October 2022 Minutes
Aslackby Parish Council Meetings
Minutes from meeting held on 31st October 2022
Present:
Parish Councillors
Cllr Brian Wilkinson (BW)
Cllr Rachel Stevenson (RS)
Cllr Malcolm Dodds (MD)
Cllr Sue Roberts (SR)
Cllr R Miller (RM)
James Leach – Clerk (JL)
District Councillors
County Councillors
County Cllr Martin Hill (MH)
1 Apologies – Cllr John Pickard (JP), Cllr Richard Dixon-Warren (RDW)
Absent – None
2 The Chairman welcomed all present.
3 Two members of the public were present – Alison Ray (AR) and Alison Carrbilas (AC)
The Chairman asked if they would like to speak.
AR asked JL if there was an update on the parking issues. JL said he had heard nothing back since his initial meeting with RDW, but his understanding was that it was currently being investigated.
AR then asked the PC if they would be interested in 2 sets of original historical documents that had come up for sale on eBay? The documents gave information on land taxes between 1760 and 1830. The buy mow price was £195 each. AR said that they could be put into electronic format and then put on line for people to view. The intention then was to donate them to Lincolnshire Archives. MD said he thought that these documents would have originally belonged to the Ancaster Estate. RM asked if the documents were genuine and AR said she had seen nothing to indicate that they were not, she also stated that she had also checked other resources and could find no evidence that the documents were available anywhere else.
BW asked AR to see what she could get the documents for and let him know and he would then make a decision. It was generally agreed that £400 was too much.
Action: AR, BW
AC said that there would definitely be a Georgian Festival in Folkingham on 20th and 21st May next year come what may. This is to replace the one that was cancelled this year.
4 Declarations of Interest
There were no declarations of interest.
5 Minutes of the Last Meeting – Proposed by RM and seconded by RS.
6 Matters Arising
All matters from the last meeting, except those listed below, had been dealt with and would be noted under the relevant headings below.
• JL and JP had still not yet reviewed the list of Policies sent by LALC and were required for the website. They will do this as soon as they can.
Action: JL, JP
• JL still needed to contact Highways re putting double yellow lines in the access bay opposite nos 5&6 Council Houses.
Action: JL
• JL had still not had a response re the “Children Playing” Signs so he will chaise this.
Action: JL
• JL was awaiting a quote for combination locks for the grates on the head walls. He will chaise this and feed back to the next meeting.
Action: JL
• BW said the cleaning out of the silt traps on the head walls will be done asap as BW had missed the opportunity to borrow a mini digger.
Action: BW, JL
7 Planning
JL had received no notifications since the last meeting.
AR had responded via email re RM’s asked a question re what was happening about the dropped curb on the new home being built by AR. RM was happy with the response.
8 Cemetery
There was nothing to report since the last meeting. JL did say that he was still awaiting an invoice from Lionel for work carried out this year on the maintenance.
9 Neighbourhood Watch
No update was available re the parking issues in the close and on Aveland Way which were now under investigation. As RDW had sent his apologies JL will add this to the next meeting agenda for an update
Action: JL
JL said he had received an email from Claire Wilson (Neighbourhood Policing) that all issues raised at the Policing Priorities Meeting were under investigation.
BW said that there had been one arrest.
All other issues had been dealt with.
10 Highways
JL was happy to report all the outstanding pot holes had now been fixed and a lot of work had been carried out on Laughton Road.
He was also happy to report that the 30mph speed limit outside the factory and Cemetery, and the 50mph on the A15 were now in place. He said he had sent an email of thanks to MH regarding the speed limits and the potholes. He also, thanked MH in person when he arrived at the meeting.
The following issues are still O/S:-
• JL had had reported the overgrown hedges, raised at the last meeting to LCC Highways via Fix my Street, but no update was available.
MH gave an update re the overgrown hedge on Mareham Lane however after a discussion with MD it was apparent that MH needed to have another chat with Highways. He will do this and feedback when he could.
Action: MH
MH said that the Burial Site sign at the junction with the village and the A15 was in fact illegal and as such would be removed by Highways. The owners of the Burial site could however apply for an official “Brown” sign if they wished.
