July 2021 Minutes
Navenby With Skinnand Parish Council Meeting Minutes
Date/ Time: Tuesday 6 July 2021 at 7.00 pm.
Location: The Club Room @ The Venue, Navenby.
Present (Cllrs): Mr M Burt, Chairman; Mr K Gunning, Vice Chairman; Mr G Morris; Mrs E McRitchie; Mrs C Hall; Mr S Woollas; Dr J Mills; Mrs E Carless & Mr C East.
In Attendance: Ms S Letham (Parish Clerk)
Absent/Apologies: Mr K Lamyman & Mr A Watts
1. Chairman’s - Welcoming Remarks
The Chairman welcomed all present.
2. Public Session
Two residents in attendance.
Promoting Bio-diversity within the Village - the resident advised that as yet, she had not been successful in encouraging people to volunteer in respect of creating wild flower habitats. It was hoped that the forthcoming wildflower walk organised by NKDC might bring forth some people. HGV traffic on Green Man Road - the resident enquired as to progress. The Chairman advised that (for the reasons given at the last meeting) that he was looking to progress the traffic calming measures first before he pursued the HGV designated route issue.
Pitfield Walk Open – the resident expressed concern & disappointment that the issue of Sycamore Trees in the open space in between Chapel Lane & East Road remained unresolved by NKDC. The saplings from these trees were now causing her and her neighbours’ considerable distress and affecting their health. NKDC now longer planted Sycamore trees as they are not native, and yet would do nothing about existing trees. The Chairman agreed to speak to Cllr Overton about the issue after the meeting.
Action: The Chairman to speak to Cllr Overton about NKDCs policy in respect of sycamore trees adjacent to domestic properties.
3. Apologies for absence and declarations of interest in accordance with the requirements of the Localism Act 2011.
Consider any applications for dispensations in relation to disclosable
pecuniary and/or prejudicial beneficial interests.
Apologies received from Cllrs Watts & Lamyman.
4. To consider and sign the minutes from the previous Parish Council Meeting, held on Tuesday 8 June 2021.
It was proposed by Cllr Gunning and seconded by Cllr Mills and therefore Resolved that the minutes from the previous Parish Council meeting, held on Tuesday 8 June 2021, should be accepted as a true record of the meeting.
5. To consider the financial report and authorise payments (Appendix A).
It was proposed by Cllr Gunning seconded by Cllr Hall and therefore Resolved that all expenses listed in Appendix A were authorised.
The Clerk advised that Cllr Lamyman would be authorising payments on the Bank this month.
6. To consider updates from District/County Councillors.
Cllr Hagues was in attendance. The Clerk advised she was in receipt of the Newsletter she had sent to the Parish Office.
Cllr Overton was in attendance and confirmed with the Clerk that she was in receipt of the Newsletter she had sent the Parish Office. Cllr Overton went onto brief the following:
Now elected to the National Council.
Highways – still pursuing the problems of heavy traffic on Green Man Road as well as the flooding issues. In respect of traffic calming, options include speed bumps, white gates & chicanes etc. Potholes >40mm should continue to be reported by the Clerk via Fix my Street. The resurfacing of East Road was already confirmed and had been marked out by Highways.
Cliff Cluster – will be putting forward a proposal for the initiative to continue.
Local Plan (up to 2036) – being drafted. Agreed to speak with the chairman after the meeting.
Actions: 1. Cllr Overton to continue to push Highways iro the traffic calming measures.
2. Prepare proposal for the Cliff Cluster. 3. Speak to the Chairman regarding the Local Plan.
7. To consider updates from local police.
The Clerk advised that apart from receiving the normal monthly Police report nothing further had been received from the Police relating to any crimes specific to Navenby village. Cllr Gunning expressed his disappointment at the lack of detail on the statistics and the inordinate amount of time that it takes to report incidents to 101. The Chairman agreed to take an action to write to the Neighbourhood Policing Team (NPT).
Action: Chairman to write to the NPT regarding the monthly report.
8. To consider Planning Matters
Planning Applications – no observations.
Correspondence – in respect of the proposed installation of a flag pole at The Venue, Cllr Hall advised that a fulling application was going to be needed due to the area in question being an advert controlled zone. Cllr Hall agreed to draft a planning application & forward to NKDC.
Action: Cllr Hall to submit Planning Application for the proposed flag pole installation.
Tree Conservation - no observations.
9. To consider correspondence.
Actions arising from the correspondence received:
f. 8 Jun – resident complaint about frequency of verge grass cutting. Cllr Carless to look at putting the LCC/NKDC grass cutting maps & schedules on either the noticeboards or the Website.
Action. The Clerk & Cllr Carless to investigate the best way of providing residents with information on Council grass cutting regimes.
j. Village Green bench – bird droppings. It was agreed that the issue of excessive bird droppings on the bench be monitored over the next month before a decision was made on relocating it to another area.
Action. The Clerk & Cllr East to monitor the condition of the bench for a month.
r. resident complaint about grass verges & standard of road repairs. After discussion it was agreed that the Clerk would report the A607/Pottergate substandard repair to CSC Highways & forward a copy of the grass cutting regime to the resident for information.
Action: The Clerk to report the A607/Pottergate road repair to highways & forward the resident a copy of the grass cutting regime.
10. To consider a request from LACE Housing Association to meet & discuss the proposed development of the Care Village site.
