Minutes 2023

WADDINGTON PARISH COUNCIL

MINUTES OF THE PARISH COUNCIL MEETING

HELD ON 10th JULY 2023

IN THE COMMUNITY HUB

Present:        Councillors:          Barling, Barnshaw, Bayston, Gallagher, Hadfield,

    Mrs Hopkins, Hurst, Sanders (Chair), Spence,

    Richardson, 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)

None

2.   Declarations of interest for any agenda item.

Cllr Bayston declared a personnel interest in agenda item 10.

3.  Signing of the minutes.  To accept the Clerk’s notes from the meeting held on 12th June 2023.

It was proposed by Cllr Mrs Hopkins and seconded by Cllr Barling that the minutes of 12th June were a true record of the meeting, and they were agreed to be signed.

12 Agreed, Carried.

4.   Finance

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

It was proposed by Cllr Barnshaw and seconded by Cllr Bayston that the finance report 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 the Summer Fair had went well, and that she had received some lovely feedback.  There are some areas that can be improved, and she would appreciate any suggestions.  The Council were given a breakdown of the costs for the summer fair, which showed an overall expense of £5,165.25.

A few years ago it had been agreed to purchase a defibrillator for the Redwood Drive area, but there had been difficulty in finding a suitable location to have it.  With the help of Cllr Hurst, a location has been found and the defibrillator will be purchased.

There had previously been a discussion about a notice board down at Redwood Drive, but there was no obvious location for it.  Again, with the help of Cllr Hurst a location has been found.  So, a noticeboard will be purchased and installed.

Last week a group of people from the LCC Volunteer Scheme had painted the High Street playground.  They had painted the fencing, benches and play equipment, it now looks really good.  The Clerk had purchased the equipment and some of the paint and the contractors had supplied the black paint and given up their time.  In all it had cost the Parish Council £280.

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

Cllr Gallagher asked if the overhanging tree branches from the Village Hall onto property on the Jelson site had been dealt with.

Cllr Sanders explained that he had been unable to use the cherry picker on the Jelson site and so one would need to hired or a contractor used.

It was agreed that has the item had already been discussed and agreed, that Cllr Sanders should proceed and hire a Cherry Picker.

All the other trees along the line of the Village Hall and the estate were discussed and it was agreed that this should be placed on the next agenda for a decision to be made.

7.   Re-adopt the orders / regulations / terms of Reference. 

i.          Code of conduct

ii.         Social Media Policy

iii.        HR Committee

iv.        Freedom of Information

It was proposed by Cllr Bayston and seconded by Cllr Barling that they re-adopt all 4 orders.

12 Agreed, Carried.

8.   Location of Parish Council Meetings.  Cllr Mrs Hopkins

Cllr Mrs Hopkins informed that before covid, they used to rotate the meetings between the Hub and Redwood Drive Community Centre, and would it be an idea to start doing it again.

It was discussed how; the Hub is where the Parish Council Office is and if anything is required during the meeting the Clerk can just go into her office to get it.

It was proposed by Cllr Bayston and seconded by Cllr Barling that they continue holding the Parish Council meeting in the Community Hub and they hold the community meetings, like the Annual Parish meeting in Redwood Drive Community Centre.

9 Agreed, 2 against, 1 Abstention.  Carried.

9.   Redwood Drive Community Centre.    Discuss the repairs to the building, including possible grants available.  Cllr Hurst.

Cllr Hurst that he had been in contact with a building about getting a quote for the cladding and the other work required inside the Community Centre.  He informed that he had been in touch with Biffa, they award grants up to 90% of the costs for refurbishments and Redwood Drive would be a perfect project.

It was agreed that the Clerk would look into the grants and with Cllr Hurst they would work on it together.

10.   Redwood Academy School.   To discuss parking at the school and the changes to the school finishing times, how this will impact the areas.  Cllr Hurst. 

Cllr Hurst informed that from Sep, the whole school will be finishing at the same time, so there will be more problems with vehicles parking, causing congestion and problems for local homeowners and businesses.   It was discussed that they should contact the school and offer the Redwood Drive Car park as a solution with a gate through between the two premises.

It was proposed by Cllr Mrs Hopkins and seconded by Cllr Gallagher that they go out of session and allow Cllr Pennell to speak as he is a governor of the school.

