Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting
held at Utterby Village Hall Wednesday 4th May 2022 at 6:30pm
There were 29 people who attended the meeting including residents, Councillors, speakers and the Parish Council Clerk.
No apologies were received.
1. Chairman's introduction
Cllr Alan Woodward, Chair of Utterby Parish Council welcomed everyone in person to the Annual Parish Meeting, explaining that they had not been able to meet n the hall as a village since 2019, last year having held the meeting by Zoom virtual conferencing. He commented that he was very pleased to see so many people at the meeting.
2. Minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held on 5th May 2021
The draft minutes of the 2021 meeting were proposed and seconded as a true and accurate record and the Chairman signed them as the minutes.
3. Annual Report, Utterby Parish Council
Chair of Utterby Parish Council, Cllr Alan Woodward presented the Parish Council's Annual Report 2021-22.
I am pleased to report that we have had a full complement of Councillors over the last twelve months and I would like to thank them all for their support and during that time.
The Parish Council has been ably supported by our local representative from ELDC, Councillor Edward Mossop who has attended the majority of our meetings and Councillor Alex Hall from Lincolnshire County Council, who has attended meetings when available.
Parish Clerk - On behalf of everyone residing in Utterby, I would wish to thank our Parish Clerk, Maria Vincent for her work. She brings enthusiasm to the Council and her contribution is vital to the smooth running of our affairs.
As from June 2021 following the lifting of restrictions, Utterby Parish Council were able to meet again face to face, and we continue to meet on the first Wednesday of each month with a 15 minute slot at the beginning of the meeting for residents to ask relevant questions.
Governance - The Parish Council is a member of the Lincolnshire Association of Local Councils, their support and legal advice access has been very helpful in the past. The Council continues to ensure that its framework of policies is regularly reviewed and updated. Key documents include the Code of Conduct, Standing Orders, Financial Regulations and Risk Management/ Strategy. A complete list of the policies and documents are available on the Council’s website.
Delivery of Parish Council Amenities - The Council continues to maintain the Village Green and the amenity grass verges on the A16. The verges amenity grass cutting is part of a Parish Agreement with Lincolnshire County Council and we signed up to this again in 2021/22; this enables the Parish Council to contract a grass cutting company direct to cut verges along the A16 through Utterby, and this is undertaken up to 13 times during the year (weather dependent).
The moles were troublesome during the autumn/winter, but the pest control company seem to now have them under control.
The bus shelters are cleaned every month and the structures are maintained. The Kissing Gates, having been refurbished last year (along with the Millennium bench) are checked on and will be kept in good order as is the parish council notice board.
We maintain the trees on the village green, its trees and its hedge, and also organise three cuts per year for the footpath from Church Lane to the A16 to keep this clear for walkers as LCC no longer maintain it. Sadly this year the willow tree on the Village Green had to be felled due to disease, but this was replaced with a weeping willow sampling and during the course of the year we have planted five further trees, two large silver birch saplings and a small rowan, silver birch and hornbeam. We are grateful to the ELDC’s Tree Officer for the help and advice he has given us over the past year.
The Parish Council is committed to improving the fabric of our village. In 2021 we added a further planter onto the main road and now the five troughs are replanted twice in spring and autumn. The new benches of the Village Green continue to be popular with residents and dog walkers.
At Christmas we added LED lights onto the tree by the decorative Utterby sign on the corner of Church Lane and the Main Road.
The Welcome Packs continue to be delivered to new residents although the supply of tourist information for Louth is getting difficult to obtain. The Council continues to maintain and update its website, Facebook page and publishes and distributes the Utterby Voice twice a year in January and July.
Finance - In 2021/22 the precept was £8843.84 and at the end of this financial year our spend was £8,645.76 leaving a balance of budget and reserves of £ 15562.44. We also received income from the Parish Share (grass cutting contribution from LCC) and from claiming back VAT on our expenditure. During the year the Council resolved to make no increase on the Precept for 2022/23 keeping it to £8843.84.
We ensure that all contracts and purchases give the residents of Utterby best value. The annual Internal Audit took place in March 2022 with a good report back and the AGAR (annual governance and accountability return for 21/22) will be completed at the Annual Parish Council Meeting and submitted to PKF Littlejohn LLP Auditors.
LCC Highways and Other Issues - The Parish Council reports on issues regarding the highways / street lighting and the traffic refuge in the village often using ‘Fix My Street’ and we continue to make Lincolnshire County Council aware of the speed and volume of traffic on the A16; we will keep doing this as it is one of the major issues in the village.
