Minutes of Barrowby Parish Council held in The Reading Room on Monday 07/09/09
Open Session- 6.15.pm.
Cllr. Keith Harrison suggested putting wooden seats in the bus shelter on Low Road. He informed Council that he had some wood that would be suitable for that purpose & would be willing to install them himself. Mrs. Bosworth replied that there was for and against for this as it might encourage youths to group there at night but then it would benefit elderly people waiting for the bus. This would have to be discussed again for a decision to be made.
Main meeting @ 6.30.pm.
1) Chairman’s Remarks
Mrs. Bosworth remarked to the few members who had been away on holiday, that she hoped they had all enjoyed their break.
2a) Present
In the Chair Mrs. P. Bosworth, Mr. L. Cragg, , Mr. K. Harrison, Mr. D. Markham, Mr. B. Harper, Mrs. P. Harrison, Mr. R. Cross, Mr. P. Cupit & Mrs. R. Sleaford.
b) Apologies
Mrs. G. Harrison was unwell. (Mrs. B. Whittle was absent.)
3) Declarations of Interest
None.
4) Approval of Minutes
Minutes of 03/08/09 were approved & signed.
(Mr. Harper queried which Charter invoices were being referred to in Clerk’s Report where Mrs. Bosworth had remarked that it should be paid. Also, who was to pay, as he still felt the contractor had responsibility. Clerk informed him that as she understood the situation, the payment was down to the Pavilion Committee as the call out had been made by Ralph Poore in his capacity as Caretaker and the fault was by misuse, not a design problem. Mrs. Bosworth said if Mr. Harper was not satisfied and wished to take it up with whoever, then she suggested he should go ahead.)
5) Clerk’s Report
Clerk had received a quote from Hempstead for grass cutting at the rear of the pavilion - £25.00 per fortnightly cut & £45.00 for the first cut. Mrs. Bosworth proposed to go ahead, Mr. Cragg seconded all in favour. Clerk would contact him.
Clerk reported her phone conversation with Harlaxton Parish Clerk re. the standing water at the bridge on The Drift, Harlaxton. She informed the Clerk that all work was in hand with Highways to rectify the problem.
A letter had been received from Mark Heaton, Highways re. the staggered barriers for Reedings Rd./Leys Close. After his conversation with Mrs. Bosworth he had agreed to provide one for Reedings Rd. but only with the offer of paying half the cost with the P.C. paying the other half. Plus he wanted payment up front before he sanctioned anything. The P.C. were not impressed with this compromise & Mr. Cragg said that payment should be made after the work had been carried out and all Council agreed. Mrs. Bosworth also felt that both ends of the walkway should be dealt with and asked the Clerk to relay this to Mr. Heaton and offer to pay half for one on Leys Close.
Clerk had received an Email from Barrowby School informing the P.C. of their thanks for the prize for the competition and this would be relayed for comment to parents etc. There was also a request for a date for the Christmas Festivities this year. Mrs. Bosworth suggested Friday 11th. December, all agreed. Clerk would contact Kate Waghorn to see if that was acceptable.
6) Expenses
Clerk’s Salary (Sept.) / £371.00Clerk’s expenses (postage, stationary, internet & sundries) / £29.78
W. F. Bosworth (maint/plants) / £193.12
“ “ (repair/replace fence in cemetery (labour & spraying only) / £495.00
S. Jex (window cleaner) / £25.00
E.on (electricity for R/room) / £25.41
CDHSafety (H & S inspection fee) / £360.00
V. J. Smith (caretaker fee Aug. ) / £212.00
In Out & About (community clean Aug.) / £47.00
SKDC (agreed monthly payment for business tax) / £96.00
P. E. Hempstead (grass cutting July) / £590.07
“ “ (grass cutting Aug.) / £481.85
A. Sharpe (grass cutting cemetery, planters, Casthorpe Rd., Low field & car park) / £522.00
Streets (accountant) / £575.00
Total / £4023.43
7a) Planning (New)
None.
b) Planning (Update) -
Mr. M. Gilbert, ‘Cedar Lodge’, Low Road - approved conditionally.
Mr. A. Ker, 43 Low Rd. - approved conditionally.
Dr. Higgins, ‘Innisfree’, Church Street - refused.
8) Burial Ground
The meeting with CDHSafety, re. the pond in the corner of the cemetery, was reported on by those Councillors who had attended. It had been decided that a new sign would be made to replace the faded one there at the moment. The gravel shingle bed will be continued to the edge of the P.C. owned land. The ‘made ground’ to the bottom of the burial ground will be used to back-fill the area and the existing fencing materials used to ‘make good’ the boundary fence. The responsibility for the upkeep of the formed embankment will remain with the P.C. but the drainage ditch beyond will be the responsibility of the adjoining land owner. Mrs. Bosworth said she felt this was a more expensive job than had been anticipated and would need to be in the Precept budget for next year. Mr. Cragg agreed but felt it was something that needed to be done and it would relinquish the P.C. of any responsibility if the ‘pond’ became a problem in the future.
9) Health & Safety
Report was read out for discussion.
Pavilion - This was all satisfactory but stated the Documentation could not be checked. Mr. Harper asked the Clerk to find out from Mr. Handley why this had not been carried out, as the documents were all there.
Burial Ground - the new footpath was showing signs of disrepair. ( This is in hand for the contractor to rectify. ) The meeting with the P.C. was also reported (this had been discussed in item 8 on the Agenda).
