Minutes of meeting held 21st September 2022
A meeting of East Keal Parish Council Meeting was held on 21.9.22 at 7pm. At the Keal’s Village Hall, West Keal.
Welcome. Cllr Grahame Smith welcomed everyone to the meeting and this opened with a minutes silence in respect of the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Present. Cllr Smith, Cllr Boxer, Cllr Cooper & Cllr Wrisdale, Cllr T Taylor and Clerk to the Council, Mrs E Martin.
Public Forum. There were no items for discussion.
1. Apologies for Absence. These were received from Cllr L Kemp. Apologies accepted for the reason given. Apologies were also received from Cllr Gray.
2. Notes of the Parish Council Meeting held on Wednesday 20.7.2022 to be approved as the minutes. It was resolved that the notes be accepted as minutes of the meeting, proposed by Cllr Boxer and seconded by Cllr Cooper. All agreed and the minutes were then signed.
3. Declaration of Interest. None given.
4. Reports from Representatives on outside bodies.
a) County Councillor. A report had been circulated from Cllr Gray to all Councillors before the meeting. The main points being; -
i. Information on where your recycling waste goes to.
ii. Details regarding the delaying of the cutting of the roadside grass verges.
iii. Quarterly Economic Survey.
iv. Owning a watercourse.
For further information do contact the Clerk.
b) District Councillor. A report had been circulated prior to the meeting. The main points being:-
i. A campus is to be developed at Mablethorpe to provide resources for research and innovation, with facilities for medical and social care.
ii. The new colonnade at Sutton on Sea will include a café, restaurant, gallery and exhibition space. There will be a paddling pool, beach huts and holiday lodges.
iii. Two children, on an inflatable, were rescued from the sea, recently. Thanks were expressed to the CCTV operator, based in Boston, who notified the rescue services.
iv. The Embassy Theatre in Skegness is to be redeveloped.
v. A community lottery is to be set up to raise funds for South & East Lincolnshire.
vi. Cllr Taylor attended the Proclamation of King Charles III, at Tedder Hall.
vii. He was also part of a Zoom meeting to gain information about the new reservoir to be built in the county.
viii. Some residents have received two purple lidded bins. If you wish to return one do contact LCC.
c) Village Hall. After a quiet August, groups are returning to use the hall during September.
Prices have increased to £15 per session due to increasing overall costs and the massive increase in electricity and heating oil this Autumn.
The new Chair Person appointed in July has resigned after a few weeks so we a looking for someone to take up this role.
A full risk assessment has led to some improvements, a fire inspection and electrical inspection have been done and the hall is now safer with new signs and smoke alarms etc.
The regular Quiz Night was cancelled out of respect after the death of her majesty, the next one is November 11th.
We are looking to improve marketing to obtain more bookings.
5. Village Groups
a) Art Group. The art group is still going strong with a number of regular attendees. Their work continues to improve, not least because they all enjoy experimenting with new techniques and subject matter. They have also attended craft fairs to sell their work. This has been very satisfying but at the end of the day, it’s the fun of the painting process itself which really matters. As always, they are open to new members, and anyone wishing to come along and see what it’s all about is always welcome.
b) Local History. After a break during August, the Local History group met on 14th Sept. A new visitor from West Keal who was brought up in East Keal, brought memories and photos from his childhood to add to the records. A good discussion on changes over the last 50 years was enjoyed over tea and cake.
A suggestion was made that it would be helpful if photos on the website had some information attached.
c) The Keals' Wildlife Group next meeting is this Friday 23rd September at 11:00 am when the discussion will include: the drastic reduction in bird life during this year; the increase in fox activity in our gardens; and the late departure of swallows and house martins this year and the disappearance of hedgehogs which is also causing concern.
d) Gardening Club. The club has made two very enjoyable visits recently. One to the Secret Garden in Louth and the other to Baumber Walled Gardens. Both visits were a great success. A talk by Jenny Kirkby was very informative. She talked about ‘How to care for house plants’.
The next visit is on 29.9.22 to Baytree Garden centre with the option of watching the bird display, at 1.30pm.
The Gardening Club supported the Church’s ‘Last of the Summer Wine’ and raised nearly £500.
e) PCC. The recent jumble sale raised just under £500 for Church funds.
The recent concert at Bill and Cynthia’s raised just under £2,200. Thanks are expressed to everyone who helped raised this amount. It was a spectacular achievement.
The Harvest service will be on 23.10.22 at 9.30am, where any donations of food stuff will be given to the Spilsby Food Bank. All are welcome to join the service.
The Harvest supper will be on 22.10.22. Tickets, at £8.50, are now available on 752169.
The Friends of St Helen’s are organising an ‘East Keal Went to War’ lunch on 13.11.22, in Church. Tickets are now available on 752935. All welcome.
There will be a Christmas Fayre on 26.11.22 in Church.
The Christmas Day service will be at 9.30am at East Keal.
f. Village Volunteers. After a discussion it was felt that as yet there was no need for a litter pick to be organised. A date will be discussed at the next meeting.
i. The bench by the War Memorial needs a coat of varnish. It was agreed that an appeal be made, via the email group. Varnish and tools would be provided.
ii. Village tubs. During the very hot spell many of the tubs, on the main road, did not get sufficient water and so the plants died. It was suggested that in the future we consider planting drought resistant plants. Thanks were expressed to those who cared for the tubs by the green, which have looked lovely all summer.
iii. Cutting of some verges, not outside residents homes. Unfortunately, one volunteer is now unable to continue cutting the verge opposite the shop. A discussion then followed as to whether funding should be made available to help cover the cost of fuel if volunteers are struggling financially. It was felt that help can be provided on request and this would be approved at a council meeting.
