January 2022 Minutes
Minutes of Witham St Hughs Parish Council meeting held on Wednesday 19th January 2022 at 7.00pm at the village hall.
Present Cllr Karen Harrison - Chairman, Cllr Jason Snape Vice-Chair, Cllr Danny Bell & Cllr Emma Houghton & Cllr Spencer Hall.
Rachel Popplewell – Clerk
District Councillor Peter Overton
Cllr Overton made comment that only half of the members would be present at the next full district council meeting, due to social distancing guidelines and the lack of space in the chambers. The budget was being considered with an increase likely. The district council aims to be Net Zero by 2030.
Apologies were received from Cllr Marianne Overton & Cllr Sally Appleby.
Agenda Items
1. Welcome & Apologies.
The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.
Cllr Harrison made comment that she received Cllr Linnell’s letter of resignation.
Thanks were passed onto Cllr Linnell for his time and contribution to the Parish during his time on the council.
2. TO RECEIVE DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE LOCALISM ACT 2011 AND OUTLINED IN THE COUNCILS CODE OF CONDUCT – being any pecuniary interest in agenda items not previously recorded on Members’ Register of Interest and any written requests for dispensations.
None received.
3. Health & Safety brief.
Nothing to report.
4. Notes of the Parish Council meeting held on Wednesday 8 December 2021.
It was Resolved to approve the notes as minutes – All Agreed by a show of hands, signed by the Chairman.
5. Clerks Update.
The Clerk confirmed that the security firm were now in place to answer any of the Out of Hours calls should the alarm at the hall be activated.
The Clerk reminded councillors that the list of training event for the next quarter was available.
The Clerk made comment that new parish councils’ website is up and running but it is still undiscoverable on Google, Lincolnshire County Council are working on the issue to get it fixed as soon as possible.
The new website address is https://witham-st-hughs.parish.lincolnshire.gov.uk/
6. Finance.
a. To Authorise the signing of orders for payment, list previously circulated.
It was Resolved to approve the list of payments – All agreed, show of hands.
b. To receive the Bank Reconciliation as at 31.12.2021.
The bank reconciliation as at 31.12.2021 was presented to the council, showing the accounts balanced – signed by Cllr Bell.
c. To Resolve to agree the precept for the financial year 2022/2023.
After discissions it was Resolved to request a Precept amount of £98,200.00. This denotes an increase of 8.53%, in monetary terms this is an £7.26 per year increase on a band D property.
All agreed – Show of hands.
Action Clerk.
7. To Resolve to review the quotes & renew the Open Spaces contractors for 2022/2023.
After discussions to was Resolved to renew the existing Opens Spaces contracts for a further 12 months at the revised prices as per the quotes of December 2021.
All agreed - show of hands.
8. To discuss the footpaths repairs & consider the quotations.
Two quotations had been received for the works, after discussion it was Resolved to accept the quote from PPH Construction. The periphery footpaths would be repaired in stages – schedule of works to be passed onto the contractor. All agreed – show of hands
Start date as soon as possible.
Action Clerk.
9. To review the public consultation letter for residents fronting the Oak Tree Park & agree the replacement tree type.
After discussions it was Resolved to agree the removal of the Norway Pines near Oak Tree Park on the recommendation of 2 arborists, due the size of the trees when fully grown and to replace them with a combination of Lilac & Crab Apple trees.
Letters would be sent to the residents fronting the park informing them of the imminent tree works.
All agreed – show of hands.
Action Clerk.
10. To discuss the S106 monies still being held by North Kesteven District Council.
The Clerk made comment that two lots of money still being held by NKDC had a time limit for which the parish council needed to claim the funds, the dates being 2023 & 2024. After discussions with NKDC the option of extending the time frames was considered and further clarity on how and what the money can be spent on was needed. The Clerk was asked to contact NKDC and Strawsons for further information. Action Clerk.
11. To review the village hall hire fees w.e.f 01.04.2022.
After discussions it was Resolved to increase the hall hire fees to
Small Hall £8 phr,
Large Hall £10 phr
Both halls £15 phr
Deposit £50 to remain the same.
12. To consider the costs to buy new tables for the village hall.
The Clerk made comment that some of the tables at the hall needed replacing as the old ones were broken or damaged.
6 new tables were needed to replace the old ones at a cost of £636.86 (plus VAT).
Declaration of Interest was declared by Cllr Harrison, as a committee member of the VHEC.
After discussion it was Resolved to ask the VHEC if they would consider donating the cost of the tables to the parish council.
Action Clerk.
13. To adopt & review the following policies.
a. Training & Development
b. Grants & Donations Policy
After discussions it was Resolved to adopt the policies.
All Agreed – show of hands
14. To consider the following planning applications
a. Single storey front extension to from lobby/porch and other alterations to front elevation.
1 Ravens View, Witham St Hughs. Ref – 21/1892/HOUS.
After is discussion it was Resolved to submit ‘no comment’ for the application
b. Erection of 4 dwellings with access, appearance, landscaping, layout, and scale to be considered pursuant to planning permission 18/0095/OUT.
Land Adjacent 1 Nettleton Drive Witham St Hughs Lincoln LN6 9GG. Ref 21/1535/RESM.
After discussions it was Resolved to submit the following comments
“we do not have any objections but we have noticed that in the Amended Block Plan (A2) published 03.09.2018 in 18/0781/FUL, the relocating of the footpath around plot 1 has not occurred and we should ask the developers to carry out that work first”
c. Strategic landscaping around Cell 6 of Phase III as required by conditions 1,4 and 6 of the outline planning permission 15/1347/OUT.
Witham St Hugh's Phase 3 East of Camp Road, North of Hannah Crescent Witham St Hugh's. Ref 21/1195/RESM
After discussions it was Resolved to submit the following comments
“The hedge ownership is still an issue for the parish council. From the plans we cannot see how any homeowners would take responsibility so that need to be clarified to ensure they are responsibility of the residents”
All agreed – show of hands
15. To discuss weekend and Bank Holidays Hall booking requests when there is no caretaker.
After discussions it was confirmed that when it is the Caretaker’s weekend off, the hall isn’t available for hire.
All agreed – show of hands
16. To review the Key Holders for the village hall.
The list of key holders was reviewed & updated.
17. Date & Time of next meeting.
Wednesday 16 February 2022 at 7pm.