2021 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

Notes of the Meeting of Harmston Parish Council held via Zoom (due to Covid-19 Restrictions)

 on Tuesday 26th January 2021 at 7.30 pm

PRESENT: Cllr M Jones (Chair), Cllr I Edgar (Vice-Chair), Cllr B Hamilton, Cllr P Wallace, Cllr I Norman, Cllr J Graham-Walker, DCllr L Hagues, PC Matt Roberts Also present: Helen Jones (Clerk)

1/1 APOLOGIES AND REASON FOR ABSENCE Apologies were received following the meeting from Cllr E Stockbridge Sime

2/1 DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST ON ANY ITEM ON THE AGENDA Cllr P Wallace declared an interest on item 12 Allotments. He is a member of The Harmston Allotment Interest Group. Cllr M Jones declared an interest on items 4 and 17, regarding the village sign. Cllr I Edgar declared an interest on item for tree planning applications. Cllr B Hamilton declared an interest on item 6 due to his roles on the Sign Committee.

3/1 OPEN FORUM (15 MINUTES) No members of the public attended the meeting.

4/1 REPORTS OF REPRESENTATIVES a) Local Police – Newsletter received and shared. PC Matt Robert reported that most pot holes in the area had been filled. Potholes on Tower Road, Boothby Heath Road and near Brauncewell turning were highlighted. These need reporting through Fix My Street. The impact of the by-pass was discussed, although it was agreed that a true level of impact would only be possible once lockdown is over. PC Roberts reported that at RAF Waddington, it has been put in standing orders for vehicles to not use Harmston as a through route. Antisocial behaviour at the viewing point was discussed. PC Roberts stressed the importance of residents reporting these issues as they happen, by calling 101. b) District Councillors – Newsletter received and shared. The recent ward changes were discussed, as Harmston will be grouped with Coleby and Waddington from 2023 onwards. c) County Councillor – Newsletter received and shared. No representatives were present. Newsletter shared.

5/1 TO APPROVE THE NOTES OF THE LAST MEETING It was proposed by Cllr P Wallace and seconded by Cllr I Norman that the Minutes of the meeting of the Parish held on 17th November 2020 to be approved. The importance of using declarations of interest was discussed.

6/1 VILLAGE SIGN Cllr I Edgar was Chair of this point on the agenda, due to the declaration of interest from Cllr M Jones. Cllr B Hamilton as a member of the Village Sign Committee (VSC) also declared an interest. Both Cllr Jones and Cllr Hamilton will not be voting on this item as a Harmston Parish Council Email: clerk@harmston.info http://harmston.parish.lincolnshire.gov.uk/ result. Cllr I Edgar has been to see the sign, and all Councillors have now had an opportunity to view it, or view the photograph that was circulated. Cllr B Hamilton had no update from the VSC. The purpose of this item was to agreed a response to the VSC now the sign had been seen. They have requested that if the HPC do not agree with the proposed location, that they give reasons why. All councillors who do not have a declaration on this matter, shared their opinions of the VSC’s proposed sign site, and also shared alternative sites. Several alternative locations were suggested: Viking Way; Pub; view point; village well (which was an original choice of location). The most popular locations, with 3 out of 4 councillors suggesting, is the area where the Christmas Tree is located, as this provides a central, and large grass area, and all 4 suggested the Memorial Hall.

The councillors took a vote, with all 4 councillors agreeing that the proposed site on the grass verge on the corner of High Street and School Lane is not suitable, and their reasons are:

1. Safety. All agreed that the location was unsafe, due to it being on the corner of a junction, especially where historically visibility is poor due to parked vehicles

