2023 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

MINUTES SILK WILLOUGHBY PARISH COUNCIL MEETING

Thursday 28th September 2023 at 7.30pm in Silk Willoughby Village Hall

Councillors Present: Cllrs Bell, Roberts (Chair), Thackray, J. Wright and K. Wright

In attendance: Boden (Clerk) and 4 members of the public.

AGENDA

Chairman’s Welcome and Housekeeping Arrangements. 

23100. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION SESSION

To receive reports from outside bodies.

Report from C. Cllr Hagues - No report received

Report from D. Cllr Jackson – No report received

Questions or Points raised by residents and members of the public. – No questions were asked.

COUNCIL SESSION

23101. Apologies for Absence: To receive and accept apologies where valid reasons for absence have been given to the Parish Clerk prior to the meeting.  No apologies received as all present.

23102.. Declarations of Interest: To receive Declarations of Pecuniary Interests of all parish councillors. Cllr Thackray declared an interest in item 12a) Planning application 23/0922/HOUS.

23103. Approval of Minutes - To approve and accept as a true record the notes of the meeting of the Parish Council held on 27th July 2023 and to authorise the Chairman to sign the official minutes. It was resolved to accept as a true record the minutes of the meeting held on the 27th July 2023 and for the Chairman to sign.

23104. Silk Willoughby Roads - To receive an update on the ongoing Traffic concerns.

• Rowan Smith from LCC Highways had recently contacted Cllr Roberts.  London Road has a number of white markings and measurements painted on the road. There will be 7 permanent repairs between the garden centre and the A15. Road closures have been booked and work will start February 2024, including the trench.

• School Lane has a number of yellow road markings and these are for interim repairs until a larger permanent repair can be carried out.

• Cllr Roberts has visited Mountains site at Quarrington on the 28/7/23 due to residents’ concerns. There has been no new structures and all works are carried out within guidelines.

23105. Grant Applications – To receive an update on current grant applications. Village clock – Lincoln Diocese has accepted the facility and the appropriate paperwork has been placed on the noticeboard, with a closing date of 19th October for comments.  The solicitor in London then needs to be contacted and the churchwarden is hoping for an answer by the end of October. Once all the paperwork is completed then the deposit for the work will need to be paid.

23106. Village Pond - To receive an update on the Village Pond. LCC have previously agreed to bung the gully but due to the rain it has caused the road to flood. The bungs have been removed until the work is carried out. The relevant works team have carried out an inspection and a number of points have been raised. Once they have answers they will be in contact. The PC would like the spring water to carry on entering the pond once the works have been completed.

23107. Tree Inspections - To receive an update of the inspection of the trees around the pond. The tree inspection has been carried out as part of the insurance requirements and two trees have been identified as work needing to be carried out.

Tree one required ivy removing from the trunk and this has been completed by Cllr Roberts and her husband. Tree two is not actually owned by the PC but work needs to be carried out due to the tree being dead and the trunk rotten. It was resolved for the clerk to write to the owner directing them to the work being needed.

23108. Correspondence - To receive a list of correspondence received and to discuss where needed.

• A resident had sent a letter asking if they were covered by 3rd party insurance under the PC cover. Cllr Roberts and the clerk could find nothing in the present insurance and it was resolved to ask the grass contractor to cover this area and for the clerk to write to the resident.

• A letter had been received asking for an update on the dates for the trench repair. This has been already noted and it was resolved for the clerk to write to the resident.

• A letter had been received over the Housing Development signs that are around the village. Cllr Roberts has spoken to LALC as similar items are cropping each month and the PC are repeating themselves over such items. They have advised that the PC should encourage residents to report such issues on Fix my Street.

The PC are not a Highways Authority and do not carry any powers. The issue of the signs should be reported via Fix my Street, along with photographic evidence. This will then be directed to LCC Highways. It was resolved for the clerk to write to the resident and explain the process.

• A member of public had asked about the missing sign on School Lane. It has been reported by the clerk to NKDC and a resident had communicated with D. Cllr Jackson. Cllr Roberts had also spoken to D. Cllr Jackson. The sign has been made but it has been installed in the wrong village. It was resolved for the clerk to write to the resident.

