January 2023 DRAFT Minutes
Londonthorpe & Harrowby Without Parish Council
Clerk; Peter A. Armstrong 27 Belton Ave Grantham Lincs NG31 9JE
Tel 07929321426 E-mail londonthorpeharrowby@ntlworld.com
Clerks Notes of the Parish Council Meeting held on Wednesday 11th January 2023 at Belmont school. Meeting started at 7.02pm.
Public Open Session: there were no parishioners present.
22/73 Councillors present: Richard Keeler, Paul Bakker, Roland Wright, Geoff Parnham, Alan Bowling, Avril Gregory, Paul Nesbitt, George Chivers and E Stooke and Yolanda Martin. 10 members were present. LCC Cllr L Wootten was in attendance.
Cllr Roland Wright took the Chair. Pete Armstrong the Clerk took the notes.
Apologies: Paul Bavin ill, Carol Markwell holiday, agreed as acceptable absences. A Stokes also sent his apologies and asked for any problems requiring his input to be forwarded.
22/74 Declarations of Interest; None declared.
22/75 Clerks Notes: those of the 9th November 2022 meeting were accepted as a true record and therefore became the minutes. Proposed by R Keeler seconded G Parnham, all members were fully in agreement.
22/76 Clerks Update on Matters Arising: As usual all matters fall within the very full agenda.
22/77 Financial Statement No 5 of 22-23. Councillors as usual now had received the reports taken off the Scribe system prior to the meeting.
Salaries £2051.78 inc. HMRC £352.20, Cloudnext £191.98 inc. VAT £32, Bank Charges: £8.05. Repairs £330, News-leaflet £100. Meetings £24.68 VAT £4.41 Stamps Newsletter £85.58, Training £18.00 VAT £3 No Grass Cutting Invoices received... Total expenditure for the report period was £2811 VAT £39.31. The Clerk then went through the report in the detail explaining all the payments.
All payments made on the card by the Clerk were agreed by and signed off accordingly.
Income was, Interest of £7.20, and the Community Cleaner £694.98 payment from SKDC. Items known due for payment before the next meeting are, Grass Cutting? Repairs, BHMS, remainder of the Jubilee Projects, and Salaries plus anything relating to any of the other ongoing projects within the L&O section including ROSPA report. A total possible outlay of up to £13500 before the next meeting. Agreement to accept the Financial Statement No 5 for 2022/23 plus the normal expected payments for up to the March meeting was proposed by A Gregory seconded by Y Martin. Agreed Unan. Cllrs P Nesbitt & A Bowling signed off the account.
22/77a Salary Reviews: The Clerk outlined the changes in the SCP Pay-scales recently published for the 22-23 financial year. These were late in being agreed by the parties concerned but all employees were due an increase as from the 1st April 2022. The Community Cleaner would require this increase to be applied backed dated, this would ensure that his salary remains above the minimum for 2023-24. On a proposal by A Bowing Sec by P Nesbitt his salary would follow SCP1 on the scale, this was greed unan.
The Clerk then left the room whilst his renumeration was discussed, he was on SCP 15. Cllr Y Martin took the notes whilst the Clerk had vacated the room.
Discussion took place about the invaluable role of the Clerk and the service he provides. Agreed to move up to point 16, £13.70 per hour backdated to April 2022 proposed by G Parnham, seconded by G Chivers, carried unanimously.
22/78 Leisure & Outdoor Committee:
a. Playground Safety: No major issues. ROSPA Inspection report received 11/1/23, all items listed are Low or Very Low Risk.
b. Community Cleaner: works in sessions to fit in with other commitments, not in a full 4hr stretch. Clerk to meet up with him later this spring for a debrief session.
c. Withambrook Play Area: Litterbin fitted near the bridge. All repair work planned completed week beginning 14th November.
d. Belfry: WACS completed work cutting and clearing overgrown hedge, safety matting and gate spring.
e. Londonthorpe Play Area: Replace failed trees in Feb/March.
f. Hills & Hollows: The seat that had lost it view due to the growth of trees on the neighbouring plot, as been moved. It now has a great view over the town and onto Belvoir Vale on a clear day. Three trees have been paid for by donation an Oak, Silver Birch, and Midland Hawthorn.
g. Bridge End Grove: we have not been contacted about the mentioned increase for this year after the clerk stated we had already paid this year’s rent in May!
h. Working Parties: See BHMS notes. One will be required for parishioners to work on the Jubilee Mount and BHMS Site along with our normal H&H and other sites as mentioned.
i. Woodland Trust update: Continuing in Alma Wood, the group have now cleared a good area of self-set Sycamore etc ready for replanting Beech/Oak etc. The next meeting will be on Sunday 12th February. All Members have signed up for to the Reconnecting Grantham joint project with the National Trust. Three members are just going through the registration process with the WT.
j. Jubilee Mount: We are still waiting for the Lecterns Roll& Scroll Clerk to chase. Volunteers required to work on improving the drainage and clear back the Brambles. The contractor for the BHMS work has been asked to do some of the work with his machinery whilst on site. Clerk will manage this.
