2021 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

SWINESHEAD PARISH COUNCIL

MINUTES FOR THE MEETING OF SWINESHEAD PARISH COUNCIL

Monday 8th November 2021

Present:

C Carl Gibbard, C Chelcei Trafford, C Michael Brookes, C Roger Welberry, C Philippa Parnell, C Roy Hilton, C Sean Trafford, C Jean Powell, C Ian Maclean

Also Present:   Natalie Grant, Temporary Clerk

2 members of public

There were no representations from the member of public present.

21/102   Chairman’s remarks

Cllr CG thanked the members of public for attending the meeting and proposed that in order to accommodate them, item 10 on the agenda should be moved to after agenda item 3. This was seconded by Cllr MB and resolved.

Cllr CG remarked that he was very pleased with the current direction of the Parish Council in general and felt that the Councillors would soon be in a position to be much more proactive in the community now that the administration and finances were in better order.

21/103   To receive apologies for absence and reasons given

Apologies received from Cllr KO and Cllr GC.

21/104   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.

Cllr RH declared a personal interested in planning application B/21/0467.

Cllr CG declared a pecuniary interest in matters relating to the temporary Clerk’s office due to being a director of Gillrange who own the offices at North End. He reminded Councillors that the office was being provided free of charge at the moment.

21/105   Planning:

B/21/0463; Dial House Barn, Timms Drove, Low Grounds, Swineshead, Boston, PE20 3PG

Cllr RW commented that he was disappointed that the original change of use had been granted on a previous application at this address but now that had been passed, he had no objections to this additional change of use.

B/21/0467; Land adjacent to Bebb House, Fenhouses Drove, Fenhouses Lane, Swineshead, Boston, PE20 3HF

Cllr RH left the meeting while this item was discussed. Councillors had no objections.

B/21/0477; The Stables, Forefen Lane, Swineshead, Boston PE20 3HE

Councillors had no objections.

Cllr CG proposed that the Clerk should inform Boston Borough Council Planning Department that no objections had been raised by the Parish Council to the above planning applications. This was seconded by Cllr ST and resolved.

ACTION: CLERK TO FORWARD PLANNING COMMENTS TO BCC PLANNING DEPARTMENT

Both members of public left the meeting at 19:52

21/106   To receive a report of recent police activity in the village

The clerk informed Councillors that there had been no police report received prior to the meeting, adding that this is very unusual.

Cllr ST commented that there had been local reporting of two quite major police matters in the village since the last meeting and requested that a representative from the police should attend the next meeting to discuss these matters further. The locally reported crimes related to an air rifle being used in a residential area and also intimidation and criminal damage from a group of youths in the village.

ACTION: CLERK TO REQUEST A POLICE PRESENCE AT THE DECMBER MEETING

21/107   To agree whether the minutes of the meeting held on 12/10/21 are to be confirmed and signed an accurate record of the meeting

Cllr CT proposed that the notes from the meeting held on 12/10/2021 were an accurate and true reflection of the proceedings and should be accepted as minutes. This was seconded by Cllr RH and it was resolved. Cllr CG signed the minutes.

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

21/108   To receive an annual report and summary of accounts for 2019/20 and 2020/21 from the Village Hall Committee

Unfortunately, the Village Hall Committee sent their apologies for the meeting, but assured Councillors that the accounts were in hand and would be presented to the council at the next meeting. Cllr CG informed Councillors that he had chased the matter personally and that he had been assured that the finances were currently in hand and would be reported at the next Parish Council meeting.

ACTION: CLLR CG TO CHASE THE ACCOUNTS AND PRESENT THEM AT THE DECEMBER MEETING

21/109   Financial matters: Update on financial matters, accounts for payment

The Clerk reported that last year’s accounts have now been restated and Cllr RH had reconciled the accounts against statements. Clerk is now preparing the accounts for internal audit but was confident that the work of organising the finances was now complete.

Cllr CG thanked the Clerk and Cllr RH for all their hard work in restating last year’s accounts and bringing the accounts and relevant paperwork up to date.

