2019 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

Londonthorpe & Harrowby Without Parish Council

Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held 3rd July 2019 at Belmont School 7.00pm

Public Open Session; there were no parishioners present.

Councillors present; John Anderson, Geoff Parnham, Avril Gregory, Richard Keeler, Cllr George Chivers, Roland Wright, Janie Lee and Yolanda Martin.

(9 Members were present.). LCC Cllr Linda Wootten was in attendance.

Geoff Parnham the Chairperson took the Chair. Pete Armstrong the Clerk took the notes.

18/19

Apologies; W Charley, P Bakker and P Bavin. LCC Cllr A Stokes sent his apologies

19/19

Declarations of Interest; None.

20/19

Vacancies on the Council. There is one vacancy to be filled; this will be advertised in the Newsletter to all residents in August.

21/19

Clerks Notes of the 15th May 2019 meeting were accepted as a true record and became the minutes. Proposed by R Wright, seconded A Gregory, all members agreed.

22/19

Clerks Update on Matters Arising; none, all items covered within the agenda.

23/19

Financial Statement No.2.

The Clerk/RFO went through the financial report in the usual fine detail explaining all the payments etc. The Community Cleaners and Clerks salaries for the last two months May & June totalling £1414.72 plus HMRC £301.40 was paid out. Grass Cutting by R Webster for May of £486 (VAT £81) was paid. Memberships to LALC and the CPRE of £761.41 and £36 were paid. Insurance through Came & Co was agreed and paid on the three-year deal of £912.97. Repairs to the through the Parish as reported in the Play Inspection was completed at a cost of £385 by WACS. Rent to Buckminster Estates was paid totalling £150. The seat for Fifth Ave has been purchased from No Butts costing £556.20 (Inc VAT £92.70).

Petty Cash expenditure owed to the Clerk during the last two months amounted to £145.38 this included Office General £41.05, Newsletter Stamps £71.78, Working Party £11.34, H&H £6.31 and Gardens £14.90. Total expenditure during these two months being £5488.68 a total of £237.34 of VAT is reclaimable. Known expenditure due for payment before the next meeting are; Community Cleaner’s Salary, Clerks Salary, Repairs, Road Safety, Roundabout Grass £100, Play Projects and Third Ave crossing investigations and a possible Office Computer (Ref 23a/19) The Clerk informed the meeting that all budget headings were as to be expected for this time of year.

There was no income during this two-month period. Agreement to accept the Financial Statement No 2 and all the options suggested plus the normal expected payments for up to September was proposed by G Chivers seconded by Y Martin this was agreed unanimously.

23a/19

Office Computer; as agreed at the previous meeting the Clerk investigated the cost involved. The Model chosen was felt by some to have less memory etc than might be required in the future. The model that had been chosen had 260mb, but it was felt that 1Tb would be better. The Clerk was given the go ahead to increase the total cost to £650 if required. Proposed J Anderson sec R Wright all were in agreement.

24/19

Audit Agreement and Sign Off. The Clerk informed members that the Audit had been signed for at the Auditors so we will get it back by the end of September.

25/19

Leisure & Outdoor Committee.

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

a. Committee Report; This meeting discussed the comments etc made from the Parish Tours.
The committee chair R Keeler gave some details on the last meeting of L&O committee stating most thing was covered under separate agenda items which the Clerk would update members on. All members have had a copy of those minutes.

b. Playground Safety: repair work passed to WACS is now completed. A mishap at the Belfry was reported where a larger youth tried to go through one of the tyres on the Trim Trail and got stuck, a local resident took off the tyre and they used soapy water to free him. The resident has already replaced the tyre. Mud was reported smeared on the slide at the Withambrook Park, the Clerk went and washed it all off. He believed it was children running up the slide with muddy feet.
The Chairman G Parnham reported on what look like drugs bags that he had picked up and also the number drinks bottles found around the area. Discussion then evolved around the lack of Police/PCSO presence around the Parish. There was a time when the police would check in at area but as we never see anybody that is not happening. Cllr. L Wootten reported the fact that she had not had a reply from the Police Officer in charge of our area and asked if the Clerk had been contacted to which he replied no.

c. Withambrook; New Backboards required for the Basketball court and a new sign on the fence re the history of the MUGA. Both items have been vandalised.

d. Belfry; Quotes being obtained for painting the fence. Step has just been replaced on the Climbing Wall.

e. Londonthorpe; an idea that came out of the Committee was to look into Mock Entrance Gates to the Village or even planters as traffic slowing method. This is being followed up by an article in the Newsletter and inclusion at the Open Evening. A couple of residents have already been approached on this to arouse early discussion.

f. Hills & Hollows; Unfortunately, a second of the Information Lectern notices has been smashed. Replacements have been ordered and P Bakker and the Clerk will fit putting an extra stronger backing board in place.

g. Bridge End Grove; Looking good at present extra bulbs to be planted in the autumn on the bank side.

h. Fifth Ave; Park Bench with back ordered in Green made with Recycled Plastic Bottles. It is in transit at present the exact site to be determined. The quote for the replacement caps for new equipment that have been stolen has come in at £20 each and 10 are required, members felt this was in the extreme and asked the clerk to look for other options. It was even wondered if they were actually needed at all. The Clerk will check this out.

i. New Play Equipment: members were asked to come forward with any suggestions for areas to improve. Open Evening item!

