2024 Minutes

PUBLIC FORUM
•    A resident complained that there was still flooding on Church Lane, both at the top by the junction with A16 and near to the church. It was thought there these two different incidents had different causes. Cllr Hall (LCC) had followed up the flooding complaints from the last meeting.
•    A resident informed the council that they had concerns regarding the state of the trunk of the willow tree, and that it needed re-staking again and protective materials around the base of the trunk to protect from mowers.
Record of Members Present:
Present - Cllr Matthew Wright (MW) (Chair), Cllr Terry Buckley (TB), Cllr John Mackin (JM), Cllr Nicola Mackin (NM), Cllr Robert Newton (RN), Cllr Marc Traves (MT).

Not Present – Cllr Tina Bryan (TTB).
In Attendance – Clerk: Maria Vincent, Cllr A Hall, (LCC), Cllr E Mossop (ELDC) and 5 members of the public.

82  Apologies Received
Cllr Tina Bryan (TTB).

83  To receive any Declarations of Interest under the Localism Act 2011
None.
84  Minutes
a) It was RESOLVED to approve the minutes of Parish Council Meeting 6th March 2024 as correct and the Chairman signed them. 

85  Council Matters, Actions and Communications
a) Co-option of Councillors – The Chair reported that ELDC had informed us that no residents had requested an election in the village following the two councillor vacancies. Two candidates gave presentations, and it was RESOLVED that Marc Traves and Robert (Bob) Newton be co-opted as Utterby Parish Councillors. They both signed their Declaration of Acceptance of Office and then took their seats at the Council. 
b) Chairman’s Remarks The Chair had no remarks.
c) Clerk’s Report – The Clerk made the Council aware that excess hours had been worked due to councillor resignations and that, the Clerk would leave claiming any extra hours until July. The Clerk also asked if any councillor would be prepared to post the agendas and any notices that had to be publicised on the noticeboard as it was not a good use of council budgets that the Clerk drove out each time to Utterby. The Chair agreed to do this.
d) Clerk’s Appraisal: It was RESOLVED that Cllr MW would undertake the appraisal.
e) Consultations: None
f) Communications were noted from: Chrysaor Production (UK), a response regarding builder’s bags complaint, National Lottery Funding archive, Utterby Village Hall for AGM and events. A letter from a concerned parent of a child who goes to the Academy was read out (regarding speeding) and responded to under LCC items.
g) Annual Parish Meeting – The flyers for the Annual Meeting were distributed to councillors to post through the doors of village residents.
86     Finance and Budgets
a)    It was RESOLVED that the council would not sign up to the LALC training scheme and instead would pay for any courses as required.
b)    It was RESOLVED to approve the following payments for April 2024:
2023/24 Budget            
HM Revenue and Customs Only120PX00376161£8.80 ref 697
Clerk £262.82 ref 698
Total payment 23/24 £271.62         
2024/25 Budget            
DW Gibbs £30.00 ref 699
Cloud Next Ltd    £119.98 ref 700
Lalc annual fee £96.68     ref 701
Total payment 24/25 £246.66     
c)    Internal Audit- The Chair read out the Internal Auditors report and it was RESOLVED to accept the report and further to write to the Auditor, Mr Steve Fletcher, and thank him for his work on undertaking the audit, which it was noted, he did not charge for.
d)    Budgets – The Clerk reported that this year we had underspent as the grass cutting charges had been approximately half that budgeted for due to the poor service given, only cutting 6 times out of the 13 times due. As there had been no projects or maintenance undertaken on any of our structures, there had been a low spend. It was reported that there was an overspend of budget on three items, insurance by - £11.54 and mileage -£23.90 due to the number of times coming to Utterby to post on the noticeboard since Cllrs Woodward moved out of the village, and Office/ Home Use/bank charges  - £6.81 which was due to the doubling up of bank charges from HSBC and Unity in the interim period.
At the close of the financial year: The budget was £9970.
Payments  £9,955.13 (precept, LCC contribution and Tax refund).
Receipts  £6969.86.  We had less income than predicted due to less tax rebate, and so there was a shortfall of £14.87 into our budget. Therefore, there is an excess left in our budget of £2,985.27. It was RESOLVED that the excess be moved into Contingency Reserves (along with the previous year’s excess) and that the draft 2024/25 budget be approved.
e)    Village Projects – It was RESOLVED that the Council explore the costs for buying and maintaining a defibrillator and a proposal be put together that could be sent to the Village Hall Committee for them to consider housing the defibrillator on the exterior wall of the Village Hall. The Chair reported also that he had looked into the cost of a large salt bin for sand (to be sited on the village green) in the event of flooding, and this would cost in the region of £500.
f)    Bank account signatories - It was noted that this was progressing.
g)    Asset Register – The Clerk reported that some of the trees on the asset register were now dead. Further she reported her concerns that, even though we had increased the costs of replacement for insurance purposes over the years, it was felt that we were still under insured. Further the Clerk reported that on inspection of the Millennium Bench, that all our wooden assets needed regular maintenance. Clerk to put the Asset Register on the May meeting agenda.

87     Planning 
a)    The Clerk reported that following the complaint to Platform Housing and ELDC regarding the containers at Benson Court, a letter had now confirmed that the containers did require planning permission and that ELDC were giving Platform Housing until the end of June to move them or apply for Planning Permission otherwise, enforcement would be taken.  

88     Parish Council Amenities (bus shelters, village green, etc)
a)    Village Green and Verges – The Clerk reported that having visited the village green that evening to take photos of dead trees she discovered it was very boggy down at the bottom end.
b)    Trees – It was RESOLVED to contact David Buckley and ask him to see if he could re stake the willow tree and put protective surrounds on the trunk.
c)    Bus shelters – Nothing to report.
d)    Telephone Box – The resident who had volunteered to paint the inside of the telephone box would resume painting when it was a bit warmer.
e)    Kissing Gates – Following the previous meeting, the Clerk had been to visit the Kissing Gates and measure them. The Clerk considered that they might just require some parts renewing instead of it all replacing. Cllr MW would visit the site and look to see if he agreed.

89    ELDC/LCC Services (Streetlights, Bins, Highways, Verges, Footpaths, etc)
a)    Verge Grass Cutting - The Council noted that it had received the agreement of costs from LCC for the cutting of the verges which would be £1159.83 for 2024/25. 
b)    Speed outside Academy -  It was RESOLVED that Cllr MT would liaise with Cllr Edward Mossop (ELDC) to engage with the Academy in putting together a proposal that can be forwarded to Lincolnshire County Council's Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership regarding 20mph speed signs. It was noted that these were not enforceable.
c)    Any urgent issues or updates – The little bridge on the footpath near to the fishing lakes was in a very poor state, it was RESOLVED that the Clerk would report to Lincolnshire County Council.

90  Notifications
Nothing to note.

91 Date and time of Next Meeting 
It was noted that that the next meetings were:
a)    Annual Parish Meeting (Village Meeting) at 6pm on Wednesday May 8th.
b)    The Annual Parish Council Meeting at 7pm on May 8th (one week later than usual) in the Village Hall, Utterby.
Meeting finished at 8:18pm.

Signed    ___________________        Date________________________