Councillors were presented with the accounts for payment (see separate attachment) that had been checked prior to the meeting by Cllrs CT and PP. Cllr RH proposed that the accounts for payment should be approved. This was seconded by Cllr IM and resolved.

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

21/110   To consider outcomes and recommendations from the Finance Committee meeting held on Monday 1st November 2021:

To approve the recommendation to reallocate the existing earmarked funds and create a new “RESERVES” earmarked fund:

The Clerk read a list of suggested changes to the current earmarked funds that had been recommended by the Finance Committee at their meeting on 1st November. These were as follows:

Mackey’s Pit: The Finance Committee recommended that no changes were necessary. This fund needs to remain as a record of receipts and payments related to Mackey’s Pit. The clerk noted that although the balance in this fund is currently low, we were expecting receipt of monies from Enhancement Society for the Fishing Platforms that were purchased earlier in the year.

Library: Again this should remain as record of receipts and payments related to the Community Hub and Library. The Finance Committee proposed that this fund should be renamed “Community Hub and Library Fund” to reflect the proper nature of the use of the fund. The Finance Committee asked that it was noted that reserves in this fund is HIGH and recommended that some money could be spent on the provision of community hub activities to benefit the community. 
Cllr MB seconded the proposal for the name change and it was resolved.

Streetlights: The original recommendation from the Finance Committee was to spend the earmarked fund on the £8400 quotation to repair/replace the lighting defects that were presented to the Parish Council by BBC in September. This would clear the earmarked fund and put it slightly in deficit (approximately £300), with no more expected costs this financial year.

The clerk reported that the balance of this earmarked fund was now considerably lower than was reported at the Finance Committee meeting due to the restated accounts from 2020/21 and needed to be reconsidered. Councillor RH proposed that the fund should be topped up by £4500 from the general funds and the work needed on the lights should go ahead as soon as possible. This was seconded by Cllr ST and resolved.

Elections: The Finance Committee proposed that this fund should be topped up to £9000 for possible election costs. This should then remain at £9000 and be considered annually at the budgeting meeting and only budget to add more money to this pot if the fund has been depleted during the previous year. The proposal was seconded by Cllr IM and resolved.

Asset Sales: The Finance Committee recommended that this was an unnecessary fund and therefore the balance should be moved to available funds and the fund can be dissolved. Cllr RH proposed that the recommendation should be actioned, this was seconded by Cllr PP and resolved.

NEW FUND: The Finance Committee recommended that a new earmarked fund, “RESERVE” should be created, with an opening balance of £15000. Similar to the Elections fund, it would be considered annually at the budgeting meeting and money would only be budgeted for this fund if it had been depleted during the year so that at the start of each financial year this fund should have a balance of £15000. Cllr RH proposed that the recommendation should be actioned, this was seconded by Cllr IM and resolved.

ACTION: CLERK TO MAKE CHANGES AS ABOVE AND REPORT ON UPDATED FINANCES AT THE DECEMBER MEETING

To approve the recommendation to set up an ad-hoc working party to consider the Asset Register and Grass Cutting and Gardening/Handyman requirements for 2022/23

The Finance Committee recommended that a group of councillors with good prior knowledge of the council and the village should form an ad-hoc working group and set a day aside to aid the clerk in mapping out the grass cutting requirements, the role of the gardener/handyman and the also to populate the asset register with missing items. Cllr CG suggested that Cllrs MB, RW and KO were most the obvious choice for this ad-hoc group. Cllr CG proposed that this group should be set up and try to meet before the December meeting. This was seconded by Cllr MB and resolved.

ACTION: CLERK TO ARRANGE AD-HOC GROUP AND MEETING

To consider spending requirements for 2022/23 ahead of the Finance Committee budget setting meeting 

The Finance Committee recommended that any specific spending requirements should be considered as soon as possible so that the process for budgeting for next year could begin. They asked Councillors to consider any areas for capital spending, or areas where the currently budget had not been adequate. Cllr MB asked whether additional measures to combat speeding should be considered for capital spending. Councillors agreed that this should be discussed further under Agenda item 15.

