25 March 2024 Parish Council Meeting
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Minutes of the Parish Council meeting held 19:30hrs, Monday, 25 March 2024, at Pinchbeck Community Hub & Library
Present: Cllr Lynne Andrew, Cllr James Avery (chair), Cllr Geoff Garner, Cllr Sam Jeffery, Cllr Terry Moore, Cllr John Smith, Cllr Phil Tweddell, Cllr Oliver Wood, Mr Robert Smith (clerk), six members of the public.
Absent: Cllr Emma Beavis, Cllr Andy Chamberlain, Cllr Audrey Gregory, Cllr Dean Roizer, Cllr Peter Ruysen, Cllr Ann Savage, Cllr Ben Sear,
Unless otherwise stated actions are to be undertaken by the clerk.
24.045.Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Beavis, Cllr Roizer, Cllr Ruysen, Cllr Savage, and Cllr Sear.
24.046.There were no declarations of disclosable interests, nor requests for dispensation.
24.047.Members of the public made the following representations.
01.A resident asked for help expediting a planning application that would provide accommodation for his terminally ill father. Cllr Avery said that he would contact South Holland District Council (SHDC) planners to see if matters could be sped up.
02.A resident enquired about the petitioned for footpath on Market Way. Cllr Avery said that he had attempted to instigate a follow up meeting with Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) Highways. However, a change in personnel was delaying matters. He would continue to chase.
24.048.The Council resolved to approve the minutes of the 05 March 2024 Parish Council meeting.
24.049.Chairman’s report.
01.The chairman reported that an email of thanks had been received from the president of Pinchbeck WI, thanking those that supported the centenary tree planting event last weekend.
24.050.Clerk’s report / matters arising not on the agenda.
01.Planning comments had been submitted to SHDC, as resolved.
02.Information on the Parish Council’s website had been updated.
03.VAT reclaim, of £33,978.88 relating to the year to 31 March 2022 had been received.
04.Works for car park surfacing at North Gate had been delayed due to the recent poor weather. This should be going ahead in the next few weeks.
05.Subscription to Scribe Accounting and Cemetery Software from 01 April 2024 had taken place as resolved.
06.Clerk’s training
i.Play area inspector’s course training had been attended 13 March 2024.
ii.Traffic Management for Community Events had been attended 16 March 2024.
07.A property compliance and quality audit of the hub & library had taken place on 20 March 2024 from which action points had arisen. It was intended that non-urgent matters will be dealt with through the community hub & library committee. Where allowed, urgent Health & Safety matters would be dealt with under current delegated powers by the clerk.
08.A letter had been sent to County Councillor Sneath requesting LCC install a crossing point on Dozen’s Bank, as resolved.
09.A letter had been sent to owners neighbouring the Cherry Holt Lane cemetery asking them to cut their side of the hedge.
10.PKF Littlejohn had initiated the external audit process with the deadline for the submission of the Approved Annual Governance & Accountability Return (AGAR) set at Monday 01 July 2024.
11.Quotes were awaited for the repair and refurbishment of the Council’s metal benches and for the cemetery gates.
12.Works for the installation of fire alarm sounder for back room was pending.
13.It had been found that the Hub & Library’s Electrical Installation Conditioning Report was still in date and therefore was not required at this time.
14.The installation of the Barbara Camps memorial bench outside the hub and library was pending.
15.Installation of the library defibrillator was pending.
24.051.Financial matters.
01.It was resolved to approve the February 2024 bank reconciliation and bank transactions (see appendix 1).
02.It was resolved to approve payments to 25 March 2024 (see appendix 2).
03.Receipt of the internal auditor’s intermediate report was noted (see appendix 3).
24.052.Correspondence.
01.Notification that the Outer Dowsing Offshore Wind Project having submitted its application for a Development Consent Order was noted.
02.The latest Pinchbeck Library usage statistics were noted.
03.The consultation on the South Holland Health & Wellbeing Hub being open until Friday 05 April 2024 was noted.
04.Notice of Police and Crime Commissioner Election was noted.
05.Information on Grimsby to Walpole National Grid Section 172 Notices was noted.
06.A report of dogs in Cherry Holt Lane Cemetery was noted.
07.LALC e-news update was noted.
24.053.Planning applications.
01.H14-0256-24: J. O. Sims Ltd, Pudding Lane, PE11 3TJ. Replacement of temporary storage buildings. It was resolved to support the application because it would help employment.
02.H14-0252-24: Land East of Surfleet Road. Details of landscaping, open space & foul water drainage. It was resolved to make no comment.
