4.13 Kettlethorpe Hall resident – cessation of 106 bus service / clerk letter to Stagecoach
The clerk had written to the manager of Stagecoach in respect of the resident’s letter, explaining the difficulties caused to many members of the community by the cancellation of the service. During the discussion, it was suggested that if the Parish Council had been consulted, perhaps an acceptable solution to both parties could have been achieved, with minimal disruption to the route. For example, the bus could turn right from the A 156 after Torksey Lock, along the A1133 to Laughterton, then turn left into Kettlethorpe Road and back to Fenton, picking up passengers at the Laughterton defibrillator, with only this slight deviation from its normal route.
Unfortunately, doctor’s or hospital appointments etc cannot be kept on the basis of booking the CallConnect service, which generally requires a phone call 7 days in advance and will not be readily available for the return journey. It is not an adequate replacement for a regular bus service and will lead to the isolation of an aged community in the Parish, which apart from the Friendship Inn, does not have any amenities.
The clerk was asked to refer this matter the Transport Dept; of Lincs C.C.
E-mailed items for August – circulated 02 / 09/ 2019
5. PLANNING
5.1 Application Ref: 139624 – amendment to previous application to create access road on land adjacent to the A1133. The Chairman felt that the previous response to WLDC was still adequate, as site traffic will not have to use Marsh Lane for access. He had spoken with the farmer involved, who had said that there are no plans to move the manure storage down there, but poultry is likely to be housed in portable huts, with the possibility of some building work in the future. As stated earlier in these minutes, the comments did not ease the concern felt.
5.2 Application Ref: 139584 – Grant of permission for replacement cladding and erect car port – Nilgiri, Main Road, Laughterton. Noted by the meeting.
6. FINANCE
6.1 MKS Groundcare – 2 x grass cuts for July - 5th and 18th , Invoice No 1499 - £314.40
6.2 MKS Groundcare – 2 x grass cuts for August - 1st and 20th, Invoice No 1525 - £314.40
6.3 RoSPA – Inspection of Play Area, Invoice No 44655 - £107.40
6.4 Lights4fun – battery box and timer for festive lights – Invoice No 14710 - £7.99
Payment of the above invoices was proposed, seconded and agreed by the meeting
6.5 PAYE / Salary – for end July and end August – It had been proposed, seconded and agreed in April that these items should be paid each month.
6.6 Parish Accounts – for end July and end August. The clerk reported that expenditure from the end of March to the end of July was £4,275 and to the end of August was £4,712 as shown on the balance sheets. Cash at the bank at the end of July was £15,890 and at the end of August was £15,454 which was confirmed by the bank statements and the two Parish accounts sheets.
It was agreed by the meeting that the accounts sheets should be signed by the Chairman and the clerk.
7. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION
7.1 A sensitive issue regarding parked cars was mentioned and after discussion it was agreed that it could best be resolved by a diplomatic visit from the local police. The clerk was asked to write.
7.2 Catherine tendered her apologies for the next meeting.
8. DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting will take place in Kettlethorpe Village Hall on Monday 7th October 2019 at 7.40 pm
As there was no further business the meeting closed at 9.35 pm