Meetings 2024/25

Minutes of Meetings May 2024 to October 2024

Minutes of the Extra Ordinary meeting of Utterby Parish Council held              

Tuesday 6th August 2024 at 7.15pm – at Utterby Village Hall

Record of Members Present:
Present - Cllr Matthew Wright (MW) (Chair), Cllr Tina Bryan (TTB), Cllr Andrew Lashbrooke-Small (ALS) Robert Newton (RN),

Not Present – Cllr Terry Buckley (TB) and Cllr Marc Traves (MT).

In Attendance – Clerk: Maria Vincent.

31  Apologies Received
Cllr Marc Traves (MT)

32  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.

33  Council Matters, Actions and Communications

  1. It was RESOLVED to move into Closed Session in accordance with the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 due to the confidential nature of the business to be discussed in relation to the following matter: Personnel Panel - Vacancy of Parish Clerk. Following an interview by the Personnel Panel, it was RESOLVED that the candidate be offered the post of Clerk & RFO following receipt of references. The Council moved out of Closed Session.
  2. Following a request by the Village Hall Chair to change the day of the month that the Parish Council met, due to an opportunity for long term weekly booking on a Wednesday, and taking into consideration the availability of a candidate for the post of Clerk, it was RESOLVED to change the day of meeting from the first Wednesday of the month to the first Tuesday of the month. This would come into effect from the beginning of October.


34 Finance and Budgets

  1. Payments: It was RESOLVED to accept payments Dave Skells Traffic Management Ltd Cuts to village green and verges July £186.00 ref 720, DW Gibbs, August cleaning of Bus Shelters and Tel box £30.00 ref 721, HM Revenue and Customs Only120PX00376161 July Tax  £9.00 ref 722, Clerk Salary, home expenses July £266.33 ref 723 TOTAL £ 491.33

 

35 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 7:32pm.

 

 

 

     Signed ___________________                      Date________________________

Minutes of the meeting of Utterby Parish Council held                                         

Wednesday 3rd July 2024 at 7.00pm – at Utterby Village Hall

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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. Communications: No actions.


25 Finance and Budgets

  1. 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

  1. 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.
  2. 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
  3. 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.
  4. 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

  1. 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)

  1. Verges and Village Green  – Moles were back on the Village Green, Clerk to contact Pest Control..
  2. 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.
  3. Kissing Gates – Son of a resident who is a handy man will contact the Clerk regarding undertaking work on the Kissing Gates.
  4. Village Projects –  Nothing to report.
  5. 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)

  1. 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.
  2. 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________________________

 

 

Minutes of the meeting of Utterby Parish Council held                                         

Wednesday 5th June 2024 at 7.00pm – at Utterby Village Hall

PUBLIC FORUM

  • A resident reported that the painting of the interior of the Telephone Box had now been completed, the Council thanked the resident for their time taken to do this. The resident also reported that BT Open Reach had now replaced the broken glass panel in the telephone box. The resident to bring the left over paint to be stored in the Parish Cupboard in the Village Hall.
  • A resident asked if it was the Parish Council’s responsibility to cut the public footpaths. It was confirmed that it was not, but that we cut the Kissing Gate footpath as so widely used, and otherwise it would be impossible to walk it. They reported that the footpath from opposite Grange Lane to the back of St Andrew’s was virtually impassable. Clerk to email LCC again.
  • A resident reported that she had put new plants in the planter on the Main Road and was thanks (reimbursed at meeting).

Record of Members Present:
Present - Cllr Matthew Wright (MW) (Chair), Cllr Tina Bryan (TTB), Cllr Robert Newton (RN), Cllr Marc Traves (MT).

Not Present – Cllr Terry Buckley (TB)

In Attendance – Clerk: Maria Vincent and 4 members of the public.

11  Apologies Received
Cllr Terry Buckley.

12  To receive any Declarations of Interest under the Localism Act 2011
Cllr TTB regarding items relating to the Village Hall as a member of the Village Hall Management Committee.