All agreed.  Carried.

Cllr Pennell, informed that there is an issue with the width of the entrance to the Community Centre not being wide enough for two way traffic, which would cause an issue.  There is the cost implications for the gate and who monitors it, along with possible safeguarding implications.

It was proposed by Cllr Mrs Hopkins and seconded by Cllr Gallagher that they go back into session.

All agreed.  Carried.

It was suggested that they could add the improvements to the entrance and the gate, to the expenses for the Biffa grant.

It was agreed that the Clerk would contact the school to see if they would be willing to consider the idea.

11.  Councillors email addresses.  To discuss using private email addresses and how this can affect individuals.  Cllr Richardson.

 It was proposed by Cllr Mrs Hopkins and seconded by Cllr Gallagher that they go out of session and allow Cllr Dyer to speak.

All agreed.  Carried.

Cllr Dyer informed that following last months meeting he had spoken to Cllr Davies, who is in charge of IT, and he had informed that the Parish Council could have email address through LCC, via the Parish Council website.

It was proposed by Cllr Mrs Hopkins and seconded by Cllr Gallagher that they go back into session.

All agreed.  Carried.

It was proposed by Cllr Bayston and seconded by Cllr Gallagher that it should be each councillors personnel choice, whether or not to have a separate email address purely for Parish Council business.

11 Agreed, 1 Abstention.  Carried.

12.   No Dogs Allowed in Playgrounds.  To discuss the problems faced and the possibility of having a bye-law.

It was proposed by Cllr Gallagher and seconded by Cllr Williams that they go ahead and look into having bye-laws for the playgrounds that are fenced off, this being the High Street, Village Hall and Pitsford Close playgrounds.

11 Agreed, 1 Abstention.  Carried.

It was agreed that an article should be placed in the Heathcliff about dogs being in the fenced off playgrounds.

13.   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.

14.   ‘In Camera’ item. 

It was proposed by Cllr Gallagher and seconded by Cllr Mrs Hopkins that in view of the special/confidential nature of the business about to be transacted it is advisable in the public interest that the press and public be temporarily excluded and they are instructed to withdraw.

All agreed.  Carried.

1.  Complaint.

The complaint was discussed at length, and it was agreed in line with the complaints procedure the complainant would be invited to attend a meeting with member of the HR Committee and the Clerk, on Friday 21st July at 10am.

The full Council would then meet on Monday 24th July at 6.30pm to discuss it further.

15.   Date of the next meeting.  The next meeting will be held on Monday 11th September 2023 in the Community Hub.

Meeting closed at 10pm.

Open Forum

County Councillor

Cllr Tom Dyer informed that the LCC Volunteer scheme had been in the playpark the week before and had done a good job.  He had thanked the volunteers and thanked the Clerk for making sure all the equipment was purchased.

Bar Lane will be closed between the 1st and 4th August for gas works.

He thanked all those who had attended the North Hykeham relief road consultation events.

District Councillors

Cllr Pennell informed that the Licensing Committee had meet and they are consulting on an amendment to the Hackney Carriage & Private Hire Licensing policy.

Currently this Authority will not continue to licence any Hire Vehicle once it reaches its 10th anniversary (this is taken from the DVLA registration document), unless it meets the exceptional condition criteria detailed within the policy.

It is proposed to remove this upper age limit for the licensing of Private Hire Vehicles and Hackney Carriages licensed by this Authority.

The age policy was previously introduced to offer some flexibility for the trade when licensing cars, balanced against the increased emissions concerns around older diesel vehicles. 

Following the tightening of emissions criteria under the VOSA MOT requirements, along which future proposals to further tighten the national emissions standards, it is felt that the relaxing of the current age policy will offer more flexibility for the trade, whilst ensuring that hire vehicles, (which require testing to MOT standard every 6 months) still meet the strict national emissions criteria.

The consultation runs until 24th July 2023, after which the General Licensing Committee will consider any responses.  More information can be found on the NKDC website.

North Kesteven had been shortlisted for the Local Government Chronicle Awards 2023, in the category for housing.  Cllr Pennell had presented NKDC at the awards, which they won for their Passive Houses in Potterhanworth.

Cllr Cooper sent his apologies.

Cllr Sanders had nothing to report.