2018 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

Londonthorpe & Harrowby Without Parish Council

Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held 12th September 2018 at Belmont School 7.00pm

Public Open Session; there were parishioners present.

Councillors present were; J Anderson, G Parnham, A Gregory, R Keeler, Cllr N Craft, P Bavin and Y Martin. (7 Members were present.). LCC Cllr Linda Wootten was also in attendance. PCSO Jackie Fulker sent apologies as she is on annual leave.

Cllr G Parnham the Vice Chairperson took the Chair. P Armstrong the Clerk took the notes.

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Apologies were received from P Bakker, Cllr G Chivers, R Wright, W Charley and Cllr A Stokes. A Widdowson had also sent his apologies along with his resignation. It was agreed that as there are Elections due in May 2019, it would not be in our best interests to look for a replacement as our next meeting will be within 6 months of them. His place on Committees & Working Parties will be filled if required on an ad hoc basis.

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Declarations of Interest; None.

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Clerks Notes of the 4th July 2018 meeting were accepted as a true record and became the minutes. Proposed by N Craft, seconded A Gregory, all members were in agreement.

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Clerks Report on Progress. The Clerk stated all matters were to be dealt with under the appropriate agenda items.

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Financial Statement No.2.

The Clerk/RFO went through the financial report in fine detail as usual explaining all the payments etc. The Community Cleaners and Clerks salaries for the last two months May & June totalling £1453.01 was paid out. Other payments included £600 to R Webster for Grass cutting Inc £150 VAT. £220 was paid for the Hedge-trimmer for the Hills & Hollows inc 36.67 VAT, £66.40 to Potash Farms for the Walnut Tree inc VAT @ £4.40 and £300 to Print Bureau for the Newsletters. Petty Cash expenditure owed to the Clerk during the last two months amount to £244.68, this included the £40 for leaflets re planning, newsletter cost of £89.22, £13 varnish and £18.42 for the Working Parties. Office costs of £84.04 were also paid.

Total expenditure during this two months being £2882.09 a total of £227.41 of VAT is reclaimable. Income was £5.02, from Melton Mowbray when the Easy Access Account was transferred to the 30 Day Account as agreed at the last meeting.

Known expenditure due for payment before the next meeting are; Community Cleaner’s Salary, Clerks Salary, Repairs, Road Safety, Grass Cutting, New Picnic Bench, Training and Office. The Clerk informed the meeting that all budget headings were as expected for this time of year. A request from Londonthorpe to assist from our S137 fund to make a donation towards the purchase of “Tommy” the silhouette soldier was discussed. It was agreed on a proposal by J Anderson seconded by A Gregory we could make a donation of up to a maximum of £50 or 20% whichever is the least. This was agreed unan and would come from our monies set aside for this type of thing.

Agreement to accept the Financial Statement No 3 and all the options suggested plus the normal expected payments was proposed by A Gregory seconded by N Craft this was agreed unanimously.

The auditors have requested further information from the Clerk about the figures shown on the Annual Return. As the figure shown outstanding to SKDC at the end of 2016-17 was different to the amount paid to them to clear the Mortgage. This was easily explained as the earlier figure included some interest which we actually saved by paying off the Mortgage early.

The Clerk informed members of the discussions he’s had with a computer advice company from Lincoln about emails addresses and the costs involved. Using a .gov address would have been the best option but is not open to us. After discussion it was agreed we should look into Gmail as an option.

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PLANNING APPLICATIONS

Nothing further has been heard about the Harrowby Hill development but there can be little time left for them to lodge an Appeal.

S17/1378 Harrowby Lane Travellers Site the Enforcement Officer has been contacted about the misuse of the site against the conditions of the agreed plan.

All Councillors have been informed of all these applications. Councillors for the areas concerned have reviewed the planning applications received for this period and these were agreed as above.

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Leisure & Outdoor Committee.

All Areas covered by this Committee are as usual reported in this item.

a. Playground Safety: the new “Picnic Bench” planned for a replacement at Bridge End Grove will be discussed at the October L&O committee meeting, it was suggested that a new one made of recycled plastic be purchased. A seat on the swings at Withambrook is damaged AMG to asked to source one for us. The seat at Fifth Ave which needs some attention should be done by the end of the month.

b. Hills & Hollows; the Clerk has purchased a petrol hedge trimmer to allow us to keep the hedges under control. A small Working Party is required to do some maintenance work including burning last year’s trash.

c. New Play Equipment “Belfry”; this is still been very well used at the Belfry with nothing but positive reports from children and parents alike. Loose bolt covers on the climbing frame to be chased up with by AMG. October L&O committee to discuss further needs throughout the parish.

d. Grass Cutting; the clerk stated that we had not received an invoice for some time but assumes this is because of the lack of growth though the summer heat. New three year deal due and SKDC new team will be asked to quote along with three others including R Webster our present company.

e. WW1 Memorial; the Clerk went through his list of tasks completed for the event.
Most agreements have now been reached; the date will be Sunday 14th October at 11.00am

The Walnut tree will be planted on the parish boundary. The tree is in quarantine at Belton Wood Yard. The NT will supply the guard. Council Members will be expected to attend in a joint event with the Trust and the “Machine Gun Corps Old Comrades”.

