May 2023 Minutes of the AGM of the Parish Council
CLAXBY PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of Meeting of Parish Council held on Tuesday 16th May 2023 at 7.40 p.m. immediately after the Parish meeting.
Present: Cllr B Hunter (Chair), Cllrs P Strong, J Lindley-Baker, J Pilbrow. D Lofthouse, J Lofthouse, C Saywell. Also present: D Beer (Parish Clerk), 4 members of the public. Cllr Tom Smith joined before item 9 and Cllr Bunney joined at 9.00 p.m.
1. Re-elected Councillors signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office.
To elect a chair: Cllr Hunter retired as Chairman. Cllr Pilbrow and Cllr Strong thanked Mr Hunter for his service and asked that he be nominated for a long service award. He has lived in the village for 53 years, and served on the Parish Council for 41 years, 25 of those as Chairman. He would continue to serve as a Councillor. Nominations were requested for a new chair. Colin Saywell was nominated by Cllr Strong, and was seconded by Cllr D Lofthouse. Cllr Saywell accepted the position.
2. To elect a vice-chair: Cllr Saywell proposed Cllr D Lofthouse as Vice Chair. Seconded by Cllr Lindley-Baker and was duly appointed. Cllr Pilbrow suggested that Councillors undergo training. Action: Clerk to forward information on training.
3. Apologies for absence – none.
4. Declarations of Interest – none
5. Minutes of 24th January and 8th March were approved.
6. Chair and Councillors comments on the minutes:
- Cllr Pilbrow asked for it to be noted that specific quotes for play equipment had not yet been obtained as the project was not yet at that stage.
- Cllr Hunter said that Northern Powergrid had checked the remaining poles and said they were in good condition but would be checked every 5 years.
- Clerk was asked to undertake the following actions:
(a) Chase CIL
(b) Enquire with planning department to see if the proposed development at Wolds View Fisheries is going ahead.
7. Clerk’s report on outstanding matters:
- As requested, enquiries were made about public liability insurance for volunteers on the emergency plan and for carers helping users of the stair lift, and a reply on both issues was forwarded to the relevant committees and to all councillors on Weds 25th January. The insurers have agreed to increase public liability insurance for up to 12 volunteers at no extra charge. Action: Clerk was asked to check with the insurance company on how many volunteers are covered at any one time.
- A new defibrillator was installed at the hall. Cost £400. (The Council had £398 ringfenced for this, left over from the CI Grant.)
- A newsletter had been published and delivered to all residents, either by hand or by email, giving an update on the village hall.
8. WLDC and LCC Councillor updates: Cllr Smith joined the meeting but as a new councillor had no report. Cllr Strong asked Cllr Smith to liaise with Highways on the state of the roads. He agreed to walk the village with Councillors to assess the main problems.
Action: liaise with Cllr Smith to set up meeting
Councillor Lindley-Baker left the meeting.
9. Finance:
(a) accounts paid:
- WLDC for waste bin £66.00 by BACS
- WLDC for defibrillator 400.00
- Wave – Water – 39.44
- Beltec – repairs to Marquee – 198.00
- ICO by d/d - £35.00
- E-on 430.89 less Alternative Fuel Payment grant - £150 = £280.89 d/d
(b) Items for payment:
- Claxby Village Hall: EE February – May: £111.48
- Clerk’s invoice: £315.21
- HMRC £68.80
- Alastair Williams £264.00
- Dobbs Blinds: £2363.20 (from Lloyds Village Hall a/c)
- Zurich Insurance £635.59
- Cassells £114.00
It was RESOLVED to pay Alistair Williams’ invoices by BACS as they arrive rather than waiting for approval at the next meeting.
(c) Notes:
- £5287.12 in VAT has been reclaimed, £4617.71 will go into Village Hall account as this is the VAT on purchases made by the Village Hall.
- The EE broadband bill will come out of the Unity account as from next month.
(d) The Annual Accounting Statements were presented, approved and signed, and the timescale for the Exercise of Public Rights was agreed. (Link to audited accounts.)
Action: Clerk to send accounts to external auditors.
(e) The work of the internal auditor was reviewed and approved to be used next year.
The following clerk actions were requested:
- Research Electric renewal and compare prices.
