2021 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

SWINESHEAD PARISH COUNCIL

MINUTES FOR THE MEETING OF SWINESHEAD PARISH COUNCIL

Monday 11th October 2021

Present:    C Carl Gibbard, C Chelcei Trafford, C Michael Brookes, C Keith Osbourn, C Philippa Parnell, C Roy Hilton, C Sean Trafford, C Jean Powell, C Ian Maclean

Also Present:    3 members of public

21/085    Chairman’s remarks

Cllr CG thanked the members of public present for their attendance and proposed that in order to accommodate the members of public, item 11 on the agenda should be brought forward to after item 3. This was seconded by Cllr JP and resolved.

21/086    To receive apologies for absence and reasons given

Apologies were received from Cllrs GC and RW due them being on holiday. Cllr JP proposed to accept the apologies and reasons given, this was seconded Cllr IM and resolved.

21/087    To receive any declarations of interest in accordance with the Localism Act 2011

Cllr CT declared an interest in all planning matters due to her involvement with the Boston Borough Council Planning Committee.

21/088    To consider the suggestion from a Member of Public regarding the service charge at Villa Walk

Cllr CG requested that the service charge at Villa Walk should be taken to mean the entire Ashwood development when considering this agenda item.

Cllr CG reported that after considerable research, the fact of the matter was that the residents had purchased property on what is effectively a private estate and had agreed to the service charge to cover the costs of maintaining shared areas. Unfortunately the Parish Council has no legal footing to request that the management of the shared areas is passed to them, and it was unlikely that the company would willingly give it up.

Cllr KO added that the councillors were sympathetic to the situation and would consider this situation when presented with plans for future developments, however they were sorry that they could not do anything to help them address the situation currently. Other Councillors agreed.

Councillor CG proposed that the council could contact Matt Warman to make him aware of the situation, and ask that he offers support to the residents, this was seconded by Cllr IM and resolved.

ACTION: CLERK TO WRITE TO MATT WARMAN TO INFORM HIM OF THE SITUATION AND ASK FOR HIS BACKING.

All three members of Public left the meeting at 19:40

21/089    To receive a report of recent police activity in the village

PCSO Neil Williams sent his apologies for the meeting and forwarded the following crimes that had been reported in the village since the last meeting:

10/09/21     Criminal Damage to dwelling, Golden Grove – under investigation

06/10/21     Theft of motor vehicle, Butlers Way – under investigation

Councillors made no comment.

21/090    To agree whether the minutes of the meeting held on 13/09/21 are to be confirmed and signed an accurate record of the meeting.

Cllr MB proposed that the notes from the meeting held on 13/09/2021 were an accurate and true reflection of the proceedings and should be accepted as minutes. This was seconded by Cllr JP and resolved. Cllr CG signed the minutes.

ACTION: MINUTES TO BE POSTED ON FACEBOOK, NOTICEBOARD and WEBSITE

21/091    Financial matters: Update on financial matters, accounts for payment, budget figures and finance report

[List of accounts for payment attached]

Councillors were presented with the accounts for payment that had been checked prior to the meeting by Cllrs CG and ST. Cllr RH proposed that the accounts for payment should be approved. This was seconded by Cllr IM and resolved.

The clerk informed Councillors that the accounts for 2020/21 were being restated on advice from the AGAR and also backed up by the advice from Scribe. The reason for the advice is around the number of payments that are listed as unpresented cheques at the end of the financial year. As the accounts are based on receipts and payment, there should be no outstanding payments at the end of the month, quarter or year. The Clerk has followed the advice, restated the 2020/21 accounts and followed the new closing balance for 2020/21 through the first two quarters of this year.

Cllr RH is now re-checking the bank reconciliations and we hope to confirm these before the Finance Committee meeting on 1st November. Following the reconciliation, the Clerk will prepare and present the accounts for internal audit.

Regarding Scribe, the system is set up and ready to use, but the Clerk has decided to hold off adding further information until the restated accounts have been checked.

Councillors had no questions.

