Minutes of the meeting of the Parish Council held at 7:30pm

on 16th December 2013, in the Millennium Hall.

Present: Cllrs Andrews, Beattie, Blackwell, Booth, Bridgwood, Gulliver, Houghton, Parrott, Robinson, Scott, Trevor, Welburn, County Councillor Fleetwood, Mr J Tomlinson (RFO), and one member of the public.

As the clerk was absent due to illness it was resolvedthat the RFO be notetaker.

The member of the public, who was a resident of the Carlton Centre, spoke on various matters of concern relating to the proposed bypass. Cllr Fleetwood suggested that, as he was the Chair of LCC’s Planning Committee, he would appreciate the resident forwarding any comments to him. The resident was thanked.

Meeting started at 7.42pm

2013/131Apologies: Cllr Brylewski (commitments elsewhere), Cllr Cutler.

2013/132 Members’ declarations of interest, gifts and hospitality:

Cllr Houghton had represented the council at the church hall open evening.

2013/133 Chairman’s remarks:

The chair thanked everyone for their support and hard work throughout the year. She expressed her delight in Cllr Andrews receiving the Witham Area Champion of the Year award at the recent WLDC awards ceremony.

2013/134 To receive the notes of the Council meeting held on 18th November, and agree for them to be signed as a true record

It was resolved to accept the minutes as a true record, and these were duly signed.

2013/135 To receive reports from outside bodies, including the Police, District and County Councillors (if any)

Cllr Fleetwood reported that LCC had made the decision to pass the library over to an as yet unidentified local community group. He also reported that he continued to lobby hard for a vehicular bridge over the bypass at Hawthorn Road, and that he had also alerted Reepham Parish Council to the issue, lobbying them to generate some local public interest and to highlight the issue to local people.

Cllr Welburn reported that WLDC had won the Best Performer in England for Refuse Collection by the Association for Public Service Excellence,and that the clerk would be distributing further information on this. Action: clerk

The RFO read a police report detailing the following incidents: theft of a garden planter and a large soil container from St. Pauls Avenue, a wheelie bin stolen from Newton Drive, a wishing well planter stolen from Ancaster Close, an RTC between a car and pedestrian on Green Lane resulting in minor injuries, an RTC between a van and a cyclist on Hawthorn Road resulting in minor injuries, 3 horses were reported missing from their field, but were subsequently found, a fallen tree across Croft Lane had blocked the road.

2013/136 To receive the schedule of receipts and payments since the last meeting:

It was resolved to accept the receipts and payments.

Members then resolved to bring item 7b forward for discussion at this point.

7b) Planning matters:

i.To receive a report on recent planning applications, approvals and refusals

Applications: 130634: 35 Elm Avenue: construction of front porch and rear extension to bungalow. It was reported that information had not been available on the WLDC website at the time of the Planning Committee meeting so Members still needed to review this application.

130671: installation of 34.1MWp solar farm and associated infrastructure. No objections

It was resolved to accept the actions of the Planning Committee.

i.To receive a report on progress made regarding Neighbourhood Plan, and agree any other actions accordingly

Cllr Booth reported that the application for grant funding was to be considered and a decision reached by the Board on 19th December.

ii.To note an e-mail from resident regarding revision to Eastern Bypass

Noted: the resident who had sent this e-mail was present at the meeting and had spoken to Members at length before the meeting had started.
It was agreed to consider items iv and v together as they were related.

iii.To note e-mails from LCC regarding Lincoln Eastern Bypass and agree any actions accordingly

iv.To note any response from LCC in response to two further letters sent to LCC in respect of the Lincoln Eastern Bypass changes and agree actions accordingly

