May 2023 Minutes Annual Parish Council Meeting
Minutes of the Annual Keelby Parish Council Meeting
Held in the Village Hall on Tuesday 16th May 2023
Those Present : Councillors S Knight, T Wright, T Bentham, P Wilks, R Dannatt, M Turner, M Wright, H Davidson, G Lovatt
In Attendance: Cllr O Bierley & 1 member of the public
Cllr S Knight as retiring Chair opened the meeting and thanked everyone for their hard work over the previous year and then stood down. The Clerk proceeded to ask for nominations for the position of Chair for the coming year. Cllr M Turner proposed Cllr T Wright which was seconded by Cllr H Davidson. Cllr R Dannatt proposed Cllr S Knight which was seconded by Cllr T Bentham. Cllr T Wright stated that he was not prepared to stand for election of chair against Cllr S Knight. There were no further proposals.
Cllr S Knight proposed Cllr R Dannatt as Vice Chair. This was seconded by Cllr T Bentham. There were no further proposals. The acceptance forms were signed by all Councillors and passed to the Clerk for her signature.
1. Apologies
Cllr A Lawrence
2. Public Question Time Ref 23/61
A resident asked if the Parish Council had any further information regarding the Quickline broadband installation in the village. Cllr T Wright said that he understood that they were in the process of putting the infrastructure in and then they would consult with the village to gauge interest. The Council asked the clerk to contact them to ask if they had any further information on this and if there were plans for a public consultation. The resident then brought up the issue of cars parking on verges and causing damage to the grass and also parking in the village in general that obstructs the roads. Cllr S Knight confirmed that they had parking in the village on the agenda for later in the meeting.
3. To receive declarations of interest under the Localism Act 2011 – being any pecuniary or on-pecuniary interest in agenda items not previously recorded on Members’ Register of interest Ref 23/62 - none
4. District Councillors Report Ref 23/63
This was circulated beforehand. Cllr T Wright offered congratulations on behalf of Keelby Parish Council to both Cllr O Bierley and Cllr A Lawrence on their elections and on their nomination for Council of the Year award. Cllr O Bierley then congratulated the Chair and Vice Chair and all Councillors on their election. He thanked all Councillors for their hard work last year. Cllr O Bierley said that the community access point is due for replacement. The timetable for this has not yet been released. WLDC are doing some promotional videos of village halls and that he had put forward Keelby for this. Cllr O Bierley had distributed a leaflet on the WLDC Defibrillator Maintenance scheme which costs £100 a year for each machine. Cllr T Wright proposed that we take up the scheme for the 2 defibrillators in Keelby. This was seconded by Cllr T Bentham. All in favour.
5. County Councillors Report Ref 23/64
Cllr T Smith joined the meeting at 7.14pm Cllr T Smith advised that he had received the updated jobs list from Lincolnshire County Council. Some of the work in Keelby had not scored high enough so would not be done at this time. He said that he would continue to push for jobs to be done. Cllr T Smith asked if there had been any areas of flooding following the high volume of rain fall in recent weeks. The Council advised that there had been some flooding on St Annes Road which had been reported on Fix My Street and the area on Yarborough Road between the Barton Street and Broadway had been slow draining. Cllr R Dannatt asked about grass Cutting on the A18 as there had been a complaint on Facebook. Cllr T Smith said Lincolnshire County Council has commenced cutting the grass so he was sure they would get to Keelby fairly quickly. Cllr R Dannatt expressed concerns over the length of the grass at Keelby Surgery. Cllr T Smith advised that the building is rented by the Health Authority so they are responsible for the grass. Cllr S Knight raised the issue of parking on Yarborough Road near the play area. Visitors coming into the village for their children to use the play park regularly park on the road which makes crossing the road dangerous between the parked cars. Cllr T Wright said that the counter argument is that it also served as a traffic control system as it slowed vehicles. In general it was felt that there should be more off road parking in this area. Cllr T Smith said he would raise this but it would unlikely be a quick response. The area on the bend near the Church requires some junction protection. Cllr T Smith said he would raise this as well. Cllr P Wilks raised the issue that the trees still hadn’t been trimmed on Yarborough Road which was causing issues for farmers driving vehicles through the village and there was still the ongoing issue of the trees on Caddle Road requiring attention. Cllr T Smith agreed to follow these up. Cllr H Davidson raised the problems that residents of The Limes were having with pot holes and weeds growing out of them. She advised that she had contacted Highways but nobody had come back to her. Discussions took place on who actually owned the land between the garages and the road. Cllr T Smith agreed to follow up with Highways why nobody had come back to her.
Cllr T Smith left the meeting at 7.28pm
6. Policies – Adoption of the Councillors Code of Conduct. Ref 23/65
This had been circulated beforehand. Cllr T Wright proposed that this Code of Conduct is adopted for the year ahead. This was seconded by Cllr T Bentham. All in favour.
7. To approve the minutes of the Parish Council Meetings held on 4th April 2023. Ref 23/66
The minutes were accepted as a true record. Proposed by Cllr H Davidson , Seconded by Cllr M Wright. All in favour.
