Minutes of meeting on 7 November 2022
Witham on the Hill Parish Council
Minutes of the Meeting of Witham on the Hill Parish Council (Min 22-04) 7 November 2022 at 7.00 p.m. held at St Andrews Village Hall. Witham on the Hill
Present: Councillors: Charles Henriques (Presiding), Paul Smith, and Sue Pennant Jones
Residents: Duncan Brock
Others: Bernard Champness – Clerk, County Cllr Charlotte Vernon and Simon Thompson
Open Forum
Simon Thompson wanted to address the meeting about his intentions to apply for planning permission to build a house on land between Witham Grange and Cleeve Acre in Bottom Street. He had already approached South Kesteven District Council and they suggested he consult locally. So he had contacted local residents who may be affected wanted to show his outline proposals to the meeting. He was able to produce drawings showing details of where the building was going to be. He was advised that the Council could not make any comments until the formal application had been lodged and meantime there was no objection to the Clerk putting the drawings in the noticeboard
The meeting was formally opened at 19.06
54. Apologies for absence, acceptance of Apologies
No apologies were received as all Councillors were present.
55. 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
No one declared an interest in any matter that was on the agenda.
56. Minutes of the last meeting held on the 5 September 2022 (22-03)
Resolved: That the minutes of the 5 September 2022 were signed by the Chair as a correct record.
57. Matters to Report
The Clerk wanted to explain that after the Queen died LCC had sent a notice to all Parish Councils suggesting it was placed on their websites. If in difficulties we could contact Peter Langford who should be able to help. He was approached along with a contact at LCC, without success. It later transpired, the LCC contact was unavailable, on holiday and apologised on her return. The Clerk had attempted to put the notice up himself but was unable to.
Cllr Henriques reported he had organised a wreath, to be laid on Remembrance Day. Cllr Smith said that he would be unable to attend the service this year so Cllr Henriques said that he would attend to lay the wreath
58. To Co-opt 2 (two) Councillors
Duncan Brock was present and confirmed his willingness to be co-opted onto the Council. The Clerk asked him the statutory questions to which he replied that he was not an undischarged Bankrupt, and he did not have a criminal record. It was resolved that he be co-opted onto the Council. The Clerk asked him to sign the Declaration of Acceptance of Office which he did, and which was duly witnessed by the Clerk. He was also handed the Code of Conduct and the Declaration of Members Interest form and was asked to complete it and return it within 28 days. He was then asked to take his place at the table.
59. To receive a report from the County and District Councillors.
County Cllr Charlotte Vernon was in attendance and was able to report the following:
- Cost of Living. Help is available from the Council and other organisations for residents struggling with the cost of living. LCC had a large section on their website with some really useful links about free school meals, financial support for carers and similar issues.
- Lincolnshire has been awarded £5.46 million from the new Household Support Fund. They would be working with South Kesteven District Council to identify and agree the most appropriate methods for distributing this grant.
- Fix My Street is working, and everyone is encouraged to use the App.
- Avian Flu. Unfortunately, there are now positive cases in Lincolnshire and everyone who keeps birds commercially or at home must now keep them inside. The risk to public health was very low but people are being advised not to pick up or touch dead birds.
- Now that the clocks have gone back there might be a problem with the streetlights timing for a short period. If any problems persist this should be reported on Fix my Street.
- There was no up to date news on the Mallard Pass Solar Farm as the case had been sent to the Secretary of State for a final decision
- It was thought that there might be a problem with the election in 2023 due to the coronation of King Charles III but as the 8 May 2023 will be a Bank Holiday the election can still proceed.
Cllr Vernon was asked to keep the Council informed about what measures LCC intends to take as it is now very difficult to make contact with anyone by telephone and not everyone is able to/has access to email
District Cllr Penny Robins was not present and sent her report as follows:
- SKDC are still awaiting Government approval for £3.9 million allocated to SKDC from the UK shared prosperity fund. The money has been allocated in support of the Governments levelling up commitment aimed at 3 priorities: Communities and place, supporting local business, people and skills.
- SKDC has a tenancy support service, they are happy to contact the tenant by phone or do a home visit to help tenants who need help with funding grants and any issues they are facing. Please contact the Housing Department at SKDC.
