September 2022 Minutes
Minutes of the meeting held on 21 September 2022
Present
Cllr Hinton (Chairman), Cllrs Goode, Harvey, Hayward, McLaughlin, Webber
In attendance
District Cllr P Robbins; one member of the public
Apologies
Cllr Brooman, County Cllr C Vernon
During the public forum a Holywell Road resident expressed concern at the increasingly speeding traffic along Holywell Road over the past six months. Cllr Hinton said that speeding issues were discussed frequently at parish council meetings and that a Traffic Management Plan had been produced with a proposal for a mini roundabout at the crossroads.; the parish council purchased a Vehicle Activated Sign for Station Road and a Speed Indicator Device is rotated between three locations and data gathered. Village gateways had led to a 10% reduction in speed. Cllr McLaughlin had set up a Community Speed Watch, with one location approved on Holywell Road – the team will carry out a speed monitoring exercise in the near future with data fed into the police computer; speeding motorists will receive a letter from the police if they have no current points on their licence and the police will make a house call to those who have points. Cllr McLaughlin said that the parish council was coming to the end of all its options regarding speeding issues. Cllr Hinton suggested a petition from Holywell Road residents could be sent to Highways to give evidence on the issue.
1.Co-option of two candidates
Deferred
2.Signature of Declaration of Acceptance of Office form
N/A
3.Declaration of interest
None
4.Approve minutes 17 August 2022
The notes of the meeting held on 17 August 2022 were approved as minutes and signed by the Chairman. Proposed by Cllr McLaughlin, seconded by Cllr Goode, all in favour.
5.Matters arising
None
6.County Council matters
Deferred
7.District Council matters
District Cllr P Robbins presented her report – SKDC has produced a list of programmes awards. Section 106 regarding the Old Quarry – the parish council should make a wish list of projects; street names for the new development at the Old Quarry will be sought in due course; Cllr Robbins had attended the Bythams Woodland Trust AGM and meeting.
8.Land ownership - upper green, lower green, plot around the village pump
Cllr Hinton said that the transfer of the lower green for SKDC to the parish council would be straightforward. Transfer of the plot around the pump will prove more difficult as SKDC owns a portion of the verge.
9.Planning issues - verbal report from the Planning Working Group
Cllr Goode said that there were no issues with either application received this month. The Planning Working Group had asked SKDC for an update on the Castle Farm Yard application which the parish council had objected to – the applicant has appealed against non-determination within the scheduled time frame as a result of the planning officer in charge of the application leaving SKDC and a delay in appointing a new planning officer to take over the application. The appeal has been lodged with the Secretary of State who is now in charge of the application.
10.Planning. A) S22/1674 - Ms Chant; removal of existing lean-to, new bifold doors to original house aperture and new front door to side elevation. 19-21 Pinfold Road, Castle Bytham. The Councillors had no comment on this application. B) S22/1730 - Trees in CA - Section 211 Notice. Mr Michael Goodjohn; T4 - fell to ground. T1, T2 and T3 - fell to ground as they are exhibiting phototropism resulting in them overhanging a shared driveway. Beaujolais, Water Lane, Castle Bytham. The Councillors had no comment on this application.
11.Cemetery Water Supply
The parish council had been contacted by the occupants of School House, Church Lane regarding upgrade work on the water supply with a possible shared pipeline from the High Street Anglian Water mains supplying the church, School House and the cemetery. Cllr Hinton had obtained some maps; Cllr Mc Laughlin said that unfortunately none of the maps showed School House water supply. Cllr Hinton was liaising with Anglian Water who had been reluctant to share information in view of GDPR legislation. Cllr Webber will speak to the owners of School House.
12.Amenities Working Group report - ROSPA report
Cllr Harvey said that some of the recommendations from ROSPA following the playing field inspection were the same as those made in 2021. Cllr Hinton will ask Playground Projects for comments regarding their newly installed adult fitness equipment and the fact that signage should be placed at a minimum height of 1.4m from the ground. Cllr Hinton suggested that the parish council replace the wood fort and slide in the near future. Cllr Webber praised the report and said that it had highlighted many issues to be addressed.
13.Footpath signs project
Cllr Hinton will put several fingerpost signs design options in Glenside News in order to gauge opinion. Cllr Hinton was in favour of signs showing distance to destination and had measured all the routes distances and will have a sign manufactured for Cumberland Gardens as an example. Cllr McLaughlin was not in favour of replacing all fingerpost signs.
14.Village pump repair/upgrade options
Cllr Hinton will obtain quotes for concrete posts from a company in Market Deeping.
15.Update on bank fraud recovery
Cllr Hinton said that Playground Projects were aware of their liability and were not pressing the outstanding payment withheld by the parish council.
16.Polling stations consultation
There was no change for Castle Bytham – the village hall remains the polling station.
17.Request for financial assistance for the children’s Christmas party
Cllr Hinton will ask the organisers to fill in the Grant Application form which is available on the website and give a rough breakdown of party costs and the shortfall.
18.Remuneration - Michael Wright; parish clerk
The Councillors unanimously agreed a £15/hour rate for Michael Wright and a 10% total increase for the clerk’s salary – a 5% increase had been voted on at the July meeting and a further 5% suggested at the August meeting in view of inflation.
19.Burial Committee matters
Cllr Goode will carry out a comparison of fees with other cemeteries in the area.
20.Correspondence
oRural services network bulletin
oLincolnshire reservoir project team
oYMCA Lincolnshire
oDM Planning Support weekly lists
oSKDC – consultation on gambling statement of principle
oParish Online newsletter
oChairman’s Office – Bourne Proclamation of Accession
oNALC- Statement following the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
21.Accounts - audit update; closure of 2nd Unity Trust bank account
The external auditors, PKF Littlejohn had asked for further information; the clerk completed the variance analysis and carried out more work on income and expenditure as requested, liaising over the ‘phone and by e-mail. The internal audit carried out by the accountant appointed this year proved unsatisfactory. Cllr Hinton produced half year accounts and said that the financial situation was healthy. The clerk had contacted Unity Trust bank regarding the closure of the second account – Cllr McLaughlin and Cllr Hinton as signatories signed the forms which will be returned to Unity Trust bank. Cllr Hayward was looking at options for a savings account for the Parish Council cash reserves.
The following payments were approved:
- FDC Ltd - foundation container unit playing field £2100.00
- Anglian Water - cemetery £10.53
- P Hinton - reimbursement watering can £12.03
- P Hinton - reimbursement online legal advice £35.00
- Streetwise Environmental - playing field mowing #52396 £94.80
- Playground Projects - playing field fitness equipment balance £7980.00
- ROSPA- playing filed safety inspection £145,20
- M Cooke - salary 26 weeks £1138.50
- HMRC - clerk’s PAYE £284.63
22.Councillors’ verbal reports
Cllr Hinton said that he was applying for a £500 grant from LCC for wildlife planting. Cllr Hinton will e-mail County Cllr C Vernon regarding the LCC owned trees in St Martins which are hindering oil deliveries as the tankers have to reverse blind down the lane. Cllr Hinton reported he had made an entry in the Stamford Book Of Condolences, following the death of the late Queen, on behalf of the Parish Council.
Cllr McLaughlin was taking advice from Historic England on listing options for the village pump – one option was Listed status and another could be Listed Building status. Cllr McLaughlin suggested carrying out repair work before making an application. Cllr McLaughlin was having to step back from her role as Community Speed Watch coordinator due to new work commitments; an advert for a new coordinator will appear in Glenside News.
Cllr Webber said that vehicles linked to the building work on Station Road were consistently parked opposite the bus shelter and that this