Minutes of Meeting held 20th July 2022
EAST KEAL PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes from East Keal Parish Council meeting held on 20th July 2022 at Cracroft Village Hall at 7pm.
1. Welcome: Cllr Grahame Smith welcomed everyone to the meeting.
Present. Cllr Smith, Cllr Cooper, Cllr Boxer and Mrs E Martin, Clerk to the Council, also Cllr Taylor.
2. Apologies for Absence. These were received from Cllr Kemp & Cllr Wrisdale. Apologies were accepted for the reasons given. Apologies were also received from Cllr Gray.
3. Notes of the Parish Council Meeting held on Wednesday 18th May 2022 to be approved as the minutes. It was proposed by Cllr Cooper and seconded by Cllr Boxer that these be accepted as a true record of the meeting. All agreed.
4. Declaration of Interest (if any) None given.
5. Reports from representatives on outside bodies:
a) County Councillor. Cllr Gray had submitted a written report as follows:
i. County Views: if you wish to join a county panel to share views on roads, transport and highways register online at: www.letstalk.lincolnshire.gov.uk/register or call: 01522 782116. . Representation is needed from all ages and backgrounds.
ii. NHS Better Health apps now available to download:
A range of NHS Better Health apps, designed to encourage you to make beneficial lifestyle changes, can now be downloaded onto your mobile phone via Apple App Store, Google Play.
These are:
Active 10 – which records every minute of walking you do, tracking your steps, setting goals, showing you your achievements and giving you tips to boost your activity
Weight Loss – a 12-week free NHS Weight Loss Plan to help you start healthier eating habits, be more active, and start losing weight
Drink free days – track your drink-free days, get simple and practical tips to help you control your drinking, receive reminders when you need it most and celebrate milestones when you reach your targets
Quit smoking – if you can make it to 28 days smoke-free, you're five times more likely to quit for good! This app enables you to track your progress, see how much you're saving and get daily support
Food Scanner app helps you and your family make healthier food and drink choices.
iii. Prosperity Fund:
Lincolnshire County Council has been allocated £4million from the government’s Shared Prosperity Fund to improve adult numeracy skills. There is already help available for adults to improve maths and numeracy skills including fully funded maths courses up to GCSE to enable people to get the maths skills they need. In Lincolnshire you can visit www.2aspire.org.uk for courses.
iv. 2022 Lincolnshire Good Citizens Awards:
Presentations were made recently at the Lincolnshire Show. The awards were created to recognise the extraordinary work that so many volunteers do throughout the County.
b) District Councillor.
i. Recycling bin. There are to be new recycling bins delivered to residents during August. These will be black with purple lids and are to be used for cardboard, paper and glass. They will be emptied on a fortnightly basis rotating with the grey recycling bins. Residents will receive information regarding what to put into them, in due course. We were reminded that Sellotape should be removed from packaging. Cllr Taylor thought that the recycling bins by our Green would eventually be removed.
ii. Energy rebate. Residents who are eligible for this refund, and pay their /council tax by direct debit should have received their £150 by now. If not do contact ELDC asap.
iii. Settlement of Ukrainian refugees. It was reported that in the main this project is working well. Some have managed to find employment using temporary visas.
iv. Recycling Centre. The centre at Donington-on-Bain is closed but a new centre at Coningsby has been opened. It is open Friday to Monday from 9am to 4pm.
c) Village Hall Committee.
i. A new chair has been elected and the hall continues to provide a good venue for many social groups.
ii. The subsidies to hire prices have been reviewed to ensure financial viability with the result that prices will increase to £15 per session on 1st September, with a further review in December so that it may rise to £20 in January.
iii. A bollard will be placed in the gateway to stop unauthorised use of the car park and rubbish dumping. The sandy part at the rear of the grounds has been made into a more user-friendly area, rather than specifically for Pétanque.
6. Reports from Community Groups.
a) Art. This group continues to meet every two weeks in the village hall despite being low in numbers. A special hire rate will help with increasing numbers.
b) Local History Group. There are regularly 12-20 people attending each month and we are covering family trees within the village and recording of memories. Support has been given to the application of grants by the church. The next meeting is on 14th September at 2:00pm.
c) Wildlife Group. The last two monthly meeting have seen good support for surveys of wildlife in the villages. In May over 19 bird species were identified in West Keal and in June nearly 30 species in East Keal. These are being recorded for future generations and identifying changes. The next meeting is 23rd September at 11:00 am.
d) Gardening Club
The club has recently held a very successful visit to Thornes beehives.
