2022-23 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on Wednesday 14 December 2022 at 2pm.

Present:

• Cllr G Kent (Chairman)
• Cllr Mrs J Aspinall
• Cllr Mrs B Bland
• Cllr D Fothergill
• Cllr Mrs M Gibbons
• Cllr R Harrington
• Cllr Mrs L Simons

In Attendance: Miss K Broddle (Parish Clerk) and Mrs Emma Salter.

Also Present: Cllr Carrington and Cllr Goodwin (NKDC) and one resident.

1. Public Forum – a resident made comments on smoke pollution from wood burning stoves and the Clerk advised to he speak to NKDC Environmental Health Officer. The resident also commented on private house owners planting shrubs near to their front boundary, which, in the future has a possibility of encroaching on the public footway. The Clerk advised that the Parish Council have no powers to stop or advise private house owners planting on their properties.  Where shrubs do encroach the footway, a letter can be sent asking the householder to cut back, but this is not enforceable by the Parish Council.
2. Report from LCC - Attached
3. Report from NKDC - Attached

61. Localism Act 2011 requirements

1. Apologies were received and resolved from Cllrs Mrs R Whipp, R Clark and G Peck. Apologies were also received from Cllr Cawrey (LCC) and Cllr Tinsley (NKDC).
2. Declarations of Interest received – none
3. Applications for Dispensation - none

62. Draft notes of the Parish Council meeting held on the 16 November 2022 were proposed, seconded and approved for signature as the minutes.

63. To Discuss matters raised at public forum - no discussion was necessary as the queries were dealt with by the Clerk.

64. Clerks Report:

1. The Clerk advised that a replacement panel for the large multi play piece of play equipment has had to be purchased from Kompan Ltd, due to vandalism at a cost of £606.09, of which the net figure (£505.08) will be covered by the Kompan under their ‘aftercare voucher’ and the Parish Council will need to cover the VAT amount of £101.01

65. The following items were resolved as stated:

1. Openreach Wayleaves application to install new telecommunication apparatus of, approximately 165 meters of duct and cables, one joint chamber and all cables and fittings to upgrade the existing Communications Mast - it was proposed, seconded and resolved to allow the Wayleaves application and to ensure that Openreach are fully aware that within the defined area of work Council have soak aways which, if damaged during the work, are the responsibility of Openreach to repair or replace.
2. School Lane Traffic Problems – following the request of a resident for the Parish Council to support LCC Cllr Cawrey ‘s request to LCC Highways, it was proposed, seconded and resolve to send correspondence to Cllr Cawrey asking if Highways could look into the traffic problems on School Lane and what solutions they may recommend.
3. Deferral of the grant applications decisions for 2023-24 to the January Parish Council meeting, following the Finance & General Purposes meeting, which will include the Precept recommendation to Council – it was proposed, seconded and resolved to defer the decision as requested.
4. To mark the Coronation of King Charles III – it was proposed, seconded and resolved for the Clerk and Assistant Clerk to look into the costings of seats, benches and inscriptions to mark this occasion and to report back to Council as soon as possible.
5. To start a ‘Warm Room’ facility and to request Councillor volunteers to oversee the facility – it was proposed, seconded and resolved to go ahead with this facility, starting on Thursday, 12th January 2023 from 9.30am – 12.30pm and to hold fortnightly session until 30th March 2023. Cllrs Mrs Aspinall, Mrs Bland, Mrs Simons, Kent and Fothergill volunteered their time for this project and a rota will be drawn up showing which dates each Cllr will be involved.
6. Craft Fair in the Community Centre in 2023 – it was proposed, seconded and resolved for the Clerk and Assistant Clerk to go ahead with this project and report back to Council with any further information.
7. Additional Charges for Community Centre Hirers when electrical items are left switched on at the end of bookings – following advice from the Council electricians it was proposed, seconded and resolved that all hirers will be contacted to advise that a charge of 35p per item, per hour will be charged to them, to cover the increasing cost of fuel. This will come into operation once the hirers have been notified.
8. The request to consider inviting Dr Caroline Johnson MP to speak at the Annual Parish Council Meeting – this proposal from Cllr Peck was discussed and an amendment of the proposal was proposed, seconded and resolved that should the speaker agreed at the November meeting not be able to attend, an invite will be sent to Dr Johnson.
9. Updates from Working Parties:
   1. Play Park Upgrade – the Cone Twister has been replaced, a replacement panel for the Megadeck has been ordered and an article will be added to Council’s Sheepwash update to advise of the damage and cost of vandalism to the play equipment.

