October 2021 Minutes
PUBLIC FORUM
• A resident reported that the pot hole at the top of Grange Lane had finally been filled in.
Record of Members Present:
Present - Cllr Alan Woodward (AW) (Chair), Cllr Terry Buckley (TB), Cllr Nicola Gallant (NG), Cllr John Mackin (JM), Cllr Nicola Mackin (NM) and Cllr Jackie Woodward (JW).
Not Present - Cllr Matthew Wright (MW).
In Attendance - Clerk Maria Vincent and one member of the public.
42. Apologies Received
Cllr Matthew Wright (MW).
43. To receive any Declarations of Interest under the Localism Act 2011
None.
44. Minutes
It was RESOLVED to approve the minutes of the Parish Council Meeting 1st September 2021 as correct record and the Chairman signed them.
45. Council Matters, Actions and Communications
a) Chairman’s Remarks. The Chairman reported that he had completed information gathering regarding new trees and prices. Further he reported that he had visited the Head Teacher at the Utterby Academy and asked if he would support in with regards to the issue with visibility on the Church Lane/A16 junction. It was noted that there had been a fatal RTA two days earlier on the A16 nearer to Louth. He reported that he had received a letter from a new resident regarding noise pollution on the A16 and that they had got data from a test. The Chair queried whether there was building work at the Jacob’s Close development on Saturday afternoons and Sundays as this was not in line with the permissions given.
b) Clerk’s Report. The Clerk reported she had looked into a range of bank accounts including Lloyds and Unity Bank. All accounts had standing charges, Lloyds £6 a month, HSBC £8 a month etc. Unity Bank was only £5 a month but it concerned her that there was no high street bank and so there was no point of contact except for over the phone or online. The Clerk suggested that the Council applied for internet banking with their current bank which would save the costs of the cheques (£1 per cheque) and monitor this for the interim.
c) Consultations – None to note.
d) Communications - Correspondence had been received with reference to a resident’s complaint regarding noise pollution on the A16. It was hoped that further details could be sought regarding the NoiseAir report from the resident. The correspondence from the Lincolnshire Police regarding their latest campaign (sent by email to Councillors) was noted.
46 Finance and Budgets
a) It was RESOLVED to approve the payments: D Buckley Village green hedges and strimming footpath - July and October - £210, Glendale Countryside Ltd Grass cutting July and August and September 21 - £475.20, Clerk Salary for September 21 £206.68, HM Revenue and Customs Only 120PX00376161 Tax for September 2021 - £3.00, DW Gibbs Bus Shelters October 21 - £20.00 TOTAL £914.88
b) It was RESOLVED to agree to the following purchases:
i. Battery operated lights in vintage gold for the tree by the village wooden sign - £14.99 x 4 plus VAT and delivery. For D Buckley to put up the lights ready for advent and take down again after Christmas at a cost of up to £100 (as original quote of £50 was for just 2 sets of lights).
ii. To ask Brookdale Tree Services to undertake a tree survey of the Council’s trees, which would keep any disease in check and also alert us to damage. Cost £290 plus VAT.
iii. Cost of a replacement Willow Tree as per spec required by ELDC’s Tree Officer, planted and staked - £280 plus VAT from Millstone Garden Centre.
iv. Cloud Storage – Microsoft Onedrive up to 100gb at £1.99 per month.
NB: The Clerk brought to the attention of Councillors that Financial Regulations stated that when costs were above £250 that the Council should strive to obtain 3 quotes. Finding any large trees available locally that would offer a planting service meant that only one quote was obtained. With regards to the Tree Survey, Brookdale Tree Services had undertaken the last tree survey and had been by far the cheapest quote for the felling of the Willow. The Council applied Regulation 9.3. to the purchases of trees (also see minute 48b) and tree survey.
c) Cllr NG reported that she had undertaken Quarterly Monitoring for the 2nd quarter and that everything was satisfactory.
47 Planning
a) There were no urgent planning issues to consider.
48 Parish Council Amenities (bus shelters, village green, etc)
a) Welcome Pack – a couple of packs had been given out.
b) Village Trees –
i. Cllr. JW reported that following a tree being felled in a garden in Church Lane, that she had discovered that trees she thought had TPOs on them had not, and that she would meet with the ELDC Tree Officer to ascertain whether any trees along Church Lane could / should have TPOs on them.
ii. The Clerk reported we would be receiving an 8-10ft Rowan, Silver Birch and Hornbeam from the Treescapes Fund in the next month or two. It was RESOLVED to ask a contractor to plant the tree new trees in the place where 4 trees had been cut down a few years earlier (along A16 stretch of Village Green).
iii. Further to the RESOLUTION to buy white beam trees, it now appeared these were some of the most expensive trees. It was RESOLVED to buy instead 2 Silver Birch trees at a cost of £841 (including planting) to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee (these being silver in colour), and that nearer the Jubilee, the Council would look at placing a commemorative bench nearby to the trees. Councillors to meet on Village Green to decide location for Silver Birch trees. (See note above regarding Financial Regulations).
c) Village Green – All fine.
d) Bus Shelters – Cllr AW to check if any of the bus shelters need any maintenance ie wood stain treatment.
e) Planters – It was RESOLVED that Cllr JW could spend up to £100 on winter plants /compost for the planters to see them through the autumn/winter.
f) Utterby Voice – Cllr AW reported that the next Utterby Voice would have a feature on the farming community and also history about Utterby Holt.
49 ELDC/LCC Services (Streetlights, Bins, Highways, Verges, Footpaths, etc
a) No urgent issues.
b) Church Lane obscured vision - The Clerk reported that there had still been no action by LCC to cut back the trees near Church Lane obscuring vision for traffic from Church Lane onto A16, and that following a further request for the issue be looked into again on Fix My Street that LCC now said teh poor vision was due to the shape of the carriage way and that no action would be taken. The Parish Council were very concerned that there would be an accident there as the dark nights approached and it was RESOLVED that the Clerk would write to the landowner to ask if he would prune back the trees and hedges, and if not, if he would give permission to the Parish Council to undertake the work.
c) The hedge overgrowth and poor condition of pathway along A16 on had been reported on Fix My Street, no action had been reported to date.
d) The Clerk had reported the hedge overgrowth at Benson Court to Platform Housing and a contact there had said they would pass our complaint on and hopefully get the work done.
50 Notifications
a) Nothing to report.
51 Date and time of Next Meeting
a) Parish Council Meeting on Wednesday November 3rd 2021 at 7pm at the Village Hall.
The meeting finished at 8:34pm.
Signed ___________________ Date______________________