2019 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

Notes/Minutes of Osbournby Parish Council meeting

Held on Wednesday 3rd July 2019 in the village hall

Public Forum: No members of the public were present

No Declarations of Interest

23. Apologies: Cllr Baldwin was unable to attend the meeting

24. Present: Cllr Jackson (Chairman), Cllrs Baker, Wright, Camm and North. Mr John Harvey and Mrs King (Clerk). County Councillor Hagues

25. Minutes of the previous meetings, held on 8th May, which had already been circulated were agreed. Proposed Cllr Wright, Seconded Cllr Baker.

26. Co-option of new Councillor: Following the elections in May a vacancy had arisen on the Council. Mr John Harvey, who had previously been a councillor and chairman of the council, was co-opted.

27. Presentation on the Good Neighbourhood Scheme: Samantha Smith from Community Lincs gave a talk to the meeting about the scheme. Cllr Jackson advised that he had an interest in Community Lincs as his wife is CEO. Samantha advised the meeting that Community Lincs is a rural development charity based in Sleaford and is part of a network across England whose aim is to improve life for people in rural areas. Community Lincs have obtained funding from National Lottery Community Fund to set up Good Neighbourhood Schemes across the county. Samantha handed out information regarding the service and explained that they started developing schemes in 2017 and 6 have now been set up. Approximately £1,000 is required to set up a scheme and Samantha advised that she would be able to assist with fund raising the money. This money is needed for mobile phone, IT equipment, publicity, insurance etc. Information on how the scheme would need to be set up was handed out and discussed. Discussion followed on whether villages could be joined together in the scheme and Samantha advised that this is already happening and that Osbournby could join up with another local village. The initial stage is to ascertain whether there is a need for such a scheme in Osbournby and whether there would be volunteers.

Samantha was thanked for attending the meeting and for the information. She then left the meeting.

28. Update on Road Safety Group: Cllr Jackson advised that there are 5 people on the committee and he chairs the meetings and writes the minutes. Work has taken place looking at whether the Community Speed Watch would be viable in Osbournby and Cllr Jackson has spoken to the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership regarding this. North Hykeham has a CSW group and they feel it has been very successful, particularly in reducing the speed of lorries as speed offences are reported to the haulage company. There was also a discussion about gates (on the grass verges) at each entrance to the village. The Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership also supply stickers for waste bins and it was agreed that these would be requested.

Action: Clerk

29. Chairman’s report: Cllr Jackson reported that following a complaint from a resident regarding the flag outside the Whichcote Arms he had asked the landlord to remove it. This has happened and Cllr Russell has thanked the publicans.

Cllr Jackson reported that a window in North Street had been broken by a stone thrown up by the grass cutter. Rick Webster had paid for the cost of replacing the window. On the Village Tidy Day the stones were cleared up and the resident has advised that he will make sure the stones are cleared up.

Cllr Jackson also reported that last year a resident had approached the Parish Council with the idea of starting a youth group. A meeting had been held and information passed on, which appears not to have been received by the resident. Cllr Jackson has made contact with the resident regarding this.

30. Clerk’s Report: Mrs King reported that she had received an email from NKDC regarding the change of bank holiday next May from the Monday to the Friday to correspond with the anniversary of VE Day. A few people have put messages on Facebook regarding street parties etc. The Village Hall Committee have no plans for any this event.

Information from the RAF Benevolent Fund has been received and a notice will be put on the notice board regarding help for ex RAF servicemen.

Community Lincs will be merging with YMCA Lincolnshire. Community Lincs service to Parish Councils will not change.

Bank Reconciliation: Following tonight’s payments the balance will stand at £5,019. The precept of £5,000 has been received and Mrs King has applied for the VAT refund of £934.44. The cemetery account stands at £39,394.51.

31. District Council Report: District Cllr Jackson advised that the Central Lincolnshire Local Plan is being reviewed. He has sent out information to all councillors.

Following the elections in May there are now a mix of Conservative and Independent Councillors so there is a mix of parties on committees.

32. County Council Report: County Councillor Hagues reported that LCC are coordinating an independent investigation into the recent flooding at Wainfleet. There are concerns that the flooding was not just due to the amount of rainfall at that time and LCC and the residents are not happy with the findings of the Environment Agency.

Fire and Ambulance services have now moved into the new building on South Park with the Police moving in the autumn. This is the first tri-station in the country.

Parents in Lincolnshire may be able to apply for up to £120 to help with school uniform costs. Information regarding eligibility is available on the LCC website.

33. Churchyard: Cllr North advised the meeting on an article she had read regarding a bus driver who was seriously injured when a tree fell on his bus and he had been awarded £500,000. The following legal advice given in the article stated that although 3 yearly checks had been carried out on the trees it was ruled that the checks were not regular enough for a high risk area. Cllr North was concerned about two branches which are overhanging the footpath and she feels that they need to be looked at. Inspections are carried out by the Tree Officer at NKDC on a 3 yearly basis and following his report work is carried out as identified. The last work carried out was in November 2018. It was agreed that the overhanging branches would be looked at.

Action: Cllrs Jackson & Harvey

Cllr North also advised the meeting that the she believed that the weeding and clearing of the flower beds leading from the church gates up to the church entrance are done by Mrs Drury but on a voluntary basis. The specification for works to the churchyard does state “keep perennial weeds down as much as possible and weed and keep the front path up to the church tidy”. It was felt that this covered the work discussed but Cllr North said that it was more to do with clearing up the foliage from the spring bulbs that created quite a lot of work . It was agreed that this could be raised when tenders were next due.

34. Planning Matters: No planning matters outstanding.

35. Overgrown tree on the London Road: The tree in question is on the southbound side of the road just before Saddlers Close. Mrs King has been in contact with NKDC who say that the tree is not their responsibility. It is believed that when the three houses in the layby behind the tree were built, the builder planted the tree and it became the responsibility of the owners of the three properties. Mrs King to write to the occupiers regarding this.

Action: Clerk

36. Digital Hub Update: Cllr Jackson reported that there had been a quiet spell but that it does appear to be getting busier. Another volunteer had been recruited.

37. Village tidy Days: All agreed that these had been a big success and that the village is looking very tidy. Two tidy days have been held and a cost of £44.88 had been spent on refreshments for the helpers following the work being carried out. Cllr North asked in particular that Libby King and Judith Thomson were thanked for their work in organising this.

Thanks were also given to Derek North for collecting the waste and to Nina Camm from NKDC for organising the waste collection. General thanks were also given to all those who helped out. It is likely that the next tidy day will be held in September.

38. Financial Regulations and Risk Assessments: Updated financial regulations had been sent out prior to the meeting. All agreed that these should be adopted by the Parish Council along with the Risk Assessments.

39. Donations: No donations had been requested.

40. Payments: The following payments were made tonight:

41. Correspondence: No correspondence had been received which had not already been discussed.

42. Dates of Next Meetings: Wednesday 4th September and Wednesday 6th November.

There being no further business the meeting closed at 8.20 p.m.