July (4th) Minutes
Minutes of the Keelby Parish Council Meeting
Held in the Village Hall on Tuesday 4th July 2023
Those Present : Councillors, R Dannatt, T Wright, P Wilks, , G Lovatt, M Turner, T Bentham
In Attendance: Cllr O Bierley, Cllr A Lawrence. & 4 members of the public
1. Apologies
Cllrs M Wright, S Knight, K Stark, Cllr T Smith
Public Question Time Ref 23/94
A resident raised the issue of the community garden outside Spar not being maintained. They said that she wasn’t sure that Brightening Keelby existed as a group anymore.
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 23/95 - none
2. District Councillors Report Ref 23/96
This was circulated beforehand. Cllr O Bierley advised that 2 grants had been received at WLDC from Keelby and the first meeting of the community grant panel is on Thursday. Cllr T Wright advised that one was from Keelby Parish Council for the remainder of the money required for the park project and the other was from Keelby United Football Club. Cllr T Wright explained that the grants available from WLDC are open to all community groups and they should be encouraged to apply. Clerk to repost this information on Facebook. Cllr T Wright suggested a grants page on the website that we could signpost people to. Cllr O Bierley said how disappointing it is to hear that the Spar shop is closing. He advised that there are also business grants available that may be helpful if there are other opportunities for the use of the Spar building. Cllr R Dannatt asked about the potential of using one of these grants to purchase new entrance signs for the village. Cllr T Wright said that in his opinion these would fit better with the Large Village Grant.
3. County Councillors Report Ref 23/97
An update from Cllr T Smith had been previously circulated. Cllr P Wilks raised the trees on Yarborough Road that still haven’t been cut back. Clerk advised the council that Cllr T Smith had chased this up. Cllr T Smith had emailed an update on the trees. Cllr R Dannatt thought that It appeared that the trees have been assessed for their health rather than whether they need cutting back. Clerk to ask if this matter could be looked at again.
4. To approve the minutes of the Parish Council Meetings held on 6th June and 16th June. Ref 23/98
The minutes of the meeting on 6th June were accepted as a true record. Proposed by Cllr T Wright and seconded by Cllr G Lovatt. The minutes of the extraordinary meeting on 16th June were accepted as a true record. Proposed by Cllr T Wright and seconded by Cllr G Lovatt.
5. Councillor vacancy Ref 23/99
Clerk advised that one application had been received from Mr Colin Tym. Cllr T Wright proposed that Mr Colin Tym was co-opted onto the Council. This was seconded by Cllr G Lovatt. All in favour. Clerk to advertise second vacancy again.
6. Clerks Report. Ref 23/100
A response has been received from Quickline and are happy for a public meeting preferably on a Tuesday in August. Clerk to get some dates and advertise to residents.
When Cllr S Knight is back off holiday some dates for the Sir E Leigh visit can be sorted
The paddock on South Street – no reply has been received from the owners regarding the broken fence between the paddock and the cemetery. Cllr O Bierley agreed to look into whether he could find out who is responsible for the fence between the paddock and the cemetery.
Clerk reported that the LALC webmaster had advised that signatures should be redacted before being put on the website. The external auditor had said that this procedure is not correct. It was the view of Council that we should continue to redact the signatures for security reasons.
Clerk advised that one of the letters from a resident of the Barton Street that was received at the last meeting had asked if anything could be done to get an additional horse warning sign as there is currently only one when travelling towards Limber. The Clerk had made some enquires and the support of the Council was needed to ask Cllr T Smith for a Traffic Regulation Order. Cllr T Bentham proposed that the Council support this and it was seconded by Cllr T Wright.
The handyman had worked a lot of hours this month and has come very close to needing to be enrolled in the stake holders pension scheme. It was agreed that this had only come about this month as he was catching up but as he is now caught up this shouldn’t be an issue going forward.
The clerk thanked the Council for nominating her for the Clerk Shining Star Awards. She confirmed that she would attend the awards dinner on the 19th July at Lincoln.