66. Planning Matters:

67. Financial Matters

1. The payment schedule for December was proposed, seconded and resolved and salaries noted.
2. The accounts and budgets for November were noted, with no comments raised.
3. The Unity Trust Bank statement for November 2022 was noted with no comments.

68. Under the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960, it was proposed, seconded and resolved to move into closed session for the following item(s).

69. Previous Years Grant Applications (additional information)

1. It was proposed, seconded and resolved that the information was accepted.

• There being no other business the meeting closed at 3.25pm.

District Councillors' Report

Heighington, Washingborough & Canwick

December 2022

Covid

Data as at date shown:

• England 54 (3 Dec) positive tests per 100,000 compared to 54 (Nov)
• Heighington area 34 (3 Dec) compared to 46 (Nov)
• Washingborough & Canwick area – less than 3 (3 Dec) compared to 90 (Nov)

Letter from King Charles III

In response to a condolence letter sent on behalf of the Council and District to the King on the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the following letter has been received:

“It was so very kind of you to send me such a wonderfully generous message following the death of my beloved mother. Your most thoughtful words are enormously comforting and I cannot tell you how deeply they are appreciated at this time of immense sorrow”.

Cost of Living Crisis

The latest edition of NewsNK has been dispatched this week. It includes important information on the Cost-of-Living Crisis including;

• Financial advice – available benefits, reliable financial advice and loan shark awareness.
• Community Warm Spaces – www.warmwelcome.uk
• Ways to stay healthy for free or at low cost.
• Advice and information via the Council’s Social Media channels - https://twitter.com/NorthKestevenDC?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor

Anti-Social Behaviour – Community Trigger

Persistent or repeated acts of anti-social behaviour can have a debilitating impact on victims and the cumulative impact of such incidents over a period of time can be underestimated.

NKDC has reaffirmed its commitment to the Community Trigger process which protects victims by providing the right to request a formal review of a case. This process requires a Threshold to be met and in Lincolnshire this comprises:

The victim has reported three separate, but related incidents (within 30 days of taking place) to either the district council, police, or registered housing providers within the previous 6-month period and feel no effective action has been taken to resolve the ASB which persists.

Additionally, the District Council Community Safety Manager/Police Inspector can activate the trigger where they feel it is necessary to safeguard a vulnerable victim of ASB.

Further details on this issue can be found at https://www.n-kesteven.gov.uk/residents/living-in-your-area/community-safety/anti-social-behaviour/the-anti-social-behaviour-case-review-community-trigger/

Christmas Cyber Campaign

The National Cyber Security Centre has launched its Christmas Cyber Aware campaign. It promotes three key behaviors for the public:

• Protect you accounts: Use three random word passwords and set up 2-step verification for your email.

• Check before you buy: Research online retailers to check that they are legitimate. Read feedback from people or organisations that you trust, such as consumer websites.

• Report suspicious activity: Forward texts to 7726 and suspicious emails to report@phishing.gov.uk; and report websites via Action Fraud https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/

Individuals who think they have been a victim of fraud should contact their bank immediately and report it to Action Fraud online or call 0300 123 2040.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Your District Councillors’ wish all Parish Councillors and Residents a very safe and enjoyable Christmas!

County Council Report

As I know you will appreciate, the weather is pretty awful at the moment, so we made the decision to postpone Friday’s scheduled Highways visit to the division. We hope to reschedule for early in the new year. I was hoping to be able to bring PC members some early observations of the visit to Wednesday’s meeting, but I will make sure we feed back after the rescheduled visit.

We had our full council meeting on Friday at which we debated the decision to proceed with devolution plans with colleagues in North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire. Some of our district colleagues expressed concern that the districts would be locked out of the discussion process, but the leader, Cllr Martin Hill, gave assurances that district councils would be fully involved should the process continue. At the moment, the government is not inviting new devolution proposals, but the councils of Greater Lincolnshire want to be in the best position possible to respond and progress when the next round is announced.

The only other notable items from full council were: the announcement that the portfolio holder for Adult Social Care, Cllr Mrs Bradwell, will also take on responsibilities for migrants in the county; members have chosen not to follow the recommendation of the Independent Remuneration Panel and to take a lower, below the rate of inflation, increase in member's' allowances and; everyone supported the motion to raise awareness of the dangers of parking on pavements and to promote better parking standards.

May I take this opportunity to thank you for all your help and support over the past 12 months and to wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year?!