September 2019 Minutes
A meeting of East Keal Parish Council Meeting was held on 25.9.2019 at Cracroft Village Hall, Boston Road, West Keal at 7pm.
Welcome. Cllr Grahame Smith welcomed everyone to the meeting.
Present. Cllr Smith, Cllr Thornley, Cllr Dromey, Cllr White, Cllr Kemp, Cllr Aran, Cllr Swanson, Clerk to the Council, Mrs E Martin and five members of the public.
Public Forum.
a) A resident expressed views that he felt, from the minutes of the previous meeting, that there was a lack of seriousness by Councillors re 5, Hall Corner. It was explained that this is far from true and Councillors have over many years lobbied for improvement to reduce speeding through the village and signage on the Hall Corner bend. There have been two occasions when collating of vehicles speeds through the village has been recorded. The first by Councillors with handheld speed recorders and more recently a series of cameras recording speed from numerous points in the village. The outcome of both gave evidence that there are vehicles speeding but not above the County average. In addition, an Armco barrier has been installed, additional chevron signs, more 40mph signs, recommended 20mph signs on the bend and now reminder 40mph moveable signs. All these have come about because of the Council working with LCC. The issue of the blocked drains on the bend, which caused great concern, has also been resolved at the start of this year. All these actions show that the Council have worked very hard at trying to limit accidents on this bend. Sadly, the two recent accidents in the village were caused by drugs, excessive drinking and speeding. The Council have also request 30pmh signs, but this was turned down by LCC. Highway. Also requested have been the flashing speed signs but these have to be self-funded. The Council would support their installation and have suggested that perhaps residents might like to fund raise. The Council are also looking to see if they could find funding for such items.
b) Field where horses graze. Cllr Dromey has received an email from the person who rents the field by the main road and keeps horses. There is a public footpath across this field and she asked that dog owners keep their dogs on leads as they might cause the horses to bolt, if frightened. In addition, she asked that any dog toys or balls are not left in the field as they could again cause injury to the horses.
1. Apologies for Absence. These were received from Mr Dines & Mr Kingswood.
2. Notes of the Parish Council Meeting held on Wednesday 31.7.19 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.
3. Declaration of Interest (if any) None given
4. Reports from representatives on outside bodies:
b) District Councillor.
i. Government grant to local costal towns. Cllr Swanson reported that both Skegness and Mablethorpe are due to receive funding for regeneration and to encourage growth of both towns. The amount of funding is yet to be agreed.
ii. Skegness Tower Esplanade. A grant of £400,000, from ELDC, has been allocated to transform this area of Skegness.
iii. Dumping of Mustard Gas, near Woodhall Spa. Two men and a woman have pleaded guilty to this offence and will be sentenced shortly.
iv. ELDC have pledged to become a member of Age-friendly communities. To find out more subscribe to ted@communitylincs.com
v. Tourism in ELDC. According to the latest figures, it has been reported that the value of tourism in East Lindsey has increased.
vi. The Messenger Copies of this are delivered by e-mail and you need to sign up for these online. Cllr Swanson then left the meeting.
a) County Councillor
i. New County Council website. This has just been launched. If you have any issues please do notify LCC.
ii. LCC are now going paperless.
iii. Highways. A new manager, Russell Crockford is now in place. The new highways contact will come into force in April. Cllr Aron is due to attend a briefing meeting to explain how jobs are prioritized. iv. Grit bins. It was felt that the village did not need any more but the one on Marden Hill is damaged. Cllr Aron offered to report this for us.
c) Neighbourhood Watch. Nothing to report. Cllr Aron informed the meeting that the local contact is a Teresa Key. Email teresa.key2@lincs.pnn.police.uk
d) Village Hall Committee.
i) The redecorating on the outside of the hall has started and should be completed in the next few days, if the weather allows. A grant of £240 is being applied for from Cllr Swanson’s fund.
ii) Quiz This is being held on 13.10.19 at 7pm, in the village hall.
e) Village Groups
i) PCC. At long last the stonemason has started work on the Church Tower. This took time to organise as there were disputes with the insurers. Damage to the tower meant that the Church ‘lost’ income as we were unable to use the building during the summer months and had to cancel events. Luckily after discussion the insurers agreed to reimburse us for the lost wedding and an amount for the 1940’s weekend fundraiser. Hopefully the work will now be completed before too long. The stonemason has agreed that we will be able to have full access to the Church for the forthcoming Christmas Fayre. So we’d love to have your support for this event. All the usual attractions tombola, raffle, items to sell, cakes etc. Any donations or offers of help are all welcome. In addition we are holding a jumble sale this Saturday 28th at the village hall, at 11am. Again, any offers of jumble would be greatly received. Please bring along on the Sat morning at 9am or let Mrs Martin or Mrs Bird have it. The Harvest supper is being held on 12th October at 7pm in the village hall. There are a few tickets left if you would like to join us. £8 for sausage and mash and a dessert. Bring your own drink! The harvest service will be on the Sunday 13.10.19 at 3pm in Church. Any food items donated will be given to the Spilsby food larder. If you wish to help decorate the Church we’d love to see you. So join Mrs Pinner on the Friday 11th October at 10am. Members of the Church PCC are always very grateful for the continued support of residents from East Keal for giving so generously to support the Church in our village. Do join us for our events.