8. Clerks Report. Ref 23/67
Cllr S Knight thanked the clerk for all the hard work she had done to get the handyman back working in the village and that she felt she had gone above and beyond to say the least.
The clerk reported that after taking advice we had managed to get the handyman back out working. She thanked Cllr R Dannatt for getting risk assessments and method statements done and following advice from LALC and confirmation from our insurance company he was covered to work before his training on the 23rd May. Cllr P Wilks raised concerns over this and said that if the training had been delivered earlier as he had suggested we wouldn’t be in this situation now. Cllr S Knight said that this Council had inherited this issue and we are doing what we can to correct the situation. Cllr Wilks left the meeting at 7:35pm as he was not happy with the way this issue has been handled, and wanted time to consider his position on the Council. The clerk requested that we should reimburse the volunteers for the petrol they used to cut the grass in the cemetery. She also felt that it would be a nice gesture if Mr Bridges was thanked and given a bottle of wine as a thank you as he had done the work free of charge. These requests were proposed by Cllr M Turner and seconded by Cllr M Wright who also offered to source the bottle of wine. All in favour.
The Clerk confirmed that the mower training was booked for Mr P Ney and Cllr G Lovatt for 23rd May and the strimmer and bush cutter course for them both was booked for 31st May. The mower course is costing in total £712 but this covers training for both people on both the ride on and pedestrian mowers. The additional cost for training Cllr G Lovatt is £110 which is the cost of 2 City & Guilds certificates. The strimmer cost is £175+VAT per person. Cllr T Wright proposed these courses and it was seconded by Cllr T Bentham. All in favour. Cllr T Wright proposed that we should ask Mr Bridges if he would attend these training courses if it could be arranged so that he could cover the work if necessary. This was seconded by Cllr T Bentham. All in favour.
PPE has been purchased for the handyman and Cllr G Lovatt to enable them to attend the courses. This amounts to £121.12. If Mr Bridges attends the courses we will purchase PPE for him as well.
Cllr T Bentham had to leave the meeting at 8pm. Before he left he advised that there was nothing to report on the Youth Club or Library. Cllr T Bentham confirmed that he was happy to remain as the representatives for these organisations when the Councillor duties were discussed later in the meeting.
Clerk reported that she had written to highways asking if it would be possible for a 40mph limit before the 30mph limit coming into the village along Stallingborough Road.
The archive documents recovered from the bank have now been accepted by Lincolnshire Archives the clerk has just got to arrange a date to take them. She has photographs of the documents as was previously requested and she will obtain electronic copies while she is there that we can then get printed for display.
Cllr R Dannatt still to get a price for a power supply to run the Christmas lights. It was thought that if the power supply could be placed across the other side of the road on the playing field it would be useful for village events. It is also possible that a grant could be used to fund this. When the costs are known the clerk will submit an application to the Large Village Retail Area Fund. Cllr T Wright offered his support to the clerk on applying for the grant if she needed it.
The clerk asked Cllr M Wright to give some guidance on the app he used for the gov.uk emails as a few of the Councillors were struggling with them. Cllr M Wright confirmed that it is an app called My Mail which can be downloaded to your phone and gives an easy platform on which to use the gov.uk e-mails on a mobile.
The land on South Street – Cllr S Knight has made three attempts to arrange a meeting with the owners of the paddock to discuss the soil being dumped near the boundary and the poor state of repair of the fence. Since the last meeting we have received an email from the owners of the land requesting support from the Keelby Parish Council in connection with obtaining planning permission in exchange for some land to extend the cemetery. Cllr T Wright has forwarded 2 emails with reference to green spaces and important open spaces. The meadow is classed as an important open space in the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan. This means that the designation has not been made by Keelby. Cllr O Bierley was asked for his advice on this. Cllr Bierley suggested that there should be a meeting with the local planning authority. It is fine in principle for the Parish Council to support the acceptance of a piece of land for a cemetery extension but not a development. In his view the fact that the land is in the close proximity to listed buildings and the Church it is definitely a conversation with the decision makers. The clerk was asked to search for past planning applications that had been submitted for this land and to reply to land owners and advise them that due to the designation on the land they need to have a meeting with the local planning authority.
Meeting with Roxton Practice – Cllr S Knight advised that the Roxton Practice had contacted her to say they were planning a further review of the new surgery procedures and that we could meet with them after that. Cllr T Wright advised that he had attended the Patient Participation group meeting and had told them that concerns had been raised at the Parish Council meeting. He said that there was very little evidence that showed that the downsize was appropriate. It is coupled with a new national initiative to try and bring down the triage waiting times. In terms of the new surgery they agreed to review the requirements of Keelby and confirmed that they were planning a meeting with Keelby Parish Council after this review.
The painting of the container that was going to be done by Cllr S North. It was agreed that as it had now been de-stickered this was satisfactory for now.