Planning Matters - Three planning applications were considered during the year along with one planning appeal.
N/192/01447/21 THE BARN, CHURCH LANE, UTTERBY
N/192/02387/21 FIELD VIEW, CHURCH LANE, UTTERBY
N/052/02607/21 LAND EAST OF MONTANA, INGS LANE, FOTHERBY
Planning appeal for N/192/00231/21 Outline erection of 2no. dwellings, relating to LAND OFF CHAPEL LANE, CHAPEL LANE, UTTERBY Appeal reference APP/D2510/W/21/3278865
The Council considers all planning applications objectively and with regards to the village as a whole - it has been supportive of residents inconvenienced by building traffic and will continue to report to Planning Enforcement when conditions stipulated by planning applications are ignored or planning permission is not applied for to begin with.
4. Reports from Village Organisations
a. Utterby Primary Academy – Headteacher’s Report – Tom Hawkins
Utterby Primary Academy is federated with North Thoresby Primary Academy, with whom we share a number of resources and staff. We are part of Academies Enterprise Trust (AET) one of the largest multi-academy trusts in England.
Admissions and Cohort – We continue to operate 3 classrooms and the Pupil Admission Number (PAN) remains at 10 children per year, a total of 70 pupils overall, which is the current maximum capacity of the school. We need to aim to get 10 per year into the Early Years Foundation Stage to fill up the places. For September we will be taking 14 pupils in and the school is now (for the first time in many, many years) full.
The catchment area for pupils remains remarkably wide and for about 60% of our pupils Utterby is not their nearest school. We continue to have a strong uptake of pupils attending from Louth and other surrounding villages.
Ofsted Inspection - In November 2021 we had an Ofsted Inspection as part of the normal cycle of school inspections, albeit an overdue inspection, due to the backlog of inspections caused by the pandemic.
We were absolutely delighted to retain our “Good” rating. This really is a testament to the hard work of staff, pupils, and our wider school community to make Utterby Primary Academy an excellent place to learn. We are especially proud to have received this feedback amidst the challenges of the last 2 years.
This rating recognises that the school has continued to make improvements and retain its high standards for teaching and learning since its last visit from Ofsted in June 2016. This latest report is testament to the hard work and collaboration of all staff, pupils, and parents at Utterby Primary Academy, and is especially good news given the ongoing challenges presented by coronavirus during this period.
Inspectors pointed to many impressive areas of school life in their report. The main highlights of the report include:
● Inspectors noted that Utterby pupils feel that “everyone is kind” and the school is a “good place to be.”
● Inspectors were impressed by our focus on curriculum development and reading, noting that “in all subjects, leaders have identified the end points that pupils should achieve.” They also recognised our community library and our commitment to ensuring that pupils have access to high-quality books at home.
● The inspection team were impressed by the way leaders and staff know pupils and families well, noting that “staff are quick to respond to concerns, however small.”
● The report notes that religious education is a key strength at Utterby, as “teachers provide pupils with opportunities to discuss their understanding and develop their vocabulary,” and that pupils are able to have real-world experiences such as visiting different places of worship and welcoming visitors of other faiths to school.
● Inspectors were also impressed by the emphasis on mental and emotional health at Utterby, noting that teachers “help pupils to understand the impact of their words and actions on others” and develop strategies to deal with different emotions.
The report was officially published in January 2022 and is available to read in full on the school website.
School Grounds –Plans are moving forward quickly to expand and renovate the school building, to upgrade the ‘mobile’ classroom to the side of the main building with a more permanent structure to hopefully expand our learning environments and free up some playground space. This may also have the effect of increasing the potential number of pupils on roll in future years.
Curriculum -We are now operating in a very similar manner to pre-COVID and are beginning to get out and about into the wider community.
Over the summer term all the classes are going on at least one school trip. Recently The children in Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 went on a trip to the Magna Science Museum as part of their learning related to their science and design technology curriculum. Children in Reception, Y1 and 2 visited the Wolds Wildlife Park in March as part of their animals topic and will be visiting Lincoln Castle in June as part of their topic on castles.
Work between the 2 schools of Utterby and North Thoresby has also recommenced with a whole federation sports activity day in March being a recent highlight. With support from coaches from Grimsby Town Community Sports Team we delivered a whole day of team and individual events in a range of different sports. Children in Key Stage 2 will also be having weekly cricket coaching sessions over the summer term lead by the local cricket development team.