It was reported that the clerk to Reepham Parish Council (RPC) had made contact to advise on a public meeting RPC intended to put on in respect of the proposed bypass, anticipated to be held on Friday 10th January, and to ask if CWPC would join forces to make this a joint parish meeting, with joint financing and delivery of leaflets ahead of the meeting. It was noted that this information had arrived after the agenda had been issued. Cllr Welburn further explained that RPC did not have a December meeting and the issue was how to get this dealt with without their Members having a December meeting. It was resolved to join forces with RPC to take part in the public meeting, and to action the clerk to do anything that was necessary, and to agree to retrospectively approve any clerk’s expenditure up to £300 at the January 2014 full council meeting. It was resolved that the clerk call on the Planning Committee to back up decisions. The clerk was asked to update the Reepham clerk and request further meeting details as well. Action: clerk
Cllr Fleetwood reported that he believed that LCC were currently trying to obtain the land via purchase orders and anticipated this being completed by Feb 2014. The chair explained that anybody who had complained to LCC had received a letter asking if they wanted to submit comments to the Public Inquiry, but that it had not been possible to ascertain where or when the Public Inquiry was to be.
It was reported that the Planning Committee had considered both e-mails received from LCC which sought comments from the parish council on the actual footpath/cycleway link, and asked if the parish council would withdraw their objection if they considered the proposed footbridge to be sufficient. The Planning Committee’s response had been that, without prejudice to wanting vehicular access, there was support for the idea of the proposed bridge on the basis that this was a better option than the planning permission currently in place, but that Members weren’t willing to withdraw the objection on the basis that it was felt that there should be vehicular access as well.
The chair reported that the Witham Valley Access Group had formulated a response based on the dangers to vulnerable people in the village from the increased traffic.Members unanimously agreed that they were still resolute in their determination to oppose the blocking up of the vehicular access, but that they would accept that the proposed footbridge was an improvement in the planning sense. They were still concerned on many levels as to the future impact on the local community.
The other area of concern to the parish council concerned the process followed by LCC as, having being consulted with the original bypass plans, the parish council had not been consulted this time around. Cllr Booth reported that LCC had put together a Statement of Community Involvement in support of the planning application which harked back to 2007 when there had been a public consultation, therefore it was considered that there was a reasonable expectation that the parish council should have been notified and consulted: this didn’t happen. Action: Cllr Booth, clerk

2013/137 To receive reports and recommendations (if any) concerning the business of the Council and its Committees, Sub-committees etc:

a)Finance & General Purposes:

i.To note response (if any) from WLDC regarding precept request

The RFO reported that there appeared to be no change according to the WLDC formula for a band D house.

ii.To receive a recommendation that any printing carried out in a private home by a Member or employee be reimbursed at 10p B&W and 20p colour per A4 copy

The chair stated that she would be abstaining from any decision as she needed to put in a claim for printing 45 colour copies, each 24 pages long, of the Community Led Plan as previously agreed. It was noted that actual costs to the chair would be much greater than the £104.00 she wished to claim, but she was happy to claim only £104.00. It was explained that the Finance Committee had agreed on the recommended costs as above. The RFO stated that he felt these were reasonable costs compared to outside sources, and that the council had to go elsewhere for colour printing as it didn’t have colour facilities in-house. He was happy to recommend these charges as a base, but to use outside sources for printing if it was cheaper. It was resolved to accept this recommendation with two abstentions.

At this point Cllr Fleetwood left the meeting.

iii.To approve clerk’s purchase of ‘Local Council’s Explained’ book

It was resolved to approve the clerk’s purchase of this revised and updated edition at a cost of £49.99.

c)Employment Committee:

Nothing to report.

d)Village Improvement Committee:

i.To receive the notes, for information only, of the meeting held on 3rd December 2013

Noted.

ii.To receive a report on progress of the bus shelter

It was reported that the resident behind the sitefor the shelter had replied to the clerk to say that she had no objections to the location, and that the application for permission to site the shelter on an LCC verge was currently with LCC, and that the VIC had agreed to proceed with the original quote.

iii.To approve a quote to clear, then weed spray, the railway footpath

Cllr Welburn gave an overview of the state of the path and confirmed that the clerk regularly asked the railway company to cut back their vegetation, and that the clerk was also trying to get residents to cut back vegetation which had overgrown from gardens. Cllr Parrott stated that she felt the cost to be very reasonable compared to what gardeners charge and it would be a pity to lose the footpath after all the work undertaken. .Members agreed to Cllr Beattie’s request that it be noted that he was voting against the proposal as the weeds and brambles on the footpath belonged to the railway company, and the footpath was LCC’s responsibility. A proposal to clear, then weed spray, the railway footpath at a cost of £425.00 + VAT was carried by the majority. Action: clerk

e)Leisure & Amenities Committee:

i.To receive the notes, for information only, of the L&A meeting held on 20th November 2013. Noted.

ii.To approve a quote to repair swings at St Pauls Play Area

It was noted that some swing parts(seats, chain links, shackles and bolts, and brushes)had been identified in Wicksteed’s annual inspection report as needing regular monitoring, as they were starting to wear thin, but that they now needed replacing at a cost of £220.64 for partsand £120.00 for labour (both from Wicksteed). Cllr Beattie suggested obtaining further quotes from other suppliers, and it was explained that L&A Members had chosen to use Wicksteed as there were insurance implications of using other suppliers’ parts on Wicksteed equipment, and that the council could not afford the risk on children’s play equipment if there were any accidents. It was resolved to approve this quote using Wicksteed parts and labour. Action: clerk.

