September 2020 Minutes
Notes/Minutes of Osbournby Parish Council Meeting
Held on Wednesday 2nd September 2020
Public Forum: No members of the public were present
No Declarations of Interest
11. Apologies: No apologies, all Councillors in attendance
12. In attendance: Cllrs Jackson (Chair), Baker, Wright, Harvey, North, Baldwin and Camm. Mrs King (Clerk).
13. Minutes of Previous Meeting held on 17th May 2020, which had been already circulated,were agreed. Proposed Cllr Wright, Seconded Cllr Baldwin.
14. Chairman’s and District Council Report: Cllr Jackson reported that NKDC has a consultation regarding unitary authorities until 29.9.20. There is likely to be some merging of authorities. There are also proposed changes to planning applications in the pipeline.
15. Cllr Jackson reported that he was struggling to get volunteers from those already trained to undertake the Community Speed Watch programme. No more volunteers had been forthcoming either. Only one speed watch has occurred since restrictions were lifted. A letter had been received from Lincolnshire Police to all speed watch groups. 11,000 drivers across the county had been contacted, with 600 receiving follow up letters. There is a cherry tree on the green which is causing problems for the speed watch as the branches are now very low and make the use of the camera impossible. Cllr Baker had agreed to help with the removal of the branches but as the tree in a conservation area, the Tree Officer at NKDC needed to be notified. Mrs King agreed to contact Mr Clay at NKDC to ask permission.
Clerk’s Report: Mrs King gave an overview of the Parish Council’s financial situation. Since April the Council has received the sum of £8,437.26. These are from the precept, a burial, VAT repayment, transfer from Cemetery Account and a payment from LCC for grass cutting. Following payment of tonight’s cheques the Parish Council account stands at £7,927.35. Mrs King reported that the Council is well within budget. £580.62 has been received from LCC for grass cutting and to date £490 has been paid out (VAT not included as this can be reclaimed). Within the budget was the usual £1,000 for an election which is unlikely to happen and also possible work on the verge outside the village hall. Due to the Corona Virus Mrs King reported that her salary would be lower than usual as there had been less work and less meetings.
Mrs King reported that residents of No 1 London Road have now moved out and work is being undertaken to prepare the property for its new use. The children are likely to move in at the end of the year.
No concerns were raised about the tree works application in the High Street.
Mrs King asked if a date for the village skip could be arranged and it was agreed for Saturday 21st November. Cllrs Wright and Jackson, possibly with help from Mr Baldwin, agreed to man the skip. Mrs King to book skip.
16. Parish Council Website: Cllr Baldwin that the current platform that all Parish Councils use is closing down and there will be a new provider for all Parish Council websites. Cllr Baldwin attended training in February 2020 to look at how to populate information from the existing website to the new one. At the same time a new log in was to be given. Cllr Baldwin has started to have a look at the new website and informed the meeting that it was not possible to just switch the existing information to the new website, everything has to be repopulated. Cllr Baldwin had copies of other local Parish Council websites, which all vary greatly in the amount of information that is included. Agendas, minutes of meetings and financial information must be included but the length of time the information remains live was discussed. Cllr Baldwin has spoken to various government departments regarding the time limits and after discussion it was agreed that all current year information would be available and then 3 years for financial records and 2 years for all other information. It was agreed that it was a Parish Council website and therefore information about non Parish Council events in the village would not be publicised.
17. Digital Hub Update: Cllr Jackson said that since lockdown there had been no digital hub meetings, apart from a couple of virtual meetings. He did not think that they would be started again this year as people do not wish to meet up in small areas.
18. Phone Box: Mrs King reported that the use of the phone box for a library is very popular. However there is evidence of some wood rot at the right hand side of the door which needs to be attended to. Cllr Jackson to ask Mr Corbyn is he would be able to repair this, if not work will need to be undertaken to repair the rot.
19. Dog Poop: Bags of dog poo are still being left laying around in the village. When Mrs Drury was mowing the churchyard grass she came across 3 bags. NKDC have done a competition to get a poster up regarding dog mess, and this information was re-posted on the Osbournby Village Facebook group in an effort to raise awareness. It was agreed that again this would be highlighted in the next newsletter and a poster put up in the notice board. It was acknowledged that Mr Mel Smith of West Street cuts the path and some of the overhanging branches up to the Mickling, and a letter of thanks is to be sent to him.
20. Overgrown Gardens: Cllr Jackson said that he had been approached by the neighbours to an overgrown garden in New Street. It is difficult for the residents to undertake the work themselves. Cllr Jackson has asked whether the Well Being Service could help and is waiting to hear from them.
Mrs King reported that there are a number of trees from peoples’ gardens overhanging the footpaths and asked if she could write to these people asking them to cut the trees and shrubs back. This was agreed. Cllr Wright advised that he had cut the branches back from the footpath leading to the school.
21. Overhanging branches from the Churchyard and Cemetery: Mrs King reported that many of the branches are now too low and had asked P&P French for a quote to undertake a crown lift on these trees. The cost was £150 (+VAT) . This work was approved, proposed Cllr North and seconded Cllr Harvey. It was also agreed to ask P&P French to remove the overhanging dead branch from the churchyard tree.
22. Planning Matters: No planning applications have been received.
23. Update from Aswarby Estate: Despite emails and phone calls no response had been received from Mark Jones regarding the land owned by the Aswarby estate in the village. Mrs King reported that she has still not heard anything regarding the land on the Drove. The football field has now been mown.
24. Payments: The following payments were made tonight:
Cheque No: 848: Alan Drury: £240.00
Cheque No. 849: Streetwise: £84.00
25. Correspondence: A letter from LIVES thanking the Parish Council for their donation of £100.
26. Date of next meeting: Wednesday 4th November 2020 at 7 p.m.
There being no further business the meeting closed at 7.55 p.m.