January 2021 Minutes
NORMANBY-BY-SPITAL PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of meeting held on Tuesday 12 January 2021
via Zoom starting at 1930 hrs
Present: Cllrs R Bellamy (Chair), D Barton-Smith (Vice Chair), A Hanson, T Firth, J Goodchild
In attendance: 8 members of the public, N Fox (Clerk) and District Cllr J Summers
4 members of the public spoke
The meeting opened at 1942 hrs.
1. Apologies for absence: Cllr J Fox and the police
2. Minutes of meeting held on 17th November 2020: Having been circulated to all Cllrs, Cllr T Frith challenged items 7,10 and 14. After all had agreed to re-word the minutes, they were proposed and seconded by Cllr A Hanson and Cllr T Firth and approved by all.
3. District Councillor’s report: DC J Summers explained the new WLDC terminal at Caenby Corner which covers facilities staff working at Market Rasen and Gainsborough and will also store equipment in a safe and secure environment. The officers and Councillors are working hard during the pandemic. The new Crematorium in Gainsborough is now up and running and is showing a profit.
4. County Councillor’s report: No report due to absence
5. Police Report: A report had been received and circulated to all Councillors.
6. Highways:
I. the potholes along Private Lane, by the church, Highgate Lane and the bottom of Normanby Cliff which is subsiding.
II. Highgate Lane, no news about the new entrance. There is a big drop off where verges meet the road.
III. Chapel Lodge Drive needs some repairs and two streetlights are out.
IV. The Clerk to ask Highways if there is any way to slow traffic down in the village – especially the road in from Glentham and Private Lane.
V. The “Caenby” road sign at the end of Normanby Cliff needs replacing.
7. Finance:
Description
Home Call Computer Services £75.00
WLDC waste bins Community Park (1 ) £360.00
Donation to LALC (2) £50.00
Green Grass (Cemetery grass cutting) £92.52
Nigel Heather (Community Park grass Cutting (3) £410.00
Total Spend £987.52
Explanatory Notes:
1. WLDC waste bins: £100 from anonymous donor, £160 from NPC, £100 from CPC. £60 can be VAT reclaimed.
2. Donation to LALC: This is towards the help received for setting up the new website. Cllr T Firth does not agree with this but will go along with it. Cllr John Fox was thanked for all his work and dedication to setting up and maintaining the Council website.
3. Nigel Heather: OPC to pay half.
Bank balance as at 21st December £4,814.66
The above payments were proposed and seconded by Cllr A Hanson and Cllr J Goodchild.
All agreed.
8. Precept to include election costs: Final amount – proposed and seconded by Cllr A Hanson and Cllr D Barton-Smith that the estimated amount of £5,748 be submitted for the final amount. All agreed.
9. Office equipment: Agreed to delay any purchases until lockdown has eased.
10. Planning Applications:
141803, 2 Appleyard Farm, Beckside – Lawful development certificate to erect single storey extension PERMISSION REFUSED
142159, Penny Cottage, Front Street – proposed side extension – No objection from this PC.
142173, Land off Front Street – proposed single storey dwelling with access – No objection from this PC.
11. Single Neighbourhood Plan: Re-take vote. Due to an incorrect decision of the vote taken on 17th November 2020, the vote was retaken. 4 in favour and 1 abstention. Resolved to go forward with a Single Neighbour Plan, starting off with a survey to see what Normanby residents want and to try to unite the villagers and forget what has gone on in the past. Cllr J Goodchild will be heading this up with the help of Cllr A Hanson and some villagers.
12. New website: The Clerk was confused by comments, made by a member of the public, about the website not being up to date when it only went live at the beginning of 2021. Cllr T Firth made some suggestions to enhance our website and to ask the villagers for any comments. Agreed certain items should be added. There is no strategy for taking the website forward, but hopefully the survey will let us know more of what the villagers want. Cllr T Firth agreed to come up with some ideas and circulate them to all other Councillors.
