Heckington Parish Council
Minutes of Parish Council Meeting held in the Council Chambers, St Andrew’s Street, Heckington on Monday 31st March 2014 commencing at 7.00pm.
Attendance:Chairman Cllr Mr R Higgs in the Chair,
Cllrs – Mr T Atkinson, Mr A Garlick, Mr A Israel, Mr J Little, Mrs J Palmer, Mrs L Petoand Mr M West together with Mrs A Edwards (Clerk), D/Cllrs Ogden and Tarry and C/Cllr Young.
The presswas in attendance. There was 1 member of the public.
Cllr Higgs opened the public forum and the member of the public wished to praise the police. He said that he had received a telephone call on Friday afternoon purporting to be from the police, saying that somebody was in custody having tried to take money out of his bank account. They advised that he contact his bank immediately however the conmen keep the telephone line open and when you dial out they answer pretending to be your bank. This was clearly a scam so the member of the public had contacted the police 8.30pm on Friday. The police had been round to take his statement on the Saturday morning and said that several villagers had fallen victim. Cllr Palmer said that it was good to see the police being very proactive in the village.
The public forum closed at 7.04pm.
1.Chairman’s remarks.
2.Apologies for absence and reasons given.
Apologies were received from Cllrs Banister and Jones and PCSO Welby.
3.To receive a declaration of interest in accordance with the Localism Act 2011.
Cllr Peto declared her interest in item 15, as she was a School Governor.
4.Draft minutes of the Meeting held on Monday 31stMarch 2014 to be approved as Minutes and signed.
Matters arising – no resolutions may be passed.
Cllr Peto asked if the Parish Council had made a formal response to the Pegasus consultation, as raised in the public participation section. Cllr Higgs said that it had not been a consultation just a presentation and it had been up to individual people to complete the appropriate form. The Parish Council had not discussed it butif there was a formal planning application the Council could discuss it and draft a response. Cllr Atkinson said that the installation of a surface water tank was on the presentation plan and had asked about the possibility of cleaning the pond out and running the surface water into it. Cllr Higgs said that the police had been calledas there had been a lot of activity over there last week however due to confidential legal reasons he would be unable to discuss but would raise it again in closed session.
RESOLVED that the draft minutes of Monday 31stMarch 2014 be a true record of the meeting. Proposed by Cllr Garlick, seconded by Cllr Israel and agreed.
5.Financial Matters,
1.To approve payment of outstanding invoices.
RESOLVED to approve the outstanding invoices for payment. Proposed by Cllr Palmer, seconded by Cllr Israel and agreed.
2.To approve the Audit.
The Audit was approved and duly signed by Cllr Higgs and the Clerk.
RESOLVEDto approve the audit. Proposed by Cllr West, seconded by Cllr Israel and agreed.
6.To receive a report relating to Police matters.
The police were not in attendance but PCSO Welby had emailed the Clerk a short report which was read out.
The first issue had been a complaint of speeding in Sleaford Road and that he would request an archer survey from the Road Safety Partnership. There had also been reports of speeding motorcycles in Boston Road and PCSO Welby confirmed that they had been down there the other day with the speed gun and had stopped a few motorists.
The second issue had been young people trespassing at Heckington Manor.
7.Receive a report from County and District Councillors.
C/Cllr Young began by saying that the outcome of the library applications wouldbe made official on Wednesday evening. Some of the applicants had gone straight through however Heckington was not one of them. He continued by saying that Heckington would be assigned a person to help with the application deficiencies to ensure we were successful.
D/Cllr Ogden raised the issues at the Manor and asked if the Parish Council would write a letter, as there was a risk of people getting hurt North Kesteven District Council could put a charge on the property and apply pressure to get the building boarded up.
With regards to Boston Road D/Cllr Ogden had heard nothing further and confirmed that a planning application had not been submitted. Cllr Higgs said that NKDC knew our views and that although it was an ideal site concerns were still there regarding the utilities, particularly the sewerage. Cllr Higgs said that the Council had letters on file from Heckington residents about this problem and that some properties had installed one way valves to stop raw sewerage backing up. D/Cllr Ogden said that if the Parish Council put these concerns in writing to him, these issues could be raised when planning applications were received.Cllr Garlick asked whether the District or County Council would get Environmental Health to investigate, or would it just be down to the water companies. D/Cllr Ogden said that the District Council would look at all issues, roads, sewerage, water etc. so if letters were on file they would have to investigate whether the infrastructure was adequate for further development.
