May 2022 Minutes
CARLTON SCROOP AND NORMANTON-ON-CLIFFE PARISH COUNCIL
MINUTES OF AN ANNUAL PARISH COUNCIL MEETING OF THE CARLTON SCROOP AND NORMANTON-ON-CLIFFE PARISH COUNCIL held on Monday 23 May 2022 at The Village Hall, Newark Lane, Carlton Scroop
Present:
Cllr J Calder Chair (and interim Clerk)
Cllr J Baines
Cllr J England
Cllr J Worrell
In attendance Cllr A Maughan
Apologies:
Cllr S Baker Browne
Cllr B Hankinson
Cllr A Reed
Cllr I Stokes
Public Forum: Commenced at 7.20 pm. There was one member of the public present.
Item 1 – Election of Chairman and Declaration of Acceptance of Office.
1.1 Cllr Calder confirmed that he was prepared to continue as Chairman if no one else wished to be considered. There were no other candidates and Cllr Calder was elected.
Item 2 - Election of Vice chairman & Declaration of Office
2.1 Cllr Baker Browne had not notified that he did not wish to carry on as vice chairman. There were no other candidates and Cllr Baker Browne was duly elected.
Item 3 -To Receive Apologies for Absence.
3.1 Apologies had been received from Cllrs Baker Browne, Hankinson, Reed and Stokes.
Item 4 - Declaration of Pecuniary Interest & Dispensations.
4.1 There were no declarations.
Item 5 - Update on Planning Application S22/0091
5.1 SKDC had approved the Planning application S22/0091. Full details were available on the SKDC planning website. There was disappointment with the unsatisfactory service provided by SKDC planners and also with the District Council in considering the matter. The District Council shared that their failure to provide adequate sites for travellers had left them exposed to legal action if they did not approve the planning application. This matter was now closed.
Item 6 - To Approve Draft Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting of 28 March 2022
6. The Minutes of the meeting held on 28 March 2022 were approved as a fair and true record of the meeting.
Item 7- Matters Arising from the Meeting of 28 March 2022
7.1 Reduce Carlton Scroop Speed Limit to 30 MPH. The notified public consultation finished on 29 April; however, there was a lack of awareness of LCC consultation notifications to residents on the matter. If the consultation had not closed then it may be possible to extend the 30-mph limit to include the Sudbrooke Road entry into Carlton Scroop. Cllr Maughan volunteered to investigate further the progress on the consultation process.
Action: Cllr Maughan
7.2 Village Information Booklet to Residents. It was noted that this booklet was not a Parish Council owned document. Parish council members felt that their phone numbers should not be on this document but the document should signpost Council contact by email such as clerkcsnpc@gmail.com and also via information on the parish website.
7.3 Bus Shelter Location Normanton. There had been a request for a bus shelter to be located in Normanton. There had been correspondence advising that measurements would be taken to review suitability and Cllr Maughan volunteered to check further on this matter.
7.4 Defibrillators. Cllr Worrell agreed to progress a draft policy and checklist. Once the system was agreed Council would consider options for financing.
Action: Cllr Worrell
7.5 Tree Pruning / Hedging Work in Jubilee Field Boundary and Cemetery Area. The work had been undertaken and numerous plaudits had been received. It was noted that this was the first stage and that wider perimeter hedging surrounding Jubilee Field would be next to be laid.
Item 8- To Receive any Reports from District and County Councillors
8.1 Cllr Maughan updated on a range of matters. Lincolnshire was heavily involved in supporting Ukraine. This included providing fire and rescue equipment as well as the Homes to Ukraine scheme. 300 refugees had been housed and a further 1000 were anticipated. The impact of budget cuts from government was being felt and plans were being progressed to take forward a devolution scheme with 10-council agreement; this scheme could help in future funding discussions. Local broadband provision was discussed and it was noted that there was an anomaly in Carlton Scroop with houses on the Honington side of the BT box receiving an inferior service compared to residents on the other side of the BT box.
