UFFINGTON PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of Parish Council Meeting held on Wednesday, 15th April, 2015 at 8 p.m. in the Village Hall.
Cllr’s present – Cllr. Genever – Chairman, Cllr. Brown – Vice Chairman, Cllr. Dodsworth, Cllr. Mulvaney, Cllr. Thurston, Cllr. Babbs, Cllr. Kent.
Dist. Cllr’s Woolley & Cooke & C. Cllr. M. Trollope-Bellew.
Members of Public – Mr. R. Irvine.
Minutes of previous meeting were approved and signed
Pro: Cllr. Brown Sec. Cllr. Mulvaney.
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
The Chairman would take no part in the discussion regarding the Clerk’s pay.
MATTERS ARISING
Tallington By Pass – Nothing to report.
Reactive Speed Sign – This sign is moved on a regular basis between the three approved sites. The taking down and erecting is done by Cllr’s Brown and Genever. The charging up and analysing the data is done by Mr. R. Irvine for which the Parish Council is very grateful and thanked him for his efforts, he has also contacted Lincolnshire Road Safety Partners to see if they wanted any of this information but they declined the offer. Should anyone be interested in receiving this data no doubt Mr. Irvine would be pleased to supply it.
Play Area
Cllr. Mulvaney and Cllr. Thurston reported that we are now nearing our target for funding this it was decided that we would order the scheme from ILA of Glinton it was mid range of the quotes (£19,725). More will be reported at the next meeting.
Highways – Various pot holes were reported and Highways be contacted again to see if they would do some of this “road maintenance” work in and around the village, this item has been reported a number of times so we will try again.
The Clerk received and e mail from Mr. Barrie Church of Somes Close voicing his concerns regarding the One Way System. This e mail was forwarded to LCC Highways but has yet had no reply.
Hedge Manners Close – It was reported that part of this hedge has been cut and some of the hedge cuttings have been left and the Mr. C.Harris the grass cutter was unable to cut this area with his mower and had to strim it. Unfortunately the householder who owns the hedge has left and lives abroad so to make the place tidy this will be cleared before the next mowing is due.
Broadband in Village Hall – Mr. Irvine reported that the Village Hall Committee were of the opinion that this would have no benefit to the Village Hall.
Bus stop A1175 – This situation seems to be improving, it was reported that no parents of school children have been seen parking in the bus stop. Situation to be monitored.
C. Cllr. M. Trollope-Bellew had contacted Highways regarding the work done down Casewick Lane outside Croft Farm but as yet had not had a reply.
CORRESPONDENCE
Anglian Water had replied to our request for them to investigate the bog area at the rear of Lindsey Road. They are adamant that this is not their problem and stated that we should contact Highways again as this “leak” appeared after they repaired the footpath from Lindsey Road to Bertie Lane.
The Chairman again agreed that he would dig this area to attempt to see where the water is coming from.
PARISH COUNCIL ELECTIONS
The nomination papers for the persons wishing to stand for the Parish Council have been received at South Kesteven these were delivered by hand by Dist. Cllr. Woolley and all have been accepted. Nine candidates have stood for election and as there are only seven seats available on the Parish Council there will be an election which will take place on 7th May, 2015.
PLANNING
The following application was discussed and there were no objections.
S15/0660/HSH/PC1 – 1st Floor front extension – 19 Somes Close – C. Church
There were no objections to the following tree work in the Conservation Area
S15/0738/TCA – repollarding 4 Lime trees, reducing the height of Birch & Cypress Tree – The Old Rectory
S15/0091/TCA/TC2 – Removal of 1 Pine, 3 Ash, Sycamores and reducing the height and spread of various trees – 45 Main Road.
S15/0625/TCA – Pollarding and Willow Tree – 25 Main Road.
Planning permission had been received for the following:
S15/0165/HSH – 1st Floor side extension – Sandon, Essendine Road – T. Taylor.
ACCOUNTS
The Precept from SKDC was received in to the bank on 01/04/15 - £4000.00
Grass Cutting - £45.00 Pro: Cllr. Brown Sec. Cllr. Dodsworth
The Chairman left the room while the following was discussed
Clerks Wages - £1294.71 + £30.00 Expenses - £1324.71
Pro: Cllr. Babbs Sec. Cllr. Mulvaney.
The Chairman returned to the meeting.
Balances at bank at end of March 2015 (before the precept was received)
Treasurer’s Account - £279.54 Instant Access - £857.54
The National Association of Local Councils have in their Legal Briefing notified the Parish Council under a Transparency Code for parish councils (England only) that small authorities with a turnover not exceed £25,000. in March 2015 will be exempt from an external audit. In its place the Parish Council will be subject of the Code to enable local electors and ratepayers to access relevant information about the Parish Council’s accounts and governance. This meets the Government’s desire to place more power into citizens’ hands.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Cllr. Brown asked permission to extend his allotment to the boundary on the south side this had been done by other allotment holders so the Parish Council could not see a problem.
C.Cllr. M. Trollope-Bellew reported that the decision regarding the district’s libraries was going to judicial review and that the amount of retained firemen at local stations
was being reduced from 5 to 4.
Cllr. Kent who had served on the Parish Council for a period spread over 16 years was retiring after the election. The Chairman thanked him for his service to the Parish Council and wished him well.
He also thanked Dist. Cllr’s. Cooke and Woolley and the Parish Councillors for all their efforts over the last four years and wished them good luck in the forthcoming elections.
The Chairman thanked Cllr. Babbs and his team for planting the daffodils on the village verges which bloom every year giving a cheerful look to the village.
The Chairman thanked Cllr. Thurston and Mulvaney for all the work they have done on the Play Area, getting grants etc., and everyone is looking forward to all their work coming to fruition.
Cllr. Brown was also thanked by the Chairman for his assistance with the speed sign.
Date of next meeting which will be the APM & the AGM - Wednesday, 13th May, at
7.30 p.m.
Meeting closed at 9 p.m.
After the meeting closed there was a presentation of a hard copy of the new Uffington Book written by Nick Sheehan to Mrs. B. Smith for all her efforts in writing up the Minutes in the ledger for 14 years, September 2001 was her first written Minutes. The Parish Council thanked her very much and all signed her book and hoped she enjoyed reading it.
Mrs. Smith thanked the Parish Council and said that she had enjoyed the experience of keeping up with all the local information.