Minutes September 2024
Kettlethorpe Parish Council
Minutes of the meeting of the Parish Council held on Tuesday 10th September 2024
in Kettlethorpe Village Hall
PRESENT:
Cllr R Elliott, Chair
Cllr R Barnard
Cllr C McGowan
Cllr T O’Callaghan
Mr G Cleworth, Clerk
D/Cllr R Pilgrim
APOLOGIES
Cllrs C Turner, P Bussoopun
MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING
The Minutes of the meeting held on 9th July 2024 had been circulated to all councillors and were proposed, seconded and approved by the meeting.
PROGRESS REPORTS
Emergency plan
The Clerk had compiled some notes which had been circulated and were discussed. He was asked to begin the completion of the plan, based on the proforma issued by the LCC Resilience Forum. In view of the complexity of the proforma, the Clerk if he could have some time to work on this and report back to the Council at the November meeting. This was agreed.
Jubilee Park
The work on the soft pour tarmac had been completed
There had been no progress on the following:
repairs to brickwork
overhanging trees
repainting of barriers in the chicane
The report by RoSPA on the condition of the play park had been received and circulated to councillors. The findings were noted and areas for action identified.
Cemetery
There had been no progress on the rewilding. It was suggested that an artist’s impression of the completed rewilding project would help community interest and involvement. Posts will be placed on Facebook to ask if any local artists wished to do this.
The re had been no progress on the matter of the treatment of residents of Fenton.
Village Hall
The Chair had met Mrs Wilcox regarding her plans. Mrs Wilcox advised the possibility of two publicity banners which could be moved around the village and offered the assistance of councillors to do this. She had agreed with Mrs Wilcox to draw up a proforma leaflet for editing by Mrs Wilcox. Mrs Wilcox wished to arrange some kind of event to publicise the evnt, but was holding back on this until the school term begins, so that it can be publicised through Newton on Trent school.
Cllr Turner had some concerns re what the Village Hall were seeking to achieve. The Clerk felt it would be helpful to have a clarification of what the position would be should the current management of the Hall fail. He will investigate via the Charity Commissioners and possibly Companies House to seek a copy of the founding Trust deed.
Water ingress to properties on Main Road, Laughterton
There had been no progress. D/Cllr Pilgrim will approach LLC Highways for assistance.
Laughterton bus shelter refurbishment
There had been no progress. Following the reinstatement of the 106 bus route, this becomes more pressing. Cllr Barnard will investigate.
Mr R Brownlow sewer problem
D/Cllr Pilgrim advised that WLDC had this matter in hand under their reference 442972. No further action decided.
CORRESPONDENCE
Correspondence for July/August/September to date had been circulated to all councillors.
Clerks and Councils Direct
letter from Mr A Scawthon
PLANNING
nothing to report
FINANCE
The payment of the following invoices for July/August:
already paid: HSBC ,monthly charge £8.00 x 2; All Round Gardens re grass cutting £476.00; F5 Computing invoices £43.50 x 2; RoSPA re safety inspection £117.60; Robert Marshall & Sons re soft pour tarmac £780.00
Clerk – PAYE AND SALARY for July & August
PARISH ACCOUNTS
end of July: income £11597.23; expenditure £5069.15; balance £17088.19
end of August: income £11625.81; expenditure £7019.25; balance £15166.67
These were agreed and accepted by the meeting
The Clerk had prepared an estimate of income and expenditure to the end of the financial year and circulated this to all councillors. This indicated an estimated surplus of £5007 after taking account of the balances in the Jubilee Park and contingency funds.
ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION
(a) The meeting authorised the Clerk to purchase a wreath for Remembrance Day
(b) The date for the Christmas lights switch on was confirmed for Sunday 1st December. It will be necessary to find someone prepared to be Santa.
(c) Publicity had been received from WLDC regarding the Pets Aren’t Prizes campaign to end the practice of fairgounds giving goldfish and other live prizes. This was noted and left on the table.
(d) The Clerk had received the Rights of Way mowing report from LCC. This was noted and left on the table.
(e) Mrs G Nunn addressed the Council. She felt that the Kettlethorpe village sign was in a poor state of repair and sited in the wrong place. She asked if consideration could be given to replacing and resiting it. She had obtained quotations for a replacement sign and asked if the community could be consulted for input into the design. The cost would be £2767 + VAT for one sign, around £5000 + VAT for two. Cllr Barnard was looking into alternative quotes.
She also advised that two 30mph speed limit signs had appeared near the Church, which she considered not compatible with the ambience of the area.
The meeting considered her remarks. The major drawback was the costs which the meeting was not minded to meet. If the residents of Kettlethorpe village wanted a new sign and were prepared to meet the costs, the Council would be prepared to proceed.
Regarding the speed limit signs, the council had not been made aware of these. It was thought that the County Council might have installed them as part of the siting of a 30mph sign on Kettlethorpe Lane some months ago. The signs will be inspected with a view to asking the CC to remove them.
The Clerk will advise Mrs Nunn of this.
(f) Mr Scawthon’s letter covered two topics:
(1) he asked if a unlocked general notice board could be provided for residents to post items in without the need to refer to the Council
The meeting was not inclined to agree to the request due to the siting of the notice board and lack of control over the content of what is posted
(2) he asked if digital speed indicators could be positioned at the Newton on Trent end of Main Road to reduce the numbers of speeding drivers and asked if the Parish Council had a duty of care in this regard.
The major objection was the cost as to be effective, the indicators would need to be at both ends of the village. With respect to duty of care, in the case of highways, this rests with LCC. The PC’s duty of care is to advise LCC of a speeding issue and for them to investigate it.
DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting will take place in Kettlethorpe Village Hall on 8th October 2024 at 7pm.
The Chair closed the meeting at 9.05pm.