ii) WI. The Keals WI, Book club and Craft group continue to meet on a monthly basis. Additionally, members now meet on the third Tuesday of each month at the Coffee Cup Café for just a general get together and a natter. The Walkers Group has taken a break due to summer holidays. Members continue to enjoy the various activities on offer. No formal meeting was held during August. Instead members enjoyed an interesting day at Bomber Command centre in Lincoln. We were fortunate to have the services of a local guide who gave lots of information and was ready to answer any questions. The WI has provided refreshments for the Open Gardens days at The Old Rectory and Windrush. We continue to collect donations of food for the Spilsby Food Larder and also bottle tops for Lincolnshire Air Ambulance. Bransby Horses also benefit from our donations of used stamps. As always, anyone who is interested in joining would be made very welcome if they just come along and see what we are about. Our next meeting will be on Thursday October 10th here in the Village Hall when our guest speaker will be James Forrester from Snipesdales Country Park. Our website also contains detailed information at info@thekealswi.org
iii) Gardening Club. Mr Kingswood’s report was read to the meeting in which he said that the Gardening Club had recently held two meetings. The first was a very informative talk on ‘The soil in your garden’. This was delivered by Neil Bragg and was exceedingly interesting. The second was a visit to the Green Waste Recycling at Strubby. This again was extremely interesting and informative and showed what a huge amount of work goes into turning our green waste into compost for our gardens. The next meeting is 1.10.19, a talk by a local GP and on 29.10.19 Annual Halloween Quiz and Fish and Chip supper.
iv) Workforce. A report from Mr Dines was read to the meeting. He expressed his thanks to Mr Buckley for looking after the workforce whilst he is not well. Painting has been completed on some of the benches and the remainder will be done in the spring. Sadly the number of volunteers has gone down but a number of key workers are still willing to cut the grass. Thanks were expressed to Helena, Jane and Sue for their continued work on keeping the War Memorial looking lovely. The garage sale raised enough money to pay for tractor flaying in the village on verges and banks. Also, they propose to buy 5,000 more daffodil bulbs and repair the large planters at the Spilsby end of the village, also pay for fuel for the mowers. They will also pay for the PA system for the Remembrance service. Spring Bulb Sale. This is to be held on Sunday 20th October 10am to 3pm. The money raised will go towards the workforce winter plant up.
5. Report on dangerous trees and the closure of Church Walk. This footpath was closed recently after high winds as overhanging boughs of a resident’s trees were about to fall. Sadly, someone removed these signs which had to be replaced. Concerns were expressed that folk did ignore these signs. The trees have subsequently been made safe by the owner.
6. Update on Highspeed Fibre Broadband to village. The work in the village has now been completed although some areas seem not been covered. As yet this service is not available for residents to be connected to. It was asked if it could be clarified if the whole village is to be connected and when?
7. Valuation of East Keal Council’s Assets and updating the Asset Register. It transpires that any land owned by Councils should be valued regularly so a realistic figure can be shown on the Asset Register. Cllr Smith contacted local valuers and has obtained a written letter from Willsons stating a value of £40,000. The document will now be updated by the Clerk.
8. Report on a meeting with Cllr Aron and proposal for village gates. A meeting was held recently to discuss the possibility of having gates put up on the outskirts of the village. Sites were discussed and photos taken to submit to Highways. The meeting was informed that the gates cannot be sponsored but planters or a sign could show this information. Gates can be purchased in recycled plastic which would mean no maintenance. Cllr Aron is to have a meeting with LCC to discuss this proposal. Installing these gates might have a benefit in reducing speed through the village
9. Progress report on maintenance of villages benches. Some of the benches have now been painted but the remainder will be done in the spring. Thanks were expressed to Mr Buckley for undertaking this work.
10. Finance:
a) Payment of £17.50 to Cracroft Village Hall for 25.9.19.
b) Reimbursement of £50.67 to A Buckley for paint and brushes. Acceptance of the two expenses were proposed by Cllr Thornley and seconded by Cllr Dromey. All agreed.
c) Financial Report as at 20th September 2019 and bank reconciliation statement. Acceptance of the documents was proposed by Cllr Dromey and seconded by Cllr Kemp. All agreed.
11. Democracy and Citizenship policy documents. Acceptance of this policy was proposed by Cllr Thornley and seconded by Cllr Dromey.
12. Updating of Risk Management Checklist, Checklist Guidelines and Risk Management Policy. Acceptance of the policy document was proposed by Cllr Dromey and seconded by Cllr Kemp.
13. Response to questionnaires and drawing up the Council four-year plan. An updated document was circulated. It was agreed that Councillors will meet together to discuss these comments
14. Welcome Booklet – no new residents identified.
15. Correspondence
a) Letter from Heather Naden. Her request to display the poppies board, at the War Memorial, over the Remembrance weekend, was approved.
b) A letter from LCC saying that their Statement of Community Involvement has been accepted
c) S/045/00870/19. Planning application to vary conditions has been received. Previously circulated to Cllrs. The Council has no objections to this. Clerk to respond. d) S/045/01375/19. Document previously circulated to Cllrs. Application resubmitted no action needed.
16. Any other matters for discussion only or next Agenda - nothing raised.
17. Date of next meeting – 27.11.19 at 7pm.