BOLINGBROKE PARISH COUNCIL.
http://parishes.lincolnshire.gov.uk/Bolingbroke/
DRAFT NOTES OF THE PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
HELD IN THE RAMSDEN HALL OLD BOLINGBROKE
ON MONDAY 24TH JANUARY 2011 AT 7.30PM.
1. TO ACCEPT NEW COUNCILLORS’ DECLARATIONS OF ACCEPTANCE OF OFFICE FORMS.
Mr. John Clayton and Mr. Nigel Nash were welcomed onto the Parish Council following their unopposed election in December. Their acceptance forms were received by Cllr. Lumb.
2. TO ELECT A CHAIRMAN AND VICE CHAIRMAN
Cllr. Lumb was proposed by Cllr. Clayton and seconded by Cllr. Brennand and unanimously approved as Chairman for the current meeting. No vice chairman was elected.
3. CHAIRMAN’S REMARKS AND INTRODUCTION.
The resignations of Cllr. June Irving and Mrs. Wendy Done had been received since the last meeting. Cllr. Lumb requested on behalf of the Parish Council that thanks were recorded for June Irving’s work as councillor and more recently as Chairman. Thanks were also recorded for the work of Wendy Done as Parish Clerk.
4. PRESENT WERE :- Cllrs. S. Lumb ( Chairman ) M. Brennand, D. Makins , J. Clayton, and N. Nash, Cllr. Mrs J. Pears ELDC Ward Councillor, Cllr. J. Swanson Lincs. County Council representative, and eighteen members of the parish.
Apologies were received from Cllr. Grant who is recovering from an operation.
5. TO RECEIVE ANY DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT 2000.
None.
6. OPEN FORUM.
Youth Club / Playground. Mr. S. Saunders, a prospective inhabitant of the village, asked why the village did not have these facilities. A brief history of them was given by Cllrs. Lumb and Brennand and he was invited to join the Play Area committee.
Signage for horse and riders. Mrs. P. Wright requested that signs should be erected near the foot of Spilsby Hill due to the proximity of stables, the speed of motorists navigating the sharp bends and a number of recent near misses. Cllr. Swanson agreed to follow this up with LCC.
Salt Bin. Following the bad weather in December Mrs. J. Irving asked for a salt bin to be situated in the village, similar to the one provided at Hareby. Cllr. Swanson said the problem was that people raided them for the salt, so LCC preferred to apply the salt themselves.
Street Lights on Back Lane. Mr. S. Saunders reported that two street lights near Candlelight Cottage were not working. He was asked to log the fault with the Highways Dept. using the numbers on the lamp posts.
Summer Fete. Mrs J. Foulis asked whether the village had a summer fete. She was advised that various events were planned for the summer, but nothing that really involved the whole village. She suggested that the Castle would be a good site. She was asked to contact the other groups to see if they could get together and have a village fete.
Royal Wedding Street Party Mrs. Cartwright and Mrs. Phillips Wilson were planning a street party on 29th April on West Keal Road.
Cllr. Pears. The following items were mentioned:
A Fun Bus could be ordered to visit the village to entertain children in the school holidays.
There had been some very complimentary comments about the village made in a planning application for Meadowsweet Cottage.
A Police newsletter was available to keep residents up to date with local events.
Disabled grants were now more freely available.
Cllr. Swanson. The following items were mentioned:
There was training available at the Franklin Hall in Spilsby on 5th February 2011 to help groups apply for grants. This could be relevant to the Village Hall Committee and the Play Area Committee.
Planning permission had been granted for the Anaerobic Digestion Plant at East Kirkby.
7. TO CONSIDER AND AGREE THE MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD ON 22ND NOVEMBER 2010.
Cllr. Brennand proposed and Cllr. Makins seconded and the Council unanimously approved the minutes.
8. REPORT ON MATTERS OUTSTANDING FROM THE LAST MEETING.
Funding. There was nothing to report. Cllr. Makins was still helping the Village Hall Committee in preparation for an application .
War Memorial. This had not progressed, but there had been a communication from LALC identifying an opportunity to get grant aid. Cllr. Clayton agreed to take this project on. Cllr. Makins would forward the link to him.
