August 2023 Minutes
MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF WIGTOFT PARISH COUNCIL HELD ON the 7th of August 2023.
Present: Cllr S Smith; Cllr S Baxter; Cllr B Leggott; Cllr K Redhead; Cllr I Mills.
Also present Boston Borough Councillors James Cantwell and David Brown.
Chairman’s remarks – Vice Chair Cllr Baxter chaired the meeting in the absence of the Cllr Brigham. Cllr Baxter read out comments sent from Cllr Brigham. Cllr Brigham thanked the team of volunteers from Balfour Beatty who were part of the Lincs County Council Highways Partnership Volunteering Scheme who recently did such a great job of painting the gates and the seats, cleaning all of the play equipment, laying of turf and applying a cleaning product to the safety matting around the play equipment at the park here in Wigtoft. I would also like to thank all of the Councillors for their part in the event and also special thanks to Ann our clerk for being a central point in organising the day. The park is certainly looking better for the effort made by everyone. Thank you.
Public Forum – None.
39/23 To receive apologies and reasons for absence.
Cllrs Brigham and Collingwood sent their apologies. It was resolved to accept their apologies and reasons for absence.
County Councillor M Brookes sent his apologies.
40/23 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
41/23 Notes of the meeting held on 3.7.23 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. ACTION: Clerk to post minutes on website.
42/23 Financial matters: Accounts due for payment and budget figures year to date.To receive the checked bank reconciliation from Cllr Baxter.
| Date of Invoice | Details of Payment | Amount exc vat | Vat reclainable | Vat not reclaimable | How paid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15.7.23 | Pay | 263.33 |
BACS |
||
|
15.7.23 |
PAYE | 66.00 | BACS | ||
| 15.7.23 | clerk use of home as office | 30.00 | BACS | ||
| 31.7.23 | Payroll Services | 18.00 | BACS | ||
| 5.7.23 | Printer ink | 8.32 | 1.67 | Debit card | |
| 2.6.23 | Grass Cutting | 420.00 | 84.00 | BACS | |
| 2.7.23 | Flash cleaner for play area | 5.17 | 1.03 | Debit Card | |
| 3.7.23 | Stationery | 4.17 | 0.83 | Debit Card | |
| 20.7.23 | Postage | 1.60 | Debit card | ||
| 11.7.23 | Woodstain for play area | 19.17 | 3.83 | BACS | |
| 27.6.23 | Parish Election recharge costs from BBC | 80.97 | BACS | ||
| TOTAL | 916.73 | 91.36 | |||
| RECEIPTS | |||||
| 18.7.23 | VAT refund | 331.80 | BACS | ||
| TOTAL | 331.80 |
It was resolved to authorise the above payments, budget figures and checked bank reconciliation. ACTION: Clerk to make payments and add budget to website
43/23 Planning: B/23/0227, application to determine if prior approval is required for a proposed change of use under schedule 2, part 3, Class Q of Agricultural Buildings to 4 dwelling houses and for building operations necessary for the conversion at Agricultural Building, land off A17, Wigtoft, PE20 2NX.
Borough Cllr DB declared that he is a member of the Borough Council planning committee. Following a discussion, it was resolved to send an email to the planning department asking for more information before making any comments. ACTION: Clerk to send email. Borough Cllr Brown offered to speak to someone in the planning department to find out more and email the clerk with any supporting information.
44/23 Correspondence
7.7.23 LALC fortnightly enews Emailed to Councillors 11.7.23.
12.7.23 Revise plan for the Beacon Fen Energy Park project. Emailed to Councillors 17.7.23. Link posted on FB.
19.7.23 LCC request for information about local road network. Emailed to Councillors 20.7.23.
21.7.23 LALC fortnightly enews Emailed to Councillors 22.7.23.
26.7.23 Towns and Parish Councils update from LCC. Emailed to Councillors 1.8.23. Added to website.
27.7.23 Parish News from BBC. Emailed to Councillors 1.8.23. Added to website.
31.7.23 LALC monthly training bulletin Emailed to Councillors 1.8.23.
31.7.23 Traffic restriction notice from LCC Emailed to Councillors. Posted on Facebook 1.8.23.
**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
45/23 Councillors’ Reports
Cllr Baxter: suggested a donation to the Air Ambulance which has recently been in attendance in the village. It was resolved to make a donation of £50. ACTION: Clerk to send donation.
Cllr Redhead: Asked for help in undertaking her first play area inspection. Cllr Smith offered to help.
Cllr Smith: seeds have been donated for the Wildlife Garden. The whole area needs cutting down. Cllr Leggott said he could help with this. All Cllrs will help with clearing up the cuttings.
Cllr Baxter (on behalf of Cllr Brigham): A resident has asked three questions. Can anyone help with grass cutting in the churchyard. An item is to be included in the newsletter and posted on Facebook. Would the Parish Council consider making a donation to the collection for the vicar who is retiring. It was resolved to make a donation of £25. Clerk to send donation. The footpath near the chicken farm is particularly bad at the moment. The hedge is overhanging the path and contributing to the path getting wet and staying wet. Could it be requested that the height could be reduced a little? See next comment regarding the footpath. Clerk to recontact the Chicken Farm about the hedge.
Cllr Leggott (on behalf of County Cllr Brookes): Update on the footpath. On a dry day the path is ok. Following previous inspections of the footpath by a Highways Officer, the path has been deemed walkable from a width point of view. Sidings work on the path from Wigtoft to Sutterton is in hand and this work is usually undertaken during the winter months. LCC are hoping to complete this between January and March 2024.
Borough Cllr Brown: As Mayor of Boston for the current year, my chosen charities are the RNLI and Salvation Army. A boat trip has been organised on the 8th of September leaving Sluice Bridge at 10am for 10.30am at a cost of £20 including a buffet. If anyone would like tickets, please contact me.
46/23 Clerk’s report
The vat return covering the period 1.4.23 to 30.6.23 has been submitted and a refund of £331.80 has been received.
37/23, I have contacted LCC about the litter picking equipment (bag hoops) but they don’t have any. The litter picking group have been informed.
33/23, I have contacted Nathan Chapman about the gate. He apologises that he hasn’t installed the gate yet. He will let me know when he can do it but it won’t be until the second half of August.
33/23, I have again chased for the information from LCC about the brown tourist sign.
38/23, Sandra is putting a request for an ad hoc handyman in the next newsletter. There will also be a piece about dog fouling in the village and the “no dogs” policy in the playing field.
47/23 To review the July play area inspection, including the inspection of the footpath in front of the chicken farm, undertaken by Cllr Leggott.
Ther is a small amount of algae on the wetpour but not a concern at the moment. The cracks in the wetpour by the roundabout will need repairing at some point. ACTION: Clerk to add to budget planning agenda item in October and obtain quotes. Cllr Redhead had already volunteered to undertake the August inspection. It was agreed that the volunteering day went well and the park looks much better.
48/23 To decide on replacing the Christmas Lights and to set a budget for the cost. To decide when the lights are to be ordered.
It was resolved to obtain quotes for the October meeting and make a final decision at the meeting when to order. ACTION: Clerk to obtain quotes.
Meeting closed at 20:10. Next meeting 2.10.23 at 19:30.