9. Allocation of Councillor duties. Ref 23/68
Representative for Village Hall, Library and Youth Club–Cllr T Bentham, Representative for Keelby Sports Association – Cllrs M Wright and M Turner, Allotment Representative – Cllr S Knight, Neighbourhood Plan – Cllr T Wright, Play Area/Village Green Committee – Lead Cllr T Wright, Cllrs M Wright, R Dannatt, and H Davidson, Handyman – Cllrs R Dannatt and G Lovatt, HR Committee – K Stark, M Turner and T Wright, Community Speed Watch – Cllr G Lovatt.
10. Correspondence Ref 23/69
Archer survey reply – no further action needed on this
11. Reports from external organisations Ref 23/70
• Sports Association – no report
• Community Speed Watch – Mr Lovatt Mr Lovatt advised that there had not been any sessions held this month due to him being away. It is proving difficult to arrange sessions as there needs to be three volunteers and everyone has other commitments.
• Village Hall – Cllr G Lovatt advised that he had attended the Village Hall AGM. He reported that the Village Hall had a lack of volunteers for the roles of the officers so the Village Hall may come back to the Parish Council. They have money in reserves but a lot of this is earmarked to cover repairs.
• Library & Youth Club – no report.
• Allotments – no report
12. Financial Matters Ref 23/71
Multimedia Broadband £46.05
Salaries April £513.52
Groundboss 2 Cuts April £144.00
Nat West Credit Card Oil chemical drip tray £37.50
Keith White Mower repairs £80.00
JD Print Ltd Ringbound booklets £50.00
Cllr P Wilks Jewsons sand, cement £57.55
Lawns and More Treatment of chafer grub £550.00
Lawns and More Grass cutting £175.00
CVL Training Mower training £712.00
ADS Scunthorpe Architectural Services £150.00
Cllr P Wilks Mileage £20.00
Mr S Davis Internal Audit £55.00
Clerk advised that £150 had been spend on drawings for the playing field project. This cost needs to be allocated to the park project. Cllr P Wilks has also claimed travel expenses for collecting materials for the installation of the new bench and clearing rubbish from the library yard. It was agreed to split these costs so £20 would be paid by Keelby Parish Council and £20 from the Youth Club. Cllr T Bentham to sort payment by the Youth Club
The schedule of payments had been previously circulated. These have been checked by Cllr M Turner. The payments were proposed by Cllr R Dannatt and seconded by Cllr T Wright. All in favour.
Cllr R Dannatt asked that it could be agreed that any payments/expenses presented for payment at the meeting could be included on the payment schedule at the meeting. Clerk was happy to add any late invoices onto the schedule to prevent them having to be carried forward to the next meeting.
Cllr S Knight agreed to have annual report for Alice South Charity for the next meeting
Clerk reported that the internal audit had been completed and everything was in order. The report from the Auditor had raised that any councillor with a direct connection to an external organisation to whom a payment is to be made should not approve or second a payment schedule which includes the payment to the organisation concerned. The full report would be circulated to Councillors.
Clerk requested that the 22-23 AGAR form is approved by Council then it could be sent on to the external auditor for continued action. The final year end accounts had been handed out to Councillors at the last meeting. Cllr T Wright proposed that the form be accepted. Cllr R Dannatt seconded this and all Councillors were in favour.
13. Planning applications Ref 23/72
Applications 146350 & 146549 to be returned with no comments
Cllr T Wright confirmed that a letter has been sent by the clerk in support of Calstore’s application as requested at the last meeting.
14. Parish Matters Ref 23/73
• Play area & Old Tennis Courts Renovations
Cllr T Wright advised that he had submitted an application to WLDC for a grant for the remaining £20k. If this grant is approved he will call a meeting of the sub-committee as there will need to be a reconsideration of quotes and tenders to make sure we are still in budget. Hopefully by the next meeting we will have received a reply on the grant application.
Cllr R Dannatt asked if the weeds on the old tennis court could be sprayed off. It was resolved to proceed with this using a contractor as the handyman would require further training to be able to do this. Cllr M Wright advised that he knows a contractor who would be able to do this work.
• Parking outside Church – Cllr T Smith to approach Highways regarding this as per previous minute
• Overgrown Footpaths – Cllr M Turner has been approached about an overgrown hedge on the corner of Riby Road and St Bartholomew’s Close. There are also footpaths that need to be reclaimed. Cllr G Lovatt to take the lead on this with the assistance of Cllr R Dannatt. This is to be carried forward to the next meeting.
• Assets of Community Value – This needs to be renewed every 5 years. It was resolved that this should be done for the allotments site and library building. Cllr Bierley agreed to forward the last application to the clerk to assist in completing the forms this year.
15. Neighbourhood Plan Update 23/74
Cllr T Wright advised that a date had been set for the referendum which is 20th July. This is conducted by WLDC elections team so the Parish Council do not have any involvement with it.
16. Agenda items for the next meeting Ref 23/75
Cllr Lovatt asked for further speed indicator devices
Cllr Davidson requested The Limes junction follow up
Cllr S Knight advised Council that the funeral of Cllr T Turner is to take place on Thursday at 1.30 pm at Swallow if anyone is intending to attend.
Date and time of next meeting Ref 23/76
Tuesday 6th June 2023 at 19:00 in the Village Hall
Meeting closed at 21.06