Minutes of meeting 20.09.2023
A meeting of East Keal Parish Council was held on 20.09.23 at 7pm at the Keals’ Village Hall, West Keal.
1. Welcome & apologies for absence
Cllr Graham Pearson welcomed everyone to the meeting.
Present. Cllr Pearson, Cllr Wrisdale, Cllr Goddard, Cllr Stickland, seven members of the public, and District Cllr Taylor.
Apologies for Absence. Cllr Kemp had offered her apologies with valid reasons. Cllr Gray also forwarded his apologies. It was proposed, seconded and resolved that these be accepted.
Cllr Pearson informed all that due to there not being a Parish Clerk available that the meeting would be audio recorded as advised by LALC to enable the minutes of the meeting to be completed. The audio recording will then be deleted.
Public Forum
During the public participation session there was brief discussion on:
Speeding and vehicles being driven the wrong way along Fen Lane and Blacksmiths Lane. Driver conduct is a matter for the Police and residents are able to upload any video footage along with details of location, vehicle registration number and what they were doing onto the Lincolnshire Police website www.linc.police.uk . This must be done within 7 days as the Police may need to send out a Notice of Intended Prosecution within the lawful time frame. If you do not have internet please ring 101 to report it.
There was also brief discussion on whether EKPC had a Village Hall Representative, and the impact of the costs of elections. Residents were advised these were to be covered in the meeting agenda.
Following the closure of the Public Forum the meeting was opened and Cllrs agreed for item 7(b) to be heard first to enable District Councillor Taylor to attend another meeting.
2. Notes of the Parish Council Meeting held on Wednesday 19.07.2023 to be approved as the minutes. It was proposed, seconded and resolved that the notes be accepted as minutes of the meeting. The minutes were then signed.
3. Declaration of Interest (if any)
Cllr Pearson declared interest in item 14. Planning.S/045/01608/231 Land next to Lavender Cottage. There were no other declarations.
4. Chair’s Review
Cllr Pearson gave a short report on progress made so far through the village.
5. Resignation of the Parish Clerk and vacancy.
The Parish Clerk Libby Martin has resigned from the post. The Parish Council thank Libby for her work and support to the community over the last 11yrs.
It was proposed, seconded and resolved that the advert be circulated via noticeboards, facebook, and the village email system. Leaflets are not currently available as an option due to the impact of recent election costs on the budget.
A locum Parish Clerk is being sought to cover the role until a permanent replacement is found. LALC have advised that a Councillor can fill the role as an unpaid Acting Clerk for as long as required. Currently there are no nominations from Councillors for the role.
6. Casual Vacancies for Parish Councillor.
There are currently two vacancies for Parish Councillors following the resignations of Heather Edwards and Dennis Cooper. Both are thanked for their service to the community.
Anyone who would like to know more about the role are welcome to talk to any of the Councillors.
Members of the public have asked for information on the election process. Currently a Notice from ELDC is displayed asking if 10 or more people want to have an election to write to them. If that occurs ELDC then issue a further Notice calling for Candidates to apply. The election will then be held in the same way as the last two with a ballot held at the Village Hall. There will be a cost of up to £3000 each time an election is held. The list of signatories will be available for all members of the public to view by appointment at the ELDC Offices.
If an election is not requested by residents ELDC then give permission to EKPC to advertise the vacancies for co option. Residents then write to the Parish Clerk to apply and the ballot is carried out by the serving Councillors. The co option process is free.
7. Reports from representatives on outside bodies:
a) County Councillor. A report had been received and circulated to Cllrs.
b) District Councillor. A report had been received and circulated to Cllrs.
8. Village Hall Committee Representative.
Currently EKPC do not have a Representative on the Keals Village Hall Committee as insufficient information had been received by our original nominee to enable an informed decision to be made so has withdrawn their nomination.
It was proposed, seconded and resolved that EKPC will not nominate such a representative until an informed decision can be made based on full information.
9.Report from Neighbourhood Watch Coordinator
No new information.
10. Village ~Issues
a) lobbying for 20mph through the village.
National Policy not to install them
b) Placing of flashing speed sign when it becomes available.
Update from Balfour Beatty is they are almost finished re landscaping and will deliver the sign to EKPC as soon as they are finished. Hopefully by end of Sept.
c) Water on Fen Lane
Residents worked together to clear much of the blocked drain and this stopped the water flooding the road surface. Many thanks to the residents that helped.
Highways have now also attended and checked the drains and cleared any remaining debris and will monitor to see if further works may be needed in future.