Mrs. Bosworth brought to Council’s attention the fact that P.C. Mark Barr had approached her about the problem with the children destroying the hedges on Stevens Gutter. His suggestion was to put a form of wire stock fencing around the area to keep them off. Mr. Cupit remarked that it would need costing as this was a new project not to be classed as maintenance. Mr. Cragg disagreed as he felt it was maintenance to the boundary. A site visit was agreed to look at the situation on 10th. Sept. 6pm. and would be discussed again.
10) Pavilion
Mr. Cragg arranged with Mr. Harper to replace cracked floor tiles in the entrance of changing room 3. Mrs. Bosworth asked if anything had been heard from planning re. ‘the change of use’ re-application. Clerk reported no information had been received. Mrs. Bosworth stated that the complaints from the Low Road residents who had issues with this application, had caused this long delay. Mrs. P. Harrison said she believed that there was a procedure, that could insist SKDC make a determination on a planning application, when it had exceeded it’s time scale to this extent. Mr. Harper reported that an agreement had now been reached with the Pre-school/After-school with regard to rent. This was now to be £7.50 per. hour, equalling a total of £6412.00 per annum. There was to be no Summer school, so the function room can be hired during the school holiday for other purposes. He also reported that after consultation with Ian Smith Electrics, it would appear that there are no PIR lights and the only way round that would be to fit some additional lights suitable for PIR, this at a cost of £170.00 per light. When asked if PIR lights should have been installed originally, Mr. Cragg stated that all specification for the lighting was on the drawing supplied by the electrical contractor.
11) Clerk’s work load.
Clerk reported receiving the requested quote from Streets, for the extra work as per Clerk’s specification from the last meeting. The quote was an extra £250.00 for the additional work per annum on top of the original agreed amount. Mr. Cross commented that he would be agreeable to this if it was going to produce more informed information on a regular basis, of how much money was available for the different areas, so that should an issue arise requiring finance, Council would know if there were funds to cover in that particular area. Clerk stated that a discussion with Streets about this would be the way forward and she was asked to arrange a meeting either at The Reading Room or at their offices and if there would be a further cost for this. Mr. Cross proposed to go ahead with the extra £250.00 subject to a meeting with Streets, Mr. Cupit seconded, all in favour. It was also suggested that it would be of help to Councillors, to have copies of the accounts spreadsheet which the Clerk prepares at the end of each month.
12) Correspondence
Letter from Land Registry re. P.C. should make sure all their land is registered.
Letter from Derek Kendall acknowledging P.C’s letter re. Health & Safety.
Town & Parish Conferences 24th. Nov.09 - (Mr. Cupit, Mrs. P. Harrison & Mrs. R. Sleaford nominated Councillors to attend.)
SKDC - help with Business Rates.
Letter from SKDC re. Grant funding for village life.
Letter from SKDC re. Housing Strategy Workshops. - (Mr. P. Cupit will attend on 15th. September.)
Assoc. of Lincs. Councils Annual Report.
Letter from Mr. C. Ford of Barrowby House - outlining his restoration work on his boundary walls & trees. (It was felt that Mr. Ford should be made aware of the P.C.’s concerns about the stability of his walls, especially the one bordering The Posts walkway, where school children walk on a daily basis. Clerk to write to him. It was also felt that he could be entitled to a Grant to repair his walls & this should be pointed out in the letter. Mr. Cragg suggested that Carl Abram of Public Footpaths & Byways may be of help as this involved the safety of a public footpath. Clerk would contact him.)
13) Date of next meeting - 5th. October 2009.
14) AOB
Mrs. Bosworth reported she had been in contact with SKDC re. the piece of land at the end of Westry Close which was a possibility for use as allotments. This would solve the problem the Gardeners’ Assoc were having with a lengthening waiting list for plots. Mrs. Bosworth said she was now waiting for a response to her suggestion, from SKDC. Another option would be if Saville’s would consider renting out the land adjacent to the Scout hut. They were the agents for L.C.C. who owned that land. Mr. Markham reported that all bonfires were now banned on the allotments due to some of the gardeners being irresponsible about when they lit their fires. There had been numerous complaints from residents in the surrounding area. He also had a quote for a concrete road from the main road to approx. 10yds. beyond the barrier - £1500.00. He went on to ask for a donation to the Assoc. for their work in clearing the wood from Lowfield. Mr. Cupit reported that the next meeting of the Canal organisation was at The Gregory Arms on Wednesday 9th. Sept. Mr. Harper asked if The Reading Room could be on the next Agenda as he felt the rent should be reviewed & he also asked for details of profit & loss for the building, as he had been led to believe that the building had been in profit for the last few years and he disputed that information according to the figures he had. Mr. Cupit asked if he had Council’s approval to look into various educational organisations using The Reading Room for future functions. Mrs. Bosworth replied that he should go ahead but be aware of days & times of the regular users . Mr. K. Harrison informed Council that he had now secured the ‘phone box & the Clerk had the key. He had also stabilised the seat in the cemetery that had been noted on the H & S report. Mrs. Bosworth thanked him for both items. Mrs. Bosworth asked Mr. Cupit if he had any further information about the Youth Forum. He replied he was still waiting to hear from Children Services concerning the procuring of youth leaders & facilities to carry out a meeting. Mrs. Bosworth suggested he speak to Cherry Shepherd who is a qualified youth leader & she would be able to help with any information he might need. She is based at the Earlsfield Community Centre.
Meeting closed @ 9.45.pm.