13 Minutes
a) It was RESOLVED to approve the minutes of Annual Parish Council Meeting 8th May 2024 as correct and the Chairman signed them.

b) The minutes of the Annual Parish Meeting held of 8th May 2024 were noted.

 

14  Council Matters, Actions and Communications

  1. Chairman’s Remarks No remarks.
  2. Clerk’s Report – The Clerk reported that she had given notice of her resignation as Clerk & RFO but would stay in post until the 30th September 2024 unless the post was filled before that date. It was RESOLVED that the Clerk was organise the documentation required to advertise the position, and do this as soon as possible through Clerks’ network, LALC, Facebook and relevant job websites such as Indeed.
  3. General Election - No change of date to the Parish Council’s July meeting was felt necessary.
  4. Councillor Vacancy  – It was RESOLVED that following notification from ELDC that an election had not been called, to set the date for the co-options to be 3rd July (the next UPC meeting). Clerk to advertise on Facebook and website.
  5. Consultations: None
  6. Communications: Information regarding campaign ref safety of lithium batteries was noted. Email regarding smoke pollution sent to Cllr MW was read out and it was RESOLVED that the Clerk include an advert in the next edition of the Utterby Voice (draft sent to councillors). The Clerk would WhatsApp the date of the Lincolnshire Police online meeting so a councillor could volunteer to attend.
  7. It was RESOLVED to accept the new Model Financial Regulations from NALC 2024 with an alteration to the budget forecasts; That they be only required for one year forecast and not 3 years forecast.
  8. It was RESOLVED that the Display Screen Equipment checklist (HSE) be implemented by the Clerk on an annual basis (in May).

15 Finance and Budgets

  1. AGAR – It was noted that the AGAR had been sent by email and received by PKF Littlejohn LLP and that the information was now on the website and PC notice board.
  2. Grant funding from Utterby Village Hall – Note that this item was discussed later in the meeting in conjunction with the item on the defibrillator. It was RESOLVED that the application for grant funding from Utterby Village Hall of £500 be granted for this year.
  3. Budgets – It was RESOLVED that £500 be moved from ‘village projects’ to ‘Grants including S137’ to cover the grant awarded to the Village Hall.
  4. 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 1 cuts to village green and verges £186.00,  DW Gibbs  June cleaning of Bus Shelters and Tel box £30.00, HM Revenue and Customs Only120PX00376161 May Tax £9.00, Clerk Salary, home expenses and mileage May, £245.07 DHB Gardening Services footpath strim April and hedge Village Green and Church Lane £200.00 TOTAL £670.07
  5. Banking – It was RESOLVED to remove the signatory authority of N Makin (resigned as councillor last month) and to have the three currently named signatories Cllr Tina Bryan, Cllr Matthew Wright and Cllr Terry Buckley remain as signatories. Cllrs TTB and MW signed the mandate.

 

16 Planning

  1. No urgent applications to consider.

 

17 Parish Council Amenities (bus shelters, village green, etc)

  1. Verges and Village Green  – Nothing to report.
  2. Trees  – It was noted that David Buckley was doing some work on stabilising a few trees on the village green.
  3. Bus shelters and Telephone Box – Telephone box now painted thanks for local resident. Broken glass now replaced by BT Open Reach.
  4. Kissing Gates – Still to be looked at to see if able to mend or new fence needed (note that LCC need to be consulted if new fencing and no gates can be included).
  5. Village Projects Defibrillator – The Clerk read out an email from the Village Hall Chair outlining possibilities about a joint difib project. It was RESOLVED that the council would look at the costs of a difib and put a proposal together to present to the Village Hall.
  6. Utterby Voice distribution – It was RESOLVED that an article be included in the magazine asking for photos of the village to be emailed for use in further editions of the magazine and on the website (royalty free), and then include them in a small exhibition at the village hall. The UV should be delivered very early July and Councillors would each distribute the magazine to parts of the village.