2. This is an old verge

3. Located on a corner near two adjoining roads

4. Under a tree

5. More safe and suitable locations that allow for residents to congregate in numbers and to do so safely, are available

All councillors agree that the sign is lovely and should be celebrated by all, and that the sign should be in a location that allows residents and visitors to admire the sign, and to do so safely. They also agreed that the sign should be enjoyed by all residents – with Harmston being viewed as a whole village, and the Parish Council represents the whole. Cllr I Edgar asked Cllr B Hamilton (in his role on the VSC) that the democratic decision of the Parish Council is respected, as was the opinions of the Memorial Hall. It was concluded that, due to the results of the vote, the PC would not be able to put planning forward for the current proposed site, nor could they endorse this location. The clerk will draft a letter explaining the results of this evenings meeting, which will be approved by the PC before being sent to the VSC. The Parish Council wanted to stress their agreement that the sign should be something to celebrate, and welcomes ideas of where to locate the sign, in a place where it can be enjoyed and celebrated by all, safely, and therefore the PC would be happy to discuss some of the varying location they have discussed, with the hope of finding a mutually agreeable location as soon as possible, so that the sign can be enjoyed by all. HJ

7/1 CLERKS REPORT

1. Training option shared with new councillors

2. Paperwork shared, completed and signed by new councillors

3. Relevant documents sent to County, and Tammara Parrot informed of changes

4. Training booked for Clerk, and completed and 15/16/17.12.20 (notes shared with PC)

5. Clerk Seminar attended on 9.12.20

6. Contacts updated with new councillor details

7. Safety issue on Church Lane reported via Fix my Street (resident who had accident here informed of report). Fix my Street deemed it not their area and asked me to report to LCC, which I have done. Resident kept updated with reporting

8. New website set up and details shared with PC

9. Existing website updated with Agenda and Meeting Notes

10. LALC and NALC emails shared

11. Newsletter from DCllr Marianne Overton shared – correspondence to check details Harmston Parish Council Email: clerk@harmston.info http://harmston.parish.lincolnshire.gov.uk/

12. Newsletter from local Police shared

13. New chequebook ordered and received

14. Christmas events organised

15. New PC Facebook Profile set up

16. Liaised with Ashley Humphries re removal of sign at playing field

17. Complaints regarding sign replied to, and shared with PC

18. New website prep continues

19. Planning for trees and houses shared

20. E-ON paid for Maintenance for this quarter

21. Existing website updated

22. NKDC contacted re playing field sign and relevant documentation sent

23. Time Sheets for Clerk set up and up to date

24. Sign at Playing Field removed

25. Meeting dates for 2021-2022 drafted

26. SPID device tracked down, and prices for devices collected

27. Christmas tree invoice paid

28. Ribbons removed from Christmas Tree for Time capsule

29. Christmas Summary of events and costs written and shared with PC

30. Resident who slipped has asked for me to report her accident with LCC, which I have done. Resident informed

31. All documents removed from old website (which has now been switched off), and added to new website. First session of new website training attended, second session on 29.1.21. Awaiting new log in.

32. Play Equipment manufacturer chased for response

33. Email received re new Police Support, requesting meeting with clerk. Response sent – awaiting further response

34. Results from Boundary Commission received and shared

35. Stationery order placed.

36. Resident suggestion re traffic lights shared and added to agenda

37. Resident suggestion re broadband shared and added to agenda

38. Complaint regarding noisy neighbours received, and responded to, and added to agenda.

39. Proposed Budget/Precept documents prepared

40. D. West paid

41. All banking up to date, balanced, and HPC accounts shared with HPC ahead of meeting

8/1 FINANCIAL MATTERS As agreed at the previous meeting the Budget was shared with the HPC in advance of this meeting.

a) To approve the Statement of Account There were no issues.

HPC BI-MONTHLY FINANCE REPORT – January 2021 

b) To consider payment to be paid There were non - all payments are up to date.

c) To consider Christmas Event expenditure The report was shared before the meeting, and there were no issues.

d) Discuss Precept and Budget for 2021-2022

The proposed budget and precept were discussed. Cllr P Wallace proposed a 0% increase due to the current climate. Cllr J Graham-Walker seconded this. All were in agreement. Precept was therefore agreed and signed and witnessed. The budget was received before the meeting by all councillors, and no issues with the proposed budget were raised. 

9/1 MEETING DATES The following dates were agreed:

Tuesday 11th May 2021

Tuesday 13th July 2021

Tuesday 14th September 2021

Tuesday 16th November 2021

Tuesday 25th January 2022

Tuesday 8th March 2022

Cllr M Jones proposed these dates, Cllr I Edgar seconded them. All in agreement. The location of future dates will be in line with Government guidance. Meeting will be via Zoom or at the Memorial Hall, Harmston.

