February 2023 Minutes
Kettlethorpe Parish Council
Minutes of the meeting of the Parish Council held on Tuesday 14th February 2023 at 7pm in Kettlethorpe Village Hall
PRESENT:
Cllr R Elliott, Chairman
Cllr R Barnard
Cllr P Bussoopun
Cllr T O’Callaghan
Cllr J Willis
Mr Geoff Cleworth, Clerk
APOLOGIES
Cllr C Turner; D/Cllr J Ellis
MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING
The Minutes of the meeting held on 10th January 2023 had been circulated to all councillors and were proposed, seconded and approved by all Councillors.
PROGRESS REPORTS
Jubilee Park
Cllr Elliott had spoken to Richard Bingham who had inspected the springies and had offered to instal them free of charge. The soft pour tarmac will be installed when the weather is more favourable
Cllr Willis had removed and disposed of the overhanging tree branch.
Highways
There had been no progress. D/Cllr Ellis was pursuing the matter on our behalf and will report.
Christmas lights
There had been no progress. The Clerk will approach WLDC for advice and try other power providers to ascertain if they would be prepared to accommodate unmetered supply.
Parish notice boards
There had been no progress
Parish Dinner
The Chairman had distributed menus to all councillors and booked the Lord Nelson for 7pm on 24th February
Update of website
It was decided that the Clerk would be booked into the LALC course in April. The Council will pay for the course solely, rather than subscribe to the block booking fee system operated by LALC.
Contribution to Church grass cutting expense
Research of old accounts revealed that a contribution had been made in 2021. It was agreed that the Council needed to see a copy of the last invoice, to assess what we could offer as a contribution. The Clerk will contact the Parochial Church Council for this.
LOCAL POLICING ISSUES
The Police crime report for January had been received. No incidents affected the Parish.
RECTORS WALK
The posts and barbed wire surrounding the tree guards will not be proceeded with following objections from the landowner. Instead, substantial metal stakes will be employed to stabilise and protect the surrounds. Cllr Barnard will order the steel.
The End of Project report needs to be submitted by the end of the month. The wording was discussed and the Clerk will complete this and forward to Mr Fowler for oversight. It was decided we will pay the VAT relating to the project along with surplus budget.
The opening ceremony was felt to have been a success, with between 80 and 100 people attending what had been a very enjoyable day.
CORRESPONDENCE
Correspondence for January/February to date had been distributed to all Councillors.
PLANNING
Application reference 144120
Nothing further had been heard with regard to this issue. The Clerk had raised a complaint to Severn Trent Water.
Application reference 145587
The application had been approved by WLDC, with conditions.
Application reference 142026
Observations by Cllr Barnard were noted.
Application ref 146038
The meeting gave consideration to this new application and had several matters for concern. The quality of the site map was very uninformative. The site was very close to a bridle path also used by dog walkers, creating obvious risks. The proposed lighting would and consequent light pollution would be a threat to wildlife, including endangered and protected species. There should be a stipulation that if granted, this should be on condition that if the proposed usage of the land ceases, the land will be returned to its previous use as agricultural land.
FINANCE
The payment of the following invoices for January/February to date were agreed by the Council:
F5 COMPUTING – invoice 11903 Monthly charges - £40.86; HSBC bank charges for January - £8.00; reimburse Cllr BARNARD for printer paper for Rectors Walk flyer £4.45 and beer for Mr R Finney re Christmas lighting £15 LALC - annual subs for 2023/24 £150.70
The LCC contribution to grass cutting expenses had been advised
CLERK – PAYE AND SALARY
PARISH ACCOUNTS
end of January – balance £12538.63; expenditure £162873.79
These were agreed and accepted by the meeting
The Clerk had received a letter from HMRC advising we have a credit balance of £360.60 on our account. He had contacted them and this had been amended, we now owe them £13.65. The majority of this arose from Mr Gee paying PAYE of £75 instead of £93.75 in respect of his July salary, adjusted for small items written off by HMRC. He had paid the outstanding £13.65 to HMRC and this was ratified by the meeting.
ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION
The Clerk had obtained an agreement from All Round Gardens for 2023.
The upcoming Coronation was discussed. The churches at Kettlethorpe and Newton on Trent were coming together to hold a Gala on the Sunday, along with the Big Lunch, which would be in the form of a barbecue. These will be held at the Hall. Cllr Barnard had registered with the Eden Project regarding the Big Lunch. The Clerk had received an advertisement for commemorative mugs, but these would prove very expensive, especially if given to the children of the village as a gift. He will investigate other sources of mugs. The haning out of commemorative coins was discussed. The Chairman will consult the Chairs of Fenton and Newton on Trent PCs, with a view them joining in.
Publicity from Futurform Ltd re a memorial bench for the late Queen, Astco clothing recycling, Lincs Police Crime Commissioner survey and Complete Communities were discussed and left on the table.
The Clerk had received nomination forms for the Election in May and distributed these among councillors. He will arrange to collect and deliver completed paperwork to WLDC, but would not undertake chasing councillors, as it is their responsibility to ensure the forms are delivered.
The question of our continuing access to our graveyard in the event the Church were to be sold in the future was raised. It was felt this was a very remote possibility and that in any event, the length of time that we had used the Churchyard to access our land, a right of access had been established.
DATE OF NEXT MEETING
This will take place in Kettlethorpe Village Hall at 7pm on Tuesday 14th March 2023.
The Chairman closed the meeting at 9pm.