The scrubland between us and the BHMS site has not gone through as simply as we had hoped. We had believed that a straight transfer could be done at no cost. Now we are being informed that we will have legal fees to pay although we have an email stating SKDC would meet these fees! Cllr L Wootten has agreed to take this up with the SK Director for us.
k. Millennium Garden: no new information, we will be asking for volunteers from the community in the next Newsletter. We are very grateful for the continued work by Mr & Mrs Parker.
• Grass Cutting: A quote from Firths Landscaping equalling £3436 for a full year has been received and on the recommendation of the Clerk this was accepted. This is only marginally more expensive that what Streetwise were charging.
22/79 BHMS Site: The work will commence on site on the 17th Jan 23 to firstly deal with the Winsor Drive Scotney Drive entrance, this will be followed by work on the Sandringham Dr Entrance. Each entrance in turn will need to be closed for safety reasons whilst work is ongoing, only one entrance will be closed at a time. All properties backing on to the site will be receiving a hand delivered information leaflet. The planting of trees and plants hopefully will take place in February. Planting will include a selection of plants along the lower slopes. Some species likely to be used include, Mahonia, Lavender, Rosemary, Cotoneaster and Ceanothus. A few trees of a moisture loving nature are to be planted on the southern and eastern slopes.
22/80 Grantham Town Council: we are waiting for the results of the latest consultation to be published. From talking to our parishioners who will be affected by this they are against it. We were not aware of the fact were being asked to comment until this week. A hastily reply was put together using an amalgamation of already published details and work from Cllr A Bowling and the Clerk.
22/81 Planning: Applications dealt with as arising, these are sent to all councillors with at least five of the most local councillors requested to comment. There are no major items of concern with any of the recent applications. First one of this year was unavailable on the SKDC website at the time of this meeting!!
22/82 Highway Matters: SGRR; Galliford Try’s latest newsletter was passed onto members when it arrived.
The Community Speed Watch Team are desperately short of volunteers. An item to be put into the Newsletter asking for new volunteers. Resident at Harrowby Village complaining of speeds along the road, car smashed into the stone wall at the end of Turnor Road and Hall Lane. Missing Signs on High Dyke and elsewhere in the parish. the one on the High Dyke Harrowby Lane Junction has been missing for a year!!
The Archer Survey results for Five gates have been queried as they showed speeds well below what we know they are! Another survey is to be undertaken. Members noted that the site was not representative of the whole stretch, being so close to the carpark entrance and the junction.
22/83 Coronation Celebrations: Although we have nothing planned. We will ask for ideas in the Newsletter and any applications for help with anything being organised by parishioners will be looked at to see if we can support it in anyway.
22/84 Newsletter: This will need to be delivered by the last week of February first week of March, due to the Elections due to take place in May. Items to include the Calendar. raise interest of the vacancies on the council, Speed-watch, BHMS, Jubilee Mount and other Volunteering opportunities. Plus, contributions from Belton Park & the Church and of course all the other usual reports. New Cllrs introduction and Chairs/working group reports.
22/85 Policies: the new domain name is londonthorpeharrowby-pc.gov.uk. at present we are having problems setting up councillor’s email addresses with only just over half having managed to get online! Cllr A Boowling is assisting the Clerk in this.
We still hope to be publishing these in the next newsletter. This will be included in our Standing Orders.
22/86 Working Groups: Jubilee Mount, BHMS; these members are involved R Keeler, P Bakker, P Nesbitt, A Bowling, G Parnham, and E Stooke. A further meeting is planned when we have the contracting work completed.
22/87 Precept 2023-24 Although there are increases due in the National Council Workers agreement for 22-23 which is noted under 22/77a members felt that we should not as a council increase our precept. Proposed by E Stooke Sec P Nesbitt that we remain at £33000, agreed unan.
22/88 Correspondence: As usual all relevant correspondence has been passed on as it arrived or in this case brought up in the actual agenda heading. One item to be followed up is the Reply to LCC about their Precept. It was noted by members that Social Care of was of prime importance.
22/72 Matters for the March Agenda etc.
Meeting closed 9:05pm
Diary Dates are as per these minutes and the Calendar passed to members and available on the Website and Noticeboards.
Next meeting: @ Belmont School Wednesday March 8th, 2023, at 7.00pm.