Cllr Higgs said that with regard to the Pegasus presentationhad NKDC had the foresight a few years ago the land owner would have gifted the show field to the villagers. This would have enabled the Show Committee to permanently erect grandstands rather than erecting temporary structures in the 3 weeks before the show.
C/Cllr Young, D/Cllrs Ogden and Tarry left the meeting at 7.30pm.
8.Receive a report from Clerk in relation to outstanding Council Matters.
No matters were outstanding.
9.Receive reports from Councillor’s relating to their affiliation to local organisations.
No resolutions may be passed under this item.
Cllr Garlick stated that the Windmill Trust now owned the entire windmill site and were making rapid progress in clearing the site.
Cllr Garlick said that the Village Trust had made over £200 last weekend and that they would be tidying up the notice boards at the end of the building.
Cllr Higgs said that the swimming pool accounts from November 2012 – March 2014 had beendone. They were in an excellent position and had repaid £1,000 to the Parish Council. He stated that this was important because the swimming pool would be going after funding grantswhich recorded volunteer time at a rate of £7.50 per hour. There was currently £14,174 worth of recorded volunteer time.
10.Planning Matters.
(1)Approvals:
a.14/0115/HOUS – Erection of single storey rear extension, 19 Oak Way, Heckington
b.14/0006/HOUS – Erection of two storey and single storey rear extensions, 17-19 High Street, Heckington.
c.CA31-123/Tree – Fell one Ash Tree, 13 High Street.
d.324874/N158-7 – Reduce ash branch x1 and remove hawthorn branch x1, 16 Windmill Drive, Heckington.
e.14/0235/FUL - Change of use to dog breeding establishment (retrospective), Chapel House, Sidebar Lane, Heckington Fen.
f.14/0134/FUL – Proposed development of 9 dwellings, Land off Oak Way, Heckington.
11.To discuss alternations to the Community Lincs Funding Bid Application.
Cllr Higgs asked if there should be any amendments to our application prior to resubmitting it before the deadline of 14th May. Cllr Palmer felt it should remain the same as the bid had been for the complete job.
RESOLVED to resubmit the Community Lincs Funding Bid without alteration. Proposed by Cllr Palmer and agreed.
12.To discuss suitable areas for the Scouts to sow poppy seeds.
Cllr Peto suggested sowing some seeds on the large green area near Colby Way; the Clerk to check if the land belonged to the Parish Council. Cllr Higgs suggested sowing them in the plant boxes on the village green, as this would also contain the spread of the poppies, which some Councillors felt could be an issue. Cllr Palmer suggested an area behind Freeston Road or the layby on Sleaford Road. Cllr Higgs said that he had been waiting for Highways to get back to him regarding sowing some seeds under the ‘Heckington’ sign on Sleaford Road. These sites would be suggested to the Scouts, subject to any necessary approvals.
13.To receive general correspondence.
a.NK Wellbeing Service.
b.Environment Overview and Scrutiny Meeting, NKDC.
c.Thanks from Sleaford & District Neighbourhood Watch, Free Wheeler event.
d.Update on NKDC Accommodation Review.
e.Paul & John Twidle – Allotments
e.There had been conflict between 4/5 allotment holders recently. It was agreed that the Clerk would write a strongly worded letter to all the tenants pointing out our rules and regulations and any breaches of their tenancy agreement would result in them losing their allotment. The Council had also recently been made aware of the fact that one allotment holder was keeping pigs on his plot, without seeking authority. The Clerk would write to the tenant informing him that the pigs must be removed from his allotment.
14.To confirm the date of the Annual Parish Meeting and Annual Parish Council Meeting as Monday 19th May 2014.
The date of the next meeting was confirmed as Monday 19th May 2014 at 7.00pm.
The public left the meeting at 7.40pm.
15.To resolve to go into closed session in accordance with the Public Bodies (Admissions to Meetings) Act 1960, to discuss the following matters.
RESOLVED to go into closed session. Proposed by Cllr Peto, seconded by Cllr Israel and agreed unanimously.
The meeting continued in the absence of the press and public at 7.41pm. (Not for publication by virtue of Section 100(a) para 4 of the Local Government Act 1972, the items being of a confidential nature).
The meeting finished at 8.05pm.