September 2018 Minutes
MINUTES OF HARMSTON PARISH COUNCIL MEETING HELD AT HARMSTON MEMORIAL HALL.
Tuesday 18th September 2018 at 7.30 pm
Meeting 4 of the 2018/19 year
Present
John Martin-Hoyes, Vice-Chair
Mark Jones
Iain Edgar
Brian Hamilton
Gail Dixon, Clerk to the Council
CC Cllr Ron Oxby
Dist.Cllr Marianne Overton
1 Open Forum (15 mins)
No residents present.
2 Apologies
Cllr J Chaplin, Cllr F Mannsaker, Cllr A Fox. Cllr A Fox tended her resignation just before the meeting. Cllrs accepted her resignation with regret. The clerk will write a letter of thanks to her.
3 Police Report
No Police report had been sent through.
4 Reports from County and District Councillors
Cllr Oxby reported that after the summer break
The county roads in various areas are receiving their surface dressing during the summer months. The good weather has also helped with pot hole repairs as 95% of previously reported ones have been dealt with, but this still leaves 1600 mainly on 'B' and 'C' roads needing attention.
The four 180 ton beams have been installed on the Eastern by-pass at the Hawthorne road end of the works. A new date has been given as Spring 2020 and due to the Carrilion collapse an extra £20m will be added to the total cost.
The on line website 'Fix My Street' has gone live during this month replacing the original, due to the new data protection act which has recently come in to force.
Horncastle will have the possibility of a ring road being discussed next spring to alleviate the rising traffic problems experienced in the town during the holiday traffic movements.
Lincoln's Dixon Street twelve week road works are on time at the moment, which is replacing the bridge over the river Witham.
Tourism has boosted Lincolnshire's economy to £1.47bn during 2017, an increase of 7.3%.
Again Lincolnshire is pressing for a fairer funding system, currently we receive £130 less than the majority of other counties do for each of their residents. It is estimated that by 2020
Lincolnshire will be struggling to deliver its basic services if this situation is not addressed.
The North Sea Observatory has now opened and is attracting tourists to the Chapel St Leonards area which serves as an impressive gate way to the Coastal Country Park
August has seen a summer holiday £1 one way bus ticket for the under 18s who pre book with Call Connect from Monday to Saturday, building on the success of a similar offer last year.
A partnership work tackling youth offenders I reducing them entering the criminal justice system. A community-based resolution has been used on 82% of cases, resulting in over a 90% drop in youth cautions.
Cllr I Edgar asked Cllr Oxby if the council will be dismantling the switched off lights running along the A607 which are now a hazard. Cllr Oxby said he felt it would be unlikely due to the cost. Cllr MA Overton will look into it and asks the PC if they would be willing to take over the cost if they were switched back on. Cllr JM Hoyes remarked that the council was already mindful of its increasing streetlighting costs. Cllr M Jones asks Cllr MA Overton if the paths could be upgraded between Waddington and Harmston under a section 106 grant. Cllr MA Overton agreed to look into it but thought it would be unlikely.
Cllr M Jones asked if there was any further news on the Southern bypass. Cllr R Oxby said it was being talked about but he thought it was 10 years away. Government funding was needed for such a large project.
Cllr M Jones raised the question again about putting a zebra crossing on Church lane as crossing the road for pedestrians is dangerous. A discussion ensued with an agreement that Cllrs MA Overton and R Oxby would revisit the problem and see if anything more could be done their end, whilst a letter would be sent by the PC to Rowan Smith at the CC to highlight the problems. With the extra traffic now expected to run through the village, a potential safe crossing should be re looked at again.
Cllr MA Overton reported on the planning for the 2 rendering sites at Norton Disney and Skellingthorpe. NKDC are consultee’s and have objected to both plans. The Norton Disney one because of the choice of the site (open countryside) and Skellingthorpe because of the access issues and the plan to put housing within the site. County Council have yet to make their ruling on the plans.
She also reported on the Three Big Centenary Celebrations: The RAF, Armistice and women’s right to vote. The Cliff villages are putting on a series of events – any help would be welcome.
5 Minutes of the Previous Meeting
The notes of the previous meeting (17th July 2018) had been distributed to Council members.
Cllr I Edgar, seconded by Cllr M Jones, proposed that they be accepted as Minutes.
All Agreed.
6 Actions undertaken since the previous meeting
July-September 2018
- The clerk is happy to report that the VAT reclaim of £5,282.99 has been paid into the bank. This puts funds back up to a healthy level.
- The litter picking grant request has also been approved and should be paid into the bank before the September meeting.
