Notes/Minutes of Osbournby Parish Council Meeting

Held in Osbournby Village Hall

On Thursday 14th July 2016

No Public Forum

No Declarations of Interest

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35. / Apologies: Cllr Jackson
Present: Cllrs. Harvey, Pearson, Camm, North, Wright and Baker. District Councillor Cook joined the meeting later. Libby King (Clerk).
Minutes of previous meeting held on 12th May, which had already been circulated, were agreed. Proposed Cllr. Pearson, Seconded Cllr. Baker
Chairman’s Report: Cllr Harvey reported that he had spoken with Mark Jones of the Aswarby Estate regarding the cowpond area. There are still problems with land registry trying to ascertain who owns the land.
With regard to the proposed development on The Drove, work on the S106 is still ongoing. The Estate hope that any money would be used in the local parish, this is still being discussed at NKDC. The S106 has to be in place before a developer can be found.
Clerk’s Report: Mrs King reported that a grant of £400 had been given from the Transparency Fund to purchase a new laptop, printer and if necessary hardware. A new laptop has been purchased and Cllr Jackson has transferred files over to the new laptop. The cost was £279.99.
Audit papers have all been sent in but the audit has not yet been returned.
Information has been received from the Pensions Regulator and even though it will not be necessary for the Parish Council to provide a pension for me, the Parish Council still have to register. Everything has to be in place by July 2017.
LALC newsletter has been received. Trisha Carter is leaving LALC at the end of September. The LALC AGM is on Tuesday 18th October at Waddington Village Hall at a cost of £20 per delegate (5pm to 9pm). Booking form available should anybody wish to attend.
Mrs King advised the meeting of the latest bank reconciliation. The Cemetery Account stood at £43,197 as per bank statement on 9th June.
Following payment of tonight’s cheques the Parish Council account will stand at £13,319. Mrs King also advised that VAT to be reclaimed for 2015/16 is £1,532. However 4 attempts have been made to reclaim this (it can only be done online)
and once all information has been inputted the website stops responding. If this happens again a form will be produced and sent to reclaim the VAT.
District Council Report: Cllr Cook reported that the recently held Cluster Meeting was very useful. County Councillor Barry Young had attended the meeting (Cllr North attended on behalf of Osbournby Parish Council).
Street lighting was discussed at the meeting. LCC have adopted a new street lighting policy to produce savings of £1.7 million. Originally the lighting was to be turned off at 10 p.m. but this has now been changed to midnight. It is believed that this will happen in Osbournby Ward in August/September and the new system will be completed by April 2017. More information can be found at:
With regard to grass cutting, the County Council will not be funding or carrying out “amenity” grass cutting from April 2017. (Amenity grass cutting is the cutting of grass more than one metre from the roadside). Grass will continue to be cut where it affects highway safety. The grass cutting service decides what these dangerous areas are but Cllr Cook said that any local knowledge would be welcomed.
Gully cleaning is to be reduced to once per year but, wherever practicable, in places with a particular additional emergency need, a tanker would be sent out as appropriate to pump out. This is currently thecase in Newton and Silk Willoughby.
Lincolnshire has been awarded £1.7 million for outstanding performance as it is trying to change its approach from being reactive to proactive i.e. more surface dressing and less pothole patching. The budget for highways has been cut dramatically. In future there will be a reduction in the amount of direct contact between Parish Councils and Senior Highway Engineers. Reporting will be dealt with via customer services.
Cllr Young is going to find out if salt bins will still be available following the budget cuts.
With regard to devolution Lincolnshire could benefit from £15 million extra per year thought devolution but it would have to become a Mayoral Authority to receive these funds. Devolution is currently under public consultation. There was a questionnaire in the County News for residents to give their opinion.
Cllr Cook advised that a meeting is to be held on 15th August where the Police and Fire Commissioner and his deputy will be attending.
Planning Matters: The amended plans for 7 Whichcote Fields were discussed. The new plans are for an external chimney. No objections to this were raised.
The fact that planning approval had not been given for the new build at 7 North Street was also discussed and it was felt that local public opinion had been taken into account in this case.
Cemetery Issues: The issue discussed at the last meeting regarding desksets on the grave of Peter Burland and Rita Ellis is still ongoing. The new deskset has been placed at the foot of the grave. Cllr Harvey advised the meeting that he has told Mrs Bolam that this is a family matter and not something the Parish Council can become involved in.
Grass cutting: As already discussed, grass cutting will not be paid for by LCC next year. It was agreed that grass cutting would be put into the budget for next year.
Cherry Tree: Cllrs North and Pearson reported that the Cherry Tree on the triangle in the High Street is dying. To try and bring it back to life would be a very time consuming and expensive business. It was agreed that the tree would be removed.
Donations: No request for donations had been received.
Payments: The following payments were made:
Cheque No. 683: Osbournby Village Hall (Queens 90th celebrations) £400.00 (already made)
Cheque No. 685: Mrs E King (Salary & reimbursement)£780.96
Cheque No. 684: HMRC (Mrs King’s tax)£117.60 (already made)
Cheque No. 686: Community Lincs£126.00
Cheque No. 687: Alan Drury£360.00
Cheque No. 688: Rick Webster£360.00
Cheque No. 689: Osbournby Village Hall£ 18.00
Correspondence: The following correspondence had been received which had not already been discussed:
Request from William Kent Memorials for a headstone for the late Geoffrey Greetham.
Information on the Electoral Review of Lincolnshire.
ICCM Summer journal
Spring Council matters from Came and Company (Insurers)
Glasdon Leaflet
LALC newsletter
Letter from Came and Company about a change of Trading Style.
Any Other Business: Cllr North discussed the matter of Sonia Barfoot raising funds to supply a defibrillator for the village and asked whether or not the Parish Council should be holding the funds already received. Cllr Harvey felt that this was something that Mrs Barfoot was doing herself and not something for the Parish Council to get involved in.
There was also concerns over the number of signs within the village for the Whichcote Arms, particularly those on the grass outside the pub and village hall. Cllr Cook advised that she would look into who owns that particular piece of land and report back. Once that has been established the Parish Council can decide what to do.
Cllr Baker asked whose responsibility the footpaths around the school are. They are the responsibility of LCC but unfortunately no longer get cut regularly. Cllr Baker advised that he would cut the nettles back in order that the children going to school do not get stung.
It was also reported that there had been a complaint about the garden at 24 North Street but the Well Being Service were helping to get this under control.
Dates of Next Meetings: 1st September 2016 and 27th October.
There being no further business the meeting closed at 8 p.m. / Clerk
Cllr. Cook