November 2021 Minutes

Normanby Parish Council Meeting 8th November 7.30pm

Bottle and Glass, Normanby By Spital

 

Normanby By Spital Parish Council met on 8th November 2021 in the Bottle And Glass at 7.30pm.

Chaired by Cllr Widdison as Acting Chair. Present : Cllrs Creek, Elliott, Firth and Moulson. Also 

Present – Temporary Clerk and eight members of the public. 

1. Recording of Meeting
a. Meeting commenced with a question regarding recording of the meeting. The meeting was recorded by a member of the public. 

2. Apologies for Absence
a. No apologies for absence

3. New Councillors
a. Acceptance forms received.
b. New councillors were welcomed to the council. Cllr Ruth Elliot and Cllr John Moulson
who took their positions following an uncontested election. 

4. Declarations of Interest - None declared

5. Formal note of resignation of the former Cllr Angela Hanson as Chair and Councillor as at
15th October. 

6. Formal note of the following resignations as councillors
a. Cllr Tony Watson - 24 Sept 2021
b. Cllr John Goodchild - 1 Oct 2021
c. Cllr David Barton Smith, who was also Vice Chair – 11 Oct 2021

7. Due to the resignation of Cllr Hanson there was a requirement to have an election for a new 
Chair.
a. Nomination - Cllr Widdison – nominated by Cllr Firth who indicated reasons why she 
felt he was suitable for the role. Citing experience, an interest in the village. She felt 
he was invested in change for the better and is well placed to take the new council 
forward. Seconded by Cllr Creek and all were in favour. Cllr Widdison accepted and 
he immediately took the role as Chair. 

8. Due to the resignation of Cllr Barton Smith there was a requirement to have an election for a 
new Vice Chair. 
a. Nomination – Cllr Firth was proposed by Cllr Creek and seconded by Cllr Widdison. 
Cllr Firth accepted the role and indicated that she looked forward to taking the 
council forward in a more positive direction. All were in favour and Cllr Firth 
accepted the role

9. Open to public

a. Question 1
i. Question - A member of the public spoke about the excitement of new 
beginnings. He indicated there was a lot of work to be done but hopes that 
the new council will be open to discussion and have a willingness to engage 
with not only Normanby but also the wider community for the benefit of the 
parish. He asked “What are the plans for this council for working towards 
working together with this community and the wider community of Owmby 
and beyond?”.
ii. Chairs Response The Chair indicated that he will work within guidelines and 
the laws. Community is the heart of the village and the council must do it’s 
best to work with what it has. The Chair knows the Chair and Clerk of 
Owmby PC and sees no reason why they can’t work together in the best 
interest of both communities. There is a desire to work with Owmby to iron 
out any issues amicably. He is also keen to work with WLDC who have been 
very helpful and supportive over the last few weeks since he was elected 
and the new council started to form. 
iii. Vice Chair Response– The Vice Chair indicated that the new council will be 
looking to outline what our objectives are and will work with Owmby Parish 
Council, WLDC and the local community. She reiterated that there should be 
no concerns that the Chair is a resident of Owmby. We are all here to work 
together. 
iv. Resident response – The resident indicated that this was “music to our 
ears”. Openness and transparency is welcome and it is the first time a 
question has been answered on the evening it was asked. 

b. Question 2
i. Question I am delighted that we have 5 councillors but what happens next 
as there are still two vacancies to be filled?
ii. Chairs Response A Notice of Election received today – There have been 2 
elections called – one for Cllr Hanson’s seat and one for Cllr Barton Smith’s.
Conversations have taken place with WLDC Electorate team and they have 
agreed to run as one election to save Normanby PC costs. For the previous 
election Polling cards had been requested by the previous chair at the cost 
of over £200. The request has been intercepted by the WLDC Electorate 
Team as there was no requirement for them. The election they were for was 
uncontested.
iii. If more than 2 candidate put themselves forward for election it will be held 
on 23rd December at Normanby By Spital school. 
iv. Resident stated that we are all going to end up paying for this as our council 
tax will have to increase to cover the precept requirements.

c. Question 3
i. Question - Can the council challenge the former council over the costs of the 
election?
ii. Chairs Response - No, as WLDC have to respond to any 10 residents 
requesting an election. 

d. Question 4
i. Question – Can the council please address the state of Normanby Cliff Road 
where it meets Caenby Lane? Can pressure be put on Highways to resolve 
it? The Caenby Lane sign was also taken away and never replaced. 
ii. Chairs Response - It is on the list of things to report. Cllr Widdison has been 
making observations and this is one of the issues to be addressed. There will 
be an audit of all such issues within the Parish and these will all be reported 
through the relevant channels.

e. Question 4
i. The Chair of the CPC indicated that he was looking forward to working with 
Normanby Parish Council
No further questions from the public. 