03.H14-0224-24: Cecil Francis Ltd, Bear Lane, PE11 3XA. Details of surface water disposal, external materials, external doors/door frames, window frames and gas/electricity boxes. It was resolved to support because it was in keeping with the street scene.
04.H14-0221-24: 75 Church Street, PE11 3YA. Lawful use certificate. It was resolved to delegate the submission of a comment to the chairman.
05.H14-0223-24: 75 Church Street, PE11 3YA. Change of use of part of building from builders’ yard and offices to bathroom showroom (retrospective) - approved under H14-0440-10. Modification of Condition 3 to allow extension of opening hours. It was resolved to delegate the submission of a comment to the chairman.
06.H14-0189-24: Land off Crossgate Lane, PE11 3XW. External materials and other condition compliance. It was resolved to support because it was in keeping with the street scene.
24.054.The Council noted South Holland Planning decisions, as published on the SHDC website, and circulated with the agenda.
24.055.Highways matters
01.It was commented that there was no longer a lollipop person present to assist at what was considered a dangerous crossing at Rose Lane near to the junction with Fennell Way and that a pedestrian crossing was now needed. Also, the pole for a Parish Council’s speed indication device was missing. The chairman said that he would take both matters up in his discussions with Highways.
02.Cllr Jeffery reported on a recent accident on Glenside South. Councillors considered how ‘near misses’ where there were no hospital admissions might be recorded.
03.It was noted that cars were parking illegally on the school zig-zag clearway opposite the Spar shop on Knight Street.
04.Cllr Moore reported that he had fixed the speed indicator device on Six House Bank again.
24.045.Committees
01.Community Hub & Library Committee.
i.It was resolved to adopt Community Hub & Library Committee terms of reference.
ii.It was resolved to appoint Cllr Beavis and to co-opt Dist.& Cty Cllr Sneath onto the library committee.
iii.It was resolved to adopt a new room charging policy, as circulated.
iv.It was resolved to adopt new booking terms & conditions, as circulated.
v.It was resolved to hold a library open day on Saturday 18 May 2024.
vi.It was resolved to go ahead with a library spring clean.
vii.It was resolved for quotes to be obtained for kitchen facilities at the hub, for which grant aid had been approved.
viii.It was resolved to obtain quotes for car park markings.
ix.It was resolved to obtain new signage for the car park, stating no unauthorised use.
02.Committee Chairpersons
i.It was resolved to appoint Cllr Savage as chairperson for the Personnel Committee.
ii.It was resolved to appoint Cllr Smith as the chairperson for the Community Hub & Library Committee.
iii.It was resolved to appoint Cllr Moore as the chairperson for the Open Spaces & Assets Committee.
03.It was resolved to call on the committee chairpersons to arrange their next committee meetings, in consultation with the clerk.
24.057.It was noted that the next Parish Council meeting was to be held in the Community Hub & Library, 19.30hrs Monday, 29 April 2024
24.058.It was resolved to move into closed session on the grounds of confidentiality in accordance with the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 s.1(2).
21:15hrs six members of the public left the meeting.
24.059.Council Domain
01.It was resolved to appoint A9K Systems to implement the pinchbeck-pc.gov.uk domain and set up email addresses on Office 365 @ £345. There would be a cost of £120 every two years from 20i, to provide the domain and a £35 set up fee. The costs for councillors to be subscribed to Microsoft Basic @ £4.90 per month each had been included in the 2024-25 budget.
24.060.Parish Council land
01.Leaveslake Drove Playing Field
i.Maples Solicitors LLP were drawing up the lease with Spalding United Juniors Football Club for the Leaveslake Drove Field
02.The Glebe Playing Field
i.It was noted that payments for the use of the field up to 31 March 2024 had been paid.
ii.It was resolved to appoint Longstaff & Co LLP to negotiate a new agreement with a market assessed annual charge to commence from April 2025.
iii.Pending the drawing up of a new agreement, it was resolved to approve the amount for use of the field subject to receipt of payment by 31 May 2024.
03.Land encroachment matters.
i.It was resolved to appoint Longstaff & Co LLP to survey any land encroachment at Starlode Drove and to value the land for settlement by way of land sale. In the meantime, the landowner had agreed to cease any further work on the properties’ extension until the matter had been settled.
ii.It was resolved that Maples Solicitors LLP drew up draft licence agreements for use of residents’ gate access onto the Parish Council’s parks and open spaces.
04.Solicitors had advised that registering outstanding Parish Council land with HM Land Registry would likely take several years.
24.061.Confidential staffing matters were discussed.
The chairman closed the meeting at 21:10hrs.