May 2024 Minutes Annual Parish Council Meeting
ANNUAL PARISH COUNCIL MAY 2024 MINUTES
The Parish Council meeting was held on Thursday, 9TH May 2024 at 7.00p.m. in Hough on the Hill Church community area.
Present: Councillors S Sharman (Chair), R Harris, J Pope, L Rann, V McLean and S Allen, District Councillor P Milnes, County Councillor A Maughan and 4 members of the public.
Clerk/RFO - Donna Lang
Cllr Sharman opened the meeting with a welcome to those present.
1/24 Election of Chairperson and signing of Declaration of Acceptance of Office
Cllr Sharman was proposed by Cllr Rann, seconded by Cllr Harris and this was unanimously agreed, there being no other nominations. The Declaration of Acceptance of Office was duly signed.
2/24 Election of Vice Chairperson and signing of Declaration of Acceptance of Office
Cllr Harris was proposed by Cllr Allen, seconded by Cllr Rann and this was unanimously agreed, there being no other nominations. The Declaration of Acceptance of Office was duly signed.
Cllr Sharman closed the meeting to enable public participation.
A member of the public read a report to the PC. They did not believe the APM Minutes had been reported accurately and wished to highlight anomalies in the APM draft Minutes and would like them addressed before the signing off at the APM 2025. Cllr Sharman agreed to look into this and would duly amend. They would also like the grassed triangle to be reinstated at the bottom of New Hill, Hough on the Hill. Clerk advised that this had been reported to Cllr Maughan and Fix My Street. They would also like correspondence to be noted in the Minutes.
3/24 To receive apologies and valid reasons for absence, these having been submitted to the Clerk prior to the meeting
Apologies for absence had been received from Cllr Seage.
4/24 To receive Declarations of Interest in accordance with the requirements of the Localism Act 2011 and receive Requests for Dispensations
There were none.
5/24 To approve the draft notes as the Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held on Thursday 7th March 2024 and for the Chairman to sign them as the agreed Minutes
It was unanimously resolved to approve the Minutes. The Minutes were duly signed.
6/24 To receive reports from County and District Councillors (for information only).
District Councillor Penny Milnes read her report which is attached to these Minutes.
County Councillor A Maughan provided the following update:
Hough on the Hill - LCC have a drainage scheme in place, a letter to the parishioners is attached to these Minutes together with a drainage plan. There is a scheme of works in place and there will be road closures. The roads will be closed in the week during the works but opened at weekends. There are three phases which will include ditch clearance at Lower Road, a new gully connection at High Road and further works to be investigated at Water Lane. Cllrs Pope and Mclean will publicise on Next Door and Village News and Views.
Brandon – There has been a detailed survey, jetting is planned and this will establish the extent of works required.
Cllr Sharman asked Cty Cllr Maughan about the mayoral elections. Cty Cllr Maughan responded that they were going ahead next year. They are going through parliament at the moment. Cty Cllr Maughan is supportive of Greater Lincolnshire.
Planning and Tree Matters:
7/24 To note tree works applications received from SKDC:
S24/0597 – Section 211 notice to remove 5 conifer trees and replace with native mixed hedging. Council had no comments. This was noted.
8/24 To note planning application received from SKDC:
S24/0434 – Proposed two storey side extension to Gelston Grange Farm, Gelston. Council had no comments. This was noted.
9/24 Play Area. To discuss and resolve the purchase of play bark to cover existing areas. To discuss the Wicksteed Annual Inspection and resolve the repair and maintenance of equipment to adhere to the safety of the equipment and area. To note play inspection reports received for March and April 2024. To consider the possibility of orchard on play area funded by Coronation Living Heritage Fund
Cllr Sharman will measure the play area requiring replacement bark to get the exact measurements before placing an order. Wicksteed have recommended that we replace all the signs in the play area. Clerk would take photographs and source quotations for replacement. It was unanimously resolved to purchase the signs for replacement. After publicity requesting ideas for the play area no members of the public have come forward. Cllr Sharman proposed to invite the children of the Parish to draw up a design plan with a prize on offer. This was seconded by Cllr McLean and unanimously agreed. Cllr Sharman would engage with Cllr Seage to design a poster.
Coronation Living Heritage Fund – Only one member of the public had offered their support in respect of this. Cllr McLean proposed that we circulate a flyer and deliver to every household in the Parish. Cllr McLean offered to print and deliver the flyers. Cllrs Sharman and Seage would consult together and design the flyer.
10/24 Emergency Group/Drainage issues: Cllr Sharman and Cllr Allen update.
Cllr Allen attended an Emergency Group Course which she found very helpful. They have provided their template populated with information. The Emergency Group will give us kits to go alongside the Plan but you call them first in an emergency which starts the Indemnity Insurance. This sets out the levels of plan. The key is the ability to respond but they need people to step into the roles. Cllr Sharman would like to achieve this in the next twelve months.