- We continue to conduct home inspections as part of our involvement with the homes for Ukraine programme and have now completed 159 visits with a further 7 appointments booked. Meanwhile, updated UK Government Guidance can be found at: www.gov.uk/register-interest-homes-ukraine
- Debate still continues regarding Deepings Leisure Centre. I am afraid I can’t update you with this at present. Dialog over our grounds maintenance (how we can get the best value for our residents) is currently underway.
- Mallard Pass Update They have not logged an application yet, still at the technical consultation phase. Once the application is logged in the New Year the Parish will be able to put points forward.
District matters
As you are probably aware Witham on the Hill came 3rd in the Best Kept Village competition. SKDC have passed on a certificate for me to give to you to hang proudly in the village hall
60. Clerks Report and Correspondence received.
The Clerk had circulated in advance notice of the various e-mails received since the last meeting. If anyone wanted to see any e-mails they should let him know and he would send it on.
61. Planning Applications to Approve:
There were no planning applications to consider at the time that the agenda was posted. Since then, a planning application has been received S22/2110Proposal: T1 elm tree remove due to being dead T2 ash remove due to being very decayed at the main union and just had a large section fail T3 ash reduce by 50% due to being overextended at Meadowside, Bottom Street, Witham On The Hill, Respond by 16 November 2022.
The Clerk explained that if anyone thought that the plan was in any way contentious then we would have to call a special meeting. If, however the matter could be discussed then they would have to give him delegated authority to respond. It was agreed that the plan would be considered this evening. Resolved that we have no objection
Planning Applications approved: - there were no to note
Planning Applications refused: there were none to note
62 To consider the draft budget for 2023-24 and to agree a Precept for that year
A draft budget had been prepared and circulated in advance for Councillors to consider in detail. The Clerk explained that he had now received an email from South Kesteven District Council regarding the Precept together with a spreadsheet which calculated the cost to a Band D property. He had put in the details of the suggested Precept, and this calculated that there would be an increase of 1.30% which showed that this year the cost was £31.77 and next year this would increase to £32.18 an increase of £0.41p. The budget was then considered and discussed, and it was resolved that the Precept for 2023-24 would be set at £3,195.00
63. To receive any data from the reactive sign
No further data had been downloaded but from the last report it seemed that instances of speeding are very limited
64. To discuss the South Kesteven District Council - Local Development Scheme 2022-25
The Clerk explained that he had put this on the agenda as if there was anything to discuss we could if we wanted make comments. He had since gone through the papers sent and it appeared that no comments were required from us as the scheme was really a timetable for developers and other organisations to submit details so that they could all be considered when the Local Plan was next being updated.
65. To discuss the South Kesteven District Council Cost of Living – Warm space initiative.
Details of this scheme were circulated in advance. The Clerk explained this appeared to be very similar to what Cllr Vernon had spoken about in her report. He had put this on the agenda as he wondered if any Councillors were aware of any residents likely to be in need of such help and assistance. No one knew of anyone in particular but if the Clerk included the link to the South Kesteven District Council website then this information might get to the right people. The link is http://www.southkesteven.gov.uk/costofliving
66.To discuss ways of spending the prize money of £200 from the Best Kept Village Competition.
No-one was available to attend the presentation of the award for gaining 3rd Place in the Best Kept Village Competition, but the Clerk had received the £200 prize. It was thought that in the Spring consideration could be given to planting flowers at the Stocks next to the Bywells. The Clerk was asked to include an item on the May 2023 agenda for this to be discussed.
67. To discuss whether we wish to use the logo from the Civility and Respect Pledge on our correspondence and on the website.
Details of this information had been circulated. It was agreed that if the Clerk could put the logo on our website he should do so
68 To confirm Expenditure
£300.12 - B M Champness (salary for October, November and December)
£ 75.00 - HMRC (PAYE & NI)
[ ]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 - £
It was resolved that the above payment be made.
69. Any other business – Reminder – by law no decision can be made under this item only information exchanged.
There being no other business the meeting was formally closed at 20.11
35. The date of the next meeting – to be held on Monday 9 January 2023 at 7.00 p.m. at St Andrew’s Parish Hall, Witham on the Hill