ACTION: COUNCILLORS TO CONSIDER ADDITIONAL AREAS OF EXPENDITURE FOR NEXT YEAR’S BUDGET

21/111   To consider outcomes and recommendations from the Community Hub and Library Committee meeting held on Tuesday 12th October 2021:

To approve the recommended amendments to the Terms of Reference

Cllr JP presented the outcomes of the meeting to the Full Council and proposed that the GLL Library Development Officer should be added to the Management Committee. This was seconded by Cllr CG and resolved.

Cllr CG proposed that an additional two Councillors should be added to this Management Committee and the Terms of Reference updated accordingly. This was seconded by Cllr ST and resolved.

The Clerk also reminded Cllr JP that as the Parish Council Code of Conduct also applied to all members of the Management Committee, then all member of the committee should be asked to sign a copy of the Code of Conduct. Similarly in that the Parish Council Standing Orders govern the meeting; all Committee members should be made aware of the Standing Orders. Cllr CG proposed that the Committee members should be asked to sign the Code of Conduct at the next meeting and be made aware of where they can access the Standing Orders. This was seconded by Cllr ST and resolved.

ACTION: CLERK TO AMEND THE TERMS OF REFERENCE TO INCLUDE GLL LIBRARY DEVELOPMENT OFFICER AND TWO ADDITIONAL COUNCILLORS IN THE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE. CLERK TO PROVIDE COPIES OF THE CODE OF CONDUCT FOR THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS TO SIGN AND EMAIL THEM A LINK TO THE STANDING ORDERS ON THE PARISH COUNCIL WEBSITE.

To receive feedback regarding the Licence Agreement with the Methodist Chapel

Cllr JP reported that concerns had been raised about the restrictive nature of the Licence Agreement meaning that it was difficult for Community Hub activities or extended hours for the library to be put in place. However, further to the meeting Cllr JP had spoken to a representative from the Methodist Chapel and understood that there was currently no Minister at the Chapel, and therefore the Licence Agreement had been sent to the Methodist Chapel Head Office for the changes to be made, They had returned the Licence Agreement and said that it was not fit for purpose and needed to be completely re-drafted. This was currently in hand and the Parish Council would be provided with a new licence agreement to consider when it was ready.

ACTION: AWAITING FEEDBACK FROM CHAPEL

To receive feedback from the questions that the Councillors posed to the Committee, including usage and actions

Cllr JP reported the following answers to the questions posed at the Management Committee meeting:

Q1, is money being raised by charging for photocopying, fines and selling second-hand books? If so, how much.

2017/18 = £25.95, 2018/19 = £224.14, 2019/20 = £70. Book fines have been stopped due to covid (GLL decision) and they might not return. Second-hand book sales were also stopped due to covid but these were being re-introduced imminently.

Q2, are Community Hub events put on?

Very few, some storytelling and craft sessions have been put on in the past, also library sessions with cubs/beavers and Mon Ami. Space is a limiting factor and also the licence agreement is limiting due to hours, but the Chapel representative said that this could be reconsidered.

Q3, what activities other than library functions have taken place?

PCSOs and CAB can’t use due to lack of privacy, gardening club used use it but again, lack of space has but them off. Covid has also had an impact on the possibility of community hub aspect of the library.

Q4, are you working with other libraries?

Yes, through the library development officer. Also stock rotation and book ordering, etc.

Q5, how is activity, finance and management brought to the attention of the Full Council?

Through Management Committee meetings which are then reported back to full Parish Council.

Q6, does the Management Committee have any recommendations?

Yes, increasing opening hours to accommodate school-aged children. Maybe introduce a competition to encourage kids?

Q7, are there any issues that need corrective action?

