Minutes 2023

WADDINGTON PARISH COUNCIL

MINUTES OF THE PARISH COUNCIL MEETING

HELD ON 11th DECEMBER 2023

IN THE COMMUNITY HUB

Present:        Councillors:          Barling, Bayston, Carcass, Clarke, Forrester, Gallagher,  

Hadfield, Hopkins, Hurst, Sanders (Chairman), Richardson, Spence, Williams, Wilson

Clerk:                   Mrs Smith, Mrs Mumby

OFFICIAL BUSINESS OF THE COUNCIL

1.   Apologies for absence. (Reasons to be given to the Clerk in advance of the meeting)

Apologies were received from Cllr Barnshaw due to health reasons.

It was proposed by Cllr Bayston and seconded by Cllr Mrs Hopkins that they accept the apologies and reasons for absence.

All agreed.  Carried.

2.   Declarations of interest for any agenda item.

Cllr Sanders declared a prejudicial interest in agenda item 9.

3.  Signing of the minutes.  To accept the Clerk’s notes from the meeting held on 13th November 2023.

It was proposed by Cllr Mrs Hopkins and seconded by Cllr Barling that the minutes of 13th November were a true record of the meeting, and they were agreed to be signed.

13 Agreed, 1 Abstention, Carried.

4.   Finance

a)   Monthly finance report – to receive and accept the monthly finance report.

It was proposed by Cllr Mrs Hopkins and seconded by Cllr Gallagher that the finance reports be accepted.

All agreed.  Carried.

b)   Authorising of the payments. To resolve to authorise the BACS payments listed by the RFO and certify invoices.

It was proposed by Cllr Mrs Hopkins and seconded by Cllr Gallagher that the BACS payments and invoices could be signed.

All agreed.  Carried.

5.   Clerks Report and Correspondence.

The Clerk informed that she had received an email from RAF Waddington, regarding Ex Cobra Warrior 24-1, which will be on between 23rd February and 15th March 2024.

The grant application has been submitted, we now have to wait to March to hear if we have been successful.

Today the Clerk received a letter from Rev Simon Dean from St Michaels’s Church, regarding lighting in the church yard, she will put this on the agenda for the next meeting.

The Christmas Fair went well, we have received lots of nice feedback.  The set up and clear away ran extremely well, thank you to all those who came along and helped.

6.   Matters arising from the last meeting.  Only for discussion.

None.

7. Precept.

a)   Signing of the minutes.  To accept the Clerk’s notes from the Finance Meeting held on the 4th December 2023.

It was proposed by Cllr Mrs Hopkins and seconded by Cllr Barling that the minutes of the Finance Meeting held on 4th December were a true record of the meeting and they were agreed to be signed.

5 Agreed, 9 Abstention, Carried.

b)   To accept the budget and precept agreed by the Finance Committee. 

The Clerk informed that she had received the information from NKDC and the actual percentage increase will be 4.73%.

It was proposed by Cllr Bayston and seconded by Cllr Hurst that they accept the budget and precept agreed by the Finance Committee.

All agreed, Carried.

8.  Street Lights.  To further discuss the email from EON regarding the 36w and 42w PL lamps.

The cost to replace all the lamps in one go will be £8750 + VAT.

It was proposed by Cllr Barling and seconded by Cllr Mrs Hopkins that they go ahead and have all the lamps replaced, using the reserves.

All agreed, Carried.

9.  Grass Cutting.  To discuss the grass cutting contracts for 2024.

Cllr Sanders left the meeting.

The grass verges will continue to be cut by Lincoln Signs & Services.

Hills Garden maintenance will no longer be cutting the fields, Redwood Drive, Sidney Hall and Grantham Road, along with the burial ground. Two quotes had been received and were discussed.

It was proposed by Cllr Bayston and seconded by Cllr Hadfield that they go with the quote from Tivoli, to cut the fields and the large area of the burial ground, along with doing the white line marking of the pitches.

12 agreed.  1 Abstention.  Carried.

Cllr Sanders returned to the meeting.

10.   Urgent matters for attention – Items which the Chairman is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency due to special circumstances.

None.

11.   Date of the next meeting.  Monday 8th January 2024 in the Community Hub.

Meeting closed at 8.30pm.

Open Forum

County Councillor

Cllr Tom Dyer informed that the County Council own and operate Lincoln Castle, the Christmas illuminations are now on, and you can go in for just £3, it is a bit more if you want to walk around the wall.

The North Hykeham relief road planning application is being processed by the County Council, it is currently out for consultation by various bodies and will be out for public consultation in January.

The proposed Meadow Lane speed limit reduction is currently out for public consultation.

There is a problem on Station Road with water, water is flowing from the natural spring over the footpath and there is some standing water at the bottom, this has been reported and will be looked at.

The devolution deal has gone out for public consultation, you can do the survey by either, scanning the QR Code, visiting the website or you can complete a paper survey if you so like, the Parish Clerk has some copies.  All the information is on the County Council Website.

Cllr Bayston asked if anything could be done about the parking on Redwood Drive, by the parents on school drop off and pick up.  He also asked if there was any update on the bus stop on Station Road.

Cllr Dyer informed that the bus shelter had been ordered and that he had raised the parking problems with the Councils TRO team to investigate.  He will also ask for the parking wardens to visit, but as you can imagine, there are a lot of schools in Lincolnshire that have similar problems and so they can’t be everywhere.

District Councillors

Cllr Pennell sent his apologies.

Cllr Cooper informed that three-hundred small businesses in North Kesteven will be supported to discover why going green is so important to their business, while also saving them money.  North Kesteven District Council have joined the Get Zero Get Zellar project to boost local net zero progress, the District Council is calling for local businesses to come forward and claim their free access to an online sustainability tool that helps them cut their carbon footprint and energy bills. Businesses using the Zellar platform can reduce emissions and save up to £4,100 in energy bills. 

The bin collections have changed over Christmas, more information can be found on the NK website and leaflets are being sent out.

Question Time NK.  For the first time in 5 years, NK had a question time for 120 students from secondary schools around the district. 

Every Saturday in December it is free parking in any NK owned car park.

St Barnabas are doing their free Christmas tree recycling again this year.  You can register online to have yours collected.

Cllr Sanders had nothing further to report.