March 2024 Minutes
Digby Parish Council
Notes from the meeting of Digby Parish Council held on Wednesday 13th March 2024 at 7pm, in Digby War Memorial Hall
Present – Cllr James Bourne (JB) Chairman; Cllr Gerald Garton (GG); Cllr Karen Groves (KG) and Cllr Mike Lewington (ML)
In attendance – Angie McDonald, Clerk and Proper Officer.
Public Forum
A resident stated they had attended the meeting to support the Parish Council in the request for the County Council to react and improve the prevention of flooding in the village, unfortunately the County Councillor was not present.
District & County Councillors' Matters
Neither the District or County Councillor were present.
1.Chairman’s Opening Remarks (24/033)
a) Welcome.
The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.
2. Apologies for Absence & Co-option (24/034)
a) Apologies.
Ther were no apologises as all members were present.
b) Co-option.
KG has been approached by a parishioner stating their interest in joining the council. The Clerk will contact them to progress the application for co-option.
3. Declarations of Pecuniary Interest & Applications of Dispensation (24/035)
a) Declarations of Interest.
KG declared an interest in item 11 as an allotment holder.
4. Signing of the Minutes (24/036)
a) It was proposed by GG, seconded by ML and RESOLVED to accept the notes of the Parish
Council Meeting held on Monday 14th February 2023 as a true and accurate record of that meeting.
5. Planning Matters (24/037)
a) Planning Applications Received.
Nil to date
b) Decision Notice Received.
Nil to Date.
The Clerk explained NKDC has given an extension for comments to 8th April for the closing date for the application of 37 Dwellings, off Station Road. A date has not yet been announced of when this application will be going before the NKDC Planning Committee.
6. General Parish Matters (24/038)
a) Annual Review of the Asset Register.
The Clerk has produced an updated version of the asset register.
A copy of the asset register was forwarded to the councillors prior to the meeting. It was agreed it represented the assets held by the council at this time.
b) Review the Insurance Cover.
A copy of the insurance cover had been forwarded to the members of council prior to the meeting to review in conjunction with the asset register. ML proposed the telephone box should be added to the insurance cover, this was seconded by KG and all agreed.
Action: The Clerk to notify the insurance company of the change.
c) Report from the Clerk on recent training she received.
The Clerk has attended LALC training on ‘Effective Meetings and End of Year and Audit Procedures’. A small list of changes that could be considered by the council to improve the meetings was produced. It was agreed for next years budget, a ‘Chairmans Allowance’ will be considered as permitted under the Local Government Act 1972 – Section 15. Also, the Clerk will bring a statement, produced by LALC, to each meeting, that can be read out at the beginning of meetings if/when there are several members of the public present. This statement outlines the process and procedures to be followed at a meeting and can help the members of the public to understand how to proceed with their requests.
d) Applications to Employ a Litter Picker.
GG requested this item be moved to the last item of the agenda and the meeting will go into Closed Session’ this was seconded by KG and all agreed.
7. Highways (24/039)
a) Pot Holes or Highways Issues.
The councillors stated they had reported various potholes via FixMyStreet over the last month. Some have been repaired, while others are awaiting updates.
b) New Street Light on B1188.
NKDC reported they are waiting for a price for a new lamp and then the whole application will be considered.
c) Public Footpath No.5, Correspondence from the Countryside Officer on Upgrading Stiles.
The Parish Council are given to understand the owners of the first part of the route will be applying for a diversion to officially divert the path to its current route.
The Countryside Officer has the opportunity to replace 2 of the current stiles along footpath No.5 with easier access designs. It was agreed to the Parish Council will write to the family members of the land owners to help make this possible.
d) Request for New Speed Limits on B1188
A resident has asked the parish council to write to Highways and request the speed limit from Digby to the boundary of Ruskington be changed be 40mph for the complete distance, rather than all the changes in speed limits that are currently in operation.
It was agreed to write to our county councillor.
Action: The Clerk to request the speed limit change.
e) Springwell Solar Farm, Public Consultation.
The Chairman and KG attended the consultation briefing on 20th Feb at Blankney. The date for comments closed 2 days later, so the council were unable to send a comment, but the chairman and KG sent in their individual comments.
8. The Village Hall (24/040)
a) Minutes from the Meeting of the Committee
The minutes were forwarded to the councillors on the 20th Feb.
b) Village Hall Committee Representative.
ML agreed to be the parish council representative on the village hall committee.
Action: The Clerk to notify the Chairman of the Village Hall Committee.
