March 2020 Minutes
Notes/Minutes of Osbournby Parish Council Meeting
Held on Wednesday 4th March 2020
Public Forum: No members of the public were present
No Declarations of Interest
88. Apologies: Cllrs Baldwin and North
89. In attendance: Cllrs Jackson (Chair), Baker, Wright, Harvey and Camm. Mrs King (Clerk). County Councillor Andrew Hagues
90. Minutes of Previous Meeting held on 8th January 2020 were agreed. Proposed Cllr Wright, Seconded Cllr Baker.
91. Chairman’s and District Council Report: Cllr Jackson gave the following report:
The Digital Hub continues to be well supported and well attended. Cllr Jackson has been assisting Dunston in setting up a hub with general advice and on the grant application process.
Cllr Jackson has been in contact with Mark Jones from Aswarby Estate regarding some issues in the village, including some flooding issues. Mr Jones will be attending the May meeting.
The Community Speed watch has now begun and 4 sessions over a period of 4 hours 40 minutes, have taken place with a total of 57 vehicles being reported to the police. More volunteers are still required.
The clerk (Mrs King) then left the meeting as a discussion took place regarding her salary/hours.
Cllr Jackson gave his report as District Councillor: The Full Council
Electoral review / Ward Remapping has now taken place. Changes will be made to the Osbournby Ward and Helpringham will now come under Osbournby and will be called Osbournby and Helpringham Ward. This ward will include the following parishes Aswarby and Swarby, Aunsby and Dembleby, Helpringham, Newton and Haceby, Osbournby, Scredington, Silk Willoughby, Swaton and Threekingham.
The NK Financial Plan 2020/21 has been approved at Full Council, capital expenditure programme, treasury management etc., and the Council approved a £4.95 (3.01%) increase in Council Tax for 2020/21.
NK CORPORATE PLAN 2020-23 has responded to the main challenges facing the district, ensuring that the Council, either directly or in partnership with others, uses its resources to define and deliver the priorities and services needed by communities across North Kesteven. The NK Plan provided the Golden Thread for the Council setting the Council’s vision and purpose, through to priorities, the ambitions underpinning each priority, and thereafter through to divisional service plans, team plans, and ultimately the objectives for each individual colleague.
1. That the Corporate Plan for North Kesteven – the NK Plan 2020-23 – be approved.
2. That the structure of the Corporate Plan be further simplified with the current
“objectives” level sitting between “purpose” and “priorities” removed.
3. That the international focus on climate change be reflected throughout the plan
structure, with purpose and priority descriptions reworded accordingly, and ambitions revised where appropriate to reflect this.
4. That the Council retains its five core priorities – Communities, Council, Economy,
Environment and Homes.
5. That the Council:
Introduce the following new ambitions:
a. Create a clear vision of place; celebrating all that the district has to offer
(Our Communities)
b. Promote participation and engagement within our communities to
address local challenges (Our Communities)
c. Ensure our Council is financially resilient (Our Council)
d. Promote the economic opportunities from tackling climate change (Our
Economy)
e. Champion greenhouse gas reduction both within the Council and across
the district (Our Environment)
f. Increase resilience to climate change (Our Environment)
g. Facilitate the provision of community infrastructure to align with housing
growth (Our Homes)
Remove the following existing ambition:
h. Champion sustainability across NK (Our Environment – noting the
replacements above)
Combine the following two ambitions with the Our Homes priority into a single
ambition:
i. Combine Deliver the Local Plan and Increase the supply of housing in NK to
read Deliver the Local Plan, increasing the supply of sustainable housing
Provide greater clarity to the ambitions relating to investment and jobs within the
Our Economy priority, rewording them as:
j. Attract investment to improve physical infrastructure, digital connectivity
and the creation of new jobs, and
k. Support business development in the district and improvement in
productivity
6. That the Council retains its current values – High Performing, Honesty, People
Focused, Professionalism, Teamwork.
92. Clerk’s Report: LCC is changing the Parish Councils’ websites. Cllr Baldwin has agreed to attend the training to be held on Monday 9th March and will then update the existing website.
The Best Kept Village competition will no longer be taking place as funding for this is no longer available. Following the success of last year’s village tidy/clean up days Mrs King asked if they could be undertaken again this year. Mrs King and a parishioner would organise the events. Mrs King asked that the Parish Council pay for the bacon rolls following the events. This was agreed.
The latest register of electors are now available and Mrs King passed to the councillors.
The newsletter was delivered to all households in February.
LALC are holding a free event on 19th March for key services for Parish councils. Various organisations used by Parish Councils will be attending Mrs King to forward information if anybody interested in attending.
Bank Reconciliation: Following payment of tonight’s cheques the bank balance will be £3,379. It is anticipated that the balance at year end will be approximately £2,800. The anticipated income for 2020/21 is £7,750. Cemetery Account stands at £39,957.
93. County Council Report: Cllr Hagues reported that there will be a 3.5% increase in Council Tax – 2% of which will go into supporting Adult Social Care.
Many trees have been felled at Holdingham Roundabout to make way for the new road layout. Changes will also be made at the junction of the A17 slip road onto the A153 by the Rugby ground. Work will start on 6th April and continue until end July.
8,239 children have applied for secondary schools in the county and of those 90.2% got their first choice.
94. Planning Matters: There had been no objections to the planning application at 49 High Street and Mrs King had advised the Planning Department that the Parish Council had no objections.
The application to fell a number of trees at 18 North Street was agreed. Mrs King to inform the Tree Officer that the Parish Council has no objections.
95. Digital Hub Update: Cllr Jackson had covered this in his report.
96. Community Speed Watch: Cllr Jackson had covered this in his report.
97. Future of the Football Field: Cllr Wright informed the meeting that he will no longer be maintaining the football field. This is due to the fact that the football club has ceased. Also the field has been flooded for most of the winter making play impossible, plus a tree came down and destroyed one of the goal posts. Cllr Wright advised that the field will be returned to the Aswarby estate and the buildings will remain on site for the time being. Mr Mark Jones of the estate will be attending the May meeting and hopefully will have more information on the future of the field.
98. The Cowpond Area: The area is now flooded. When discussing the football field with Mr Jones, Cllr Wright had asked about the cowpond area. Mr Jones had advised that the matter of ownership was still being looked into. To be discussed with Mr Jones at the May meeting.
99. Flooding in the Village: There had been some flooding in the village during the recent heavy storms. Cllr Jackson has either been to see or will be visiting some of those affected. There was a discussion regarding the responsibility for clearing the gullies and Cllr Jackson will look into this. Flooding was also reported from the Cowpond area in a garage in Pinfold Close.
100. Overgrown Footpaths: Complaints had been received regarding the brambles and branches on the footpath around the school gate. A resident has recently cleared this and it was agreed that this is an issue as it is the responsibility of LCC but the work is not carried out. Cllr Baker reported that he strims and clears some of the footpaths. It was agreed to ask the grass cutting company to give us a quote for strimming back the nettles etc on these footpaths.
101. Cemetery: Cllr North had asked that she be allowed to remove old flowers from the cemetery. This was agreed.
102. Correspondence: The only correspondence received which had not been discussed was a letter from LIVES thanking the Parish Council for their donation.
103. Donations: No donations had been requested.
104. Payments: The following payments were made tonight:
Cheque No. 830: Osbournby Village Hall: £45.00
Cheque No 831: R. Jackson: £8.38
Cheque No. 832: LALC £147.00
105. Date of next meeting: Wednesday 6th May. This is the Annual meeting.
There being no further business the meeting closed at 8.05 p.m.