2024 Minutes

PUBLIC FORUM
•    A resident reported that the Kissing Gate footpath was very overgrown and now impassable. Further the verge area behind and around the bus shelter on the left near to the Kissing Gate had become very overgrown. Council to consider contacting ELDC Pride Team.
•    A resident reported that a family member had looked at the Kissing Gate and fencing and thought it only needed two new posts.
•    A resident questioned why the whole of the A16 through Utterby had not been included on the plan to reduce the speed limit to 30mph. The Chair and Cllr Mossop explained the history and also LCC policy, but said they hoped once the 30mph had come to fruition, that we could then request the current 50mph be reduced to 40.  Cllr Mossop also expressed grave concerns over the Peartree Lane junction and how dangerous it is currently with the 50mph speed limit. 
•    A resident asked who installed the speed cameras as now installed on the road to Market Rasen, and it was thought that this was the Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership. 
•    The subject of Community Speed Watch (CSW) was again raised as a possible deterrent from speeding.
•    A resident asked what would happen to the field near to Queen’s Close, now that the horse had gone. Cllr MW reported that a different horse would be going into the field around September.
•    A complaint was made regarding the state of the hedges at the bus stop towards the north end of the village. The hedges were so overgrown that the bus stop could not often be seen by busses to stop and pickup.  Council to consider contacting owner.
Record of Members Present:
Present - Cllr Matthew Wright (MW) (Chair), Cllr Tina Bryan (TTB), Cllr Andrew Lashbrooke-Small (ALS) (joined following co-option minute 14a), Cllr Robert Newton (RN), Cllr Marc Traves (MT).

Not Present – Cllr Terry Buckley (TB).
In Attendance – Clerk: Maria Vincent, Cllr Edward Mossop (ELDC) and 7 members of the public.
21  Apologies Received
None.

22  To receive any Declarations of Interest under the Localism Act 2011
Cllr TTB and Cllr ALS regarding items relating to the Village Hall as a member of the Village Hall Management Committee.
23 Minutes
a) It was RESOLVED to approve the minutes of Parish Council Meeting 5th June 2024 as correct and the Chairman signed them. 

24  Council Matters, Actions and Communications
a)    Co-option of Councillors – Following a short presentation, it was RESOLVED that Andrew Lashbrooke-Small be co-opted as a Councillor onto Utterby Parish Council. Following this, Cllr ALS signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office.
b)    Chairman’s Remarks Cllr MW gave notice to the Council that he would be stepping down as Chair at the September meeting due to a career move, and would like councillors to consider stepping up to the post of Chair. He confirmed he would remain as a parish councillor.
c)    Clerk’s Report – The Clerk reported she had been notified that Kaspersky Internet Security had become a security issue, and that LALC had advised councils to buy alternative internet security for their online use, and so would now buy a different type such as Bitdefender or Norton. 
d)    Clerk’s Vacancy – The Clerk reported that she had included the vacancy in the LALC newsletter, on the website, Facebook page (and other local job FB pages) and in the Utterby Voice with the deadline for application being July 29th 2024. It was RESOLVED that a Personal Panel be set up including all councillors for the purposes of recruiting a new Parish Clerk. The Clerk reported that the September meeting would be her last meeting and so at that time a number of things would need to be put in place in the event that no one applied for the vacancy. Finally the Clerk reported that the SLCC were happy to renew the Clerk’s membership and then transfer to the new clerk. It was RESOLVED that the Council would pay for membership when a new Clerk was in post.
e)    Consultations: The Council RESOLVED to complete the LCC Rights of Way consultation that the Clerk would transfer online. The Council RESOLVED that it did not wish to consider the Public Space Protection Order for the village.
f)    Communications: No actions.

25     Finance and Budgets
a)    Payments: It was RESOLVED to accept payments and to note that two Councillors authorising the payment must check all invoices prior to authorisation, and that the Chair of the meeting must sign the payment schedule. Dave Skells Traffic Management Ltd    Cuts to village green and verges £186.00 713
DW Gibbs July cleaning of Bus Shelters and Tel box £30.00 714, HM Revenue and Customs Only120PX00376161 June Tax £117.40 71, Clerk  Salary, home expenses June  including extra hours £671.80 716, Clerk Printing of Utterby Voice, eM mail client licence and flowers £170.51 717
Utterby Village Hall Grant awarded minuted 5/6/24 15b £500.00 718, Utterby Village Hall quarterly hire of hall Apri, May, June £81.00 719 TOTAL £1,756.71
b)    Payments for August – It was RESOLVED that the schedule of payments and relating invoices for August be emailed to all councillors at the end of July for approval and that these be ratified at the September meeting.
c)    Email manager – It was RESOLVED to ratify the decision agreed by email to pay a one off licence fee for 54.95 GBP less 30% discount for eM Client email manager software which the Clerk has been using as a free version for a year, but which now has to be paid for as a commercial account
d)    Defibrillator purchase and installation - It was RESOLVED to send the following to Utterby Village Hall Committee (UVH) for the consideration: That Utterby Parish Council request to work in partnership with Utterby Village Hall on the following project. That Utterby Parish Council (UPC) be responsible for the purchase of a defibrillator with heated exterior cabinet (with code to unlock to be considered). That UVH organise in agreement with UPC a contractor to install the said unit and the fee for installation (cost previously agreed with UPC) be paid by UPC. That UPC arrange and pay for Training, a Service Agreement (with LIVES) and registration with national scheme and signage. That UVH consider paying for the electricity each year (approx. estimate given by a difib company of £50pa). Costs in the financial report are estimated general costs and not expected to exceed these. That when the life of the difib has ended (10 years estimated) UPC then have the unit removed or replaced. 
e)    The Council noted that notification had been received from the external auditors PKF Littlejohn LLP that they had received and logged the notification of exempt status for the year ended 31 March 2024.

26     Planning 
a)    Planning Updates - Confirmation had been received from ELDC Enforcement that Platform Housing had now moved all the skips from Benson Court and one portaloo left would shortly be moved. Cllr MW was concerned regarding the amount of rubbish and plastic that had been left on site which was being blown around the village. 

27     Parish Council Amenities (bus shelters, village green, etc)
a)    Verges and Village Green  – Moles were back on the Village Green, Clerk to contact Pest Control..
b)    Bus shelters and Telephone Box – DW Gibbs notified the Clerk that he was unable to clean the bus shelter at the Kissing Gate due to very heavy traffic.
c)    Kissing Gates – Son of a resident who is a handy man will contact the Clerk regarding undertaking work on the Kissing Gates.
d)    Village Projects –  Nothing to report.
e)    Utterby Voice –  Councillors each took a supply of Utterby Voices to distribute around the village, School and Church. Some were left in the Village Hall.

28    ELDC/LCC Services (Streetlights, Bins, Highways, Verges, Footpaths, etc)
a)    Any urgent issues or updates. It was RESOLVED that the Clerk would contact the landowner regarding the overgrown hedge by the bus stop on the north side of the village.
b)    Cllr Mossop agreed to investigate where the benches from Benson Court had been taken as he was told they would stay in the village.

29  Notifications
Cllr RN reported that he had attended the Lincolnshire Police online discussion, but was surprised so few attended. He reported that compared to the rest of the UK, Lincolnshire’s response time was good. Further he reported that there was an issue in that 101 calls were directed to the Humberside Police area. Cllr RN said he was happy to attend these online meetings again.

30 Date and time of Next Meeting 
It was noted that that the next Parish Council Meeting was at 7pm on September 4th in the Village Hall, Utterby.
Meeting finished at 8:25pm.

        Signed    ___________________        Date________________________