f)Summer Events Task and Finish group

The chair reported on a very positive meeting held between herself, Mrs Stiles (head of CWCS), another member of school staff, Ian Pike of the Gardening Club, and Anne Parker representing a number of village organisations to discuss the principle of holding a joint school and village community gala on Saturday 5th July. Cllr Robinson reported that she was to contact organisations asking if they were interested in taking part, and that a small meeting was planned with the school for the end of January 2014, followed by another meeting with all interested parties.

g)Xmas events task and finish group
  1. E-mail from resident regarding Christmas Tree and Christmas Event

A resident had written to comment that she felt a lack of care had been taken in the lights/decoration on the Christmas tree. The chair reported that the clerk had replied to explain that care had been taken but that the exceptionally high winds had wreaked havoc. Cllr Trevor reported that 4 strings of lights had not worked initially, that he had been to the tree three times to put the lights back up, and that several strings were now broken. It was noted that many positive comments about the tree had been received.

Members then briefly discussed the lack of a Christmas event and it was noted that the current two councillors on the Xmas events group worked full time, and that organising an event required a significant time commitment.

2013/138 To receive reports and recommendations from Councillors representing the Council on outside Committees (if any):

a)Youth Club (Cllr Brylewski)

There was no report due to Cllr Brylewski not being present.

b)To receive a verbal report from members of the implementation and monitoring group for the CW2020 plan

There was nothing to report.

c)To receive a report from the Council’s representatives on the Community Partnership

The chair reported that the next Community Partnership meeting would be in early January, but she could report that Gary Porter of LCC’s Library Services had advised that LCC would be holding seminars in January/February on writing a business plan, that it would be possible to apply for £5000 to help towards the writing of that plan, and that the deadline for submitting business plans remained at 31st March 2014. It was noted that the council had received a letter from WLDC to advise that the library had been placed on the List of Assets of Community Value. Cllr Beattie was asked, and agreed, to pass this information on to Cllr Cutler. Action: Cllr Beattie

2013/139 To consider other matters relating to the work of the Council

  1. To consider appointing other councillors to sit on Village Improvement Committee and Planning Committee

It was reported that the clerk sometimes had difficulty in getting a quorum.There were no volunteers.

  1. To note any further developments at the Fiskerton Road building site and agree any actions accordingly

The clerk had sent the following update to councillors ahead of the meeting. WDLC had written: ‘I have spoken to the appointed contractor regarding clearance of the site. He is making arrangements for the transport and storage of materials. Given the Christmas break we expect work to take place within the first two weeks of January. Hopefully this will finally resolve the matter.’

  1. To receive feedback of meeting between representatives of the Council and Cherry News and agree any actions accordingly

It was reported that a meeting had taken place between Cllrs Bridgwood and Brylewsi, representing the parish council, and three representatives of Cherry News. It was noted that the editor of Cherry News had sent the clerk a copy of the minutes which he had explained had been circulated to all present at the meeting. Cllr Bridgwood stated that he had not seen the minutes. The chair read out some points about the meeting provided by from Cllr Brylewski. After a short discussion it was agreed that, once Cllrs Bridgwood and Brylewski had carefully checked and verified the minutes for accuracy and agreed them with Mr Deeley, that the clerk circulate the minutes to all Members. It was agreed that this item be deferred for discussion. Action: clerk.

  1. To consider a New Year Newsletter and agree any actions accordingly

The Chair listed several items which could be promoted to residents, and confirmed that it was cheaper for the council to produce its own newsletter if bigger than 1.5 pages of A4. Comments were then invited from councillors. It was noted that two magazines were distributed in the village and thatthe council should be usingthecheaper option, therefore rather than voting on this item, Cllr Trevor volunteered to obtain costings from The Works magazine and forward these on to the clerk for inclusion in next agenda. It was agreed that there was nothing for inclusion in the February Cherry News at this time, and that the Stead Award would be promoted to residents under the banner of the Community Partnership group. Action: Cllr Trevor

  1. To consider writing to the Roy Bowser Estate to ascertain the possibility of purchasing any land

Cllr Welburn reported that if the right parcels of land could be purchased then it would benefit the parish council and residents eg storage facilities, footpaths, orchard could be made into a memorial, allotments, sports field, and she suggested an open letter asking if the Estate would be willing to sell any land. Cllr Booth noted a link into the Neighbourhood Plan, and suggested a meeting with the land owners at an appropriate time. It was agreed that Cllr Welburn would assist the clerk in writing to the Roy Bowser Estate. Action: clerk, Cllr Welburn