- Add Cllr Saywell as signatory to Unity account and remove Helen Wilson
- Cllrs Strong, D Lofthouse, Hunter and Saywell to meet with the Clerk to review his current levels of remuneration and hours required to fulfil the role. Meeting arranged for 2.00pm May 23rd in the village hall.
10. Resolve to adopt code of conduct for all councillors. It was RESOLVED to adopt the statutory code of conduct and all forms were duly signed.
11. Review Standing Orders: It was noted that there are still gaps to be filled in and a review was requested.
12. To review financial regulations. These were approved. It was noted that an internal audit was required every 3 months and Cllr D Lofthouse agreed to meet with the clerk prior to each meeting to audit the accounts.
13. The resolution previously made to adopt the Village Hall booking Terms and Conditions was recorded.
14. To resolve to adopt the Defibrillator Policy. RESOLVED. It was suggested by Cllr Strong that notices should be put around the village informing the public of the locations of the defibrillators and the clerk agreed to do this once the Viking Centre unit is installed.
15. Planning applications: None
16. Correspondence: an email had been received from a resident regarding lack of communication on the car park project. A Village Newsletter was suggested. (Agenda item.)
17. Emergency Plan: It was reported that the plan was nearly complete. Steve Eason-Harris had provided maps, but they were A3 so difficult to include in the booklet. Free Defibrillator and CPR training was on offer. The committee would liaise with Mr Eason-Harris. (Link to the full report from the committee.)
18. Report from the Village Hall committee: Cllr D Lofthouse presented the report. (Link to report). A vote of thanks was given on behalf of the Council and villagers for all the work that was done by the Village Hall committee. The PCSO report on security at the hall was read out. (Link to PCSO report.) After discussion, an intruder alarm was deemed unnecessary but a dummy camera and a couple more security lights might be a deterrence. A member of the public suggested a “smoke cloud” would also be a good deterrent.
19. Coronation Committee report. Cllr Saywell presented the report (Link to report) and asked that thanks be recorded to everyone involved in organising a very successful event.
20. Progress on the Village Field: Cllr Pilbrow reported that a volunteer group had distributed a survey to ask residents what they would like to see on the field and what they would not want. Evidence so far (from 42 written replies and some verbal and email replies): 83.3% of people from Claxby and Normanby “use rarely or weekly” – over 50% of users were under 18, 21% were over 60. Among current uses were picnics, walking, football. 90.1% would like to see the field improved, with better play equipment. 86.7% would like some adult gym equipment. Other suggestions were improving access, better seating, acknowledging adults and children with additional needs, a shelter, information boards.
Cllr Pilbrow proposed there was a need to improve the upper field, and to continue the consultation process. Once there is a clearer idea of what residents want, grants can be researched and applied for. It was suggested that an open evening be held to present plans with brochures, photos, etc. Council agreed that this should be progressed. It was suggested that any purchase of equipment should come with a maintenance contract.
Maintenance of the field: wood and brash that had already been cut needs to be burnt when dry. Cllr Lofthouse has mowed some areas. The perimeter still needs to be cleared. It was agreed that a small group should be organised to help.
(Agenda item from previous agenda – discuss appointing individuals to take responsibility for each aspect of the field.)
21. Grit bin for Normanby Rise: Action – clerk to get a costing for grit bin for Normanby Rise and possibly St Mary’s Lane.
22. Communication – Cllr Pilbrow stated that she felt communication had improved but that it was important to keep everyone up to date with what is going on.
23. The Old Rectory: The clerk reported that he and Cllr Hunter had met with Nigel Periam from Planning Enforcement at WLDC to discuss the problem of intruders and written to Carole Slingsby (tree protection officer) regarding the land. Mr Periam said he was happy with the security on the property, and both said that as it was a private property it was out of their jurisdiction. Intruders will be an ongoing problem as the property is featured on websites such as Urban Explorers.
Cllr Bunney was invited to offer his report: he said that there was a budget deficit of £10m for policing. PCSOs had been reduced or were now to be based in Gainsborough. It is just the PC at Market Rasen that will be our neighbourhood officer. LCC and WLDC are very much against the proposals to house asylum seekers at the Scampton airbase because it will put pressure on health care and policing resources.
24. Proposed dates for future meetings: Tuesdays 15 August, 21st November, 16 January 2024.
The meeting closed at 9.30 p.m.