Yes, a phone that can be used on speaker would be useful. A sign should be ordered to direct people from the main road. A parcel box would be useful for borrowers to deposit books at the end of the lease. Also, a new bookshelf for used books to be sold from and some colouring pencils and colouring books would be good too. More volunteers are needed also.

Cllr CG thanked Cllr JP for her feedback from the committee and asked for the suggested purchases to be put as an agenda item at the next meeting.

ACTION: CLERK TO MAKE SUGGESTED LIBRARY SPENDING AN AGENDA ITEM FOR DECEMBER

21/112   To consider the register of correspondence received since the last meeting

Councillors considered the attached list of correspondence and responded as follows:

Heritage England: Cllr RW asked for more information on this to be forwarded to him

Filling Stations Project: Cllr CT to respond

Request for CCTV: Councillors responded that this has been considered in some depth recently and it had been decided that this was not something that they would be looking into at the moment.

Rural Services Network: Councillors asked the Clerk to cancel their subscription with this organisation.

ACTION: CLERK TO FORWARD EMAIL FROM HERITAGE ENGLAND TO CLLR RW, CLERK TO REPONDE TO MOP RE CCTV, CLERK TO CANCEL RSN MEMBERSHIP
   
21/113   To receive Councillors’ verbal reports

Cllr CT asked if there was anything that the Council could do regarding the increasing amount of low-level crime that is happening in the village, reportedly at the hands of a small group of youths. Councillors discussed this and agreed that perhaps a representative from the police should attend the next meeting so that this could be discussed further.

20:55 Councillor CG made his apologies and left the meeting due to feeling unwell.

Cllr CT also asked if anything could be done regarding the number of deer that were being killed on local roads. Councillors agreed that this was not really something that they felt there was a simple solution for and not worth pursuing.

Cllr RH asked the clerk if she could keep chasing the County Council about the broken manhole at Swineshead Bridge. He also asked if the Clerk could re-report the issue of Royal Mail dropping rubber bands in the village.

Cllr PP reported that she had carried out an inspection at the Play Area and had a list of jobs broken down into what she felt could be done in-house and what needed to be done by an external company and asked for this to be an agenda item at the next meeting. She also passed comment about a fallen branch in the play area which had been spray painted with a red cross. No-one knows what this meant, and Cllr MB suggested that the Clerk could report this to the Poor Charity who own the land.

Cllr MB reported that he was still waiting for feedback about the proposed Coney Hill regeneration project. He also reported that the police had fed back to him that the cars parked at Northend were not causing an issue and the members of public who had reported the issue would be contacted.

Cllr IM reported that the big pine tree on Abbey Road was causing a mess on the road which could make driving conditions slippery and asked if anything could be done about it. Councillors agreed that as the tree was on private land and had a TPO on it, there was not a lot they could do about it.

Cllr JP reported a light out on the footpath behind the Green Dragon. Cllr ST informed Cllr JP that this had already been reported on Fix my Street.

Cllr ST Councillor informed Councillors that he had been liaising with Boston Borough Council about the Councillor Grant Scheme that was available and suggested that he pursue a £1000 grant to go towards regenerating Coney Hill into a Covid Reflection area. He requested this as an agenda item for December meeting.

Cllr ST reported that he and Cllr MB had arranged to borrow some road signs and ‘SpeedWatch’ cones from another parish who currently weren’t using them so that they could get the speed gun up and running ASAP. He hoped to be out with the gun by the end of the week and be able to feedback at the December meeting.

The Clerk read the following statement from Cllr KO in his absence: “I would like to apologise to the Council for my criticism of the Chairman at the last meeting. I had a valid point to make but should not have been as critical as I was. If present I would have made this apology in person. I have also emailed the Chairman with a personal apology.”

ACTIONS: AS ABOVE

21/114   To receive Clerk’s verbal report

The clerk reported that all actions completed as per minutes from October.

21/088: Not yet received a response form Matt Warman RE the service charge at Villa Walk but made it clear that the PC support the members of the public and their concerns.

21/092: Forwarded comments about the state of the documents to the planning committee, in turn they just posted the comments on the planning portal as our response. In essence the Parish Council have now not considered these plans.