Afterschool Care -The school continues to offer a range of before and after school provision for children. We have a daily breakfast club on site and this term children have a choice of 8 after school clubs run on Tuesdays to Fridays, spread across both North Thoresby and Utterby school sites. By sharing clubs across both sites we are able to offer a wider range of clubs and continue the link for pupils to collaborate over both school sites.
b. St Andrew’s District Church Council –Chairman – Mr David Frost
Cancellation was the name of the game this last year unfortunately, but all the events are now coming back into the flow and give us more income. Supporters are remaining mainly stable and also there will be income from weddings and christenings and the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Sustainability is the name of the game and thanks to our long term helpers we will remain so.
Services – we have six Holy Communions throughout the year, four Morning Prayer, a Harvest Festival, three baptisms and one funeral. We have a good relationship with Utterby School and this has brought the children to visit through the year. We had three services prior to Christmas with 50/60 attendees at those services. The services in 2022 have been well attended and despite covid, services have been arranged for the 4th Sunday of the month. We had/have weddings in April and May and christenings in June.
The Churchyard is in good order thanks to the person who looks after it very well and started mowing it after Primrose Day, Sunday 11th April. His work is much appreciated. We would like to thank all those that help us, not naming anyone, any help is much appreciated.
If anybody wants a job we are looking for another Church Warden and anyone interested should contact the DCC. If we haven’t got a Church Warden we cannot flourish. I started as Chairman seven or eight years ago, and I have learnt as I have gone along, but with everybody’s help it will remain sustainable.
c. Village Hall Committee – Ann Van-Spall – Treasurer, Utterby Village Hall
Glenda, Pat and I (mainly Glenda and Pat) keep the Village Hall going. In the last year we have had a new front door, a new ladies toilet and flooring in both the ladies and gents. The air conditioning unit packed up but this is now mended, but it did cost a lot of money to sort out.
Bookings have started very slowly but they are now picking up, especially with children’s birthday parties. We are a small committee and need more villagers’ help and support or to fundraise or even just to book the hall for their own events.
5. Open Forum
• St Andrew’s DCC are holding a Platinum Jubilee party in the Church grounds on Sunday 5th June 2022, bring your own food, table and drink and there will be live music.
• Two residents from Benson Court, who rented accommodation from Platform Housing, were aggrieved that they had not been kept informed regarding the plans for Benson Court and rumours were circulating, also that repairs were very slow to be undertaken. Cllr. Edward Mossop (ELDC) was now in contact with the residents and would try to ensure that residents were given any information when available. It was noted that only 7 of 21 units were now being used. It was suggested that the Parish Council could also write to Platform Housing to ask them that residents were kept informed.
• A resident reported that the speed on the A16 was still a big issue in the village but yet in 2019 he had tried to raise interest in a petition to lower the speed limit, but only a third of the village were interested. He reported that North Thoresby were going to have the speed through the village lowered to 40mph. Cllr Alan Woodward suggested that the Parish Council put another article in the Utterby Voice about this to get the message around, but the resident commented that they had gone to every single house in the village before. Cllr Alex Hall (LCC) asked if the previous LCC ward councillor had put in for a TRO (Traffic Regulation Order) and the Clerk confirmed he had not. Cllr Hall said it could take two years but would be worth progressing. Another resident said he had lived on the main for 70 years and the speed had gone up and up and that the only way to stop the speeding was with a speed camera and fines.
• A resident asked if the Nuclear Waste was going to go through the village or was there going to be a new bypass. Cllr Edward Mossop (ELDC) said that nothing had yet been decided and that to get permission for the nuclear waste dump at Theddlethorpe was going to be a long process and that any residents of nearby villages would receive a vote. Another resident said that any nuclear waste on lorries would be in sealed containers.
• Another resident said that four years ago they had asked about reduced road speeds and were told the traffic was not heavy enough. A resident said if there had been a roundabout up by Peartree Lane, that it would have helped reduce the speed through the village.
• Another resident reported that the 40mph sign that had been knocked down during a recent accident still hadn’t been put back up.
Cllr Woodward brought the meeting to a close, thanking everyone for coming and hoped that some of the current and new residents would consider looking at becoming a parish councillor in a few years time.
The meeting closed at 6.58 p.m.
Minutes taken by: Maria Vincent, Utterby Parish Clerk