Minutes of meeting 19th May 2021
Notes from the Annual Meeting of East Keal Parish Council held on 19th May 2021 at 7pm.
Public Forum. No items raised.
Welcome. Cllr Smith welcomed everyone to the meeting.
Present. Cllr G Smith, Cllr G Boxer, Cllr T Wrisdale, Cllr H Mckinlay, Cllr L Kemp and Clerk to the Council, Mrs E Martin. Also attending was one member of the public and Cllr Swanson.
1. Apologies for Absence were received from Cllr Gray and Mr & Mrs White.
2. Election of Chair of the Council. Cllr Boxer nominated Cllr Smith to continue in the role of Chair of the Council, seconded by Cllr Mckinlay. As there were no other nominations Cllr Smith was duly elected. Cllr Smith then signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office which was witnessed by the clerk.
3. Election of Deputy Chairman. Cllr Smith asked for nominations for the role of Deputy Chair. Cllr Kemp was nominated by Cllr Boxer and seconded by Cllr Wrisdale. All agreed.
4. Election of Councillors as representatives: -
a) Village Hall Committee. Cllr Mckinlay. All agreed.
b Neighbourhood Watch Coordinator. Cllr Boxer was nominated. All agreed.
c) Tree Preservation Officer. Cllr Wrisdale agreed to take on this role.
d) Facebook Coordinator. Cllr Smith agreed to continue with this role.
e) Village Volunteers Coordinator. Cllr Mckinlay agreed to undertake this. All agreed.
5. Notes of the Parish Council Meeting held on Wednesday 17th March 2021 to be approved as the minutes. These had already been circulated and on proposal by Cllr Kemp and seconded by Cllr Mckinlay all resolved to approve them as the minutes of the meeting and they were duly signed by the Chairman. All agreed.
6. Declaration of Interest (if any). None received.
7 Reports from representatives on outside bodies:
a) County Councillor - No Report submitted.
b) District Councillor - Due to the recent elections things have been rather quiet. Cllr Swanson reported that he is still on the Planning Committee and that he is proposing to continue as a Councillor for the next two years.
Government Grants are being given to Boston and ELDC to use towards opening up the High Streets. Consultation with the public, Town and Parish Councils and businesses will take place. Some of which will take place via social media. There will be three phases, consultation, Planning and the implementation.
The strategic alliance with Boston Borough is still ongoing.
17-23 May is Dementia Awareness Week.
The development in Horncastle on Mareham Road is progressing. The purchase of the land agreement has now been signed and work should start later this month.
c) Neighbourhood Watch - Reports of scams and cyber crime have been forwarded to those on the e’mailing list. Cllr Boxer recommended a site called 'Next Door' which residents are encouraged to use. This puts residents in touch with each other and information can be shared quickly.
d) Village Hall Committee - A committee meeting was held on 27th April.
Grants received during lockdown and closure have enabled the hall to remain financially viable.
Prices for hire have been reviewed and reduced to enable community groups to resume activity and help their finances. A session is now only £10, then there are discounts for subsequent bookings within the same calendar month. Hire will be free for NEW local social groups (for six months) wanting to start up. Commercial hire is only £20 per session.
It was decided to have hi-speed broadband installed in the hall and available to users. This is being installed shortly should be available later in May 2021.
A thorough cleaning was undertaken ready for the hall to re-open for the Election Day on 6th May. Government safety guidelines regarding the COVID 19 pandemic apply up to 21st June, after which the hall is fully open.
The grounds have been tidied up, with much still to do.
There will be a Quiz Night on Friday 9th July with prizes worth £20. Free entry.
The next committee meeting will be on 2nd June 2021.
e) Village Groups
i. PCC - There is to be an Open Gardens afternoon on 27th June at 2pm. Five gardens in the village will be open to visit and entrance will be £5. Refreshments etc will be available during the event at Pine Trees.
A clean up afternoon is being organised to clean the Church and grounds. All are welcome to come along and help. The date is 16th June at 2pm.
ii. WI - So far this year all committee meetings have been held via zoom. A full programme of monthly meeting has been organised and these are advertised on the notice boards.
The national AGM is on 8.6.21.
Members organised the refreshments at two recent open gardens held at Ruth Ward's. Over 70 visitors attended each event.
It is hoped that face to face meetings will resume in September.