21/093: No response to the email about the naming of the new development opposite the chip shop, clerk to chase; response from Brylaine about the buses using Abbey Road – this has now stopped; response from the school about traffic on Abbey Road, there’s unfortunately not a lot they can do about the situation.

21/094: Grit bag ordered; BBC been asked to liaise with Cllr JP regarding deliver to the Church Hall.

21/095: New bins have been installed on Villa Lane, Station Road and A52/Abbey Road junction and added to the asset register.

21/096: No movement on the repairs to the Play Area. Clerk has made some enquired about local companies that might be able to quote for work. This is to become an agenda item for December at the request of Cllr PP.

21/100: Clerk emailed Karen Cartwright to thank her for her representation on the Enhancement Society and Village Hall Committee. Village Hall Committee informed of our new council representative.

ACTIONS: AS ABOVE

21/115   To discuss the introduction of a logo for the Parish Council to encourage a stronger identity

Cllr RH proposed that he should ask local resident Nigel Clarke if he would like the opportunity to design and produce a logo for the parish. Nigel is a graphical designer who has helped the parish council and various other Swineshead organisations in the past with signage and always refuses payment. Cllr RH thought it would be nice to invite him to design the logo as a legacy for the village. Cllr IM seconded the proposal and it was resolved.

ACTION: CLLR RH TO INVITE NIGEL CLARKE TO DESIGN PARISH COUNCIL LOGO

21/116   To discuss speeding in the village and consider potential speed calming measures

Cllr RH proposed that this matter should be postponed to the December meeting as it had been requested by Cllr KO who is not present. This was seconded by Cllr IM and resolved.

CLERK: POSTPONE AGENDA ITEM TO DECEMBER MEETING

21/117   To agree to spend a maximum of £400 on a projector to aid presentation to councillors and public during meetings

Councillors agreed that the use of the projector that had been borrowed for this meeting had aided the smooth running of the meeting, and specifically avoided a mistake that could have been made in one of the planning matters. Cllr CT proposed that due to the success, a maximum of £400 should be spent on buying our own projector for future meetings. Cllr MB questioned whether £400 was a lot of money to spend on a projector and asked whether a cheaper one could be sourced instead. The clerk suggested that maybe the cost could be split between the Parish Council and the Community Hub fund as the projector could then be used for community hub events as well as the Parish Council meetings, therefore the higher budget for a better-quality projector could be justified. Cllr MB agreed with this proposal and seconded it and it was resolved.

ACTION: CLERK TO SOURCE AND PURCHASE A PROJECTOR AT THE MAXIMUM COST OF £400

21/118   To agree to spend a maximum of £250 on replacement pads for the defibrillators

The clerk explained that pads were expired on two of the defibrillators and needed to be replaced as a matter of urgency. Cllr MB suggested that if the pads on the third defibrillator were near expiry, then it might be worth considering replacing all three together which would make the upkeep easier in future years. Cllr RH also suggested that it might be worth getting a spare set to keep in store in case a set were ever used in an emergency. The Clerk said she would look into whether they would expire even if they were sitting in a dry cupboard, which would make this suggestion not worthwhile. She also said she’d look into whether the third lot of pads were near expiration. Cllr RH proposed that a maximum of £250 should be spent on either 2, 3 or 4 new sets of pads depending on the outcome of the Clerk’s investigations. This was seconded by Cllr MB and resolved.

ACTION: CLERK TO ORDER NEW PADS AS APPROPRIATE TO THE MAXIMUM COST OF £250

Meeting was concluded at 21:30, the Clerk reminded Councillors that their presence was required at the Remembrance Service in the marketplace at 14:30 on Sunday 14th November and thanked Cllrs PP and RW for arranging the poppy wreaths.

Correspondence

November 2021

Boston Borough Council new releases (various)

Rural Services Network Bulletins (various)

LALC News (various)

CPRE Rural News (various)

YMCA News and Updated (various)