03 November 2020
Minutes of the remote meeting held on Tuesday 03 November 2020 at 7.35pm
Cllr Wright has resigned as a Parish Councillor, the Borough Council were informed and there was no election called meaning the vacancy is to be filled by co-option. Notices are in the notice boards. A letter of thanks has been sent to Mr Wright.
1. Apologies for absence
Apologies: There were no apologies received
Present: Cllrs Edwards, Featherstone, Wrisdale, Seymour, Bowles, Ashton and Danby (Chairman)
Also present: County Cllr Skinner
2. To receive reports from representatives on outside bodies
a. The PCSO reported incidents from 04 October to 31 October, by email:
i. 1 theft at Bull Drove
ii. 2 incidents of anti-social behaviour at Wrangle Bank and at Church Close
iii. 1 incident of criminal damage at Main Road
iv. 2 incidents of violence at Bull Drove
v. 2 transport hazards at Main Road
vi. 2 road traffic collisions at Main Road
vii. 1 burglary at Main Road
vii. 1 concern for safety at Main Road
b. The County Councillor reported:
i. The Borough Council are currently preparing for lockdown.
ii. The Boston Town Deal, with funding of £25m, plus an additional £13m, has been sent to the Government for approval. This will be a big investment in the town.
iii. When the Port of Boston was in use the town was successful, so there are plans to expand the port again to be used for exporting food.
iv. Following two visits with Highways Officers the grates in the A52 have been levelled and the flooding problem at Chapel Lane is being discussed with Anglian Water to try and resolve the problem.
v. The pothole across Sea Lane has been repaired.
vi. A ‘Find and Fix’ team has been in the area and reported various ‘issues’ for repair. The reporting will be more specific in the future.
vii. The County Council has received funding for food banks to feed Children.
viii. A question was asked about the parking in Boston that will be affected by the Boston Town Deal. A variety of projects for the town were consulted on and discussed before the final project was submitted.
c. Borough Councillor Ashton reported:
i. The Local Government Association are working on a new Draft code of Conduct.
ii. When the Code of Conduct has been adopted by Boston Borough Council this will also become the new Parish Council Code of Conduct.
3. To receive declarations of interest in accordance with the Localism Act 2011
There were no declarations of interest.
4. Notes of the remote meeting held on 06 October to be approved and signed as the minutes
The notes, previously circulated, were approved as the minutes, they will be signed by the Chairman in due course.
5. Clerk’s report
a. The new bin to be sited by the bus shelter at Church End was discussed, this will be ordered without a stub plate.
b. The minutes are with the book binder.
c. Thank you letters have been received for the S137 donations.
d. Due to lockdown starting this week the Parish Council will become a volunteer group again.
6. To receive report from the chairman
a. Details of the village sign were read out.
b. It was agreed that the Parish Council should contribute to the cost of the sign, £4775.00
c. Following discussion it was proposed by Cllr Bowles and seconded by Cllr Wrisdale that a donation of £2000.00 be given to the Show Committee and that the Parish Council should pay for the siting of the sign.
d. The sign, once sited, will be ‘gifted’ to the Parish Council, be on the assets register and included on the insurance.
e. The siting of the sign was discussed and a preferred site was chosen.
7. Finance report
a. To approve the following payments: £
Salaries (October plus back pay) 870.83
Clerks expenses (April – October) 203.41
E L Arnold (Zoom licence) 14.39
E L Arnold (white paper for magazine) 39.00
K & P Services (Handyman) 120.00
Bolingbroke Deanery (December/January magazine) 90.00
Paul Greenhough (Coloured paper for magazine) 45.00
Malc Firth Landscapes (grass cutting – September) 504.00
R Davis (repair leak in tank at pavilion) 50.00
PKF Littlejohn Llp (External Audit) 240.00
Wrangle Parish Hall (room hire) TBA
TJW Services (2 x footpath cuts) 924.00
b. Balances in bank at 15 June: Current account £14,993.47 reconciled £10,986.75
Deposit account £27,118.38
Map account £636.63
The half year precept of £10500 has been received and VAT of £1663.65 has been returned.
8. To receive external audit comment for 2019/2020
a. The external auditor reports that the Annual Governance Statement should have been completed before the Accounting Statement was approved.
b. The Notice of Conclusion of Audit should be in the notice boards through November. The Clerk reported that, due to the lockdown period, the dates for inspection will be in December.
9. To consider draft budget to set the precept for 2021/2022
a. All Councillors have a copy of the draft budget with details of reserves and the budget control to date with anticipated spending added.
b. Following discussion it was resolved to remove the amount for play area repairs and, should any repairs be required, the money will come out of the play area reserves.
c. A £2000.00 donation needs to be added to the budget for the village sign donation. The siting of the sign can be paid from the contingencies of £1000.
d. With the above amendments it is anticipated that the precept will be £22,000 for 2021/2022, this will be confirmed at the next meeting.
10. Recreation field – any matters
a. The current Government guidelines for play areas is that they should remain open.
b. A leak on the tank in the pavilion has been repaired.
c. No further issues with moles have been reported.
11. Planning applications received
There were no planning applications for this meeting.
12. Planning decisions received from the Borough Council
FULL planning permission has been received for:
B/20/0209 - Mr J Bray - Outline application with all matters reserved for the erection of a dwelling at land adjacent to The Cherries, Church End
The following application has been withdrawn by the applicant:
B/20/0232 - Mr & Mrs Brown - Erection of a two storey detached dwelling with parking, turning and amenity space at land adjacent to Doverhay, Broadgat
13. To report any highways issues:
a. The pothole at Sea Lane has been repaired.
b. The interactive sign is not in use at present, the Chairman will look into this matter.
c. The Gride in Old Leake is in a poor state of repair. County Cllr Skinner reported that finance for the repairs has now been agreed.
14. To consider email from a resident regarding Christmas
a. The email was sent to Councillors prior to the meeting.
b. A second email has been received from the resident, this was read out by the Clerk.
c. Following discussion it was agreed that the suggestions made were acceptable and, provided social distancing was in place, there would be no issues.
d. Cllr Ashton offered to donate a tree for this event.
15. Any other business – matters for next agenda
There were no other matters for the next agenda
16. Date and time of next meeting
The next meeting will be a remote meeting to be held on 01 December 2020 at 7.30pm
There being no other business the meeting closed at 9.00pm