Broadband Survey. Cllr. Lumb was to re-issue this and hoped that there would be a better response than the previous attempt.
Parish Council noticeboards. The repairs were underway, but the bad weather had hampered progress. However the new doors would be fitted soon.
Slurry Tank. There had still been no reply to Cllr. Grant’s letter. The development had been referred to the Environment Agency, after concerns had been raised about the soakaway. It was confirmed a similar site was under way near Wheelabout Wood.
Riparian Owners. A list was still to be compiled. Mr. Ireland had confirmed that the ditch alongside the field seemed fairly clear but the far corner may need attention and could be reached from the other side which is Cartwright’s land and Jamie could possibly carry out the work.
Community Christmas Tree and Carol Service 2011. The 2010 service had gone well and it was agreed to book the Mareham Silver Band for 12th December 2011. The council approved the expense of £35.
Transfer of papers from Parish Clerk. As part of the handover process it was agreed that Mrs. Done should sign off a declaration that she no longer had any papers concerning Bolingbroke Parish Council.
9. TO RECEIVE A FINANCE REPORT FROM THE RESPONSIBLE FINANCE OFFICER CLLR. MAKINS.
a) Monies at the Bank
The Current Account £ 728.92.
The Deposit Account. £4,000.00.
The Ramsden Account £2,035.51.
b) Retrospective Payments.
Wendy Done q.e. 31/12/2010. £300.00.
A. Jackson Grass Cutting £110.00
The precept form requesting £3800 had been received at ELDC.
Cllr. Nash asked whether the amount held on the Deposit and the Current account would cause an audit query to be raised. Cllr. Makins replied that the balances should have reduced further by the end of March.
Cllr. Makins reported that Mrs. J. Irving had been removed from the list of cheque signatories.
10. PROPOSALS TO FILL THE VACANCY OF PARISH CLERK.
It was agreed that the services of a Parish Clerk were needed. A debate about hours required and rates of pay took place, and it was proposed by Cllr. Lumb seconded by Cllr. Brennand and unanimously approved that the recruitment process should start, and a report given on progress at the next meeting.
11. THE LOCALISM BILL
Whilst appearing to devolve power to the local communities it was generally felt that it would get strangled by bureaucracy. Problems with land development, and self granting planning permission were also envisaged. It was agreed to keep a watching brief on developments.
12 CONFIRMATION OF PRACTICE INVOLVING MEETINGS AND DISCUSSIONS BETWEEN PARISH COUNCILLORS.
Cllr. Lumb reported that he had sought clarification and advice on this issue since the last meeting. The principle was that meetings between Parish Councillors meeting informally to discuss business, agenda setting, work programme and such like were not illegal. They were not meetings of the Parish Council and were not meetings where decisions were being made on behalf of the Parish Council. Advice received indicated that indeed having such discussions between Councillors outside of Parish Council meetings was good practice and was the norm across nearly most if not all Councils. Since the election in May there had been meetings to bring new Councillors up to speed, to provide training, to check the progress of tasks and preparation of papers, and to agree agendas for the next Council meeting. No decisions had or could be taken in these meetings. Cllr. Nash felt that there could be a dangerous grey area where discussions about an issue could border on making a decision. The Chairman agreed that this could be the perception, but it was an incorrect one as only Parish Council meetings themselves can take decisions. The Chairman agreed that if a Councillor, having had such a meeting or discussion with one or more Councillors, wished to declare that fact at a formal meeting, it would be perfectly acceptable to do so.
Cllr. Lumb proposed, Cllr. Brennand seconded, that no changes in current practice be made but that the Councillors may inform the Council meeting of any informal meetings and contact should they wish.
Cllr. Clayton proposed and Cllr. Nash seconded an amendment to that, which was that where a meeting of four or more Councillors had met at an informal meeting, the Council had to be informed. This was defeated by three votes to two and the original proposal was then passed by three votes to two.
13. LETTER TO THE DUCHY OF LANCASTER SEEKING CONTRIBUTIONS TOWARDS PARISH PROJECTS.
Cllr. Lumb commented on the uninviting signage at the entrances to the village and also in the village itself. Cllr. Makins had approached the Duchy of Lancaster, who have a considerable interest in the village, and they had asked that the council send in a funding request which would be considered by their Benevolent Fund Committee at its next meeting in March 2011. Cllrs. Lumb and Makins were to progress this request.
