April 2022 Minutes
Digby Parish Council
The notes of the meeting of Digby Parish Council, held on Monday 11th April 2022 at 7pm, in Digby War Memorial Hall.
PRESENT - Cllr J Bourne, Chairman (JB); Cllr J Fry (JF); Cllr K Grove (KG); Cllr G Garton (GG)
In attendance - Angie McDonald, Clerk and Proper Officer.
Public Forum
There were no members of the public present.
District & County Councillors
Both District Councillors sent their apologies.
County Councillor Kendrick (RK) confirmed Chestnut Close has been adopted by LCC
Clerk to email Cllr Kendrick to confirm this includes footpaths that join to North Street and Greendykes and to ask for the drain from Playing field to North Street to be unblocked.
The Chairman declared the meeting in session.
1. Chairman's Opening Remarks (22/049)
a) The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.
2. Apologies & Co-option of a Parish Councillor (22/050)
a) Apologies
Apologies were received and accepted from Cllr K Hand due to holiday and Cllr T Bourne due to work commitments.
b) Co-option of a new Councillor.
There had not been a request for an election and NKDC confirmed the parish council could now co-opt a new member
It was proposed by GG, seconded by JF and RESOLVED to co-opt Mr Darren Drysdale onto the Parish Council. The Clerk will forward the required forms for Mr Drysdale to complete.
3. Declarations of Pecuniary Interest & Applications of Dispensation (22/051)
a) None
4. Signing of the Minutes (22/052)
a) It was proposed by JF, seconded by KG and RESOLVED to accept the notes of the Parish Council Meeting held on Monday 14th March 2022 as a true and accurate record of that meeting.
5. Planning Matters (22/053)
a) Planning Applications Received
Nil
6. General Parish Matters (22/054)
a) Village Information Leaflet
The Clerk confirmed it is just the layout to be sorted and then it will be sent to the councillors for approval.
b) Annual Parish Meeting.
Most of the invited groups have confirmed they will be attending. Both NKDC Councillors Clarke and Clegg, and the local Police have sent their apologies.
The Clerk confirmed she will obtain the refreshments for the meeting on Wed 13th April.
c) Queen's Jubilee Projects.
JF provided a sample of the footpath signs and confirmed the rest will be ready by the end of May. He will now contact the landowners at each end of the footpaths to obtain permission to site the signs. The other Jubilee Projects are agenda items to be discussed during this meeting.
d) LCC - Adoption of footpath from Greendykes to North Street, via Chestnut Close.
This item was discussed during the County Councillors session.
Action: The Clerk is to email RK for confirmation.
e) Dog Waste Bin at Harrowby Close.
It was agreed a dog bin is required in this area. It was proposed by JF seconded by JB and RESOLVED to purchase a Glasdon Retriever 35 at £225.67 +VAT (fittings are extra). JB to contact IDB for permission to site the bin on the existing concrete post at the back of Harrowby Close near the entrance to the public footpath.
Action: The Clerk to order new dog waste bin after confirmation of siting is approved.
f) GDPR - Individual Councillors Email Addresses
It was agreed in principle that individual email addresses should be available. The Clerk is to commence arranging this after the May Annual Parish Council Meeting.
g) Website Maintenance contract for 2022/23 with LALC.
LALC have provided details of their website maintenance service for 2022/23, these were forwarded to the councillors. The Basic telephone/email advice for approx 15mins a months is £50 for the year. It was ratified that all approved.
7. Highways (22/055)
a) Pot Holes/Highways Issues
Pot hole at the junction of Fen Road has still not been filled in, and Asby road junction is still breaking up. These will be reported on FixMyStreet by the Clerk and also forwarded to our County Councillor.
Action: Clerk to report the road repairs needed.
8. The Village Hall (22/056)
a) The minutes from the latest meeting of the committee have been received. There were no comments.
b) Village Hall Garden Maintenance.
The gardener is not turning up when scheduled. The work has been carried out by Mrs Bourne and Cllrs Bourne and Groves. The Parish Council offered their thanks for all the work that has been achieved.
It was agreed the lawns should be scarified, this was last carried out in 2017.
The selection of replacement shrubs is still a work in progress.
c) Village Hall Railings Repair.
JF confirmed the task will be completed.
9. Drainage (22/057)
a) Drain from the Playing Field to North Street.
Last month the IDB carried out clearing of the drain at the playing field end, on instructions of the parish council. There still appears to be a blockage under the footpath towards North Street and therefore the problem will be reported to LCC for further investigation.
Action: Clerk to email RK to request the drain be unblocked.
10. Playing Field, Play Areas and Village General (22/058)
a) Monthly inspection of the Play Equipment and Update on Repairs to the Equipment.
