March 2024 Minutes
Scopwick and Kirkby Green Parish Council
http://parishes.lincolnshire.gov.uk/ScopwickandKirkbyGreen/
The minutes of the full Council meeting of Scopwick and Kirkby Green Parish Council, held on Tuesday 26th March 2024 at 7:00 pm. The meeting was held in Scopwick Village Hall. These are notes of the meeting until approved by the Council as a true record.
Present:
Cllrs M Williams (Chair), J Flett (Vice-Chair), O Davies, C Kerrigan, D Nelson, and P Frost; and County Cllr R Kendrick.
Parish Clerk - J Sargent.
There were no members of the public in attendance.
Report from North Kesteven District Councillor A Bailey
Councillor A Bailey submitted apologies due to work commitments.
Report from Lincolnshire County Councillor R Kendrick
Cllr Kendrick issued a monthly bulletin via email, circulated to Councillors. Cllr Kendrick mentioned that the executive of the County Council are going to oppose the pylon proposals.
Metheringham Primary School have a student council and they visited the County Council, where they debated a couple of motions. The school are encouraging the pupils to engage and learn about democracy. More schools are due to visit.
The County Council are increasing funding for the Highways, to include relaying almost 300 miles of road surface, filling potholes and cleaning drains which has contributed to flooding issues.
Cllr Davies queried how many pothole machines the County Council have. Cllr Kendrick to find out and encouraged Councillors to report potholes on the fixmystreet website, as claims can be submitted if potholes are not filled within a certain timeframe after being reported.
Cllr Williams suggested the quality of the repairs has been poor in some areas.
With no further matters, it was resolved to move into session.
115. Chairman’s Welcome
Cllr Williams opened the meeting welcoming everyone and thanking them for their attendance.
116. Apologies
It was resolved unanimously to accept apologies from District Cllr A Bailey.
117. Declaration of Interest.
None received.
118. To approve as a correct record the minutes of the full Council meeting held on 30th January 2024.
With no matters arising, it was resolved unanimously to adopt the minutes as a true and accurate record with the Clerk to clarify on numbering of items.
119. To approve as a correct record the minutes of the extraordinary Council meeting held on 11th March 2024.
With no matters arising, it was resolved unanimously to adopt the minutes as a true and accurate record with the Clerk to clarify on numbering of items.
120. To approve the record of accounts for:
a. January
b. February
With no matters arising, it was resolved unanimously to accept the accounts for January and February.
121. To receive the bank reconciliation for:
a. January
b. February
The Clerk provided the bank reconciliation to keep Councillors up to date with the financial status of the Council, for information purposes only.
122. To receive reports from:
a. Village Hall Committee
Cllr Flett advised:
• A quiz night held in the hall held in aid of the summer show, was well attended.
• Held a coffee morning in aid of a Brain Tumour charity, raising over £200.00.
• Two sessions were held for National Village Hall Week, a tea and tea cake afternoon and a coffee morning. The YMCA and Community Lincs attended both sessions and were very impressed.
• The village show is on Saturday 3rd August, with the raffle tickets sold in advance. There have been some very generous donations for prizes.
• Wrinkly Rockers are returning in November.
• Orchestra returning for another concert in October.
• The handrails at the entrance have been revarnished.
• The environment board has been reassembled with the new artwork.
Cllr Kerrigan thanked Cllr Nelson for the contribution towards the defibrillator, attached to the Village Hall.
Cllr Flett spoke about the possibility of compiling a village newsletter and circulated some ideas via email, to be discussed at a later date. Cllr Kerrigan offered to help.
Cllr Frost suggested thanking the resident for helping with maintenance around the village hall and in the village. Cllr Flett suggested writing a letter of thanks and putting an acknowledgement in the village newsletter.
b. Playing Field Committee
Cllr Nelson advised that the bark is due to go out soon but otherwise there is not much to report due to the wet weather.