After discussion, it was agreed that the Clerk should write to LACE and advise that the Council were keen to engage as soon as possible and would they like to propose a date for meeting.
Action: Clerk to contact LACE Housing Assoc and arrange a meeting.
11. To discuss the Parish Caretaker job specification and the readvertising of the vacancy.
After discussion, it was agreed that the specification for the job would have to be reviewed. The requirement for £5M in Public Liability Ins was probably putting off applicants and it was agreed that the Clerk should contact the Insurance Co and ask if it was something that may be covered on its own policy. Also, the Clerk was to speak to the Venue Manager & Wellingore PC regarding the Sub Contractors they used. Cllr McRitchie took an action to look at employment law and see what the rules were regarding the caretaker being an employee position within the Council.
Actions: Cllr McRitchie to investigate the rules on directly employing a Caretaker and the
Clerk to speak with the Ins Co, Wellingore PC & the Venue Manager.
12. To agree the specific responsibilities between the 2 Parish Office staff & the advertisement of an upcoming vacancy.
Discussion took place regarding the Chairman’s proposal to change the Asst Parish Clerk to that of Responsible Finance Officer (RFO) and that the other post be the Proper Officer to the Council only. Whilst there was agreement in principle to the proposal, Cllr Gunning expressed concern that the hours worked by each post would need reconsidering in light of the RFOs responsibilities. The Chairman agreed to consider and forward an amended proposal to all members in due course.
Action: The Chairman to reconsider the roles & responsibilities and draft an amended proposal for members considerations prior to the next meeting or an advert being issued.
13. To consider a proposal to purchase & install a beacon at the Venue site in celebration of the Queens Platinum Jubilee.
After discussion, it was agreed that instead of a beacon an alternative could be a laser light display. Cllr Hall agreed to investigate the 2 options, coordinate the proposals and present back to the Council in a few months’ time.
Action: Cllr Hall to investigate laser light display v’s traditional beacon and report back to the Council.
14. To consider and approve a Grant Application request for £100 from the Cliff Carnival Committee.
Following consideration of the Grant application submitted by the Cliff Carnival Committee, it was proposed by Cllr Carless and seconded by Cllr Mills and therefore Resolved that £100 for the purchase of flag making materials be approved. The Clerk took an action to advise the organisers & obtain bank details.
Action: The Clerk to advise the Cliff Carnival Committee that their bid was successful.
15. Updates from Portfolios Holders:
a. Cemetery
No comments.
b. Highways
Cllr Woollas advised on the following:
Speed Indicator Device – A607 Southbound device to be relocated to Green Man Road. Cllr Woollas to liaise with Cllr Watts on his return.
Street Furniture (Bollards, Water Lions & Village Green metal bench) all require repainting. It was agreed that the Clerk would obtain quotes for the work.
Cllr Gunning advised that the lighting on the pedestrian crossing was deteriorating and asked that the Clerk write to Highways and see if there was something that could be done to improve the lux levels.
Actions: 1. The Clerk to contact Richard Fenwick regarding improving the existing lighting at the pedestrian crossing. 2. The Clerk to obtain quotes for painting the street furniture.
c. Youth Club
Cllr Hall advised that the Youth Club was seeing attendance figures of 16 children at the weekly session.
d. Navenby Car Scheme
Cllr Woollas reported that the Car Scheme remains suspended until at least September. The Co-ordinator was currently in the process of looking at the advertisement of the relaunch both on social media and in the “Yellow Peril”.
e. Play Areas
Cllr East advised that he had received encouraging indications from two possible sources of Grant funding, i.e. Tesco and Lottery Heritage Funding. He was still awaiting a response from Cllr Lamyman in respect of their individual applications for Grant funding. A further updatewould be provided at the next meeting.
Action: Cllr East to hasten remaining applications and report back at the next meeting.
f. Schools House Trust.
No comments.
g. Cliff Cluster
Discussed at Item No 6.
h. Library
Cllr Hall (on behalf of Cllr Watts) advised that he wanted to install a KEYSAFE on the outside wall at the front door to the Library & Parish Office. With library funds available & the Venue Manager in agreement – approval was granted.
i. Finance & Administration
The Clerk advised that Cllr Hall had visited the office in respect of gaining an oversight in how the office is managed.
j. Website/IT
Cllr Gunning advised the meeting that he was in receipt of a letter from BT advising that landlines would be transferred to a new digital service format and that there was implications during power cuts if you needed to ring 999. It was agreed that he would provide the Clerk with a copy of the letter so that she could forward the rest of the Council.
Action: Cllr Gunning to provide the Clerk with a copy of the BT letter for distribution.
k. VENUE Trustee Chairman
No comments.
l. Community Wellbeing
Cllr Mills advised that he had provided the Clerk with a list of LINKS to organisations. The Clerk to pass the information onto Cllr Carless for the Website.
Action: The Clerk to forward the Wellbeing Contacts list to Cllr Carless.
m. Speed Indicator Device (SID).
No comments.
n. Defibrillators.
No comments.
o. Street Lamps.
No comments.
The Chairman thanked all present for their participation and declared the meeting closed at 20.55 hrs.
14. Date & Time of next meeting is the 3 August 2021 at 7pm. It should be noted that this will be held in the Club Room of The Venue to adhere with current Covid regulations.