May 2019 Minutes
A meeting of East Keal Parish Council was held on Wednesday 29 th May 2019 at 7pm in Cracroft Village Hall, Boston Road, West Keal. Welcome. Cllr Smith welcomed everyone to the meeting. Public Forum. There were no items for discussion.
1. Present. Cllr Smith, Cllr Thornley, Cllr White, Cllr Swanson, Cllr Aron and one member of the public. Apologies for Absence. These were received from Cllr Kemp & Cllr Dromey. All accepted the reason given. In addition Mr Dines sent his apologies.
2. Election of Chair. Cllr Smith was nominated by Cllr White and seconded by Cllr Thornley to be Chair. He then signed of Declaration of Acceptance of Office.
3 Election of Deputy Chair. Cllr Kemp was nominated by Cllr Thornley and seconded by Cllr White.
4. Election of Councillors as representatives:
a) Village Hall Committee. Cllr Thornley agreed to be the Council representative.
b) Neighbourhood Watch Coordinator. Cllr Dromey has agreed to continue in this role.
5. Notes of the Parish Council Meeting held on Wednesday 27.3.19 to be approved as the minutes. It was resolved that the notes be accepted as minutes of the meeting, all agreed and the minutes were then signed.
6. Declaration of Interest (if any) None given.
7 Review Councils policies: Data Map, Privacy Notice, Data Protection Policy, Subject Access Request Procedure, Data Breach Policy and Record Retention Policy. Acceptance proposed by Cllr Smith and seconded by Cllr White. All agreed.
8. Review and adoption of Standing Orders and Financial Regulations. Acceptance proposed by Cllr Smith, seconded by Cllr Thornley. All agreed. It was felt that when these documents are reviewed the wording should be amended to Chair and Deputy Chair.
9. Review of inventory of land and assets including office equipment and Risk Management. check undertaken on 8.5.19. It was felt that the benches needed painting within the next year. A discussion regarding the revaluation of the land owned by the Council should be an agenda item at the next meeting.
10. Review & confirmation of arrangements for insurance cover in respect of all risks. The Council agreed to accept the Inspire quote and the three year contract. This gives a 5% reduction on the cost shown at 17b excluding Came & Co’s fee.
11. Review Council’s Complaints Procedure. All accepted the documents.
12. Review the Council’s procedure for handling requests made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and Data Protection Act 1998. All accepted the documents.
13. Confirm the dates, times & places of ordinary meetings of the Council for the year ahead. Wednesday’s 18.3.20, 15.4.20 (ARM), 20.5.20 (annual Meeting of the Council), 15.7.20, 18.11.20 & 20.1.21. All agreed.
14. Reports from representatives on outside bodies:
a) County Councillor.
i) Cllr Aron reported the Andy Ratcliffe has now retired. Russell Croxford is the new Senior Highways Officer and will commence working for LCC in September.
ii) LCC’s programme of reducing carbon emissions by part light street lighting is having an impact although in some areas there has been some resistance.
iii) Cllr Aron stated that he has spoken to highways regarding the recent accident on the A16 at Hall Corner. Cllr Smith acknowledged that there is little chance of a speed reduction but asked if a barrier could be placed in front of their property. Cllr Aron offered to speak with the residents about their concerns. 20392
b) District Councillor
i) Cllr Swanson reported that ELDC are due to undergo a spending review with the government. He stated that the Council are financially sound. The aim of the ELDC is to alleviate deprivation, enhance job skills for residents and reduce isolation.
ii) ELDC is due to have a review of the organisation. Any comments will be included in the forthcoming Corporate Plan.
c) Alert (Neighbourhood Watch) No report.
d) Village Hall Committee.
i. This committee only has 6 members instead of
12. An appeal has been made locally for anyone wishing to get involved to come forward.
ii. The arrangement for the re-decorating project is continuing.
e) Village Groups
i. PCC After the problems with masonry falling from the tower the insurers stated they would not fund the repairs as it was not accidental. The PCC felt we should challenge this as no mention of this potential problem had been identified in the last quinquennial report done two years ago. We asked for a site meeting and Chris Kemp kindly met with a representative from the insurers and an architect. The report has just been received and they now acknowledge that it was due to storm damage and the long dry summer so we will only have to pay the excess insurance. Karen Rossdale is due to produce a short statement, that will go on the notice boards, when we have more information as to the way forward. Because of this problem the fundraising committee decided that we had to postpone the two day event which we were organising for September. Therefore there will only be a 40’s dance, to be held at Toynton Village Hall, on Friday 6.9.19. If you want tickets do speak to Maralyn or Val. The two recent fundraising events were successful, the jumble sale and chine supper. Many thanks to all who supported these events or helped/donated items without your support these events would not happen. Two offers of help have come forward for grass cutting but if one or two more volunteers came forward it would help greatly to cover when folk are away on holiday etc.