New members are always welcome and the first two meetings are free.
iii. Gardening Club - As we come out of lockdown the club has 50 members. Several events have already been planned, the first being a visit to The Garden House at Market Rasen. The next event is on 23th June with a visit to Baumber Walled Gardens. Other events are advertised on the notice boards. New members are always welcome.
iv. Petanque Club. The site is being cleaned up and if anyone wishes to use the terrain or start up a new club Parish Council would be delighted. There are some items of equipment held in the village hall.
8 Review of inventory of land and assets including office equipment.
9 Review & confirmation of arrangements for insurance cover in respect of all risks.
10 Review and adoption of Standing Orders, Code of Conduct, Donations Policy and Financial Regulations
11 Risk Management check of benches etc undertaken by Cllr Smith in March 2021.
12 Review Council’s Complaints Procedure.
13 Review the Council’s procedure for handling requests made under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.
14 Review Council’s policy on GDPR Security, Data Breach, Data Protection, Privacy & Subject Access Policy.
15 Review Democracy and Citizenship Policy, Recording & Filming Policy, Record Retention.
The Chair asked if there were any issues with each of the above policy documents that needed looking at. It was proposed by Cllr Kemp and seconded by Cllr Boxer that these documents be accepted. It was stressed that any issues can be brought forward at any time in the year if it is felt documents need updating.
16 Accept updated Community Engagement Policy Document. It was proposed by Cllr Mckinlay that this amended document be accepted, seconded by Cllr Boxer.
17 Accept new Health & Safety of Volunteers Policy Document and working documents. It was proposed by Cllr Mckinlay and seconded by Cllr Kemp that these be accepted. All agreed. Again, if any changes are felt necessary documents can always be updated before the review date.
18 To review Welcome Booklet - It was felt few changes needed to be made. This will now be updated and used when necessary.
a) any new residents - new residents are due to move into a property on the Main Road shortly.
19 Planning
a) S/045/00105/21 Viking Link – Full Planning Permission given.
b) S/045/00254/21 Hillside – Full Planning Permission given.
c) S/045/00372.21 – Ms L Burton Keal Cotes – Full Planning Permission given.
d) S/045/00873/21 – Mr Savage – EKPC have submitted responses.
20 Finance:
a) Reimbursement to E Martin of £6.60 for postage.
b) Payment to Came & Co Insurance of £355.23.
c) Payment to Church towards the cutting of Churchyard grass £50.00.
d) Payment to LALC for training of £27.00.
e) Purchase magnets for Notice Board £27.00.
Payment of items ‘a’ to ‘e’ were proposed by Cllr Boxer and Seconded by Cllr McKinlay, all agreed.
f) Financial Statement for year ending 31st March 2021.
g) Completion of Annual Governance and Accountability Return 2020/21. Copies of this document had been circulated to all Councillors prior to the meeting. Cllr Smith went through the pages and relevant clauses to gain the Councils approval of what he was signing. Acceptance was proposed by Cllr Boxer and seconded by Cllr Mckinlay. All agreed.
h) Bank reconciliation statement and Financial Report as at 19th May 2021. Acceptance of these documents was proposed by Cllr Boxer and seconded by Cllr Wrisdale.
i) Appointment of Internal Auditor and Auditor of half year financial inspection. Cllr Smith thanked Mrs Keal for having undertaken this role and was delighted to announce that she is willing to continue doing these audits for the Council.
21 Dates of future Council meetings;- 16/3/22, 20/4/22, 18/5/22, 20/7/22, 21/9/22, 16/11/22 & 18/1/23.
22 Date of litter pick – 5th June 2021 at 10.30am. Meet on the Green.
23 Correspondence
a) Library Dates – on web and notice boards
24 Any other matters for discussion only or next Agenda.
i. The safety on Hall Corner. After a recent incident when two HGV's met face to face on the bend and caused the road to be closed for quite a while. It was felt a letter be sent to LCC requesting that road narrow sign be installed and the double white lines painted. Cllr Mckinlay offered to draft a letter for Cllrs to see before sending it to Highways.
ii. Thank you letter to the shop. After a discussion it was agreed that the Clerk send a letter of thanks for continued support to residents during the covid situation.
The meeting closed at 8.25pm.
25 Date of next meeting 21st July 2021 at 7pm in The Village Hall.