2022 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

SWINESHEAD PARISH COUNCIL

PARISH OFFICE 
Swineshead Pre-School Centre
North End
Swineshead
PE20 3LZ   

EMAIL: swinesheadpc@gmail.com
WEBSITE: www.swineshead.parish.lincolnshire.gov.uk

CHAIRMAN: Councillor Carl Gibbard               
TEMPORARY CLERK: Natalie Grant

MINUTES FOR THE MEETING of SWINESHEAD PARISH COUNCIL held on Monday 24th January 2022

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

Also Present:    Clerk, Natalie Grant

Public Forum, followed by response from Chairman

No members of the public were present.

21/148    Chairman’s remarks

No remarks were made.

21/149    To receive apologies for absence and reasons given

Apologies were received from Cllr Roger Welberry who has Covid and Cllr Roy Hilton who is on holiday.

21/150    To receive any declarations of interest in accordance with the Localism Act 2011

Cllr Chelcei Trafford informed the councillors that she is no longer associated with the Borough Planning Committee and therefore is able to discuss the planning applications in future meetings.

Cllr Carl Gibbard declared an interest in anything relating to the office at 1-2 North End due to his pecuniary interest in the site.

19:42 Cllr MB left the meeting temporarily

21/151    To receive a report of recent police activity in the village

PCSO Neil Williams has informed all Parish Councils that his senior management have decided that they will no longer provide police reports to Parish Councils. All of the information that he reports on is available to view publicly on the police.uk website.

Reporting on the queries from our December meeting that Councillors asked for further information on: Neil was unable to give any further details of the public order offence on Bullens Lane on 12/12/21; having checked incidents from November, Neil cannot find anything in relation to a firearms deployment on Michael Moses Way.

Crimes reported on police.uk during November (latest statistics available):
5 x violence and sexual offences
4 x other theft
1 x anti-social behaviour
5 x all other crime

The Clerk informed Councillors that she would be keeping a spreadsheet of the monthly crime statistics to share with Councillors going forward.

19:48 Cllr MB returned to the meeting

21/152    To agree whether the minutes of the extraordinary meeting held on 14/01/2022 are to be confirmed and signed an accurate record of the meeting

Cllr CG checked with the councillors present if they felt that the notes were an accurate record of the extraordinary meeting held on 14/01/2022. Cllr MB proposed that the notes should be accepted as minutes, this was seconded by Cllr ST and resolved.

ACTION: CLERK TO DISTRIBUTE MINUTES VIA THE WEBSITE, FACEBOOK AND NOTICEBOARDS

21/153    Financial matters: Update on financial matters, quarterly report, accounts for payment

The Clerk reported that the quarterly finance reports had been presented to the Finance Committee (see attached).

The bank reconciliation had been completed by Cllr CG prior to the meeting and he confirmed that both accounts were fully reconciled.

The Clerk reported that there was approximately £6000 left in this year’s annual budget, meaning that the council were on track to finish the year within the overall annual budget. This indicated that despite various individual budgets lines being considerably overspent, the underspend on other budget lines has compensated for this.

19:58 Cllr MB left the meeting temporarily

The only recommendation from the Finance Committee was that the Clerk should look into alternative methods of paying for items online rather than the council relying on the Clerk paying for them personally and being reimbursed after the next meeting. This proposal was seconded by Cllr IM and resolved.

THERE WERE NO ACCOUNTS FOR PAYMENT.

ACTION: CLERK TO LOOK INTO THE POSSIBILITY OF A DEBIT CARD FOR THE CURRENT ACCOUNT, OR A PRE-PAID CREDIT CARD AND MAKE A RECOMMENDATION TO THE NEXT MEETING

20:02 Cllr MB returned to the meeting

21/154    To agree the 2022/23 budget and precept request as recommended by the Finance Committee

Cllr MB proposed that Cllr CG should postpone this agenda item to later in the meeting to accommodate Cllr KO who was due to arrive at the meeting late. This was seconded by Cllr PP and resolved. SEE MINUTES BELOW!

21/155    Planning:

20:14 Cllr KO joined the meeting

B/21/0521; The Lodge, Baythorpe, Swineshead, Boston, PE20 3EZ: Proposed alterations to existing car port to convert to two new rooms.

No objections.

B/21/0538; Old Methodist Chapel, Fenhouses Drove, Swineshead, Boston PE20 3HF: Erection of a first floor extension over existing dayroom & store and the erection of a detached garage/carport with attic space.

No objections.

B/22/0006; The Blue Shed, Station Road, Swineshead, Boston, PE20 3PS: Application for a Certificate of Lawfulness under section 192 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended) for the proposed refurbishment works.

No observations.

Cllr KO proposed that the above feedback should be forwarded to the Planning Department at Boston Borough Council as soon as possible. This was seconded by Cllr ST and resolved.

ACTION: CLERK TO FORWARD COMMENTS TO PLANNING

21/156    To receive the list of correspondence received since the last meeting

The clerk presented the attached list of correspondence to the Councillors. Councillors requested that the Clerk should follow up on the following items from the list:

03/01/2022: Member of Public enquiry regarding the number of houses currently being built in the village

Councillors asked the clerk to request that the member of public should address their concerns with the Borough Planning Department.

24/01/2022: Member of Public enquiring about grass cutting on the A52 between Bicker Bar and Beecham’s Roundabout

Councillors discussed the request and asked the Clerk to add this area to the grass cutting schedule, Clerk to feed back to member of public.

ACTIONS: AS ABOVE

21/154    To agree the 2022/23 budget and precept request as recommended by the Finance Committee

POSTPONED FROM AGENDA ITEM 7

Cllr CG proposed the draft budget that had been recommended from the Finance Committee be accepted as the budget for 2022/23, with a precept request of £51,690 meaning a rise from £34.46 per Band D property for the year to £50.73 (a rise of 47.2%).