13. Cemetery-repairing footpath: Noted the latest invoice received from OPC is not the one NPC agreed to. It states that the excess soil will be removed yet there are two piles of earth in the hedge bottom and a large area has been spread with the soil. Concerns were raised that the path might not be stable in the long term, but we are still obliged to pay our half, but express our disapproval. Clerk requested to wait until OPC has said what amount they require from NPC as OPC has not confirmed this.
14. Community Park: new waste bins: 2 waste bins and one dog waste bin in position. They will be emptied every week. More information under item 7 Finance.
Paused for 2 minutes for Clerk to get some water.
Agreed Cllr A Hanson – the Council’s representative on the CPC – to ask that they contribute to one waste bin in the park. A request from some villagers wanting swings in the Community Park. Agreed to request the CPC consider the and move forward with purchasing swings for the park. Cllr T Firth said this was on their wish list, but fundraising has been difficult during the pandemic. Cllr A Hanson pointed out that the ‘wish list’ had not been shared, by the CPC, with her as the Councils representative on the committee. A suggestion regarding the purchase of a second-hand marquee seen on eBay had been put forward, but no idea of what the final bidding would go to – it was noted that no maximum price had been mentioned, it could not be viewed before buying, concerns around who would collect it and the problem of where to store it to keep safe and dry. There has been now risk assessment done regarding this matter and no consideration given to what insurance would be required. The Council does not endorse the purchase Cllr A Hanson agreed to inform the CPC of the decision. The latest accounts were received too late for this meeting; however, they will be discussed at the next meeting. A meeting with the NPC, OPC and the CPC should be held soon to discuss the CPCs mandate and ratify members.
15. Dispenser for dog poo bags: The waiver sent to the owners of a property who had suggested the bin be attached to their garage wall was not acceptable to them, but the Council’s insurance would not cover any damage to their wall, so it was agreed an alternative siting be investigated. Cllr T Firth and Cllr A Hanson agreed to deal with this.
16. Newsletter: Cllr T Firth suggested a biannual newsletter be produced – May/June and November/December. All agreed this would be a good idea.
17. Normanby Education Charity: The Clerk reported that the Council must approve a Nominated Trustee and due to the term of office has expired for one Trustee, nominations are required and sent to the Council are required. Two nominations have already received. A notice is on the website and on the notice boards. There is a deadline date of 1st March.
18. Token of appreciation for Ken’s work: A bench has been agreed on and once the words on a plaque have been decided, the bench can be ordered. Cllr T Firth thought a tree would also be a good idea. Cllr D Barton-Smith proposed, and Cllr J Goodchild seconded, and all agreed to the purchase of a tree.
19. Neighbourhood Watch Scheme: While this was thought a good idea in principle, there needs to be a Police presence and there is a lot to organise and a lot of detail needed. There was/is a NW already in place, set up by Welton Police, but since the co-coordinators are no longer with us, it has fallen by the wayside. There is a Lincolnshire Police Crime Site on-line that people can engage with. It was agreed that this item be kept on the agenda for the next meeting. Cllr T Firth to investigate this matter further and present her findings at the next meeting.
20. Correspondence received up to 12/01/21: Cllr A Hanson declared a non-pecuniary interest.
A letter from Private Lane Property Company asking for the Council to obtain a map of the sewers along Private Lane. Cllr T Firth mentioned that when they were dealing with the Joint Neighbourhood Plan a map had been acquired and is being held by a villager.
Cllr T Firth mentioned a letter from a resident complaining about the Clerk and the running of the Council meeting had not been sent on to her and she was not involved in the panel dealing with complaints. The Chair was dealing with the letter under the Councils Complaints Procedure and in doing so had appointed a panel to deal with it. This is to be discussed in the closed session.
21. Date of next meeting: Tuesday 9 March 2021, to be held virtually.
There being no further business to discuss the Chair closed the meeting at 2141 hrs.
The Council then went into a closed session.