10/1 PLANNING

TREE WORKS

a) 20/1787/TP0 6 Ridge Views

b) 20/0104/TCA The Grange

It was agreed by all that the two tree planning applications were acceptable.

PLANNING

a) 20/1599/HOUS25 Crescent Mews

b) 18/1499/CCC Harmston Quarry

c) 18/1499/CCC Harmston Quarry Regarding Harmston Quarry application, Cllr M Jones will draft a response, and share with PC before submitting.

There were no comments to be made regarding other applications.

A new working practise was discussed, and it was agreed, that in future the Clerk will add Harmston Parish Council Email: clerk@harmston.info http://harmston.parish.lincolnshire.gov.uk/ ‘no comment’ on behalf of the PC using the Planning Portal (only when a decision has been reached by the PC) – to show that the planning has been considered by the Parish Council.

11/1 HARMSTON PLAY AREA

a) The ‘Harmston Residents Only’ sign has now been removed from the playing field.

b) Action Play & Leisure have finally responded and have offered to repair the play area. There is a 3-4 week wait. Clerk will chase if needed. HJ

12/1 FOOTPATHS

a) Viking Way, to be discussed at a later date, as awaiting documents.

b) The Clerk has spoken with NKDC, who have been very proactive in addressing the areas they can rectify, and they have also contacted Highways to ask them to address their areas. The Clerk continues to liaise with both departments.

c) Cllr P Wallace reported that the corner on Vicarage Lane is heavily covered in leaves meaning pedestrians will avoid walking here. Clerk to report to NKDC. HJ

13/1 ROAD TRAFFIC

a) The clerk continues to look into the PCs existing SID partnership and locating the device.

b) Cllr P Wallace to send the Clerk the appropriate form, the Clerk will then complete this for Highways to gain approval for the use of a SID device in Harmston

c) The PC discussed a resident’s request for a turning light at the crossroads. Cllr I Edgar explained that his has been requested before but the road is not wide enough to accommodate one. The timing has also been altered in the past, and it was discussed if this needed reprogramming. Clerk to send a request to Highways. Clerk to let resident know. HJ PW HJ HJ 14/1 VILLAGE STREET LIGHTING To be discussed at the next meeting.

15/1 NOISE LEVELS

N/A

16/1 NEW COUNCILLOR QUERIES

a) Frequency and length of meetings Meetings are held every other month, and should last no longer than 2 hours. However, this past year, there have been some larger issues to discuss and these can affect the length of a meeting. The focus should be on decision making. Cllr P Wallace suggested new councillors look at online examples of Parish Council Meetings.

b) Courtesy in emails There was a discussion about the tone and content of some correspondence received, and the possibility of a reminder to ‘think before you click’. The use of the website may be a way of encouraging this.

c) Communications The Clerk explained that all communications go through her, as she represents the HPC as a whole. Part of the Clerks role is to ensure the PC have all relevant correspondence.

17/1 BROADBAND

A letter has been received from a resident requesting that Ultra-Fast Broadband be investigated and obtained for the village. Cllr I Norman and Cllr P Wallace have offered to look into this, and will report back at the IN Harmston Parish Council Email: clerk@harmston.info http://harmston.parish.lincolnshire.gov.uk/ next meeting as to what is available, costs and options. PW

18/1 ALLOTMENTS

There has only been one response received from a local land owner regarding land for potential allotments. However, they were unable to help at this time. Several different ways of enabling residents to partake in gardening around the village were discussed, and this will be looked into further at the next meeting.

19/1 MATTERS RAISED FOR THE NEXT MEETING

a) Street Lights

b) Play Area – fence, repairs and discussion of public suggestions

c) Meetings – monthly or bimonthly

d) Footpaths

e) Roads – traffic and SPID (Speed Indicator Device)

f) Broadband

g) Allotments – planters

h) Risk Assessments i) Well Structure

20/1 DATE FOR NEXT MEETING The next meeting will be Tuesday 16th March, 7:30pm. Location, or use of zoom tbc based upon most current Covid-19 Government Guidelines HJ There being no further business the Chair closed the meeting at 10.35pm

Chair…………………………………………. Date…………………………………