March 2022 Minutes
Digby Parish Council
The notes of the Digby Parish Council meeting, held on Monday 14th March 2022 at 7pm, in Digby War Memorial Hall.
PRESENT - Cllr J Bourne, Chairman (JB), Cllr T Bourne (TB), Cllr J Fry (JF), Cllr K Grove (KG), Cllr K Hand (KH)
In attendance - Angie McDonald, Clerk and Proper Officer.
Public Forum
A Resident spoke of concern about planning and the possible overdevelopment of the village.
District & County Councillors' Matters
County Cllr Kendrick informed the meeting, the Government will not be increasing the finance to LCC Highways. Cllr Kendrick agreed to continue to chase the contract for the maintenance of the new flood defence and will check on the speed reduction information and the request for street lighting on Greendykes.
District Cllr S Clegg sent his apologies.
The Chairman declared the meeting in session.
1. Chairman's Opening Remarks (22/033)
a) The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.
2. Apologies & Vacancy for a Parish Councillor (22/034)
a) Apologies were received and accepted from GG due to illness
b) NKDC advertised the vacancy for a parish councillor on 10th March, if after the 30th March there has not been a call for an election to fill the vacancy the parish council will co-opt at the next meeting.
3. Declarations of Pecuniary Interest & Applications of Dispensation (22/035)
a) Nil
4. Signing of the Minutes (22/036)
a) It was proposed by TB, seconded by KG and RESOLVED to accept the notes of the Parish Council Meeting held on Monday 14th February 2022 as a true and accurate record of that meeting.
5. Planning Matters (22/037)
a) Planning Applications Received
22/0266/PNTEL 2 Church Street - Installation of wooden utility telegraph pole together with three aerials and ancillary development in relation to the provision of residential superfast broadband.
22/0320/PMA Former AC Plastics site, Old Station Yard, Station Road - Change of use from Commercial, Business adn Service (Use Class E) to 2no. dwelling houses (Use Class C3)
b) Decision Notices
Nil to date
6. General Parish Matters (22/038)
a) Measures to Reduce Speeding.
The Clerk is awaiting confirmation from County Cllr Kendrick on information regarding the request to reduce the speed limit on the B1188.
b) Village Information pack
GG has kindly worked through all the services and the Clerk is currently formatting it into an information leaflet.
c) Date for Annual Parish Meeting and the Annual Parish Council Meeting.
It was agreed the Annual Parish Meeting will be held on 13th April. The Annual Parish Council Meeting will be held on 9th May.
19.30 - Meeting Closed -NKDC J Clarke arrived. He reminded the council that at the May 2023 Elections, this ward is being reduced to 1 member.
19.36 - Meeting Resumed - Cllr J Clarke left the meeting.
d) Update on ideas to celebrate The Queen's Jubilee.
It was agreed the 3 projects for the Queen's Jubilee will be the regenerating of the Village Hall Garden, the installation of the new outdoor exercise equipment in the playing field and the erecting of nameplates for the village footpaths complete with the Jubilee logo.
JF produce a map and names were suggested for all the footpaths, some paths already have existing historic names. JF is to obtain a mock-up of a sign with Jubilee Logo. To progress the project it was proposed by TB, seconded by JB and all agreed a sum up to £250.00 could be spent on the signage. The Clerk has contacted NKDC to find out if permission is required to erect the nameplates.
7. Highways (22/039)
a) Pot Holes or Highways Issues
The Chairman reported a large pothole at the junction of Fen Lane/Walcott Road. JF stated the damage to the footpath at 8 North Street path had been marked for repair but has not been carried out and now the markings have faded.
Action: The Clerk will report both these issues on FixMyStreet
b) Reinstatement of the road (track) from North Street to B1188.
The request has been made to Cllr Kendrick, he has forwarded it to LCC Highways and we are awaiting a response.
8. The Village Hall (22/040)
a) Minutes.
The minutes from the latest Village Hall committee meeting had been distributed to the Cllrs prior to the meeting
b) Village Hall Garden Maintenance.
The gardeners are continuing to prepare the ground. It was proposed by JB, seconded by JF and all agreed KH and KG can spend up to £200 for shrubs to progress the project.
c) Village Hall Railings Repair.
JF is still awaiting a response for the price to fix the railing.
9. Drainage (22/041)
a) Blocked drain - Playing Field
During heavy rainfall at the end of February the water was not flowing through the drain near the Old Chapel. The Chairman inspected the drain with an IDB officer and identified the need to clear the issue. The Councillors were contacted and the majority agreed this work needed to be carried out immediately and the workmen were instructed to proceed, a large rock and tree roots were found to be blocking the drain. The invoice for the work has not yet been received.
