2023 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF WIGTOFT PARISH COUNCIL HELD ON the 11th of December 2023.

Present: Cllr S Brigham; Cllr S Baxter; Cllr B Leggott; Cllr I Mills; Cllr K Redhead. Also present County Councillor M Brookes and Boston Borough Councillor James Cantwell.

Chairman’s remarks – The Parish Councillors do many things in the village. Yesterday a sausage and mash lunch was provided for pensioners who live in the village. It was an amazing afternoon and a lot of positive feedback has been received. I believe, as a Parish Council, we should continue to communicate with our residents and get to know them.

Public Forum – None.

77/23    To receive apologies and reasons for absence. Cllr Smith sent her apologies and reason for absence. It was resolved to accept her apology and reason for absence. Cllr Collingwood sent his apologies and reason for absence which was not seen by the clerk until after the meeting. Boston Borough Councillor D Brown sent his apologies.

78/23    To receive declarations of interest under the Localism Act 2011 – being any pecuniary or non-pecuniary interest not previously recorded on Member’s Register of Interests

None.

79/23    Notes of the meeting held on 6.11.23 to be confirmed and signed as minutes.

The above notes were agreed and signed as minutes. It was resolved to accept the notes as minutes.

80/23    Financial matters: Accounts due for payment.

It was resolved to agree the payments schedule and the budget. ACTION: Clerk to make payments and add budget to website

81/23    Planning: B/23/0324, erection of a proposed potato store at Mill Farm, Wigtoft Road Sutterton.

It was resolved that there were no comments or objections. ACTION: Clerk to advise Planning Department.

82/23     Correspondence received since the November Meeting.

10.11.23               LALC enews                                                                                     Emailed to Councillors 10.11.23

15.11.23               Email from Borough Councillor James Cantwell about the road sweeper cleaning the path outside the chicken farm.                                                                                                                                               Emailed to Councillors 16.11.23

13.11.23               Information about the School Admissions Policy Consultations 2025/26                                                                                   Emailed to Councillors 21.11.23. Link posted on Facebook.

17.11.23               LALC training bulletin                                                                     Emailed to Councillors 21.11.23.

24.11.23               LALC enews.                                                                                    Emailed to Councillors 28.11.23.

29.11.23               Town & Parish Council update from LCC                                     Emailed to Councillors 5.12.23.

29.11.23               Update from Old Leake Parish Council about their meeting with BBC about the footway lighting costs.

Emailed to Councillors 5.12.23.

4.12.23                 BBC invite to Parish Council Liaison meeting.                             Emailed to Councillors 5.12.23.

4.12.23                 Greater Lincs Council devolution launch details from LCC.        Emailed to Councillors 5.12.23.

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**NALC is short for National Association of Local Councils.

**LALC is short for Lincolnshire Association of Local Councils.

**BBC is short for Boston Borough Council

** LCC is short for Lincolnshire County Council

83/23    Councillors’ Reports

Cllr Mills – there are pot holes on Asperton Road outside Asperton Farm and Red Roofs bungalow. Cllr Mills will forward photos to the clerk so that this can be reported on Fix My Street.

Cllr Redhead – asked who maintains the culvert which goes under the Main Road. It was established that this falls within the boundary of Sutterton Parish so would need to be reported by them.

Cllr Leggott – the verges along Green Lane are collapsing due to the weather. He will report on Fix My Street.

County Cllr Brookes -  There is an LCC consultation about Electric Vehicle charging needs. There is an on line link to enter your feedback. There is a similar LCC consultation about Devolution. Traffic Management is going through a scrutiny review. There will be some form of Public Engagement.

General comment - Thanks to Cllrs Leggott, Mills and Baxter for putting up the new Christmas Lights. They are looking good.

84/23    Clerk’s report

The new gate in the Wildlife Garden is now in situ.

The new Christmas Lights are now installed.

A donation of £950 to the Village Hall Committee has been sent.