7. Correspondence Ref 23/101
A letter had been received regarding the Spar garden which has already been raised in the public meeting. It is thought that Brightening Keelby has disbanded so Council requested that the clerk write to them to ask what their plans are for the garden. Litter picking equipment was also raised. We have recently received an offer from Lincolnshire County Council to supply new equipment. It was decided to apply for some new equipment and also have a roundup of existing equipment.
An email has been received regarding the road sweeper and road gully cleaning. Mr Hodson has now arranged for the road sweeper so the clerk to take the gully clearing up with Cllr T Smith. The Council expressed thanks to Mr Hodson for arranging this and also going round with it sweeping the paths. Cllr R Dannatt asked Cllr O Bierley if the sweeper could be on a schedule to come to the village regularly as only a couple of streets had been swept before it needed to go back to Gainsborough to be emptied. There is no arrangement in place with neighbouring Councils to use their facilities so there is no way round this. Cllr O Bierley advised that WLDC prefer to offer a responsive service rather than a scheduled service. Cllr R Dannatt asked about spraying the vegetation that is rooting between the kerb and the tarmac. Cllr O Bierley advised that this is still done by the County Council on a contract basis. Cllr T Smith to be asked to check if the kerbside spraying has been done.
A letter has been received about the hedge on Suddle Way that is overhanging the footpath. The hedge belongs to 1 Rowan Close. Council requested that the clerk write a letter to the residents to request that it is cut back. This letter also requested that we ask Sir Edward Leigh if he would hold a public surgery when he comes to the village. It was agreed that this should be requested along with asking him to also look at the speed on the A18.
Letters have been received regarding possible building on the land on Riby Road. It was agreed that nothing could be done about this as no planning applications have been received. Cllr T Wright advised the importance of getting the Neighbourhood Plan adopted and one of these residents has kindly offered to print and deliver some flyers to villagers encouraging people to vote at the referendum.
Clerk advised that the Keelby Parish Enclosure Award documents from the bank security box have now been deposited at Lincolnshire Archives. A form has now been received asking if the documents have been gifted or an indefinite deposit. Cllr T Wright proposed that they are gifted. Cllr T Bentham proposed that they are placed on indefinite deposit which is regarded as 20 years. There were no votes for the first proposal and 5 for the second so it was carried that the documents should be on an indefinite deposit. Clerk advised that the electronic copies have now been received.
A resident has also requested that a hard copy of the A18 speed petition is placed in the shops. Cllr K Stark has already placed hard copies in the shops.
8. Reports from external organisations Ref 23/102
• Sports Association – Cllr M Turner delivered a report from Cllr M Wright who attended the KSA meeting on Sunday. Discussions had taken place regarding the costs for the repairs and maintenance and KSA have said that safety is a priority and that they want all the necessary work completing as a matter of urgency. They advised that they did not require ambient lighting for 3 hours and will look to follow an evacuation plan following a power failure. This has been minuted by KSA. They advised that they will not consider any further points outside of safety until the Revised Terms have been agreed which need to clarify who is responsible for what. They are also keen to meet with KPC to understand the long term plan and discuss ways of working together. It was felt that a face to face meeting would strengthen the relationship between KPC and KSA. They have also requested that a review meeting is held every 6 months and this should be captured in the revised terms.
Cllr S Knight is currently working on the revised terms. Cllr T Wright thought that the latest draft still doesn’t clarify who is responsible for what. He stressed that a meeting was very important as relations need to improve between the two parties as KSA are feeling unsupported by the Parish Council. Cllr R Dannatt agreed about the meeting and thought that we should continue with the work required for safety and then meet to decide on who pays for what. Cllr T Wright advised that he hoped that as a partnership grants could hopefully be obtained to cover the cost of most of this work. Cllr P Wilks stressed that once this building had been brought up to the correct specification then it should be maintained correctly going forward. Cllr T Bentham agreed that there should be a maintenance plan and that we should correct the faults and move forward with this fantastic facility.
Cllr T Wright advised that he and Cllr R Dannatt had met with the qualified fire inspector and are waiting for his report as he had gone on holiday. It was decided to wait for the report before a decision was made on the various options available for the emergency lighting. Cllr T Wright advised that Cllr M Wright had made KSA aware of the situation with regards to the safety issues and that the shutters need to be up when the building is in use.
