Minutes 2024

WADDINGTON PARISH COUNCIL

MINUTES OF THE PARISH COUNCIL MEETING

HELD ON 11th NOVEMBER 2024

IN THE COMMUNITY HUB

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

    Hadfield, Hurst, Sanders (Chair),

    Tennant, Richardson, 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, Cllr Williams due to family commitments, Cllr Collins who had to work and Cllr Mrs Hopkin who was on holiday.

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

All agreed.  Carried.

2.   Declarations of interest for any agenda item.

None.

3.  Signing of the minutes.  To accept the Clerk’s notes from the meeting held on 14th October 2024.

It was proposed by Cllr Gallagher and seconded by Cllr Barling that the minutes of 14th October were a true record of the meeting, and they were agreed to be signed.

All Agreed, Carried.

4.   Finance

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

It was proposed by Cllr Barling and seconded by Cllr Hurst 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 Barling and seconded by Cllr Wilson that the BACS payments and invoices could be signed.

All agreed.  Carried.

5.   Clerks Report and Correspondence.

The Clerk informed that the garage doors had been replaced, the Councillors were shown a photo of the new doors.

After meeting with several people and waiting for quotes, the Clerk had finally managed to get one quote to remove all the foliage in the children’s playground at the Village Hall. 

The quote was to cut right down and remove everything, it was discussed that it would be better if the roots were dug out.  Cllr Hurst, new someone that would possible be able to do that for us.

It was proposed by Cllr Gallagher and seconded by Cllr Bayston, that they give the Clerk authority to deal, Cllr Hurst would get a quote, and she was to go with the best price.

All agreed.  Carried.

The Christmas Fair is this month, the layout has been completed.  The frame and roof of the large marquee are going up this week and the rest of it and the smaller marquee will be going up next week.  We will be setting up from 8am, for those who are able to help.  Any raffle prizes are appreciated, if you can get them to the office as soon as possible. 

Cllr Hadfield had sent the Clerk an email about the changes in the budget to the employers NI contributions and asked how this would affect the Parish Council.  The Clerk had done some calculations and worked out that the Council would be paying around £4,500 more in NI, the Finance Committee will look at this when they set the budget.

The Clerk informed that the Finance Meeting will be held on Monday 2nd December at 6.30pm.

Fosse Green Energy were carrying out statutory consultation, the Council had received some information about the proposal and when the consultation events were taking place.

It was proposed by Cllr Barling and seconded by Cllr Hadfield that they formally object to the proposal, as it will be taking up a lot of prime agricultural land.

9 Agreed, 1 Abstention, 1 Against.  Carried.

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

None.

7.   Community Emergency Planning.  A debrief from those who attended the meeting and discuss further.

Cllr’s Sanders, Hadfield, Gallagher and Wilson attended the meeting and briefed the Council. 

It was agreed that the Clerk would try and get hold of LCC’s plan and Cllr Sanders was attending RAF Waddington, so would get some information from them and it would be revisited at the next meeting.

8. To discuss the Ridges and Furrows Artwork.   An update from Cllr Williams.

Due to Cllr Williams absence, it was agreed to defer the item to next month.

9.  St Michael’s Church heating.  An update on the heating, as agreed last month.

Cllr Barling passed on thanks from the church for the offer of help.  The had managed to raise the money for the heating, from the generous donation from the residents of Waddington and the heating was being replaced this week.

10.  To discuss Redwood Drive Community Centre.  An update on the work.

The potholes in the car park have been filled in.

The replacing of the cladding will be done before Christmas, they are hoping to start either next week or the week after, they are just waiting for the new boards to arrive.

Cllr Hurst had obtained a quote for the entrance gate to replaced with fencing either side and a pedestrian gate.

It was proposed by Cllr Gallagher and seconded by Cllr Barling that the vehicle gate is locked at night but at present the pedestrian gate is left open.

All agreed.  Carried.

It was proposed by Cllr Hurst and seconded by Cllr Gallagher that they go ahead with the quote of £2,575 + VAT.

All agreed.  Carried.

11.   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.

13.   Date of the next meeting.  Monday 9th December 2024 in the Community Hub.

Meeting closed at 8.45pm.

Open Forum

County Councillor

Cllr Dyer informed that they had been hoping to hear about the funding for the North Hykeham relief road at the budget, but there had been no announcement.  The department of transport have been set a budget and they now have to work out where to spend it.  Meanwhile LCC are continuing, working to their timescale to start the end of next year.  They expect to hear sometime between February and April.

The Valley Road footpath work is complete, and the road is now open.  More funding has been secured for footpaths in the West Ward, in next Financial Year.

The bus shelter on Station Road, is ready to go, they are just waiting for Lindum to complete the roads.  They have booked in to install it the week of the 25 November.

They are looking at improving the bus services across Lincolnshire, by installing electronic bus timetables, they will be trialling one at a bus stop in Waddington, in the Bar Lane, Grantham Road area.  LCC are going to be taking over the bus shelters in Lincoln City, and they aim to improve them.

It is now a 30mph speed limit all along Grantham Road.  Thank you to the Parish Council for installing the passive speed signs.

The properties that flooded in Waddington last year, the section 19 reports are now finished.

Cllr Dyer is passionate about the footpath between Waddington and North Hykeham.  They have walked the path and looked at what improvements need doing.  There is one snag in that the owner of the final field at North Hykeham doesn’t want any improvements on his field.  They will continue to work on it, but it will not be a quick fix.

District Councillors

Cllr Sanders informed that there were a lot of scams about, one for the winter subsidy and one for universal credit. 

The monument garden and Sleaford Museum are now open to the public.

Cllr Pennell sent his apologies.

Cllr Cooper sent his apologies.