I will be on annual leave from the 29.12.23 to the 15.1.24.

The bank reconciliation for the month of October 23 balances.

85/23    To review the Annual play area inspection undertaken by Wicksteed Leisure and to agree any actions. To agree who will do the inspections due between this meeting and the next meeting on the 5.2.24.

There were only two items from the report to discuss - the roundabout and the wetpour surface underneath. This has been categorised as very low risk. It was resolved to monitor carefully at each monthly check. Cllr Mills volunteered to undertake the January inspection. It was suggested the clerk prepare a rota for the monthly check in advance and circulate.  ACTION: Clerk to forward template and rota.

86/23    To confirm the sponsorship of a Christmas Tree at a cost of £10.

This item had been agreed by email. It was resolved to confirm the donation.

87/23    To discuss the clerk’s annual review undertaken at 18.30 prior to this meeting.

It was resolved to move into closed session to discuss the next two agenda items. Cllrs Brookes, Cantwell and the clerk left the room at 8pm.

The Chair and Vice Chair gave feedback and their recommendations to the Councillors. It was resolved that the clerk’s salary to be increased in line with the publishes pay scales by £1 per hour, the monthly payment for use of home as office to be increased to £35 and the payment for any mileage claimed by the clerk (outside normal travelling) to be increased to 60p per mile. These increases are to take place with immediate effect.

 88/23   To give feedback to the clerk following agenda item 13.

The Clerk returned to the room at 8.10pm. Feedback was given. The clerk thanked the Parish Council.

Cllrs Brookes and Cantwell returned to the room at 8.15pm.

89/23    An update on the discussion about speeding traffic in the village from the last meeting. To discuss the application to join the Community Speed Watch Scheme at a cost of £50. This agenda item was bought forward by the Chairperson.

The clerk gave information about joining the Community Speed Watch scheme. County Councillor Brookes passed on information about the new Speed Indicator devices which Swineshead Parish Council have purchased and gave a comparison to the old devices which have been offered to Wigtoft and Bicker to share. Councillors thanked Cllr Brookes and resolved to discuss this option during as part of agenda item 15. Cllrs Brookes and Cantwell left the meeting at 8.25pm.

90/23    To complete the budget planning for 1.4.24 to 31.3.25.

This was the second discussion about the budget planning. The budget was finalised and it was resolved to accept these figures apart from a decision on funding the replacement of the old footway lighting lamps with LED lamps on 9 lamps and whether to purchase a new Speed Indicator Device or stick with the offer of sharing Swineshead Parish Council’s old device with Bicker. Following the information from Cllr Brookes, Councillors felt that a new device would be a better option and would decide once figures are to hand showing the impact on reserves and the amount of precept requested. It was resolved to suspend Financial Regulation 11.1h to accept the quotation from the existing grass cutting contractor without obtaining two further quotes as it is becoming increasingly difficult to find other contractors willing to quote and the Parish Council is very happy with the current contractors’ work. Full details are on a separate document attached to the minutes. ACTION: Clerk to send out details of the proposed budget including figures for the new Speed Indicator Device and the cost of replacing the footway lighting lamps. Councillors to confirm to the clerk their acceptance or rejection of the proposed budget by emails which will be ratified at the next meeting on the 5th of February.

91/23    To review the Data Protection Policy, Data Breach Policy and the General Privacy Notice.

The policies had been circulated to Councillors prior to the meeting. It was resolved that the policies have been reviewed and no changes needed to be made. ACTION: Clerk to update policies on the website.

92/23    To agree the meeting date schedule for June 24 to May 25.

The clerk had prepared and circulated the schedule to Councillors prior to the meeting. Cllr Brigham had checked  and agreed it to be correct. It was resolved to accept the schedule. ACTION: Clerk to post details on website and forward a copy to any relevant parties.

Meeting closed at 20:45. Next meeting 5.2.24 at 19:00.