Cllr Williams queried whether there was one last cut due for the grass under the 2023-24 contract. The Clerk advised he would chase this up, as well as ask the new contractor when he would be conducting the first cut.
c. Community Speed Watch
Cllr Frost advised there had been 10 sessions since the last Parish Council meeting, at 4 different sites. The worst site seems to be at Heath Road from Digby.
The data from the speed sign shows 99% of cars are going below 40mph, even though it’s a 30mph zone. Vehicles in the 1% are sometimes going between 70-90mph. Vehicles travelling south are going faster than vehicles travelling north. Data to be posted on the Council’s website.
Speed signs arrived, ordered from the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership, to be installed around the parish.
The Clerk to chase the request to extend the 30mph zone and offer the data collected from the speed sign.
d. Environmental Report
Cllr Davies advised that activity has been limited due to the wet weather. A tree is to be removed from the Beck and work will start on restoring the edge of the green.
e. The Chairman
Cllr Williams advised of a not much activity due to ill health. Cllr Williams thanked all involved with the response to the latest Springwell consultation and reported receiving some positive feedback for the response from members of the community. With more developments due later in the year, more work will be required in formulating further responses.
Cllr Frost questioned whether the County Council, who issued a statement on the pylons issue, would be making a similar statement on Springwell Solar Farm. The Clerk to follow up.
f. The Clerk
The Clerk advised of recent training with LALC for the CiLCA qualification, with training days in the months ahead. The internal audit will be in April, to be able to submit the AGAR after the meeting in May.
Cllr Williams asked the Clerk to send the Parish Council’s response to the Springwell Solar Farm consultation to the District and County Council, so they are aware of the Parish Council’s response. The Clerk has made to enquires as to who to send this to, and currently waiting for a reply.
123. To consider policies:
a. Publication Scheme
b. Accessibility Statement
c. Privacy Notice
d. Training and Development.
Cllr Flett suggested all the policies were too complicated and needed refining more in line with the requirements of the Parish Council. Cllr Flett offered to go through the policies and make them more specific to the Parish Council. It was resolved unanimously to defer to a later date.
124. To consider applying for the Local Council Award Scheme Foundation level.
a. To consider an Action Plan for the Local Council Award Scheme.
The Clerk mentioned there are only 8 Councils within Lincolnshire to qualify for any level of the Local Council Award Scheme and mentioned that it would show that the Council are meeting best practice standards. With the criteria required for the foundation level, there are only 7 outstanding objectives to achieve. The Clerk provided the costs of the registration and the application which would be £100.00. It was resolved unanimously to apply once all the criteria have been met.
125. To receive notification of any planning permissions, refusals, withdrawals, or amendments.
a. 23/1283/FUL | Land At Heath Road Scopwick
The extra-ordinary meeting was called earlier in the month to discuss this application, and feedback has been submitted to NKDC.
126. To receive the correspondence log since the previous meeting.
The Clerk provided a record of the correspondence log for Councillors information.
127. To receive a record of previous resolutions and action points.
The Clerk provided a record of previous resolutions and action points that were ongoing and complete.
128. To confirm the date of the next meetings as Tuesday 7th May 2024 for the Annual Meeting of the Council and 28th May 2024 for the next full Council meeting.
Cllr Flett queried whether a speaker would be invited for the Annual Meeting of the Council, possibly a representative from Anglian Water as there have been issues with the pumping station and flooding. Cllr Frost suggested inviting a representative from Springwell Solar Farm.
Cllr Frost mentioned publishing meeting agendas on social media websites to increase awareness. Cllr Flett suggested including meeting information in the village email newsletter.
Cllr Nelson queried the legality of the where Parish Council’s need to advertise meeting. The Clerk confirmed that the requirements are for the website and noticeboard, other places are optional. A social media policy would be recommended if Councillors were to use social media in an official capacity representing the Parish Council.
It was resolved unanimously to hold the next Full Council meeting on Tuesday 28th May 2024.
Cllr Williams closed the meeting at 7:58pm.