January 2021 Minutes
Digby Parish Council
Notes from the virtual meeting, via zoom, of Digby Parish Council, held on 20th Jan 2021 at 7pm
PRESENT - James Bourne, Chairman(JB); Gerald Garton(GG); Colin Harvey(CH); Karen Groves(KG) and Amanda Redsell(AR)
In attendance: Angie McDonald, Clerk and Proper Officer.
Public Forum
No members of the public joined the meeting.
District & County Councillors' Matters
Reports have been submitted from both councils throughout the month and forwarded to the parish councillors.
Police.
No report received from the local PCSO
It was RESOLVED to continue with the meeting.
1. Chairman's Opening Remarks (21/001)
a) The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.
2. Apologies. (21/002)
a) Apologies were received from TB due to other commitments, this was accepted.
3. Declarations of Pecuniary Interest & Applications of Dispensation (21/003)
a) There were no declarations of interest.
4. Signing of the Minutes (21/004)
a) It was proposed by GG, seconded by CH and RESOLVED to accept the notes of the Parish Council meeting held on Wednesday 16th Dec 2020 as a true and accurate record of that meeting.
5. Planning Matters (21/005)
a) Planning Applications Received
21/0008/HOUS Springwell Cottage, 22 Beck Street - Proposed first floor extension to rear
This application only arrived on the day of the meeting. It was agreed the councillors would forward their comments to the Clerk once they had viewed the application.
b) Decision Notices
20/0528/Ful Bloxholm Farm, Bloxholm Lane - Construction of Agricultural dwelling - Approved by NKDC
20/1450/Ful Land off North Street - Erection of a dwelling - Approved by NKDC
6. General Parish Matters (21/006)
a) 'Happy to Chat' Bench and Harrowby Close Bench
JB confirmed the builders have the location plan for the siting of the Happy to Chat bench and as soon as the weather improves it will be installed. Also Mr Bowring has agreed to install the Harrowby Close bench. This will also be completed once the weather improves
b) Bus Shelter and Cleaning the Glass of the Shelter.
After the last meeting the quote for the replacement glass and fitting of £276.00 +VAT was received. All councillors agreed that the work go ahead. The glass is due to arrive with the company tomorrow and should be fitted within the following week.
GG has obtained a price of £50.00 to have all the glass of the shelter cleaned inside and out, including the roof. After some discussion it proposed by JB, seconded by CH this should take place once the new glass has been fitted.
19.15hrs County Councillor Rob Kendrick (RK) joined the meeting. He reported the Highways maintenance gang will be in the vicinity from March and any routine work should be booked in. JB asked if they could clean the bus shelter. RK agreed to enquire. The previously agreed cleaning will be held until we hear from RK.
RK also stated that road repairs to the road from Ashby to Digby are scheduled and LCC are on target to completing the street light conversion to LEDs. They are on 3 years of the 6 six year plan and have converted half of the lighting in the county so far.
7. Highways (21/007)
a) GG reported a pothole 4" deep between the railway bridge and allotment field, the Clerk will report to fix my street.
8. The Village Hall (21/008)
a) The minutes from the latest meeting of the committee had been distributed prior to the meeting. There were no comments.
b) Surface of the Car Park.
It has been confirmed the car park area is the responsibility of the Village Hall Committee. At their last meeting it was agreed they will be looking into how the surface could be improved. The Chairman of the committee has asked if the council would be prepared to offer financial assitance. It was agreed the council would consider any scheme they propose and could then make a decision based on the budget restraints.
9. Drainage (21/009)
a) Update on the work needed on Greendykes and to discuss any response received from Environment Agency (EA).
JB confirmed Mr Robinson would carry out hand strimming the Greendyke at £15 per hour. It was agreed JB would obtain a price for the completing the task.
There has been no response from EA.
10. Playing Field, Play Areas and Village General (21/010)
a) Playing Field Inspection
GG will be carrying out the inspection and will forward the report to the Clerk
b) Additional Equipment for the Playing Field
Due to reintroduction of the Covid19 lockdown it was agreed to hold any further planning of the improvemnts to the play equipment until March.
11. Allotments (21/011)
a) No meeting has been held so there is no report from the Allotment Committee.
12. Finance (21/012)
a) Bank Balances and Approval of Bank Reconciliation
The bank balances were reported as:-
PC General Account £18399.02
Allotment Account £5675.61
Mary Gresswell Trust £ 5.45
The Clerk forwarded copies of the bank statements and bank reconciliation to the councillors prior to the meeting. The bank reconciliation was approved.
b) Income Received. Western Power wayleave £8.31
c) Approval of Payments
It was proposed by GG, seconde by CH and RESOLVED the following payments be made.
Salaries/Expenses £591.40
LALC £50.00
Sutcliffe Play £399.70 - This invoice was agreed to be held until the swing seats have been delivered.
d) Precept for 2021/22
The Clerk confirmed the request for the precept had been emailed to NKDC and a hard copy was also sent.
e) Report from Internal Auditor.
The Internal Audit was completed on 20th Dec. There were no issues. A copy of the report was sent to the councillors and will be put on the website.
13. Correspondence (21/013)
a) LALC Newsletter - Distributed to all councillors
b) NKDC Newsletter - Distributed to all councillors
c) County Councillor Report - Distributed to all councillors
d) Local Government Boundary Commission - Final recommendations of boundary review. One NKDC councillor will represent Ashby/Scopwick/Digby. Cranwell has been removed from our boundary.
e) The Police and Crime Commissioner has established a new Safer Together Team, based at Grantham.
f) A complaint about the condition of the footpath, road and grass verge in the vicinity of 55/57 Station Road has been recieved. It was agreed to pass this on to Highways and NKDC to investigate.
g) The Census 21st March - GG has attended a workshop explaining how the Census will be carried out. Posters have been placed in the Noticeboard.
h) LALC Survey - All councillors and Clerks are requested to complete the survey by 16th Feb.
14. Dates of Future Meetings (21/014)
Parish Council meetings
17th Feb, 17th Mar, 21st Apr and 19th May
15. Any Business to Note for the Next Agenda (21/015)
Area for Dog Walking
16. Closed Session (21/016)
For confidential items in accordance with the Public Bodies Act 1960, if required. This item was not required.
19.55. There being no further business, the Chairman declared the meeting closed.
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