March 2020 Minutes
Minutes of the meeting held on 18 March 2020
Present
Cllr Hinton (Chairman), Cllr Harvey (Vice Chairman), Cllrs Candler, Farley, Goodman, Hayward, Mellows, Webber.
Apologies
Cllr Thomas, Mrs Cooke (Clerk), Cllr Adams. Cllr Benn (absences all reflect emerging concerns around guidelines for gatherings during the declared Covid 19 Pandemic)
In attendance
4 members of the public.
1. Item 1: Declarations of Interest: Cllr Goodman Planning application S20/0275 & item 12 Cemetery Paths work
2. Item 2: Approve Minutes 19 Feb 2020 Pc Meeting
3. Item 3: Matters Arising none
4. Non agenda Item – Corvid 19 Pandemic. The Parish Council resolved that the rapidly developing national reactions to the Corvid 19 Pandemic required immediate consideration; the members of the public in attendance all had a direct interest in the subject. A separate report on the discussions and resolutions is attached.
RESOLVED, that the Parish Council would support the setting up of a community group to assist the local population with an immediate grant of £500. The details of the terms of the financial support and liaison with other local organisations is at Annex A. The Councilors took due note of this breach of normal procedure but unanimously took the view that the urgency of the situation required prompt action.
5. Item 4 County Council matters: NTR
6. Item 5: SKDC matters: NTR
7. Item 6: Risk assessments. The existing risk assessments for PC property have been reviewed and remain valid.
8. Item 7/8: Planning. Following the verbal brief from the Planning Group the planning applications listed below:
a. S19/0978 2 houses on Station Road approved by SKDC. The PC noted that this was approved despite earlier applications for drives opening on to Station Road being rejected for an adjacent property.
b. S20/0286 The PC wished it be noted that its earlier comments that the affordable homes on the site must be evenly distributed.
c. S20/0275 The PC had no objection to the application
d. Priory Farmyard Appeal The PC stands by its objections to the siting of the buildings as previously submitted to SKDC but notes the decision now lies with the Secretary of State and not SKDC
9. Item 9/10: Amenities Group Report. The restoration of the paths through the Cemetery has been agreed by the PC as a priority; requests for quotes will be submitted for consideration at the next PC meeting. John Turner had agreed to repair the damaged fence in the NE corner. The next inspection of the Recreation Ground equipment would be done by the Chairman as the PC qualified member. A decision on replacing the picnic benches and the provision of a new bench will be deferred until May to take consideration of predicted Business Plan expenditure 10. Item 11: Renewal of ground maintenance contracts: Following discussion on the existing contracts with Rick Webster - now trading as Streetwise (Recreation Field) and Mr Wright (general grass cutting and hedgerow maintenance, both were deemed satisfactory. RESOLVED, that both contracts will be renewed for a further period of three years.
11. Item 12: Cemetery Paths. Dealt with under Item 9
12. Item 13: Cemetery Fees. Deferred until May meeting to allow time for a wider comparison of similar Parish Council charges elsewhere.
13. Item 14. Pond. Future agendas would include any pond related to matters to the Amenities Group for reports.
14. Item 15: Correspondence. There were no comments on the distributed correspondence submitted to the PC
15. Item 16: Accounts. The accounts submitted by the Clerk were noted.
16. Item 17: Councilors’ verbal reports. Cllr Candler announced his intention to resign from the Parish Council after the AGM. Cllr Goodman said that the Midsummer Festival will be cancelled in June in view of Covid-19 restrictions.
Annex A Notes of CBPC Meeting on 18 March 2020
Notes of the extraordinary Item on the subject of the Corvid 19 Pandemic.
INTRODUCTION
1. At the scheduled Castle Bytham Parish Council meeting the Cllrs decided that although the Corvid Pandemic was not an agenda item, nationally events had moved so rapidly over the previous few days that the PC felt obliged to consider the implications for the local community.
A community group had already started to form to see how it could help with problems that were already apparent or likely to present in the coming months. A community group had already begun to form with the objective of helping the local community in a variety of ways whilst the current crisis persists. There is no statutory duty on town/parish councils to have emergency plans or respond to a civil emergency under the Civil Contingencies Act 2004.
However, they are encouraged to have local emergency plans and assist Local Resilience Forum (LRF) Category 1 & 2 Responders if they feel able. A description of the role of the LRF is at
Appendix 1.
2. Community Support Group. Cllr Goodman and Vanessa Sacks had started a volunteer group and circulated a leaflet stating their aims to all households in Castle Bytham. It was noted that Little Bytham PC had opted to take more passive role and it was discussed whether to widen the support area to the Glenside Parish Magazine area (approximately 600 households) if sufficient volunteers come forward. There is an available model for community support in the “Good Neighbours Scheme”, a national initiative for volunteer groups, that has been promoted for rural communities for some years. Although the local scheme is temporarily closed for new members as staff deal with the current crisis it can be used as both a template and guidance on how to manage volunteer groups. Contacts will be made with public sector and voluntary groups with similar aims (see Appendix 2)
3. Volunteers. Ms Sacks has started a list of volunteers; it is proposed that this data is held on the PC laptop for security and that Cllr Goodman as the PC lead for the group controls access to personal data in accordance with current GDPR regulation. Good Neighbours best practice recommends a “neutral” mobile number is used as the main point of contact by the Group and Cllr Goodman has offered a spare mobile for this purpose. Following post meeting discussion, the points of contact for the public will be:
a. Single Mobile Number (TBA)
b. Landline 01780410968 (Chairman CBPC)
c. E-mail castlebythamparishcouncil@yahoo.com
4. Publicity. A good start has been made with the leaflet drop by Cllr Goodman and Ms Sacks. This will be followed up with notices on Nextdoor, CBPC website at http://parishes.lincolnshire.gov.uk/CastleBytham/ and in the Glenside Parish Magazine. Additional notices will also be posted around the village to both encourage volunteers to come forward and tell people local help is available.
5. Public Transport. There are concerns that the school closures will impact on school bus journeys, we do not know how many children will be from families with “essential workers” and will need taking to school, including those that attend secondary schools in the local towns. The Call Connect service may have to make changes to some of its timing but will continue to operate https://lincsbus.info/callconnect/ .
6. Access to local food supplies. The Shop Committee will endeavour to bring forward as quickly as possible the opening of the shop, currently planned for early May. The café will probably be equipped but not open until the pandemic has run its course and it is safe to do so. The PC will investigate options for a local food bank or deliveries of fresh foods such as bread to another venue in the Village, until the shop is able to begin operations.
7. Hard to Reach & Vulnerable People. This is always a difficult area. Authorities are always reluctant to share information on vulnerable people, whether health/mental health, families with known risk issues and financial distress. The best way around this is to know our neighbours and be willing to help each other. Any information of a sensitive nature will be strictly controlled under GDPR regulations.
8. Funding. Cllr Goodman offered an existing account held by the Bythams Business Hub as an accountable source for any available funding. Cllr Goodman also undertook to approach the Midsummer Fair for funding.
RESOLVED The Cllrs to provide a sum of £500 to support the activities of the Community Support Group. The funding is intended fund any costs incurred by volunteers acting on behalf of the Community Group. When the crisis is deemed no longer to require to operate Volunteer Group in its present format the remaining funds will be returned to donor bodies in the ratio to which it was offered. The Cllrs took due note of current financial governance that apply to Local Authorities but felt the developing emergency demanded swift action.
9. Community Group Name. The initial name for the group was “The Bytham Volunteers”.
However, following discussion it was felt that “The Glenside Volunteers” might better represent the communities this initiative seeks to help.