July 2020 Minutes
MIN 20-02
Witham on the Hill Parish Council
Minutes of the Meeting of Witham on the Hill Parish Council (Min 20-02) 13th July 2020 at 7.00 p.m. held remotely by video link
Present:
Councillors: Charles Henriques, Andrew Greenwood, Janet Kirkwood, and Lynne O’Hara
Others: Bernard Champness – Clerk, Cllr B Adams
Open Forum
There were no residents present and the meeting was opened at 19.02 The meeting was being held remotely by Video Link using Zoom.
21. Apologies for absence, acceptance of Apologies
21.1 No apologies were received although Sue Pennant-Jones was not present and had not sent her apologies.
22. Declaration of Interest – To receive Declarations of Disclosable Pecuniary and Other Interests, as set out in Chapter 7 of the Localism Act 2011 and the nature of those interests relating to any Agenda item
22.1 No one declared an interest in any matter that was on the agenda.
23. Minutes of the last meeting held on the 18th May 2020 (20.01)
23.1 Resolved: That the minutes of the 18th May 2020 were signed by the Chair as a correct record as soon as conveniently possible.
24. Matters to Report
24.1 Cllr Kirkwood explained that she had been in touch with Countryside Access about the problems with a number of footpaths in the village. She had received a reply a copy of which is below:
Public Footpath No. 1
This runs from the stile east of St Andrews church across the field to the stile at the stream in
Bottom Street.
The two stiles are partially blocked off preventing dogs getting through. If the landowner chooses to block these he can only be asked for access for dogs. Discussions with the landowner are to take place.
Public Footpath No 8 and 9
The stile in Bottom Street is too narrow to be convenient for users. Discussions will take place with the land owner. Again dog access does not have to be given.
The hedge running to the side of Cleve Acre has been cut back by the owner.
Bridleway No 4
The landowner for the Sands will be asked to cut this through.
Public Footpath No 6
This starts along the main road west of the village and heads towards Lings Farm.
The signpost has been knocked down. This did have a map showing the route on it. A work order has been raised to replace the sign and map. The sign is still up at Lings Farm and this also has a map showing the route.
Cllr Kirkwood would send the e-mail to the Clerk as it was felt that the information should go into the Three Towers magazine and the closing date for articles was the 20th July
24.2 Cllr Greenwood said that dog fouling was still a problem and it had got worse since the last meeting. The Clerk was to contact the Dog Warden to see if there was anything that could be done.
24.3 Cllr Greenwood expressed disappointment that no Parish Council minutes had appeared in the “Three Towers” magazine since May 2019. He also pointed out the website was not up to date. The Clerk explained that the dates of the meetings and the names of the Councillors was up to date as was the advertisement regarding the audit. He explained that he was reluctant to put up details the agenda and minutes as the present website was going to be obsolete shortly as LCC were in the process of upgrading the websites and you could not transfer date from the old site to the new one.,
25. To receive a report from the County and District Councillors.
25.1 Cllr Bob Adams was able to report the following.
- In so far as the County was concerned there was a great deal of pressure financially due to Covid19 but it was hoped that lessons could be learned and improved on if we had a similar problem in the future. At the moment it was thought that there would be a considerable deficit at the end of the year but there were sufficient reserves available
- Regarding the County the Community Hub was working well. Grants were being applied for funding from the Government to improve the High Street in Grantham. The income from Rates was positive and rent from Council tenants was standing up well
- The new Highways Contractors were working well but he has heard of complaints that, despite him reporting that when potholes were repaired they would look 20 yards each side of the pothole and repair any in that area, they had not been doing this. There were two gangs of workmen, one being the contractor Belfour Beatty and the other was the South Kesteven District Council Community Works Gang. If works were not being carried out to the full extent then the gang should be asked who they were from and then the matter could be taken up by Cllr Adams, to address any shortcomings
- In view of the fact that Cllr Benn had now resigned from the District Council there would not be an election until May 2021. In the meantime, Cllr Adams would shoulder the additional workload for the Ward, as best he could
- The matter of devolution was still being discussed by Government and both local MP’s were trying to ascertain what was happening and if there was any benefit, despite previous lack of local support for such a proposal
26. Clerks Report and Correspondence received.
26.1 The Clerk had circulated a list of e-mails/correspondence. Included was a letter from a resident which stated Would it be possible for all houses on Main Street to be numbered, and perhaps Bottom Street too? It is a common occurrence to be stopped by a delivery driver to ask directions to a certain house; and often if no one is about they give up and take the parcel away again. I know people like their house names, but they can still be retained. It would make life easier for lots of people if this could be done
It was agreed that this suggestion would not make any difference to the issue of identifying individual addresses. \recently a map of the village has been prepared very kindly by a resident, which was in the Parish Hall noticeboard and anyone asking for directions to a property should be directed to that map, The Clerk was to respond to the resident accordingly
He had received, in his capacity as Clerk at Thurlby an e-mail from NALC stating that despite the relaxation of the rules in regard to the present pandemic they were advising Parish Councils to continue to meet remotely until such time they advised that it was safe once again to meet.
27. Planning applications:
27.1 S20/0987 - Two storey extension to the existing barn (revised scheme of SO8/LB/7038 and SO8/0987) at Palace Farm, Main Street. Response by 21st July 2020. Resolved: no comments.
28. To receive an update on the A6121 crossroads
28.1 Cllr Adams explained that this matter had not been overlooked but because of the pandemic the resources were being diverted to other projects. Once matters had improved he would once again chase up the work to be done.
29. To receive a report on the Stocks and Bywells.
29.1 There was nothing further to add from the last meeting. However, a resident Lisa Lord had arranged a group of people to help her cleaning up the Bywells, the Stocks and the Green and had done a superb job. It was agreed the Parish Council should record their appreciation for her efforts and the show of community spirit in the minutes
29.2 Cllr O’Hara said that she felt that despite South Kesteven District Council disclaiming ownership of the Listed Stocks we should write to them saying that they did not belong to the Parish either could they provide guidance on who is responsible for any public liability issues which might arise.
30. To discuss the matter of a defibrillator for the village
30.1 The Clerk explained that in the list of correspondence was an e-mail about getting a grant of £200 towards a defibrillator but in his opinion it was not going to be enough to purchase one as a considerable further amount of money was required. He was asked ti find out the cost of a new one and to forward that information on.
31. To receive an update on the purchase of the temporary speed notices from the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership
31.1 A resident had asked for clarification on what is being done with the proposed purchase of speed notices which had been on an agenda earlier in the year. It was pointed out that the matter had come to a halt due to the recent pandemic. The consent of the Road Safety Partnership was required as they needed to approve the sites that had been selected.
Apparently members of the Road Safety Partnership had been deployed in other departments in the County Council until such time staffing returns to normal. It was noted that two unauthorised signs appear to have been erected in the meantime. A response would be prepared by the Clerk and pointing out that these signs may need to be removed in due course.
32. To confirm Expenditure –
[ ]denotes those payments paid between meetings, which have been approved by the Chairperson and Vice Chairperson of the Parish Council or at a previous meeting but not listed Payments made by Direct Debit - £
32 1 There were no payments to approve
33. Any other business – Reminder – by law no decision can be made under this item only information exchanged.
33.1 There being no other business the meeting was formally closed at 19.37
34. The date of the next meeting – to be held on Monday 14th September 2020 or on a date to be agreed at 7.00 p.m. at St Andrew’s Parish Hall, Witham on the Hill or to be held remotely