j. Grass Cutting: our own cuts are being done well as required by growing conditions. SKDC’S areas are still much better this year under their own in-house team. LCC Highways are not up to scratch with everything else. Complaints are still being received from around the parish where cuts have now been done but very poorly. The developers with areas around the parish are still being quite consistent with their cuts. In certain areas the residents continue to cut in front of their homes. Cllr L Wootten and Cllr A. Stokes have both been involved in this for us.

k. Woodland Trust Working Party: The Summer event mentioned at the last meeting was held last Saturday when old posts were taken out and some diseased Ash Saplings were removed. Work ceased early due to the extreme temperatures.

l. Jubilee Wood: yesterday J Anderson, G Parnham, P Bakker, J Lee and the Clerk escorted by W Charley were able to get on to the Camp and walk through some of the woodland. The trees have made some very good growth over the years especially considering the soil conditions on the site. There appeared to be a large diversity of fauna and flora on site and it was suggested that a survey should be done. It was agreed that everything should be done to help preserve the area when the inevitable sale of the land for building takes place. We are led to believe the Camp will now stay open until 2025. The Woodland Trust has confirmed they are in conversation with the Ministry and will also be contacting SKDC for their thoughts on future development.

m. Five Gates; the Clerk in unofficial talks with WT was asked about the Parish Councils thoughts on closing Five Gates. He is unsure exactly what they are meaning by this but has been invited to a meeting at their HQ where the details of their ideas will be announced. It is thought it is to do with the linking of the National Trusts Belton Estate with the WT Woods on Londonthorpe Lane. Part of this plan is believed to include an extension to the National Cycle Network. The Clerk will report back.

n. Defibrillator; Anthony Boyle who will be fitting it for us has still not got back to us the Clerk will keep trying to contact him. Contact now made.

26/19

Withambrook Crossing; The Clerk is undertaking a search of the requirements which are required for us to progress this plan further.

Items that need to be confirmed are Feasibility, Planning Consents (SKDC), Agreements (EA), Contractors/ Civil Engineering (ones contacted so far say job too small for them.) plus overall costing. EA when initially approached indicated they would not be likely to entertain anything other than a bridge of some sort. It would have to have a water flow rate under it greater than the two conduits now feeding the stream.

The clerk will get further information and pass to the L&O committee for discussion before going further.

27/19

Best Kept Gardens: Members were given their score sheets for the initial judging of the competition. They were asked to return to the Clerk ASAP.

28/19

A request has been made for a list and or a map of all the trees within the parish with TPO’s on them. A email has been received back stating they are working behind schedule and it will not be looked at inside the normal 10 day time scale.

29/19

Newsletter; the committee will meet to go through the draft articles. Items for inclusion include; Open Evening Invite (Front Page), Plans re Londonthorpe traffic calming for comment, Working Party calendar 2019/20, full calendar, councillor details, flooding, Third Ave Crossing, planning issues, vandalism and dog fouling.

Councillor Working Group; G Parnham, P Bakker, Y Martin, J Lee and A Gregory. Members were asked to put forward to the clerk anything else for inclusion.

30/19

Highways Notes;

Chatsworth Avenue; We are still waiting for the next of a series of meeting with all interested parties to be called by SKDC.

It has been confirmed that the work is to be done during the 2019-20 financial year the drain has been designed and the money is set aside.

Harrowby Hill Flooding; There is still no improvement here although we have a dry spell and water flow seems to have increased again. AW has now commenced work at the top of the hill and the road is closed for up to 8 weeks!! We are not aware of any notification to us or our district and LCC councillors!!

Cllr L Wootten informed us of a meeting to be held at the Jubilee Church on the 15th July 2pm – 5pm re the past flooding at Coxmoor and Cavendish.

Potholes; some have been repaired in the last few days but still many dangerous ones remain within the parish. An email was sent to Highways asking them to send out someone to speak to us about the state of the roads in the parish. There has only been a corporate response received. To be chased up! Clerk to contact Rowan Smith our Highways Manager.

Speedwatch; the SID that was in Londonthorpe has just been brought in for processing.

31/19

Tom Childs Award; Two nominations have been received for 2019. One has been chosen and the Clerk will now contact as Cllr W Charley secured a possible date of Thursday 25th July for the presentation.

32/19

Parish Open Evening on 25/9/19; members again have been asked to forward any items they require to be on the displays etc. So far we have these items; Flooding, Londonthorpe Traffic Designs, Play Areas, Planning, Vandalism, Invite to the Police, Planning Matters, BKG, Broadband, Tom Childs Award and the other regular information boards. All councillors are expected to attend. Apology received from R Wright on Holiday.

33/19

Policies; The Code of Conduct was issued to each member and was duly signed for prior to this meeting. It was agreed that the committee will review other policies when relevant.

34/19

Correspondence; As usual all relevant correspondence has been passed on as it arrived. Except a letter re Broadband in villages this will be added to the Open Evening material.

35/19

Matters for the Next Agenda etc. An email had been received by some members purporting to be from a councillor asking for money, this was obviously a scam and members were warned to be vigilant. Burning of materials on the Industrial Estate, these should be reported in to SKDC Environmental Control as soon as noticed.

Meeting closed 9.15 pm.

Diary Dates are as per these minutes and the Spring Newsletter.

Next meeting; 11th Sept 2019 at 7.00pm.