10. Playing Field, Play Areas and Village General (22/042)
a) JB carried out an inspection with an independent consultant, various minor faults and repairs were identified and JB contacted 3 companies to quote for the work. Only one responded, it was proposed by JF, seconded by KH and all agreed to accept the quote of £3,170.00 from Reids Playground Maintenance to carry out the repairs and repaint the equipment. This will help prolong the life of the play equipment.
JB is to obtain a separate quote for repairs to the rotator equipment.
b) Outdoor Exercise Equipment.
Confirmation has been received from FCC Communities Foundation that we have been successful in our grant application. The Foundation have requested the third party payment directly from Stonewell homes Ltd, this needs to be paid within 28 days for the process to proceed. The Foundation has registered us with the Schemes regulation ENTRUST. There are a few more questions to be answered which is being dealt with by the Clerk.
c) Pedestrian Barrier at the B1188 end of the Playing Field
The Clerk is meeting a contractor on 15th March to obtain a price to install the barrier.
d) Update on progress of Spires and Steeples footpath No.5.
There have been many long complicated emails regarding this footpath from the Senior Definitive Map Officer. The progress of completing the missing link has now been handed over to the Officer to validate the evidence so far submitted.
e) 'Keeping dogs on leads' signs
The signs have been erected at the 4 entrances of the playing field by JF and KH. The Chairman thanked them for completing this task..
f) Removal of Tree
A request has been made to remove a tree that overhangs the bridge on Beck Street and catches on the vehicles entering the site. It will be replaced it with 2 new trees. There were no objections and the location of the new trees is to be decided.
g) Update - Annual Inspection of the village assets.
The bins have been cleaned by KH. It was agreed to remove the remaining bricks at the playing field dug out and to see if plastic planks could be purchased to repair the wooden bench on the field. KH agreed to varnish the old noticeboard in the Village Hall garden and danish oil the lockup door. The seat in glass bus shelter needs painting as the powder coating is peeling off. KH agreed to look at what is needed to complete the task.
11. Allotments (22/043)
a) Update from the Allotment Committee.
The latest minutes had been circulated to the councillors. JB has asked Philip Baumber to flail the allotments dykes.
Action: The Clerk to send the invoice for the allotment rent.
12. Finance (22/044)
a) Bank Balances and Approval of Bank Reconciliation
The bank balances were reported as :-
PC General Account £24,536.84
Allotment Account £6,942.88
Mary Gresswell Trust £5.45
The bank reconciliation was accepted.
b) Income Received.
From NKDC for contribution to the litter collecting - £136.08
c) Approval of Payments
It was proposed by JB, seconded by KG and RESOLVED the following payment will be made.
Salaries/Expenses/Signs for playing field £738.52
ICO - Data protection renewal fee £35.00
JF reimburse for posts/postmix/drill bit £54.40
Jupiter Play & Leisure Ltd - Swing bearings £354.00
Greensleeves - Village hall lawn £58.00
Autela Payroll services £53.56
NKDC Garden waste bins £56.00
LALC Training scheme £132.00 to be paid in April
HMRC £48.60 to be paid in April
d) Reserves for 2022-23
The Clerk produced a spreadsheet detailing the reserves for 2022-23 which included an amount set aside for the Queen's Jubilee. This gave clarity to the distribution of the allocations to various projects and was approved.
13. Correspondence (22/045)
a) LALC Newsletter - Distributed to all councillors
b) NKDC Newsletter - Distributed to all councillors
c) Parliamentary Boundary Review 2023
d) Email - PFNo.5 Anti-social behaviour, dog not under control. It was agreed the resident must inform the police.
14. Dates of Future Meetings (22/046)
Parish Council meetings
For 2022 - 11th Apr, 9th May, 13th Jun, 11th Jul, 8th Aug, 12th Sep, 10th Oct, 14th Nov, 12th Dec.
Annual Parish Meeting - Wed 13th April
Annual Parish Council Meeting - 9th May
15. Any Business to Note for the Next Agenda (22/047)
Cllrs individual email addresses.
Bank mandate -update signatories
Dog bin review Harrowby Close.
Repair gully at Playing field entrance
21.05 - The Chairman declared the meeting go into closed session.
The Clerk left the meeting.
16. Closed Session (22/048)
It was agreed the Clerks salary to be increased in line with recommendations from NALC.
21.15 hrs -There being no further business the Chairman declared the meeting closed.