Cllr MB commented that he was very concerned about the significant increase in the precept that the budget would impose on residents in the village. Cllr KO requested that the budget should be scrutinised further by the full Council to see where further cuts could be made.

The Councillors went through the suggested budget line by line and made significant cuts to a number of budget lines, but most significantly to the cost of the Clerk’s Office (incorporating the Community Hub). A number of budget items were removed from the budget and will rely on using money from the contingency fund if spending goes ahead in these areas.

Cllr MB counter-proposed that the NEW budget should be accepted with a precept request of £43,640, meaning a rise from £34.46 per Band D property for the year to £42.83 (a rise of 24.3%). This proposal was seconded by Cllr KO and resolved.

ACTION: CLERK TO COMPLETE THE PRECEPT REQUEST AND RETURN TO BBC

21/157    Councillor’s reports

Cllr KO reported that he has received a complaint regarding an overgrown foliage at a property on Church Lane and requested that the Clerk should write to the resident to request that the area is cut back to enable better visibility.

Cllr ST informed Councillors that it had been strongly recommended that a water dye should be added to the water at Mackey’s Pit to supress the growth of blue/green algae, he requested that this should be discussed as an agenda item next meeting.

Cllr ST informed Councillors that unfortunately an emergency light was stolen from the top of the LIVES car which was in attendance at the Village Christmas Festivities. He asked if there was anything that the Parish Council could do to aid the purchase of a replacement light.

ACTIONS: CLERK TO WRITE TO RESIDENT ABOUT THE OVERGROWN FOLIAGE, CLERK TO ADD MACKEY’S PIT DYE TO THE AGENDA FOR FEBRUARY, CLLR ST TO ASK LIVES TO WRITE TO THE PC TO REQUEST A DONATION TOWARDS REPLACING THE STOLEN LIGHT.

21/158    Clerk’s report

The Clerk reported that office that we’re currently using (free of charge) needs to be vacated before 1st March. The Clerk strongly advised that a permanent office needs to be sought as soon as possible. Having done some research into possible facilities in the village, the only accommodation available is the two offices at 1-2 North End (upstairs offices in the building that we’re currently occupying) at a cost of £500 and £600 per month. The Clerk asked Councillors to bring any other options to the February meeting so that a final decision could be made.

Manhole cover at SW Bridge: 21/12 it was reported that works were scheduled, 17/01 it was reported that it was being investigated. The Clerk is concerned that we seem to have moved backwards in this matter. Both Anglian Water AND Western Power came out to investigate within 6 hours of it being reported and said it was of an urgent nature. LCC have now taken almost 12 months, and still haven’t got a solution to the issue. The Clerk asked Cllr MB to follow this matter up further and report back to the February meeting.

Library charges are being reintroduced for late fines meaning a small income from the library would resume shortly.

1 defib pad and battery have been received, the other is still on wait. The clerk said she would assess the two defibs that were in need of replacements to see if either are showing less battery power so she could prioritise which one to replace first. The clerk suggested that she should enlist the help of a paramedic who lives in the village to oversee the replacement of the pads and battery.

ACTIONS: COUNCILLORS TO RESEARCH ALTERNATIVE OFFICES, CLLR MB TO CHASE UP THE REPAIR STATUS ON THE MANHOLE COVER AT SWINESHEAD BRIDGE, CLERK TO REPLACE DEFIB PADS AT ONE OF THE TWO DEFIBS.

CLLR CT PROPOSED THAT THE MEETING SHOULD BE EXTENDED BY A MAXIMUM OF 30 MINUTES TO ALLOW TIME FOR THE REST OF THE AGENDA TO BE DISCUSSED. THIS WAS SECONDED BY CLLR ST AND RESOLVED.

21/159    To discuss and resolve to apply for a relevant grant to cover costs of maintaining and upgrades areas of the play area on Townfield Lane

The clerk reported that there were a couple of grants available to apply for that could help fund some of the maintenance costs needed at the play area. Cllr PP proposed that delegated responsibility for applying for the grants and getting the required quotations should be given to the Clerk. This was seconded by Cllr CG and resolved.

ACTION: CLERK TO ARRANGE FOR QUOTATIONS AND APPLY FOR GRANTS TO COVER PLAY AREA REPAIRS AND MAINTENANCE

21/160    To discuss how the Community Hub and Library can support the reintroduction of a youth group in the village

Cllr CG proposed that this agenda item should be postponed to next month’s meeting when Cllr JP would be in attendance. This was seconded by Cllr ST and resolved.

ACTION: CLERK TO MAKE AN AGENDA ITEM FOR FEBRUARY

21/161    Update on the tender process for grass cutting and grounds person

The clerk reported that she is currently expecting at least two tenders for the groundskeeper and one for the grass cutting. The closing date for tenders is 28/02/2022 and final tenders will be reported to the Finance Committee shortly after the closing date.

ACTION: CLERK TO FORWARD TENDERS TO THE FINANCE COMMITTEE AFTER THE DEADLINE

21/162    Update on the process of employing a new clerk

The clerk reported that so far one application had been received, and also an expression of interest which will hopefully turn into another application. Closing date for applications is 04/02/2022. Cllr MB proposed that the shortlisting and interviewing of the candidates should be delegated to Cllrs CG and IM and should take place as soon as possible after the closing date so that the recommended outcome could be shared at the February meeting. 
This was seconded by Cllr PP and resolved.

ACTION: CLERK TO SHARE APPLICATION WITH CLLR CG AND IM AND ARRANGE INTERVIEWS ASAP AFTER THE CLOSING DATE

Correspondence

January 2022

Various BBC Communications                Forwarded as appropriate

Various LALC News                                 Forwarded as appropriate