 

18   ELDC/LCC Services (Streetlights, Bins, Highways, Verges, Footpaths, etc)

  1. Any urgent issues or updates. It was noted that LCC had vastly increased their contribution towards grass cutting from 3.5p to 5.8p per metre squared, totalling an increase of £763 to £1,922.00. The Clerk had emailed to check that this was correct and it was confirmed.
     

19  Notifications

None.

 

20 Date and time of Next Meeting

It was noted that that the next Parish Council Meeting was at 7pm on July 3rd in the Village Hall, Utterby.

Meeting finished at 8:12pm.

 

 

 

     Signed ___________________                      Date________________________

 

 

 

Minutes of the Annual meeting of Utterby Parish Council held     
Wednesday 8th May 2024 at 7.00pm – at Utterby Village Hall

  1. Elections
  1. It was RESOLVED to elect Cllr Matthew Wright as the Chairman of Utterby Parish Council.
  2. It was RESOLVED to elect Cllr Robert Newton as Vice Chairman of Utterby Parish Council.


NB: Cllr Buckley was not present for the election of the Chair and Vice Chairman arriving at 7:03pm

PUBLIC FORUM

  • Nothing raised.

Record of Members Present:
Present - Cllr Matthew Wright (MW) (Chair), Cllr Tina Bryan (TTB), Cllr Terry Buckley (TB), Cllr Robert Newton (RN), Cllr Marc Traves (MT).

Not Present – None.

In Attendance – Clerk: Maria Vincent and 3 members of the public.

2  Apologies Received
None.

3  To receive any Declarations of Interest under the Localism Act 2011
None.

4  Minutes
a) It was RESOLVED to approve the minutes of Parish Council Meeting 3rd April 2024 as correct and the Chairman signed them.

 

5  Council Matters, Actions and Communications

  1. Chairman’s Remarks The Chair had no remarks.
  2. Clerk’s Report – The Clerk confirmed that there had been two Councillor resignations following the publishing of the agenda – that of Cllr John Mackin and Cllr Nicol Mackin and that ELDC had published the notices. It was noted that the Bank Mandate would have to be changed again and included on the next agenda. It was reported that the precept had been received.
  3. What’s App Group It was RESOLVED that a What’s App group would be formed for internal notifications only.
  4. Asset Register – It was RESOLVED that the figure for insurance purposes for the assets would be increased by 10% across the board, but that this would not be accounted for in the 2024/25 insurance as the quotes for these had already been received and to be considered.
  5. Civility and Respect Pledge It was RESOLVED that the council would keep to the statement currently agreed to as they could not agree to some of the conditions stated on the pledge (ie receiving training).
  6. Standing Orders. It was RESOLVED to change the contractual amounts A public contract regulated by the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 with an estimated value in excess of £214,904.00 for a public service or supply contract or in excess of £5,372,609.00.

 

  1. Financial Regulations It was RESOLVED to change contractual amounts For public supply and public service contracts £214,904.00 as of January 2024 and  For public works contracts £5,372,609. The Clerk also notified the council that a new edition of Module Finance Regulations had now been published and that once checked through it would be brought to council.
  2. Code of Conduct – No updates required.
  3. Complaints Procedure. It was RESOLVED to update of change of email address.
  4. Consultations: None
  5. Communications: The Clerk advised the Council of an email received on leaving for the meeting regarding an incident that the grass cutting contractors had damaged some plants in a resident’s garden and that they would contact the contractors in the first instance.