• A resident had contacted the clerk since her reply to him following the PC response from the July meeting asking for the PC to contact the Traffic Commissioner. It was resolved for the clerk to contact the resident reiterating LALC’s advice of reporting problems on Fix my Street and that the PC have done everything that they can in their power.

• The churchwarden had contacted the clerk regarding the number of grave spaces remaining in the church yard and stating that the PC will become responsible for the upkeep when full. LALC have advised that the PCC need to talk to the Privy Council at Lincoln Diocese.

• NKDC conservation officer has been in touch regarding the Heritage Grant Scheme and them wanting to build an asset register of important buildings. It was resolved for the clerk to forward the grant scheme to the VH.

23109. White Gates – To consider the purchase of white speed gates for the village. Cllr Roberts has contacted the Chair at South Rauceby PC. They have timber gates that have been made and painted white. Each gate cost £500 plus £200 for installation by an approved contractor. With the gates, speed signs and road markings the PC feel that it contributes to speed reduction.

Ancaster have Glasdon plastic white gates.  These gates cost £940 + vat with fitting by Willow Homes as an approved contractor. The PC have noticed a reduction in speeding vehicles.

It was noted that there is a concern over cleaning the gates in future.

It was resolved to arrange a site meeting to measure the verges and discuss siting areas.

23110. Banking/ New Accounts – To receive an update on the accounts. The PC already hold an account with HSBC and the precept money will continue to placed and managed from this account. New accounts for the grant money need to be confirmed as a few problems have been discovered with them.

Unity Account – The PC already have an account opened but for each transaction a fee of £29 needs to be paid and the current interest fee is 2.2%.

Lloyds Account – The PC already have an account opened but at the moment Cllrs Roberts and Thackray are on the account but not the clerk, even though she has received paying in books/ cheque books etc.

CCLA – This account has the paperwork started and it was resolved for Cllr Roberts and Cllr Thackray to be the signatures along with the clerk as administrator. £60,000 will be transferred to open the instant access account.

HSBC – There is a new savings account being offered for businesses and already having an account with them will make it easier for it to be opened. A trade declaration form needs to be filled in and returned them. It was resolved for Cllr Roberts and Cllr Thackray to be signatures and for £70,000 to be deposited in the 6-month fixed account and £70,000 to be deposited in the 12-month fixed account.

23111. Training – To receive an update on training. It was ratified for the clerk and Chair to attend the Clerk and Chair training by LALC. It was ratified for the Chair to attend the Procedure and Meetings course. 

23112. Planning Applications. To receive and discuss the following applications

a) 23/0922/HOUS – 20 London Road. To ratify comment of ‘No comment’ submitted. It was ratified that the PC had submitted ‘No comment’ to NKDC planning.

b) 23/0986/TCA – 1 Gorse Lane. Tree reduction and crown uplift. Outcome: Approved 

c) 23/0558/HOUS – 7 London Road. Replace existing fence and relocate vehicle and pedestrian gate (retrospective). Outcome: Approved. 

23113. Finances. 

a) To receive the clerk’s report on payments between meetings

It was resolved to receive the clerk’s report on the payments made between meetings.
b) To note a credit of £16.10 has been received from NKDC regarding the VAT on the Election costs. It was noted that a credit had been received from NKDC regarding the VAT on the Election costs.
c) To consider and approve the bank reconciliation. It was resolved to approve the bank reconciliation.
 

23114. To note that Section 3 of the External Auditors Report has been received and the Letter of Closure needs to be completed and advertised by the 30th September. It was noted that the External Auditors form had been received and the PC had been given a clean report. There are a couple of pointers from the PKF Littlejohn for the next financial year.  The clerk will advertise the report on the website before the 30th September. 
It was resolved that anybody asking for an electronic copy would be given it for free and a charge of £5 would be asked for a hard copy.

23115. To review and consider the following policies.
a) Civility & Respect pledge, including the Dignity at Work Policy. It was resolved to accept the Civility & Respect pledge, including the Dignity at Work Policy.
b) Social Media Policy. It was resolved that the Social Media Policy does not need any updates and it will be reviewed in 2 years’ time.
 

23116. Date and Time of next meeting. To note the next meeting as 30th November 2023 at 7.30pm in the village hall. 
The meeting closed at 8.52pm.