ii) WI. The Keals WI continues to meet on the second Thursday of each month and members are able to listen to an invited Guest Speaker. Our annual programme is available on our website as are contact details for anyone who may wish to join Thekealswi.org.uk The open gardens season has recommenced with two events having been held at The Old Rectory on 14and 19 April. The next open garden is on 23 June, 10.00 am-5,00 pm and will be held at Susie McDonalds as always, we continue to provide refreshments which include homemade cakes and pastries. The WI Walkers enjoyed an interesting and bracing walk this month at Chapel St Leonard’s which also took in a visit to the new Observatory, and of course cafe
iii) Workforce. All the tubs and planters are being filled ready for summer. The War Memorial is planted up, including the sunflowers planted by the children. The remainder sunflowers will be planted around the village. The grass including footpaths have been cut. The area near the view is due to be planted with geraniums and roses by the seat on the opposite side of the road. Hedges and banks will be cut in July. The guardrail from around the tree on the green has gone missing and Mr Dines has reported this to the Police. The litter bin, at the bottom of Fen Lane, should be in place at the end of this week. Thanks were expressed to all the volunteers for keeping the village so neat and tidy.
iv) Gardening Club – No report. v) Parish Magazine. This is due out at the end of June.
vi) Diners & Social Club. 14 more events are being planned. If anyone is interested do contact Mr Dines for details on 01790 752933. 20393 15. Report from Annual Parish Meeting. It was felt that this event was a great success. 28 residents attended and the speaker was very interesting.
16. Report from meeting with ELDC tree specialist. Cllr Smith recently held a meeting with the tree specialist. TPO’s need to meet two main criteria. Firstly, they should benefit the community and can be seen from a public place, or they are under threat i.e. by a developer or landowner who wishes to cut them down. Some trees were identified as noteworthy. Finally, a TPO can cover a group of trees as well as a single tree. Cllr Thornley agreed to be our Tree Preservation Officer.
17. Finance:
a) Payment of £35.00 to Cracroft Village Hall for 2 meetings 17.4.19 (Annual Residents meeting) & 29.5.19 (Annual Meeting of the Council).
b) Payment to Inspire for Annual Insurance of £337.71.
c) Payment to Church of £50.00.
d) Reimbursement of £15.99 to E Martin.
e) Reimbursement of £34.20 to L Kemp re Annual Residents Meeting.
f) Reimbursement of £22.45 to K Dromey re Annual Residents Meeting. The above items a to f were accepted. Proposed by Cllr White and seconded by Cllr Thornley.
g) Financial Statement for year ending 31st March 2018.
h) Financial Report as at 24 th May 2019 and bank reconciliation statement. Both g & h were accepted. Proposed Cllr Smith & seconded by Cllr White.
i) Completion of Annual Governance Statement. Cllr Smith went through this carefully explaining all the clauses to Cllrs, especially the Exemption Certificate. It was proposed by Cllr Thornley and seconded by Cllr White that the document be signed.
j) Appointment of Internal Auditor and Auditor of half year financial inspection. Mrs Dawn Keal is willing to continue with this role.
k) To agree proposed expenditure for attendance at LALC networking Day 4.7.19. and Cllr training day. All agreed these are a worthwhile expenditure.
18) Planning; S/045/00870/19 re plot 1, Highland Farm, School Lane. There were no objection to this request only that they adhere to agreements regarding the hedging and trees. The Clerk to respond.
19) Meet Councillors Event. This is to take place on 29 6.19 at 2pm at Quickthorn, Fen Lane. Cllr Smith agreed to produce an invitation to be circulated to all residents. Community groups are invited to bring a stall with information of their organisation.
20) How to inform residents about recruiting two more Councillors. Cllr Smith offered to design a flyer that can be delivered around the village with the above invitation.
21) Updating of Risk Management Checklist, Checklist Guidelines and Risk Management Policy. Cllr White and Cllr Thornley agreed to update this policy document.
22) Welcome Booklet. A pack was given to Cllr Thornley for delivery to ‘The Cottage’ when the new residents have moved in.
23) Any other matters for discussion only or next Agenda.
24) Date of next meeting. This will be on 31.7.19 at 7pm at Cracroft Village Hall. The meeting then closed at 9.40pm.