6   Finance and Budgets

  1. Quarterly Monitoring Checking - It was RESOLVED that Cllr TTB and Cllr MT would undertake the quarterly monitoring 4 times per year.
  2. Quarterly Monitoring - Following Cllr TTB checking the quarterly monitoring from Dec-end March 24 and it was RESOLVED to approve it.
  3. Insurance: It was RESOLVED to accept the quotation from Zurich Insurance for the Parish Council’s Insurance policy (3 year term) at a cost of £491.04 for year one.
  4. Payments - It was RESOLVED to accept the payments :
  1. Dave Skells Traffic Management Ltd 2 cuts to village green and verges £372.00 ref 702
  2. DW Gibbs May cleaning of Bus Shelters and Tel box £30.00 ref 703
  3. HM Revenue and Customs Only120PX00376161 April Tax £8.80 ref 704
  4. Clerk Salary, home expenses and mileage April £243.28 ref 705
  5. Clerk Landscaping items expenses  £57.93 ref 706
  6. Zurich Insurance for 2024/25 £491.04 ref 707 TOTAL £1,203.05
  1. Annual Governance and Accountability Return – The Clerk reported that the Council had been one of a 5% sample to be included for an intermediate review but as we were declaring to be Exempt, this would not effect us, and therefore we would send the Auditors just the Exemption Certificate.
    It was RESOLVED to accept to approve the Annual Governance and Accountability Return and give permission to the Clerk to send it to the auditors, PKF Littlejohn LLP.
    1.       Certificate of Exemption
    2.      Annual Governance Statement
    3.      Accounting Statements
  2. It was RESOLVED to approve the bank reconciliation and explanation of variances.
  3. It was RESOLVED to approve the Notice of Public Rights and Publication of Annual Governance and Accountability Return.
  4. It was noted that the contact information to be sent to PKF Littlejohn LLP.
  5. It was noted that the Internal Auditor’s report was accepted at the April meeting.

 

7   Planning

  1. No urgent applications to consider.
  2. The Clerk reported that the family of a resident was currently going to the ombudsman regarding the drainage at the development between Grange Lane and Chapel Lane. It was RESOLVED that the Clerk would contact ELDC to see what the situation was regarding the drainage at the development, and also ask if there was a drains map for the village that we could access.
  3. No update on previous planning permissions.

 

8   Parish Council Amenities (bus shelters, village green, etc)

  1. Utterby Village Projects 2024 – The Clerk reported that they had been in contact with Alvingham regarding their recent installation of a defib. Cllr MW would check the Kissing gate fences to see whether these needed completely replacing.
  2. Utterby wooden structures – It was noted that the benches and Millennium bench required re-oiling and that it was RESOLVED that the Clerk would contact Skells to see what they would quote to undertake the work.
  3. Verges and Village Green – It was noted that the grass have been cut twice and Skells had confirmed a ‘collect’ had been undertaken on the village green. The Kissing Gate had recently been strimmed.
  4. Planters – Due to a car reversing over a planter, a new trough had been purchased to replace the broken one. It was RESOLVED that a budget of £200 would be set for the plants in the troughs and that each person could spend £30 on plants for the trough. The following people would take care of each planter: Chapel Lane Cllr MW, Grange Lane resident G, Holywell Lane Cllr TTB, Church Lane resident A, Main Road resident J.
  5. Bus shelters – Nothing to report.
  6. Utterby Voice – This would be eight pages and contain the annual reports. Due to be published early July. If anyone had an article they should bring it to the June meeting.

 

9     ELDC/LCC Services (Streetlights, Bins, Highways, Verges, Footpaths, etc)

  1. Benson Court update – there had been no updates on the building.
  2. Benson Court wooden benches – Cllr Mossop had been assured that none of the benches would be thrown away. The Council also noted that plants and bushes should also be collected if the land was to be flattened at any point.
  3. Any urgent issues or updates. Cllr MT had spoken to both the parent who had written to the Council regarding speeding and to the Headteacher and understood that a few years earlier an assessment had been undertaken and was now trying to access this information from LCC.
    Cllr Hall had emailed to confirm the 30mph speed limit would be implemented.
     

10  Notifications

None.

 

11 Date and time of Next Meeting

It was noted that that the next Parish Council Meeting was at 7pm on June 5th in the Village Hall, Utterby.

Meeting finished at 8:25pm.

 

 

 

            Signed ___________________                      Date________________________