11/24 Neighbourhood Plan and Design Code: Cllr Sharman update
Cllr Sharman confirmed that all councillors had received the final draft back from Steve Kemp of Openplan. Cllr Sharman was happy with the overall plan however Cllr Allen had made a few comments. Cllr Sharman asked District Cllr Milnes how many parish councils had made Neighbourhood Plans. District Cllr Milnes advised that there were 56 wards, over 200 parish councils, 3 town councils. Cllr Sharman said the point was no other NP had been submitted yet, there are only 16 made NP’s and we were ahead of the game. District Cllr Milnes advised that plans need to be reviewed regularly as policies change and NP’s are taken seriously in planning and they do hold more weight in the planning world. Cllr Sharman is looking at consultation process of 6 weeks beginning 17th June 2024. Advertisement will take place on noticeboards, website, Next Door and Village News and Views with two filed copies of the NP update held in the church for parishioners to read, subject to final amendments and receipt by Open Plan. Parishioners will be invited to pass any comments to the Clerk. Cllr Sharman will present a notice for advertisement.
Financial matters:
12/24 Resolution to approve the payment of Local Councils Insurance renewal invoice £561.39.
The Clerk/RFO had reviewed the policy details and is happy that the cover is correct and adequate for the council’s needs. It was unanimously resolved to approve this.
13/24 Resolution to approve the payment of GDPR for 2024 invoice £40.00.
It was unanimously resolved to approve this.
14/24 Resolution to approve the payment of Community Heartbeat Trust invoice £468.00.
It was unanimously resolved to approve this.
15/24 To approve bank reconciliations for 31.03.24 and 30.04.24. The bank reconciliations had been checked by Cllr Sharman prior to the meeting.
It was unanimously resolved to approve the monthly accounts. They were duly signed.
16/24 Resolution to approve the payment of Clerks expenses and overtime March and April 2024 £112.08.
It was unanimously resolved to approve this.
17/24 Resolution to approve LALC training invoice for Councillor Allen’s Emergency Planning £15.00.
It was unanimously resolved to approve this.
18/24 Resolution to sign AGAR certificate of exemption.
It was unanimously resolved to approve this. The certificate was duly signed.
19/24 Resolution to sign AGAR Annual Governance Statement.
It was unanimously resolved to approve this. The statement was duly signed.
20/24 Resolution to sign AGAR Accounting Statements.
It was unanimously resolved to approve this. The statement was duly signed.
21/24 To reconfirm the Standing Orders, Financial Regulations and the Code of Conduct for this Council.
It was unanimously proposed to confirm those policies and procedures.
22/24 Local Plan Review – The council have revisited the Village Service and Facilities Survey which was previously undertaken with Parish Councils in 2021. Surveys have been completed for each village by the PC and submitted to SKDC in April 2024. Copies of the surveys will be attached to the Minutes of this meeting and posted on the website and Next Door.
Cllr Sharman reported that the surveys had been reviewed at length and completed by Council.
23/24 Correspondence – none received.
A member of the public had advised that her correspondence was not included in correspondence. After discussion with Council all correspondence circulated to councillors will be added to a correspondence list which will be circulated and read out at the next meeting.
24/24 CLOSED SESSION. To resolve to move into closed session in accordance with the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 for the following item on the grounds that publicity would be prejudicial to the public interest by reason of the confidential nature of the business to be transacted.
It was proposed by Cllr Rann, seconded by Cllr McLean and resolved to move into closed session.
25/24 To consider quotes for grass cutting at the three village sites Hough on the Hill, Gelston and Brandon.
Cllr Rann proposed, Cllr McLean seconded and it was resolved to go with the quote from Hough Gardening and Handyman Services subject to receipt of acceptance of contract terms.
The date of the next meeting is 5th September 2024.
The meeting closed at 8.34p.m.
Attachments:
District Councillor Penny Milnes’ report
Village Service and Facilities Survey – Gelston, Brandon and Hough on the Hill
Hough on the Hill Parish Council 8 May 2024
Report District Councillor Penny Milnes
Bins
To date, the paper and card collections from the purple lidded bins has been incredibly successful with a 99% collection rate which yields high quality, clean and dry material.
However, there was a 30% contamination within the silver bin which needed addressing. After two days in February there were numerous issues, and it was agreed that the rejections would be halted temporarily.
It was clear that the contamination campaign had been successful in reducing the contamination rate which fell from 30% to 17%.
It was therefore agreed to restart the campaign with a different approach using data collected by crews allowing more targeted actions.
Starting 13 May brightly coloured ‘yellow’ ‘Ooops’ advisory tags will identify contamination by paper, card and plastics.
10 June rejections will re-start with a more relaxed approach of up to 10 wrong items being accepted. This will continue through the summer with the more targeted, data driven approach. Additional support will be provided to Parish Councils and community groups to help cascade the message.
SKDC Local Plan Review
The Local Plan consultation is closed, with over 1,000 representations collected. These will now be collated and reviewed by the Planning team ready for the next stage of the process. There are also some further recent amendments to the NPPF and various Ministerial Statements to consider…. For example renewable energy …..
SKDC Economic Development Strategy
On Tuesday, a consultation will be launched on the Council’s draft Economic Development Strategy. This will be available via the website.
South Kesteven Prosperity Fund
This fund is still open for applications albeit many applications have already been submitted. If you have a project in mind don’t waste time!
Code of Conduct Complaints
These have escalated mainly due to disrespectful social media posts.
The Shoot Appeal
A 4-day (maybe longer) Inquiry by a Planning Inspector is scheduled to start on 18 June. There are people in the parish who are affected.