ACTION: CLERK TO MAKE PAYMENTS AS PER THE ACCOUNTS FOR PAYMENT

21/092    Planning:

B/21/0362    9, Monks Road, Swineshead, Boston, PE20 3EL

Cllr KO proposed that Boston Borough Planning should be informed that the Parish Council are unable to comment on the planning matter due to the poor quality of the application materials making the application indecipherable. Legible plans need to be uploaded in order for the parish to consider the application. This was seconded by Cllr IM and resolved. 

ACTION: CLERK TO FORWARD PLANNING COMMENTS TO BCC PLANNING DEPARTMENT

21/093    To consider the register of correspondence received since the last meeting

[List of correspondence attached as separate attachment]

Councillors asked for the following responses to be made to correspondence:

Letter from BBC regarding a beacon for the Queen’s Jubilee: Councillors suggested that this should be forwarded to Cllr RW to consider whether it is something that Swineshead could consider installing in the village.

Letter from BBC regarding the naming of the new development off South Street: Councillors counter-suggested “Gilding Fields” rather than “Westminster Fields” and asked for the Clerk to forward their suggestion to the Council.

Regarding the complaint to the Parish Council regarding out of service buses using Abbey Road at school pick up and drop off times: Councillors asked the clerk to write to Brylaine to ask if they could consider asking the drivers to use alternative route.

Regarding the complaint to the Parish Council regarding traffic on Abbey Road: Councillors asked the clerk to contact the school to make them aware and ask if they have any suggestions to help alleviate the problem.

Regarding the complaint regarding speeding on South Street: Councillors asked the clerk to respond to the member of public to inform them of our recent speeding initiatives.

ACTIONS: AS ABOVE

21/094    To receive Councillors’ verbal reports

Cllr MB: Enquired whether an application had yet been made to receive the 1 tonne salt bag from LCC, the Clerk explained that the invitation had only been received approximately an hour before the meeting and it was in hand. Cllr MB reported that a decision would be made regarding the Coney Hill layby regeneration project by the end of October. Cllr MB also informed Councillors that he’d reported some concerns from a member of the public regarding inappropriately parked cars on the corner at Northend to the police.

Cllr ST: Reported an overhanding hedge at The Elephant and Castle on South Street blocking the pavement for wheelchair users, the Clerk asked him to report this on Fix my Street. Cllr ST fed back that the police had been stopping speeding vehicles in the village in the previous week and had stopped 20 vehicles, and 4 speeding tickets had been issued. Cllr ST also reported that Community Speedwatch has given the go-ahead for six sites in the village to be used with the new mobile speed gun.

Cllr IM: Reported that he too had general concerns regarding speeding in the village. He also enquired whether a “Pride of Swineshead” weekend could be arranged periodically to address “tidying” the village. The Clerk suggested that this could be discussed further at the Councillors “Rambling Day”.

Cllr RH: Reported that Boston Road had “sunk” significantly over a very short space of time and he had reported it on Fix my Street, this had been addressed within 24 hours. Cllr RH also reported that he had received a message from Fix my Street to say that the footbridge from the Ashwood estate to Villa Lane had been mended, but he had not had the chance to check the repair in person before the meeting.

Cllr KO: Reported that he too was concerned about speeding and wondered whether traffic calming measures such as those in Heckington could be considered for the village. He also suggested that the village might benefit from a review of the road markings might be in order to deter speeding vehicles. Cllr KO requested that concerned over speeding should be an agenda item for our next meeting.

ACTIONS: CLERK TO ORDER GRIT BAG FORM LCC, CLERK TO CONTINUE TRYING TO ARRANGE A RAMBLING DAY, CLERK TO MAKE “SPEEDING” AN AGENDA ITEM FOR THE NOVEMBER MEETING.

21/095    To receive Clerk’s verbal report

21/068: Planning comments forwarded to BBC from last meeting: B/21/0277 (Wheatsheaf) Favourable with conditions; B/21/0361 (The Drayton) Favourable with conditions. Other four applications are still awaiting a decision.