9. Drainage (24/041)
a) Issued raised from the recent Flooding Public Meeting, 26th Feb.
i) Dates for a meeting with outside agencies to consider further improvements to reduce flooding.
Contact has been made with the Lincolnshire flood officer and he has agreed a meeting of the joint organisations will be beneficial. It was agreed the request this meeting be arranged as soon as possible.
Action: The Clerk to forward dates of when the council are available for a meeting.
ii) Update on the Emergency Plan Guide and to consider purchasing equipment for the emergency box/boxes.
Ian Davies (ID) is continuing to produce the plan and is arranging a meeting with the volunteers within the month to present the Emergency plan guide, 15 volunteers have come forward so far. Once the administrative part of the plan is complete it can be presented to the Parish Council and the Lincolnshire Resilience Team for official adoption. ID has produced a list of items and costings for the emergency box. It is proposed to have a lockable box on wheels, so it can be moved to a secondary location if needed rather than having 2 boxes. It was proposed by JB, a sum of up to £120.00 be made available to purchase the equipment and the box, seconded by KG and all agreed.
Action: The Clerk to notify ID of the decision.
10. Playing Field, Play Areas and Village General (24/042)
a) Monthly Inspection of Play Equipment.
GG has carried out the inspection. There were no new issues to report.
b) Improvements to the Playing Field Road and the Dug Out.
The area is still too wet for the road improvements to be carried out.
KG has been chasing the contractor for a start date for the work on the dug- out. A date of 2nd March was given, but the work did not commence.
Action: The Chairman will contact the contractor.
c) Ground Maintenance prices from MalcFirth for this coming season.
A copy of this season’s costings has been received, MalcFirth will be increasing their prices by 8% this year. The parish council had budgeted for the increase and agreed to retain MalcFirth for this coming season.
d) Review the of Key Rents for the Playing Field and Ground Rents for the Allotments.
It was proposed by ML, that the rents are increased by 4%, this was seconded by JB and all agreed. The key rent for the bowls Bowls Club will now be £65.52, for the Pigeon Club £38.22, the Football Club £187.20. The allotments are to increase to £15.60 and the Allotment field £655.20.
Action: The Clerk is to inform the groups of the changes for this coming season.
e) Improving the Drainage on the Eastern Boundary of the Field.
Members of the council met with a representative from the IDB. He agreed to forward details to the Clerk of a scheme to help improve the drainage of the field. It is hoped this can be looked at in conjunction with the other outside agencies when providing plans to improve the drainage of the village.
f) Play Equipment Inspection Training.
The latest LALC training course is full, but the Clerk has requested an update on when the next course will be taking place.
11. Allotments (24/043)
a) Updates from the Allotment Committee.
Minutes from the recent meetings were distributed. The road improvements will commence as soon as the weather improves and the ground dries up. The Annual Social event will take place on 6th July. The AGM is to take place on 13th April.
12. Finance (24/044)
a) Bank Balances and Approval of Bank Reconciliation.
The bank balances were reported as:-
PC General Account 12,187.35
Allotment Account 6,851.48
Mary Gresswell Trust. 5.52.
The Bank reconciliation was approved.
The internal audit has been completed and the letter read out confirm all is in order.
b) Income received during the last month.
None to date
c) Approval of the Following Payments.
It was proposed by GG, seconded by KG that the following accounts are paid.
Salaries/Expenses/HMRC 705.60 P&P Tree Services – Greendykes fallen tree 216.00
CJP Garden Services 54.00
ICO – annual subscription 35.00
Mrs Snowden – Bus Shelter land rent 5.00
Greensleeves – Village Hall Lawn 67.00
13. Correspondence (24/045)
a) LALC Newsletter - Distributed to all councillors
b) NKDC Newsletter - Distributed to all councillors
c) NALC Briefing on Council Email Addresses
14. Dates of Future Meetings (24/046)
Parish Council meetings
For 2024 – Second Wednesday of the month - 10th Apr, 8th May, 12th Jun, 10th Jul, 14th Aug, 11th Sep, 9th Oct, 13th Nov and 11th Dec.
Annual Parish Meeting – Monday 22nd April
15. Any Business to Note for the Next Agenda (24/047)
Internal Auditor – Honorarium
The Chairman moved the meeting into the closed session and all members of the public left.
16. Closed Session (24/048)
a) Litter Picker – The closing date for the applications was confirmed as 31st March. The Clerk to check on laws pertaining to working with ground maintenance machinery before that date.
21.20hrs - There being no further business the chairman declared the meeting closed.