The Chair of SKDC has been invited and will attend. One residents of the Parish has asked to attend via the Newsletter. RSVP required. Representatives from Prince William of Gloucester Barracks and local Junior Army Cadets to be invited. Cllr W Charley to liaise with the Camp. Invite has also been sent out to Manthorpe/Belton Councillors. Anticipated numbers 20-30. The Rev John Cook will do the dedication.

The “Knighthalls” who run the local Poppy Appeal have requested the opportunity to attend contact to be made. Retiring to the Old School in Belton for light refreshments after the service, booked and paid for. The park visitor centre will be aware of those attending.

Conversations with Judith Lappin the secretary of the “Machine Gun Corps Old Comrades” are continuing as she was suggesting slightly more than we are planning.

f. L&O Committee Meeting; a suitable date in the middle of October is to be agreed to confirm Precept for 2019/20. The clerk will confirm to all.

g. Best Kept Gardens; there were only two rounds of judging this year; these were done after the dry weather had broken up. The state of lawns was not taken into account on any gardens. Surprising there were still some great examples of good gardening.

h. Woodland Trust Working Party; the Working Party led by the Clerk P Armstrong and Chairman Paul Bakker have been nominated for an award at the Woodland Trust Annual Awards Luncheon. The Clerk, Chairman and Colin Webb have been invited to attend. The meeting with the new manager has taken place to set out the schedule for 2018-19. Members of the group have also attended an interview session with the Investors in People observers. New Season starts on the 7th October.

i. A Gregory reported at the last meeting that

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Spitalgate Heath; nothing new received.

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Highways Notes;

Chatsworth Avenue & Harrowby Hill Flooding; A concerted effort is being made the get something done about both of these matters. The agencies involved are LCC Highways, SKDC, Internal Drainage Board, Lincolnshire Flood Agency and others. Anglia water found that they had a leaking main and when this was shut off the homes on eastern side of Harrowby Lane saw much reduced flow on to their properties.

Cllr N Craft, Cllr Wootten, Cllr Chivers and the clerk attended a useful meeting at SKDC offices on Monday with all the above named agencies except LCC Highways who failed to send a representative. Also at the meeting was a member of the Environment team. Who are also including Chatsworth Avenue in these discussions as we feel this is part of the same problem. The Clerk wrote to all the agencies including the MP demanding something be done about both situations. Again responses were received from most except LCC Highways. Next meeting will take place in November when Anglia Water will report back. The Clerk explained that it was impossible to close the footpath on Harrowby Hill except for emergencies as a suitable alternative route is not available. The hedge needs cutting back but there is a dispute over whose it is, once again no one to take responsibility!
Potholes; further of poor repairs have been completed around the parish.

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Tom Childs Award; A suitable candidate has been found, she’s a young lady who helps to look after her family whilst still doing here school work. The award was due to be presented on the 11th Sept but due to families circumstances this has had to be postponed.

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Newsletter; this delivered during the first week in September. Thanks to the 7 councillors who helped with this. Thanks also to D Thorpe who again assisted us. One request to attend the WW1 event received.

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Open Evening: the date is Wednesday 26th September; the Clerk has got several items ready for inclusion. Committee members are asked to forward any others ideas for inclusion ASAP. Cllr J Anderson was asked if he could make contact with anyone to do with the WWI details held at Belton House, as we would like to have a display including this. GDPR, Alma Park history, Best Kept Gardens, Play Equipment and the Flooding around Harrowby Hillside area also to be shown. The PCSO has stated she will attend.

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Correspondence; A copy of the SKDC “Community Involvement” document is available to be passed round and also via email.

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Items Not covered Under Other Agenda Headings; R Keeler raised the matter of Drones being flown close to houses on First Avenue causing a nuisance. PCSO J Fulker to be contacted for future reference as it is believed that they should not be flown over residential homes.

Cllr N Craft spoke about stone falling off lorries coming from the quarry on Whalebone Lane. This is evident all round the Somerby roundabout. It is only a matter of time before one falls on to another vehicle or pedestrian. The quarry owners to be contacted.

Cllr L Wootten added a little more to the detail about flooding problems we have.

Meeting closed 8.45pm.

Diary Dates are as per these minutes and the Newsletter.

Next meeting; 14th November 2018.