On Sunday we are holding a hog roast at the village hall and the next visit is to Sausthorpe Old Hall, on 25.8.22. New members are always welcome. Contact Dawn on 01790 753558.
e) PCC. The Church are holding regular weekly Sunday services at 9.30am led by David Rossdale.
i. The Heritage Lottery bid is nearing completion ready for submission. It has taken a lot or work to get to this stage. The total cost of the project is in the region of £341,478.00 and the Church have to find approximately £217,488. If successful the Lottery money will only cover work on this grade 2* listed building - the roof etc. not on the proposed toilet and servery. This cost has to be found by fundraising, other grants and donations. All support towards fundraising will obviously be appreciated.
ii. Concert/Fete on 10.9.22. To this end there is a forthcoming Fete/Concert to be held at Bill and Cynthia’s on Sat 10th September. Tickets are not being sold but the cost will be £5.00, just turn up. The gardening club are holding a plant/veg stall and I’m sure there will be many other fundraising activities.
iii. Jumble Sale. There is also a Jumble sale in Church on 6.8.22 at 11am. Any donations please take to church on the Friday morning or leave in the porch.
iv. The Harvest Service is on 16th October and the harvest supper on Sat 15th Oct. All welcome.
v. The Christmas Fayre will be on 26th November, in Church, and it is proposed that A Scarecrow weekend will be organised by the events committee, sometime in the following year, 2023.
vi. Friends of St Helen’s. The AGM will be on Friday 2.9.22 in Church. All existing and any new members are welcome to attend.
vii. A Remembrance Lunch is being proposed for 13.11.22, to be served in Church. More details to follow.
viii. Community Café. This is being held on 27.7.22 at 2pm in Church.
7. Report from the working party on A16 and highways issues.
Cllr Smith gave the following report:-
a) The parish council asked highways if funds spent on changing the camber at Hall Corner could be better spent on reducing speed throughout the village. This was not possible, so we requested that these works go ahead at Hall Corner which by increasing the camber will make it safer and improve drainage on the inside bend. This will be done during 2023.
b) We requested Average Speed Cameras. To assess the need to fund these, highways will first do a speed assessment at three points on the A16. This will be implemented in the next few months.
c) The white lines at Hall Corner will be re-painted, again.
d) A request for a 20mph limit at the corner will be considered. This may take a long time.
e) We asked for some flashing speed reminder signs. It is possible that those used by Balfour Beatty may be donated to highways. We shall add to this possibility with a direct request from us. These would be located on approaches to Hall Corner.
f) More roundel’s indicating speed limit on the road surface were requested. These could be placed during the next few months.
g) We decided not to place 'gateway features' due to lack of funds.
h) Rumble strips were requested but were advised these are not possible on an A road.
i) We requested moving the first 30mph sign on A16 further eastwards and before the bend by Manor House & Farm. This will be formerly considered and is possible.
j) We requested passing places on the 'Switchback' around Marden Hill for when the A16 is blocked and diversions are used.
k) We requested resurfacing or topdressing of parts of Fen Lane that had been promised several years ago.
l) We requested the unblocking of the many street-drains that have been ignored by highways workmen over the last three years. We were told that parts of Blacksmiths Lane are too narrow for the lorry to operate, so a manual crew will be set up to clear such drains.
8. Meet the Councillors. It was agreed this should be discussed at the next meeting.
9. Welcome Booklet – Cllr Smith to deliver a pack to Highbury.
10. Planning
a) S/045/01031/22 - Objection submitted by Parish Council.
11. Finance:
a) Reimbursement to E Martin of £41.49 re Printer ink.
b) Direct debit of £35.00 for data protection.
c) Reimburse G Smith for purchase plants for village £35.95.
d) Hire of Hall for 14.6.22, 28.6.22 and 20.7.22 of £26.00.
It was proposed by Cllr Cooper and seconded by Cllr Boxer that these be approved. All agreed.
e) Bank Reconciliation Statement and Financial Report as at 20th July 2022. It was proposed by Cllr Boxer and seconded by Cllr Cooper that these documents be accepted. All agreed.
12. Any other matters.
a) Road Closure. There is to be a road closure on Fen Lane between 22 -27 August 2022.
b) Invitation to meeting. An email from Spilsby Town Council, inviting someone to attend a meeting with local councils has been suggested. It was agreed that someone would attend.
c) Circulation of false information on the Community Facebook and Facebook. Recently a comment was posted on Facebook stating that this Council had agreed not to display minutes of meeting on the Hall Corner notice board. This is not true and has never been considered. ALL minutes have always been posted on ALL notice boards since I have been Clerk.
d) Other comments on Facebook. Subsequent comments on Facebook are suggesting that minutes are being recorded inaccurately. Statements like these are difficult to refute. It was agreed that if residents have issues with the Council they attend meetings and air their concerns at this forum. It was agreed that this needs to be an Agenda item at the next meeting.
e) Use of council email addresses. Cllr Smith reminded Councillors that they should all have a designated council email address. All correspondence will then be available at one point. Once they cease being a Councillor this account should be closed. The Clerk was asked to confirm with a previous Councillor that this has been done.
13. Date of next meeting 21st September 2022