Thanks were expressed to all who have helped keep the village neat and tidy. It is greatly appreciated.
iv. The new substation on Fen Lane is due to have bushes planted round it and a seat placed in the gap left by the old structure. The rough area has been planted with grass seed.
It was agreed that if the planting did not occur then the gardening club would be approached to see if they can help.
7. Traffic Speed Report. This document has been circulated widely through the village, on the web, notice boards and by email. It was agreed that the ‘site naming’s’ were confusing. Concerns were raised by Councillors that traffic is still travelling over 30mph round Hall Corner although 20mph roundels are painted on the road, and no mention of this was made in the report.
It was felt that the LCC criteria is lacking. If, when an area of concern is identified, they will only consider acting after a fatality. It was agreed the Council would write to K Nettle about this and also ask when the work on the camber is to be undertaken.
Correspondence has been received from Balfour Beaty saying that we will be able to have one of the flashing speed lights when they have finished on their site. The other will possibly be given to Keal Cotes.
Another suggestion made was that the installation of a sign regarding the risk of lorries tipping over be considered. This might help foreign drivers become aware of the danger of this bend.
8. Report from Spilsby Area Meeting. Cllr Smith recently attended this meeting to discuss whether Spilsby and the surrounding areas can work together. The meeting was cut short by the announcement of the death of the Queen.
After a lot of discussion, it transpired that the biggest concerns relate to speeding through the town and villages. One way forward suggested that the sharing of a speed recording gun, owned by Spilsby, to be used in other areas. A future meeting is to be held and Cllr Smith agreed to represent East Keal.
9. Substation update. See 5fiv.
10. Coronation of King Charles III. A discussion was held as to what sort of celebrations, if any, would be held/organised in East Keal. It was felt that individual organisations would hold events and consideration to the liaising of dates should take place. Any group can organise any event it wishes.
After the recent Jubilee events, organised by the joint Keals’ Events Committee, great concerns were aired that the money, which was raised/given for the Jubilee events was not all used to ensure that these final events were even better that first planned, as there was a huge surplus of money.
It was agreed that the Parish Council would need to be involved in any ‘formal’ procedures, and there should be representation on this community committee by the Council.
11. Meet the Councillors. This will take place in May 2023. Date to be agreed later.
12. Welcome Pack. There are 3 new families moved into the village.
13. Allocation of policy documents. Cllr Boxer agreed to look at Freedom of Information and Cllr Cooper offered to look at Financial Regulations.
14. Finance:
a) Invoice for hire of village hall of £15.00, for 21.9.22.
b) Financial Report as at 21st September 2022 and bank reconciliation statement. Acceptance of these documents was proposed by Cllr Cooper and seconded by Cllr Boxer. All agreed.
c) Disposal of old laptop. This has now been cleaned of all information. It was agreed that this be given to ECBS who will update it and donate it to a school.
d) Proposal to subsidise fuel costs of verge cutting. See 5f3.
e) At present the Council felt there was no need to replace any of the notice boards.
15. Correspondence.
a) Email from the Keals’ Events Community Group. The Council welcome any group willing to organise an event.
b) Letter from East Keal Charity. A new group of Trustees have just been appointed and the Council have been asked to supply details of anyone in the village who it was felt to ‘be in need’. Small grants are given annually. Cllr Smith offered to supply some names and reply to this email.
c) Blockage of footpath at rear of Church Lane. Cllr Smith has spoken to the resident concerned who intends to have a bonfire shortly on the field, behind his property.
d) Horseriding down Barrow Hole. A letter of complaint has been received regarding this and Cllr Smith has spoken to the horse rider concerned.
16. Any matters for discussion only or next agenda.
a) Planning As yet there has been no development on the planning application for properties to be built on the Main Road, near Saracens Head.
b) Remembrance Sunday. Rt Rev David Rossdale will lead the Service of Remembrance at the War Memorial on 13.11.22.
c) Social Media. Comments have been placed on Facebook pages that were inaccurate. This has caused a lot of concern. Some comments relating to the Council have now been removed and an apology given. We have decided not to continue the trial using Social Media, but continue with email, noticeboards, our own Website and leaflets for communication. Because of this the Council wish to stress that if residents have concerns the best way to deal with them is to contact the Clerk, Chair or attend a Council meeting and voice concerns there.
d) Property on School Lane. This property has been empty for a long while and is now in need of some repairs. ELDC have put an order on this Grade 2 listed building for work to be done on the property and land.
e) Footpaths. It was reported that one footpath in the village is impassable. A letter will be sent to the footpaths officer regarding this. Chair to do this.
f) A resident wishes to place a ‘Beware of wildlife’ on her front. The Council had no objections to this.
g) Work is to be done shortly on a tree down Fen Lane. This tree does have a preservation order on it but this necessary work has been allowed.
h) Warm Spaces. The suggestion was made that the Village Hall could host some warm days for local residents and offer refreshments, sponsored by the Council. It was agreed that this be put on the next Agenda.
17. Date of next meeting 16.11.22 at 7pm. In the Village Hall.
Signed ………………………………………. Dated ……………………………