September 2023
CLAXBY PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of Meeting of Parish Council held on Thursday 7th September 2023 at 7.30 p.m.
Present: Cllr C Saywell (Chair), B Hunter, J Lindley-Baker, D Lofthouse, J Lofthouse, J Pilbrow, Cllr P Strong. Also present: D Beer (Parish Clerk). 2 members of the public.
To open the meeting, a presentation was made, on behalf of the parish councillors, by Cllr Pilbrow to Cllr Brian Hunter in gratitude for his many years of work in the community and service as Chairman of the Parish Council.
In the open forum, a member of the public expressed concern about the proposed development on the playingfield as regards the proximity of adult equipment to the children’s play area. It was also suggested that a shelter, if included in the plans, may also become a hub for anti-social behaviour. Cllr Pilbrow pointed out that drop-in sessions had been held to outline the plans and all comments from residents re the proposed playground plan were being taken into consideration.
1. Apologies for Absence – Cllrs Smith and Bunney.
2. Declarations of Interest - none.
3. To approve minutes of the meetings held on 16th May and 27th June 2023. Unanimously approved.
4. Chair & Council’s Comments and matters arising from the minutes.
- It was noted that Cllr Hunter had withdrawn from the Finance Committee and Cllr Pilbrow had taken his place.
- The clerk had chased the CIL and was told at present no payment had been made by the developers. Enforcement may have to be made. The levy, with a penalty for late payment, will be forwarded when received from the developers.
- The Claxby Parish Council Emergency Plan is now complete.
- The External audit has now been completed successfully and the certificate of completion has been published.
5. Clerk’s Report on outstanding matters.
- The Insurance company have confirmed that any 12 volunteers can be covered at any one time.
- Training information had been forwarded to Councillors and Councillors had attended various courses including Health & Safety.
- Grit bins were requested for Normanby Rise and St Mary’s Lane – one was installed on Normanby Rise – no charge. St Mary’s Lane request was rejected.
- Wolds View Fisheries has confirmed that the proposed development has been given permission with a time limit of three years. They plan to commence in the Autumn. New application has now been received for more pitches for static caravans. (See item 9 below).
- ROSPA has been booked to do a play equipment inspection on an annual basis
- The old defibrillator is now installed at the Viking Centre and no longer the responsibility of Claxby Parish Council.
- Highways do have a policy on trees. It is in the Highways Infrastructure asset management plan.
Specific issues can be reported on Fix My Street direct or by using the LCC Web Site Page
www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/faults-maintenance/report-overgrown-trees-hedges
- A contractor surveyed the playground area and gateway that needs surface work, but failed to provide an estimate.
- Tom Smith and Councillors walked the roads on Tues 23rd May to report on the current state of the surfaces, drains, and verges.
- The clerk renegotiated new Electricity rates, on a Fixed Business Plan for a year, to be as follows: Standing charge: 48p per day. Electricity at 29.6 per Kwh.
- Colin Saywell has been added as a signatory to the Unity account and Helen Wilson has been removed.
- £5287.12 VAT refund has been received - £4617.71 to go into village hall account
6. WLDC and LCC Councillor updates
Update from Cllr Smith:
- The culvert the resident thought was still under the Internal Drainage Board is not.
- Comments on highways have been passed onto Cllr Bunney and the Highways area Manager and we will work together to sort the issues.
Update from Cllr Bunney: See the attached report.
7. Finance:
- Accounts for Payment – it was resolved to pay all outstanding accounts as per the schedule attached.
- Asset register update and valuation for village hall – to be referred to the Finance & Staffing committee to discuss updates and clerk to research replacement values (as requested by the insurance company)
- Terms of reference for the finance and staffing committee. Approved.
- Historical grant for laptop – with new security systems that are available, it was considered unnecessary to have a dedicated laptop and it was resolved that spending on software, secure document storage and printer cartridges were a legitimate expense under this grant. A dedicated printer for parish council work may also be considered. So far £351.69 had been spent.
- After payments made, balance in PC account: £6076. In Village Hall account: £7906.
8. Policies:
a) The following policies were presented: Staff sickness absence; Grievance Policy; Disciplinary Policy; Equality and Diversity Policy; Expenses for Staff; Health and Safety policy; Appraisal policy
All have been reviewed and were adopted by the Parish Council with the proviso that the appendices to the Health and Safety Policy are added once the risk assessment and accident report forms are produced. Appendix 1 is a generic Risk Assessment form (HSE) and Appendix 2 is an Accident/Incident reporting form (Government website). The 2 forms to be placed on the Parish Council website for Councillors to access if required.
b) Policies for future consideration:
It was agreed that these would be taken forward by certain groups as follows:
David L, Jenny, Julia, Judith – Safeguarding, Complaints, Financial Risk Management
Paul, Colin, Judith: Communications, Publications, Social Media, Councillors’ Expenses, Website Accessibility.
Paul, Judith and Colin: Dignity at Work, Grants Policy
The chairman made reference to the Code of Conduct, that should be adhered to by all Councillors, and reminded Councillors that there is a mechanism in place to support adherence to the code should it be required.
9. Planning applications: 147042 from Wold View Fisheries for 10 static caravans to replace 10 touring pitches. No objections were made.
10. Correspondence
- NALC survey re election process
- Email from Highways re feedback on the state of the roads – Councillor’s comments are welcome and clerk will collate. Council to respond by October 15th 2023. Action: include item in newsletter.
- Email from Highways volunteer scheme – have applied for George’s bench clearing, weeding road edges, and painting of swings. (Cllr Pilbrow asked that the painting of swings be removed from the list)
- WhatsApp message from Pat Spolton re the need to replace plants in the Jubilee Garden that have died. (It was suggested that a request was placed in the newsletter for hardy plants to be planted in the Spring. If none was forthcoming, Council to discuss the possibility of further funding)
- Emails from 2 Claxby residents regarding low flying helicopter(s).
The Parish Council agreed to meet informally on 26th September to discuss the issues under item 10, after more information had been collected.
11. Emergency Plan: Amendments were issued to Councillors, and the plan was now considered to be complete. A redacted version will be published on the website, placed in public places and summary versions circulated to households over the next few weeks.
12. Village Hall: Committee updated council. See the attached report. Council agreed with the suggestion that the hall should be free to residents of Claxby and Normanby until March 2025.
13. Communication: Village newsletter. Items to include: Emergency Plan, Defibrillator, Village Hall and Playing Field Updates, Village Events, Village Hall events. To be printed and delivered to all households in Claxby and Normanby.
14. Village Field: Cllr Pilbrow updated the Council. See the attached report.
It was resolved to send the Grant Application to WLDC before the 14th September.
It was resolved that other Grant Applications can also be made when appropriate.
15. Agenda items for next full meeting. TBD.
Date of next meeting: Thursday 23rd November at 7.30 p.m.