JL said he had received a notification from LCC Highways asking if the PC would like to continue with the amenity grass cutting scheme for 2023. All were in agreement that we would. JL will get the relevant forms signed and sent off. JL also stated that from next year the contract would be renewed on a rolling basis and only cancelled if either party gave notice. JL did not have a figure for how much would be paid next year as these figures had not been released yet.
Action: JL
RM asked if our contractor would charge the same next year. BW & JL said it may go up slightly due to the increase in fuel prices etc.
BW informed MH that the Laughton Road junction was breaking up again so MH said he would monitor it and go from there. Depending on what happened with the solar farm may impact on any work to be carried out anyway.
RM stated that the road from the Billingborough junction to the Ford on Mareham Lane was getting quite bad in places, although some good work had been done recently. This will be monitored.
11 Finance
The current balance on the cheque account was £3656.56 and in the Deposit Account was £8490.65
JL said he had received the following invoices that had now been paid:
BDG Mowing Contractors - £210.00, which had been paid
A receipt for £542.40 had been received from LCC re the amenity grass cutting.
JL said he had made a payment to HMRC as if it hadn’t been done by the end of the month the PC would have received a fine for late payment. He did stress however that his wage increase had still not been sorted and as such a further payment may have to be made to HMRC once this had been sorted and his wages paid.
BW assured JL that this would be dealt with over the next couple of weeks.
Action: JP, BW
JL said the issue of the Bank Account at Lloyds still remained unresolved. He had received another apology from Lloyds and further compensation and as such had been told by Customer Services that despite me not being a signatory on the account, he would make a special dispensation so that I could close the current accounts and transfer the money into a new on-line account.
BW said to hold fire as he would speak to JP about opening an account with a different bank first.
Action: BW
12 Correspondence
All correspondence had been dealt with via email since the last meeting in September, and anything of relevance had already been emailed to all Councillors. The following items were raised;
• JL had received notification from Democratic Services and the current Councillor vacancy following the resignation of Katie Long. A notice had been placed in the notice board for applicants but he had not yet heard back to see if anyone had come forward.
• A further email had been received from Ridgeway Energy re possible help they may be able to provide to local amenities to help them stay open during the winter months. He had passed this on to the village Hall and Church. The Church had been in discussion, but the village hall has been told that, under the terms of their insurance they would not be covered if they cooked any food.
• JL had received a poster re the proposed reservoir which he will place in the Notice Board. MH said that a meeting had been arranged at Billingborough for 11th December for those who were interested in the proposals.
13 SKDC Update
No one from SKDC was available to give an update. However, RDW had sent an email out last week which had been forwarded to councillors. The main items were:
• SKDC have set up a task force to look into what help is available for those in need and this was moving on apace. Details can be found at www.southkesteven.gov.uk/costofliving
• RDW encouraged all PC’s to engage with the Policing Priority Setting Feedback to help raise awareness of issues within each Parish.
• Information was given on the Local Plan that was signed off in 2020 and the SKDC Local Development Scheme. The next stage of consultation will be in Feb/March 2023 however this was ongoing and all information could be found on the SKDC website.
14 Lincolnshire County Council Update
MH had given updates, see above headings.
The solver farm was still in its early stages and the Government had recently changed their definition as to what type of land could be used. The airfield fell into the category of land that could be used however because of its location it would need a huge battery storage facility to store all the electricity generated.
15 A.O.B
Skip – BW said the skip was not quite as full as normal but may have something to do with the fact that the it had been closer to the last skip date than normal.
JL said he had weighed the scrap in and received £142 which he will pay into the account later this week. BW said he had been quoted £282 for the cost of the skip which JL will pay once he has received the invoice.
Action: JL
The legacy funding was raised again and SR suggested maybe the PC could buy the historical documents that AR had raised earlier.
BW said that the Precept forms should be out before the next meeting so asked Councillors to think about whether we should raise it again this year or leave as it is.
As there was a Councillor vacancy following Katie Longs resignation MD said that the PC may be required to have an election for new Councillors next May. Depending on whether this coincided with Local Government Elections would then determine if there would be a cost to the PC. It would therefore be prudent to ensure there was sufficient funds in the account just in case.
JL said he would do a letter for Katie to thank her for her time spent on the PC.
Action: JL
16 Date of next meeting Monday 05th December 2022 – 7.00 pm at the Village Hall. Meeting closed at 20.00pm