21/069: Email sent to LCC Highways RE A52/The Drayton lowering the speed limit stating that the PC still support the application. The official notice was posted on Facebook and received a few comments, mostly saying that the reduction was not enough, speed should be lower and over a longer stretch of the road.

21/070: Response from the Road Safety Partnership regarding speeding on blackjack. They intend to do a speed survey but they have a backlog of work. Also, regarding the road safety campaign at the school, Cllr CG presented the winner of the sign design competition with a colouring set (paid for from Chairman’s expenses) and a copy of the sign that they had designed during an open assembly on 24th September.

21/071: Layby at SW Bridge has now been cut, matter with the broken manhole cover is still being pursued.

21/071: BT line at chapel has been cancelled, new telephone system has been “fixed” after a safety concern was raised by the volunteers.

21/073: Bins have been ordered from BBC, awaiting feedback / confirmation.

21/075: Tree Scheme: We applied for 200 trees to line the A52 as you approach Swineshead from Boston. We’ve been granted 25 trees. The trees we applied for at Coney Hill were not granted as we are not allowed to plant the trees on public highways.

21/076: Website maintenance package ordered, going well! The clerk just emails the team anything to put on the website and it’s there within hours. This means we can use our website more freely for village notices now.

21/080: Speed gun has finally been ordered, they’re not quite as easy to come by as you would like to think!

21/084: Donation for Christmas Celebrations is on this month’s accounts for payment, however there is an issue with the fact that there are currently two bank accounts and due to an ongoing problem with the high turnover in committee members. The clerk has requested and seen the constitution for the new group and would be happy to recommend that it would be safe to pay the money into the new account.

Also:

Swineshead Parish Council are now registered for a free online mapping tool called “parish online” which will allow us to define cutting areas, maintenance areas for the gardener, assets, etc. 

Defib cabinets have been moved, Clarke’s Design are now working on the stickers for SW Bridge. EMAS have been informed. The Clerk would like to work with a Councillor on the ongoing maintenance and checking of the defibrillators.

The Clerk requested that Councillors look into a possible logo for the Parish Council, this will be an agenda item for next meeting.

ACTIONS: CLERK TO CHASE CONFIRMATION OF THE ORDERING OF THE NEW BINS, CLERK TO MAKE PAYMENT TO SWINESHEAD CHRISTMAS FESTIVAL, CLERK TO MAKE “PARISH COUNCIL LOGO” AN AGENDA ITEM FOR NOVEMBER MEETING.

21/096    To discuss and agree a way forward with the actions for the Play Area

The Clerk suggested that a lot of the concerns highlighted on the report were maintenance issues rather than broken equipment, and the general maintenance (in terms of regular cleaning and low-level grounds work) has been overlooked over a long period of time. In addition there are a few broken items that need to be fixed by a play area specialist. Cllr CG proposed a list needs to be made of what work can be done in-house, and what need to be done by a specialist company and that this job should be delegated to Cllrs PP and CT to undertake before the next meeting. This was seconded by Cllr JP and resolved.

ACTION: CLLRS CT AND PP TO MEET AND AGREE TWO LISTS PRIORITISING WHAT WORK NEEDS TO BE CARRIED OUT AND BY WHO AND REPORT BACK TO THE NOVEMBER MEETING.

21/097    To consider and agree to adopt the suggested Parish Council Risk Assessment and Mitigation Plan

Cllr MB proposed that the Risk Assessment and Mitigation Plan should be adopted by the Parish Council. This was seconded by Cllr RH and resolved. Cllr CG signed the document agreed in the presence of the other Councillors.

ACTION: CLERK TO POST THIS POLICY ON THE PARISH COUNCIL WEBSITE

21/098    To consider and agree to adopt the suggested Parish Council Complaints Procedure

Cllr CG proposed that the Complaints Procedure should be adopted by the Parish Council. This was seconded by Cllr IM and resolved. Cllr CG signed the document agreed in the presence of the other Councillors.