Cllr R Dannatt raised that fact that the fire alarm doesn’t work which is a major safety problem. Cllr T Bentham proposed that we go ahead and get the fire and disabled alarms working. This was seconded by Cllr T Wright. All in favour. Cllr R Dannatt agreed to send out the costs for these again.
Agreement for Ground Usage between KPC and KUFC. This was presented to Council by Cllr T Wright at the meeting of 16th June. Cllr S Knight had requested some revisions which have now been done so Cllr T Wright requested that this is now signed so that it can be submitted to support the grant. Cllr R Dannatt agreed that the changes had been made. Cllr T Bentham proposed that the agreement is signed. This was seconded by Cllr G Lovatt. All in favour. This grant will provide circa £50k to the football club for pitch maintenance over 6 years, the purchase of a tractor and surface groomer that can also be used by other clubs at the KSA.
• Community Speed Watch – Mr Lovatt advised that there had been one session of 45 minutes. In this time there had been 120 cars 13 of which exceeded the limit. Cllr G Lovatt mentioned the use of automatic speed watch sign which is a camera mounted on a post. Various police forces are using these cameras and one of these devices would be very useful as traffic would be monitored continually in daylight hours. Cllr G Lovatt said he had applied for a grant for an additional speed sign.
• Village Hall – Cllr T Bentham reported that the village hall is ticking over. There has been a new boiler in the kitchen and that they had a healthy bank balance. He had encouraged everyone at the meeting to vote on the Neighbourhood Plan.
• Library & Youth Club – Leader of the Youth Club is retiring so they have advertised for a replacement to hopefully take over in September. The library is opening as usual with no issues
• Allotments – Cllr T Wright asked if rents had been received from the allotments. Clerk advised that a cheque has been received.
9. Financial Matters Ref 23/103
Multimedia Broadband £46.05
Salaries May £1159.36
Fuel Genie Petrol June £108.88
Nat West Credit Card Paint, tyres, £595.23
HMRC Q1 £287.20
J.H. Bacon Allotment rent £200.00
Gary Snell Spraying of tennis court £50.00
MAC Electrical Electrical work KSA £860.00
Cllr P Wilks Paint & locking pins £110.00
Autela Payroll Services Payroll services £81.86
West Lindsey District Council Uncontested election charges £154.02
Clerk expenses Phone, printing, mileage £69.90
The payment schedule was checked by Cllr T Wright, proposed by Cllr T Wright, seconded by Cllr T Bentham, and signed by the Chair. All in favour
Clerk had produced the first quarter bank reconciliation and summary of costs. Cllr T Wright said that it was a good report and very straightforward to understand. Cllr T Wright proposed that the bank reconciliation was signed. This was seconded by Cllr T Bentham. All in favour.
Large Village Retail Area Fund – This to be carried forward to the next meeting and placed higher up on the agenda.
Bank signatories – It was resolved that Cllr T Bentham is registered for online banking.
Planning applications Ref 23/104 – application 146831 Clerk to reply to say the Council support this application and also send the original letter of support to WLDC
10. Parish Matters Ref 23/105
• Play area & Old Tennis Courts Renovations
Cllr T Wright advised that the application will be considered next Thursday and should have a decision by Friday. He asked Cllr O Bierley to pass on thanks to Claire and the team at WLDC. Once the decision has been received there will be a meeting of the subcommittee to agree the final costs of the project.
• Overgrown Footpaths – Cllr G Lovatt has made a start on this and the purchase of the new equipment to be discussed at the next meeting. The area at North End has been completed and will move to the war memorial area next.
11. Neighbourhood Plan Update 23/106 – Cllr T Wright requested that all Councillors vote and encourage others to do the same as it would be good to get a good turnout at the polls. Cllr T Wright expressed thanks to Michelle Mearns for printing and distributing flyers.
12. Agenda items for the next meeting Ref 23/107 – none
Date and time of next meeting Ref 23/108
Tuesday 25th July 2023 at 19:00 in the Village Hall
Meeting closed at 21:01