14. DISCUSSION OF ANY ACTIONS OR RESPONSES REQUIRED IN RELATION TO ANY ISSUES RAISED DURING THE OPEN FORUM SESSION.
All had been covered in the Open Forum session.
15. ANY PLANNING MATTERS OR PLANNING APPLICATIONS.
Cllr. Lumb reported that the appeal against the decision not to allow Meadowsweet Cottage to become a residential property had been dismissed.
16. HIGHWAY MATTERS.
Cllr. Makins read a report from Cllr. Grant, who had met with Richard Fenwick from the Highways Dept. Hagnaby Lane will be repaired but there were 200,000 other potholes in the county so it could be a little while. The drain outside Mr. Evans’ house will also be inspected.
The trees on Spilsby Hill had been cut back, and the drain on Back Lane had been cleared of branches and rubbish.
17. TO RECEIVE A REPORT FROM THE PARISH COUNCIL PLAY AREA COMMITTEE.
Cllr. Brennand reported that the grant application to LCC had been returned due to lack of funds. A new application was due to be submitted by 1st March as more funding was becoming available. It was confirmed that the Ramsden Trust account was available to help fund the project. However, it was felt that to start work and deplete this fund may harm future requests for funding, as it would appear that there was no fund already in place to at least partially match the funds requested from the third party.
18. TO RECEIVE A REPORT FROM THE REPRESENTATIVE ON THE VILLAGE HALL COMMITTEE TO ALSO COVER THE RELATED TASK AND FINISH GROUP WORK.
Cllr. Brennand reported that the next meeting of the Village Hall Committee was to be held on Thursday 27th January, so there was nothing to report. Cllr. Makins reported that he had passed information on grant availability to Mr. A. Cullum, and had started work on the financial information that would be needed.
19. ARRANGEMENTS FOR REIMBURSING THE VILLAGE HALL COMMITTEE FOR A PROPORTION OF THE FIELD WATER RATE.
Cllr. Lumb confirmed that the water used in the field needed to be assessed by reading both the main meter and the one attached to the trough. Cllr. Makins agreed to progress this with Mr. A. Cullum.
20. ARRANGEMENTS FOR THE 2011 PIN AND CANDLE AUCTION.
Cllr. Brennand agreed to make arrangements for this with the auctioneers.
21. TO NOTE AND ACTION ANY CORRESPONDENCE RECEIVED.
Concessionary Bus Passes. Cllr. Lumb reported that there was to be a change to these after March 2011. Details were on the website.
Register of Electors. Cllr. Lumb reported that he had an up to date copy of the Electoral Roll, which was available for inspection but not copying.
Meadowsweet Cottage. This had been dealt with under item 15.
J. Ireland. Cllr. Makins confirmed that the donation of £160 relating to field fencing was in the Ramsden Trust account. It was unanimously agreed that the old swings from the field be sold for scrap, and any proceeds banked in the Ramsden Trust account.
Street Party Funding. It was unanimously agreed that a contribution should be made to this event from Parish funds. It was requested that the organisers of the Street Party on 29th April report back to the next Parish Council meeting in March with a list of their requirements and a request for funding.
22. ITEMS AND ARRANGEMENTS FOR PUBLISHING NEXT AGENDA
Grant for Newsletter. Cllr. Makins was to get details of this from Cllr. Pears and apply.
Parish Representation. It was unanimously agreed that Mrs J. Irving should continue to represent Old Bolingbroke on behalf of the Parish Council at the meetings of the Gregory Croft Trust and the St. Thomas Charity for Widows of the Parish.
23. TO AGREE DATES FOR MEETINGS IN 2011/12 BEYOND MARCH AND TO CONFIRM THE DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING.
Dates in 2011 were agreed as 28th March, 23rd May, 25th July, 26th September, and 21st November, and in 2012 were agreed as 23rd January, 26th March, and 28th May. These all were due to start at 7.30 p.m. in the Village Hall.
The meeting closed at 9.55 p.m.
Signed as a true record of the Meeting...... Date ......