- After reporting at the July meeting that the trust has given the council a £1600 grant towards a defibrillator, the clerk wrote back to Mark Foster to explain about the difficulties in siting the defib at the moment, with the preffered site still being the pub. He has written back saying that there is no time limit to the offer and as soon as the site has been agreed, the PC can order the defib and the trust will then reimburse the council. The Chair has been in correspondence with TAPCO and is hopeful that they will agree to house the defib once the purchasing of the pub has been completed. Cllr B Hamilton reported TAPCO would be having a meeting on 19th September, he would be attending and would bring up the housing of the defib.. He felt it that the council should buy the defib now and not wait. Cllrs Agreed to wait until Cllr B Hamilton had attended the TAPCO meeting to hear from the pubs new owners, but would also look at purchasing the defib sooner rather than later
- The Chair has written to Peter Sowerby to confirm the council’s preference for picket fencing around the play area. A decision has yet to be made about the precise siting of the fence line.
- The Clerk has held a meeting with the litter picker Dean West about adding to his duties. This will be discussed at the meeting (Agenda) He has strimmed around the Play Area as requested from the last meeting.
- The Play Inspection Company has been to do the first inspection of the Play Area. Cllrs have received the report by email
- The clerk has tended her resignation. She has advertised the post on the website. Graffoe link, Lalc and through the clerk’s forum. There has been some interest. The clerk from Scopwick sent her letter of interest but then unfortunately had to rescind her application. 2 Clerk’s have sent their CV’s to the council. This will be an agenda item at the September meeting.
- The clerk has received confirmation from NKDC that the planning application for a change of use to the Pub has been withdrawn and TPO’s have been placed on the tree’s at Sunny Mount, Blacksmiths Lane.
- The Website has been updated
7 Financial Matters
a) The current statement of account
The statement of account listed receipts for VAT and the Litter picking grant. All Agreed
b) List of payments paid in-between meetings
The Clerk gave a list of invoices that needed to be paid at the meeting:
- Eon – Maintenance Quarter £138.02 Chq 858
- Dean West – litter picking for August/September £70 Chq 857
- The annual data protection invoice would be coming out of the bank soon, but it is now a Direct Debit.
All Agreed
b) The Petty Cash report;
The clerk has used £21.48 and so requested that this be made back up to £200. Chq 859
All Agreed
8 Matters for Consideration
a) Streetlighting
Cllrs JM Hoyes, I Edgar, M Jones, B Hamilton and the clerk surveyed the lights on Monday evening. Cllrs Agreed that 2-3 lights could be permanently removed when they fail but the rest of the lights should stay. Streetlighting overall costs were again discussed. The clerk reported that overall costs for last year was £1890 which had increased from the previous year.
b) Maintenance: Litter picking and Play area
Cllrs were happy for Dean West to take on the extra duties discussed previously. He is unable to spray the weeds around the village, though is happy to pull them up as he is going around. He reported the overhanging branches at the bottom of Church lane near Bottom house are in need of attention. The Clerk will drop a note to the residents. Cllr I Edgar offered to spray weed kill around the village.
The clerk reported she had spoken to Action Play and Leisure about the Play Area. They have confirmed that it has a 2 year guarantee on the equipment and they will come and do the jobs the Play inspection company has highlighted in their report. The clerk has emailed the full report over to APL.
c) Responsibility & Siting of the new SPID
Bracebridge Heath PC have now taken over the reins of buying the SPID. Harmston PC are still committed to giving £260 towards the purchase of the device. Cllrs discussed where would be the best siting within the village and who would be able to take responsibility for it. The matter was defered until the equipment is purchased.
d) Christmas Tree/Switch on arrangements.
The clerk reported she has ordered a Christmas Tree from Doddington Hall. A provisional date of 1st December was Agreed upon. The clerk would check with HMH to see if it clashed with their events. Cllr I Edgar would PAT test the lights and the Clerk would book the Salvation Army band once the date had been confirmed. All other details would be organised nearer the time.
e) Clerks Vacancy
Two clerks have sent their CV’s for the council to look at. The matter was discussed privately after the meeting had closed.
9 Planning Applications during the period July-September
Applications for planning:
Tree Works
18/1057/TCA Sunny Mount, Blacksmiths Lane PC – No Comments
NKDC have since placed TPO’s on the trees.
Planning
Ref: 18/0137/FUL The Thorold Arms Pub – Change of use Withdrawn
10 Correspondence received
A schedule of correspondence received from July- September had been distributed to Cllrs.
11 Matters to be raised at the next meeting
Budget for the coming year, Road Safety, Risk Assessments
12 Date for the next meeting
Tuesday 20th November 2018
The Chair thanked all who attended and closed the meeting at 8.55 pm