10. Cemetery\Burial Register

a. The cemetery is a shared asset with Owmby Parish Council. A volunteer was sought 
to work with the Clerk of Owmby PC to ensure the smooth running of the registers. 
i. Cllr Elliott volunteered and was proposed by Cllr Widdison, Seconded by Cllr 
Firth. All were in favour. 

11. Minutes of EOM 3 August 2021

a. Cllr Firth and Creek have gone through the minutes as the remaining councillors 
were not in attendance. The minutes have been assessed for accuracy. There were 
many errors and factual items that needed amending. Approximately 50 
amendments have been made. It is now an accurate record of the meeting which 
will be put on the web site once access has been obtained and the necessary 
training received. 

12. Matters arising

a. The minutes for the meetings on 13 July 2021 have not been approved. Two 
meetings were held. 
i. Annual Parish Meeting – these minutes will be approved at the next Annual 
Parish Meeting.
ii. Parish Council Meeting – these minutes should be approved once assessed 
at the next available meeting. 
b. In the EOM 3rd August a member of the public indicated that the TOR for the CPC on 
the web site were not the correct version. These need to be corrected. 
c. Normanby PC will check and update once access is achieved. 
d. Partnership Agreement – This was an Agenda item from the EOM which hasn’t been 
completed so will be moved to the next meeting for further discussion. 

13. Finances

a. Bank Account update.

i. Current signatories are previous councillors who have resigned. They have 
not made the bank aware that they are no longer in office. In normal 
circumstances it requires a letter from those signatories to change the 
details. Under the circumstances following discussion with the bank they 
have agreed that minutes of a formal meeting indicating the resignation will 
allow the changing of details. 

ii. It was resolved that new signatories should be Cllrs Widdison, Firth and Elliott with Cllr Moulson as a further spare. 

b. Defib Update

i. Following the deployment of the defibrillator in 28th Sept 2021 it was 
handed over to Cllr Firth from the previous chair on 26th Oct in an unusable
condition. Cllr Widdison contacted WLDC who gave NPC the option for a 
contract to cover the Defib for maintenance and replacement while being 
recommissioned. Cllr Widdison consulted with LALC who indicated that NPC 
could take out the contract outside a meeting. Cllr Widdison then spoke to 
WLDC who straight away provided replacement equipment. 
Resolved to pay the invoice of £34.72 + VAT to provide cover to the end of 
the year.

c. Insurance Share

i. The increase of assets on the community park has resulted in an increase to 
the insurance cost of which Owmby PC has requested a contribution.
ii. Resolved to pay the invoice of £31

d. Play Safe share

i. Community park equipment is checked each year to ensure serviceability 
and safety. The invoice is split between Owmby PC and Normanby PC
ii. Resolved to pay the invoice for the ROSPA safety check. £31.10

14. CPC Request for release of funds

a. CPC request for funds to stabilise the benches in line with the ROSPA report. 
i. £238 – resolved to release funds for materials. Labour and tolls provided by 
volunteers. 

b. CPC request for funds for events leading up to Christmas

i. Craft Fayre
ii. Christmas Raffle
iii. Living Advent Calendar
iv. Christmas Jumper Walk
Resolved to release a sum of £365 from the CPC Account to put the events 
on to enable funds to be raised. 


15. Grass Cutting

a. All Cllrs received the specification put together by OPC. This will be discussed further 
at the December meeting 
b. Suggestion to get quote for laying the hedge. 

16. Date and Venue of the next meeting. 

a. Tuesday 7th December. – In the Bottle and Glass. 
b. Looking toward 2022 with a view to alternate months throughout the year. 
Consideration to be given to OPC and CPC to ensure requests can be met where 
council approval is required. 


Public asked to leave at 20:15


17. Closed Session


Closed session ended at 20:4