Residents and EKPC are advised to report any further problems as they occur via fix my street. www.fixmystreet.com
d) Replacement Notice Board and Bench improvements at junction of Fen Lane/Blacksmith’s Lane.
Balfour Beatty have kindly donated a new replacement Noticeboard which has been delivered to EKPC and will be available for display of all suitable village notices sent via the Parish Clerk. In addition Stickland Construction Ltd have kindly donated the building materials to complete the installation, and to also improve the adjacent memorial bench.
Volunteers working together will be installing it free of charge soon as a contribution to the community. These are Cllr Stickland, Cllr Goddard, Cllr Pearson, Roy Thornley, and Callum McKinlay. (Note: since the meeting, Noticeboard is now installed).
The volunteers will also be carrying out improvement works on the donated bench in memory of Beth. A solid platform will be installed to protect, secure and level up the bench.
e) Request for a litter bin by bus stop sign Church Lane.
ELDC have again been chased for an update.
f) School Lane: blocked drains that cause flooding.
Several residents have raised concerns about water exiting the verge near the top of School Lane, flooding the road, causing the road surface to erode and become slippery. It has been described over several years as a natural stream that little can be done about.
The Highways Inspector attended and was asked to look at options to drain the water away properly from the road surface and into a nearby drain.
On request, the Highways Inspector has also checked all the drains in School Lane, and further up through Blacksmiths Lane and has confirmed they are currently all clear.
Thanks are also extended to Cllr Alan Goddard who has regularly kept the tops of the School Lane drains clear of debris to assist in reducing the flood problem.
g) Hall Corner improvements
Road markings are due to be renewed soon.
The areas for drainage improvements have been marked on the highway and the works are scheduled for this year. (Note: since meeting the works have been completed)
The reinstatement of the camber is still being researched.
h) War Memorial
The War Memorial Garden has deteriorated over the last few years and is in need of rescuing. It was restored in 2012 by the Gardening Club with help from a legacy by Mrs Maud Gibson. It was then maintained by volunteers with some funding from EKPC towards plants. Since the volunteers have left there have been no further volunteers coming forward.
EKPC have very little funding now due to the costs of the elections so are not financially able to assist. Even applying for grant funding is difficult as most require the applicant to match fund. EKPC have asked for people to join the Village Volunteers and also asked if the Gardening Club could help. Any offers of help please send to the Parish Clerk.
In other parts of the village several residents have kindly come forward and are maintaining some of the planters which look fantastic. There are several more planters that volunteers are needed for.
11. Policies’
EKPC had been informed that without a Parish Clerk in post this item cannot be dealt with so has been postponed to a future meeting.
a) Code of Conduct policy document review.
b) Updated Standing Orders
c) Village Volunteers policy document review
d) Social Media Policy.
e) Vexatious Policy.
12. Archive Boxes.
Currently being reviewed by Cllr Lynn Kemp and will update at the next meeting.
13. EKPC Website
Currently Cllr Pearson being trained to manage the site. Once appointed the new Parish Clerk will also complete the training.
14. Planning.S/045/01608/231 Land next to Lavender Cottage.
Cllr Pearson declared an interest and moved away from the Councillors table. Cllr Wrisdale then chaired this item. Members of the public shared their views on the planning application and the process used and requested that EKPC find better ways to communicate future information with residents such as re opening the EKPC Facebook page as over half the residents currently use it.
It was proposed, seconded and resolved that the EKPC have a facebook page to assist communication with residents.
15. Finance:
EKPC had been informed that without a Parish Clerk in post the Bank Reconciliation Statement and Financial Report cannot be agreed by Councillors and has been postponed to a future meeting. Councillors can deal with authorising payment of any bills.
a) Final payment for Parish Clerk disbursements and salary
Salary and overtime £1200.20
Computer repair £20.00 retrospective paid 31/07/2023.
Postage £6.00
Broadband £110.00
Total outstanding £1316.20.
b) Precept.
Discussions will need to be held in future to ascertain how the bills for the election costs will be paid and how this may affect the precept for the next few years.
c) Village Hall £20 hall hire for meeting of 20th Sept and £20 hall hire for Meet the Councillors and Community Groups 23rd Sept.
d) Wreath for Remembrance Day to be ordered by Cllr Pearson, £19.99 plus £3.99 delivery.
e) Printing paper £4.75. Reimburse GP. In addition, the black printer ink had just run out and will need to be ordered by Cllr Pearson at a cost of up to £20.00
It was proposed, seconded and resolved that the above, a to e be accepted.
16. Welcome Booklet - any new residents.
-
None notified
17. Correspondence
18. Any other matters for discussion only or next Agenda
19. Date of next meeting 15th Nov 2023