Item 9 – Finance
9.1 Finance Report. The financial report was presented. The financial health of the parish remained good. All items of expenditure since the last meeting were in respect of budgeted items. Balances were:
Reserves balance on bank statement at 30 Apr 22: £7,065.65
Current account bank statement at 30 Apr 22: £8,510.43
Total in Bank: £15,576.08
9.2 A summary breakdown of performance against budget was in excel spreadsheets held by all Council members. The spreadsheets reflected March ie end of last financial year and also the start of the new financial year with April’s transactions being shown. A copy of the April bank reconciliation was summarised for review at the meeting.
9.3 Expenditure since that reported at the last meeting:
Electrician 31 March £80
Autella payroll 28 March £27.24
APRIL 22 £
Grass cut 29 Apr 134.57
LALC web 29 Apr 180.00
ICCM subs 29 Apr 95.00
Hedge laying 8 Apr 1,170.00
9.4 Reserves. The 8 April payment of £1170 for hedge laying should have been aligned with the previous year’s underspend i.e. as at 31 March. It was agreed that there would be a transfer from reserves to the current budget for this amount.
9.5 Decision. The financial report including transactions and reserve transfer of £1170 was approved.
9.6 Annual Return 2021/22. The independent auditor had retired and a new auditor was required to progress the AGAR. It was noted that an auditor would need to be appointed before the next meeting. It was proposed that Cllr Calder would seek the services of a new auditor and forward details to Council members by email for agreement.
9.7 Decision. It was agreed that Cllr Calder would seek a new auditor and circulate details by email to all council members for agreement.
Action: Cllr Calder
9.8 Jubilee Field Improvements. It was mentioned that Cllr Hankinson had on her own initiative purchased Hawthorne Bush striplings and planted them to help fill the gaps in the Jubilee Field hedging.
9.9 Improving the Field area was a key priority within the Parish Plan; however, as a rule all expenditure should first be approved in advance at a Council meeting. Nevertheless, it was felt that Cllr Hankinson should not be out of pocket and on this occasion the Parish Council decided to make an exceptional retrospective refund. up to £120 for the cost of the striplings.
9.10 Decision. Council would refund up to £120, based on receipt showing exact expenditure.
Action: Cllr Calder
Item 10 - Planning Matters
10.1 There were no other planning matters.
Item 11 - Parish Plan 2022-2027
11. 1 The Parish Plan 2022-2027 was reviewed.
11.2 Action Plan. It was agreed that an Action Plan template would be finalised. Additionally items all items requiring attention by Council would be incorporated into it.
Action: Cllr Calder; Cllr England; Cllr Reed
Item 12 - Queen Platinum Jubilee
12. 1 There had not been a groundswell of interest or volunteers to launch activities within the Parish. It was felt that residents were making their own arrangements for entertainment events. Accordingly, there would not be a collective Parish organised event albeit it was hoped that Jubilee Field would be used as a communal gathering area.
Item 13 - Highways.
13.1 There were a number of items logged into Fix my Street and were being progressed. Cllr Maughan invited all to notify him with the reference numbers of logged requests and he would also maintain a watching brief.
Item 14. Clerk Recruitment
14.1 There had been no interest in respect of the clerk vacancy.
Policies
15.1 Parish Council policies should be reviewed annually. However, because of the large number of polies and to exercise due diligence it was proposed that a selection of policies would be reviewed at each meeting as part of a rolling review.
15.2 Decision. It was agreed that individual Council members would be responsible for reviewing specific policies and submitting any revisions to Council for agreement.
Action: All
Item 16. General Correspondence.
16.1 General correspondence received since the 28 March meeting was in respect of Planning Application S22/0091.
Item 17. Dates of Future Meeting
17.1 Meetings will be held on the following Mondays:
25 July 2022
26 September 2022
28 November 2022
30 January 2023
27 March 2023
End of Meeting. The meeting closed at 20.35 hrs
J Calder
For Clerk
31 May 2022