ACTION: CLERK TO POST THIS POLICY ON THE PARISH COUNCIL WEBSITE

21/099    To consider and agree to adopt the suggested Parish Council Social Media Policy

Cllr CT proposed that the Social Media Policy should be adopted by the Parish Council. This was seconded by Cllr ST and resolved. Cllr CG signed the document agreed in the presence of the other Councillors.

ACTION: CLERK TO POST THIS POLICY ON THE PARISH COUNCIL WEBSITE

21/100    To review the delegation arrangements to committees, and review charity / local organisations representatives

At the request of Cllr CG, the Councillors representation on the various charities and organisations that were agreed at the AGM were revisited and agreed as follows:

The representative of the Poor Charity at the AGM had been a mis-communication meaning that Cllr MB had been recorded as replacing Mike Welberry Smith. Cllr MB proposed that this needed to be corrected and rectified, back-dating the decision to the AGM. This was seconded by Cllr ST and resolved, however Councillors agreed that this should be revisited at the 2022 AGM.

Cllr ST proposed that Cllr CG should replace Karen Cartwright as Village Hall representative, this was seconded by Cllr CT and resolved.

Cllr CG requested that the Swineshead Village Hall Trustees should be invited to the November meeting of the Parish Council and asked to present the 2029/20 and 2020/21 accounts.

Cllr RH proposed that Cllr ST should replace Karen Cartwright as Enhancement Society representative, this was seconded by Cllr MB and resolved.

Cllr ST proposed that the Swineshead Christmas Festival Committee should also have a Parish Council representative going forward and proposed Cllr IM for the role. This was seconded by Cllr JP and resolved.

The Clerk checked that the two Parish Council Committees representatives were correct:

Finance Committee: Cllr RH, Cllr CG, Cllr GC, Cllr ST, Cllr CT.
Community Hub and Library Management Committee: Cllr KO and Cllr JP.
Councillors agreed that this was correct.

ACTION: CLERK TO UPDATE THE REPRESENTATIVE LIST ON THE WEBSITE, AND ALSO TO INFORM KAREN CARTWRIGHT THAT HER RESPONSBILITY TO THE VILLAGE HALL COMMITTEE AND ENHANCEMENT SOCIETY WERE NOW OVER. CLERK TO INFORM THE VILLAGE HALL COMMITTEE THAT CLLR CG WAS THEIR NEW PC REPRESENTATIVE AND INVITE THEM TO THE NOVEMBER MEETING.

21:30: Cllr MB proposed that the meeting should be extended past the two hours stipulated in the 

Standing Orders in order to discuss all agenda items. This was seconded by Cllr CG and resolved.

21/101    To discuss matters regarding the Swineshead Community Hub and Library ahead of the committee meeting on Tuesday 12th October

Cllr CG reported that he was concerned that given that the Parish Council has sole responsibility for the Community Hub and Library, that the management of the facility does not seem to have had much Parish Council involvement since it was established. 

Reports from some of the volunteers has highlighted that although the library is well supported and run by the volunteers, there doesn’t seem to be much use of the facility as a Community Hub. He proposed that a list of questions that had been circulated to the Councillors prior to the meeting should be put to the Community Hub and Library Committee at the meeting on 12/10/2021 and feedback at the next Full Council Meeting. Cllr JP seconded the proposal and it was resolved. Cllr KO suggested that he thought that the questions should be raised as being from Cllr CG personally rather than the Parish Council. The Clerk reminded Cllr KO that the Council had just resolved that the questions should be presented by the Council, Cllr KO voiced that he remained displeased with this resolution.

ACTION: CLERK TO PRESENT THE QUESTIONS CIRCULATED BY CLLR CG TO THE COMMUNITY HUB AND LIBRARY COMMITTEE

The meeting was concluded at 21:45

Correspondence

October 2021

Boston Borough Council new releases (various)

Rural Services Network Bulletins (various)

LALC News (various)

CPRE Rural News (various)

YMCA News and Updated (various)