GG to carry out inspection this month. The Chairman confirmed Jonathan Pearson has carried out the repairs of replacing the arms of the overhead rotator at £764.62 + VAT. RPM have confirmed they will commence work on 19th April to repaint and repair the play equipment as quoted. The Clerk has requested the price for new shackles for the toddler swings and is awaiting a reponse. GG to take the toddler swings the JF ready for installation.
b) Grant Funding Progress
Due to the period of time since the commencement of the application the Funders requested the price of the original quotation for the outdoor exercise equipment be checked. This has confirmed an increase of £1,301.04 on the original quotation. It was proposed by JB, seconded by KG and RESOLVED the parish council will cover the increased costs.
Action: The Clerk to complete the additional paperwork for the Funders confirming the increased costs are covered.
c) Pedestrian Barrier at the B1188 end of the Playing Field
The quotations received for the work were discussed it was agreed to install a metal railing, chicane style barrier to help prevent children running straight out into the road. It was proposed by JF, seconded by JB to accept the quote from MalcFirth for £1497.30 + VAT. It was confirmed this would be paid for from the allotment field rents received under The Commons Act 1899 section 16.
d) Gully at the road entrance of the Playing Field.
The grating on the gully keeps being broken, after discussions it was agreed this gully is not serving any purpose and therefore rather than keep replacing the grating, it would be simpler to fill the gully in. JF and JB to consider the options and carry out the work.
11. Allotments (22/059)
a) Updates from the Allotment Committee.
KG gave a report of the meeting which included problems of the main gate being left unlocked. To assist with this issue it was agreed to send a reminder the field tenant, so everyone will then be informed.
The Clerk had sent the invoice for the allotment plots to the treasurer and payment has been received.
Action: Clerk to send reminder to the field tenant to keep the gate locked.
12. Finance (22/060)
a) Bank balances and Approval Bank Reconciliation and Sign off the Accounts for 2021/22
The bank balances were reported as :-
PC General Account 42,572.76
Allotment Account 6,942.88
Mary Gresswell Trust 5.45
The bank reconciliation was approved.
Copies of the final statements and ledger for 2021/22 had been forwarded to the councillors prior to the meeting and the Clerk presented the Ledger and Statements for confirmation. It was proposed by GG, seconded by KG and RESOLVED all was in order. The Chairman sign the accounts off.
b) Income Received.
The Precept of £19,501.00 has been received from NKDC and is included in the bank balances
Allotment Plot rents of £720.00 has been recieved and is to be banked.
c) Approval Payments
It was proposed by JF, seconded by GG and RESOLVED that the following payments will be made.
Salaries/Expenses £704.30
Website Maintenance £ 50.00 + 10.00 VAT
Mr Pesty - pest control £140.00
J Pearson Play equip repairs £764.62 + 152.92 VAT
Jupiter Play & Leisure £ 9.00
J Bourne - Compost £ 41.48
IDB - Drain work £245.25 + 49.05 VAT
J Bourne - Bulbs/plants/seeds £ 49.82
d) Banking - Signatories
The Clerk explained the bank now offers the ability for two councillors to authorise payments online and as more payments are made this way it will give the Council increased control and security.
It was agreed to have two councillors authorise payments online and therefore all councillors will become signatories. Two councillors will be named to authorise the payments after each meeting.
e) Audit for 2021/22
The Clerk confirmed the AGAR instructions for external audit for year 2021/22 has arrived from PKF Littlejohn and will arrange for the accounts to be seen by the internal auditor before the May meeting. The AGAR will then be an agenda item for May, it must be submitted to the External Auditors by 1st July.
13. Correspondence (22/061)
a) LALC Newsletter - Distributed to all councillors
b) NKDC Newsletter - Distributed to all councillors
c) Temporary Traffic Restriction - Digby Road (Beeswax Wood Farm) 3.5.22 to 5.5.22, Anglian Water
d) Offer of Trees for winter 2022. It was agreed to provisonally ask for 6 trees.
14. Dates of Future Meetings (22/062)
Parish Council meetings
For 2022 - 9th May, 13th Jun, 11th Jul, 8th Aug, 12th Sep, 10th Oct, 14th Nov, 12th Dec.
15. Any Business to Note for the Next Agenda (22/063)
Memorial idea for CH
Play bark for the playing field
Metal bus shelter seat
Pond area North Street
Church Street - Obstruction of footpath.
16. Closed Session (22/064)
For confidential items in accordance with the Public Bodies Act 1960, if required.
This item was not required.
2055hrs - There being no further business the Chairman declared the meeting closed.