2024 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF WIGTOFT PARISH COUNCIL HELD ON the 13th of May 2024.

Present: Cllr S Brigham; Cllr B Leggott; Cllr I Mills; Cllr S Baxter and Cllr K Redhead; Cllr S Collingwood; Cllr S Smith.

Borough Councillor J. Cantwell; County Councillor M Brookes.

Chairman’s remarks – none.

Public Forum – none.

014/24  To receive apologies and reasons for absence.  None.

015/24  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.

016/24  Notes of the meeting held on 8.4.24 to be confirmed and signed as minutes.

The above notes were agreed and signed as minutes by the Chairperson Cllr Brigham. It was resolved to accept the notes as minutes. ACTION: Clerk to post minutes on noticeboard and website and forward for inclusion in the Wigtoft News and Views Magazine.

017/24  Financial matters: Accounts due for payment.

018/24  Planning – none.

019/24  Correspondence

11.4.24                 LALC training bulletin                        Emailed to Councillors 15.4.24.

19.04.24               LALC fortnightly enews.                    Emailed to Councillors 22.4.24.

19.4.24                 LCC roads survey                               Emailed to Councillors. Posted on Facebook and website.

24.4.24                 LCC notice of roadworks                   Emailed to Councillors. Posted on Facebook and website.

3.5.24                   LALC fortnightly enews                     Emailed to Councilors 5.5.24.

**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

020/24  Councillors’ Reports

Cllr Mills – re the path near the chicken farm which I reported, there is a team coming out to repair the path where it is breaking up. If someone reports one or more potholes that need repair, why do the team not do all of them if there are others that need attention and who is responsible for cleaning the road edge near the kerbs when there is a build-up of grass/weeds etc? County Councillor Brookes advised that Boston Borough Council are responsible for cleaning the road edges if there is a kerb and also for footpaths. He added that if the teams repairing potholes have a full day’s work planned, they cannot do other work ad hoc. If anyone is reporting potholes on Fix My Street, it helps if they can be specific about where the potholes are and how many. For example there are multiple potholes between X and Y addresses.

Cllr Smith – I will put an item in the newsletter about using Fix My Street and reporting issues that need repair or attention. A resident has offered to make poppies for the village. The Parish Council are pleased to accept the offer.

Cllr Redhead – could I have a copy of the Wigtoft Newsletter? Clerk will forward.

Cllr Brigham – there is a seat which is damaged/broken in the Wildlife Garden. Agenda item next meeting.

021/24  County and Borough Councillors Reports.

County Cllr Brookes –  there will be surface dressing taking place on Green Lane /Burtoft Lane from 31.7.24. Devolution proposals for Lincolnshire has been approved by the three Councils. There will be a bus services survey being sent out. Could the clerk please forward when received?  The County Council has officially objected to the National Grid Pylons upgrade plans. The  consultation is ongoing.

Borough Cllr Cantwell – issue with the pavement on Church Lane has been reported and fixed. It has been established that the car park at the side of the church is the responsibility of the church. Sutterton, Algarkirk and maybe Fosdyke Parish Councils are joining together to form an emergency plan. Wigtoft Parish Council are invited to a meeting on the 22.5.24 at Algarkirk Village Hall.

022/23  Clerk’s report

From the last meeting: 28.3.24. I have emailed Boston Borough Council to clarify the exact purpose of the loan offer for replacing street light columns. I will not place the order for the new lamps until it is clear what is happening with the lamp columns. I have chased this on 6.5.24 as I have not had a reply.

The vat refund of £561.91 was received on the 8.4.24.

The net payment for the first half year precept less the payment for electricity for the footway lighting of £5987.53 was received on the 19.4.24.

The land rent of £402.50 was received on the 29.4.24.

023/24  To review and confirm acceptance of the Internal Auditors report.

It was resolved to accept the Internal Auditors report.

024/24  To sign the Certificate of Exemption relating to the Annual Governance and Accountability Return 2021/2022.

The certificate of exemption was signed by the Chairperson and countersigned by the clerk.

025/24  To complete, confirm and sign Section 1 (the Annual Governance Statement) of the Annual Governance and Accountability Return 2023/2024.

Section 1 was completed as confirmation of acceptance, signed by the Chairperson and countersigned by the clerk.

026/24  To confirm and sign Section 2 (the Accounting Statements) of the Annual Governance and Accountability Return 2023/2024.

Section 2 had been completed and signed by the clerk/ responsible financial officer. It was resolved to accept section 2 which was then countersigned by the chairperson.

027/24  To confirm the checking of the bank reconciliation  up to 31.3.24 by Cllr Redhead.

Cllr Redhead had completed the bank reconciliation check and found it to be correct. It was resolved to accept the bank reconciliation as correct.

028/24  To agree the spend of £50 for electricity used to power the Christmas Lights.

It was resolved to make the payment of £50.

029/24  To examine the new Website Maintenance Service offering from LALC and decide what action to take.

The new offer from LALC had been circulated to Councillors prior to the meeting. The offer is to purchase a minimum of 3 hours and a maximum of 5 hours at £18 per hour on a rolling basis. Although this an increase of £! per hour, it is more flexible for the Parish Councils and means that no hours that have been paid for will be lost. It was resolved to purchase 5 hours as soon as needed.

County Cllr Brookes left the meeting at 20.25

030/24  To review the play area inspection for April undertaken by Cllr Baxter and decide if any actions are needed. To discuss the offer of a maintenance person to undertake jobs in the parish as and when needed.

Cllr Baxter reported that everything is in order in the play area. The trees are encroaching slightly into the field. The roundabout wetpour needs attention as it is lifting. The old 30mph passive speed sign by the park needs removing.

031/24  To decide whether to purchase a wheelie bin for the lay by opposite the Council Houses and also where it is to be sited.

The cost for a bin would be £336.85. Councillors felt that it is a lot of money to spend if it is not fully used. It was resolved to find out how much litter accumulates on a monthly basis by asking the litter picking group to monitor and report back. ACTION: Clerk to contact group to discuss.

032/24  To discuss the date of the next meeting, 3.6.24.

The clerk explained that with there is only 3 weeks until the June meeting, the volume of work and the clerk’s annual leave covering one week, it would not be possible to be ready to have the meeting on the 3.6.24 as planned. It was resolved  to cancel the June meeting, with the next meeting being the 1.7.24 at 7.30pm. ACTION: Clerk to amend the schedule of meetings list. update the website and Facebook and send out the revised schedule to Councillors, Borough and County Councillors.

033/24  To discuss the New Community Green Spaces Fund.

Councillors felt that it would be useful to investigate further as the playing field/play area and the Wildlife Garden could be enhanced. ACTION: Agenda item for the next meeting.

034/24  To review the new Policy for Social Media and electronic communications.

The policy was reviewed and it was resolved to adopt the policy with immediate effect. ACTION: Clerk to add to website and remove old policy.

Meeting closed at 21.05.  Next meeting 1.7.24 at 7.30pm .