2023 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

MEETING OF INGOLDSBY PARISH COUNCIL 

Minutes of the Ingoldsby Parish Council Meeting held on Wednesday 20 September 2023 at 8pm in the Village Hall, Main Street, Ingoldsby

Public Forum:  The Chair opened the public forum.  

Two parishioners were present.  With the agreement of all present, the Vice-Chair proposed that agenda item 7 c., be discussed in the public forum as those parishioners present were in attendance primarily to discuss highways issues.  The motion was passed unanimously.

Members collectively compiled a list of highways faults or issues for discussion at the village walkabout scheduled to take place on Friday 22 September 2023 at 1 p.m.  

•   Flooding in the vicinity of the post-box
•   Cemetery lay by (roadside by gates)
•   Viking link verges and removal of debris from the verges
•   Re-chipping of the Boothby Pagnell Road
•   Hole in the road by Stirling
•   Rosemary Rise (paving)
•   Speeding
•   Grass cutting on the corner of Chapel Lane
•   Depression in the road by Ingoldsby Farmhouse/village hall
•   Heave on the pavement outside Ingoldsby Farmhouse 
•   White gates
•   White lines
•   Absence of diversion signage when the Ropsley Road was closed in July
•   Hill out of Irnham towards Ingoldsby 
•   Path next to Church wall

1)   WELCOME REMARKS BY THE CHAIR (23/047)

The Chair, Councillor Eldred, welcomed members to the meeting.  

She expressed her condolences on behalf of the Parish Council at the recent passing of former Parish Councillor Mike Ward-Barrow.  Mike’s dedication to the community was unrivalled demonstrated by his long service as a Parish Councillor between 2012 and 2022.  He will be sadly missed, and our thoughts are with his wife, Rowena at this sad time. 

The Chair also expressed her condolences to the family of former District Councillor Ray Wootten, who passed away at the end of August at the age of 71 years old. 

The Chair expressed her thanks to Sarah Trotter for following up on the broken streetlight reported at the last meeting, the emptying of the green bins and housing on Rosemary Rise.  

2)   PRESENT (23/048)

Councillor Eldred, Chair
Councillor Kenyon, Vice-Chair
Councillor Nelson

3)   APOLOGIES (23/049)

Apologies were received from Councillors Leigh and Lenton.  The reasons for their absence were noted and accepted. 

4)   DECLARATIONS OF PECUNIARY INTEREST & DISPENSATIONS (23/050)

No reports of pecuniary interests of applications for dispensations in relation to the agenda.  Councillor Eldred reported her interests in relation to the Village Hall Committee.  Councillor Nelson reported her interests in relation to the Playing Field Committee, PTA and PTFA. 

5)   SIGNING OF THE MINUTES (23/051)

Members resolved to accept the Clerk’s notes of the Parish Council meeting held on Wednesday 19 July 2023 as a true and accurate record of that meeting.  The minutes were duly signed and dated.

6)   GENERAL MATTERS (23/052) 

a)   County & District Matters

District Councillor Sarah Trotter sadly could not be at the Parish Council meeting this evening, but she submitted the following report. 

South Kesteven District Council has a newly formed committee which will deal with standards of behaviour in relation to Parish, Town & District Councillors. It will be the job of the Monitoring officer and his team of independent persons, which includes Fred Mann from Little Humby,  to investigate any complaint, all under the guidance of the (LGA) Local Government.

On Monday 18 September 2023, all seven Lincolnshire District Council leaders met to discuss this Possible Lincolnshire Devolution Deal.  There is a conversation between Lincolnshire County Council and the two unitary authorities North Lincs and Northeast Lincs and the Government with a view to a formal bid being submitted in the Autumn.  The District Council Leaders agreed unanimously to push back on three issues:

•   The secrecy behind the bid preparation
•   The lack of representation for districts on the proposed combined mayoral authority
•   A concern that the bid will not be ambitious enough in the levels of additional funding it is seeking from government.

The final draft bid will be considered by South Kesteven District Council at a full council meeting at the earliest opportunity.

Councillor Kenyon elaborated by saying that the people of Lincolnshire may get a devolution deal whether they want it or not.  It will ultimately lead to the dissolution of the District Councils.

b)   Defibrillator and First Aid Training

The Chair reminded the meeting about the final defibrillator and first aid training session scheduled to take place on Friday 22 September 2022 at 7pm in the village hall, Ingoldsby.  

c)   Autumn Litter Pick & Village Clean

Councillor Kenyon wanted to express his gratitude on behalf of the Parish Council for the litter picking equipment including high visibility jackets and bags provided free of charge by Lincolnshire Country Council.  

The next village litter pick will take place on 28 October 2023 meeting at the village hall 9.30am.  
 
d)   VETS 

Emergency Telephone System test guidance has been received from the Community Heartbeat Trust and members agreed to start implementing monthly testing. 

The Parish Council are actively looking to recruit volunteers for VETS.  Training will be provided. 

e)   Speeding 

It was agreed to add speeding to the list of items to be addressed at the village walkabout.  

Councillor Nelson reported that an inconsiderate driver, saturated her young son on the walk home from school this week, by driving at speed through an area of standing water. 
 
f)   Autumn Newsletter  

Councillor Nelson proposed expenditure of £35.00, per quarter, for the printing of the village newsletter.  The proposal was seconded by Councillor Kenyon and passed by resolution of the council.   Items for the newsletter include village litter pick, the Halloween party, the outcome of the village walkabout and the deadline of 30 October for S137 funding requests for the forthcoming financial year. 

g)   Lloyds Bank Application

The Clerk reported that the Lloyds bank application has been submitted.  Councillors need to agree to the terms and conditions and submit a copy of their signature.

Action:  Clerk to double check which Councillors still need to action the tasks associated with the new bank account and to telephone the customer service team to change the telephone number on file for Councillor Lenton.  

h)   Website

Members agreed that it would be a nice idea to have a ‘meet your councillors’ section on the website with the consent of each individual Councillor. 
 
i)   Request from St Bartholomew’s Church

Members noted the email from St Bartholomew’s Church dated 6 September 2023, in relation to the overgrown path along the church wall and the additional request for funding of £150.00 towards cemetery maintenance. 

It was agreed that the path should be added to the list for the village walkabout. 

Members agreed that it would be difficult to find any further funding for the PCC in the current financial year, due to cost increases across the sector.  

Members agreed to consider additional funding in the future. 

Action: Clerk to obtain a copy of the PCC accounts to inform further consideration.   Clerk to communicate the deadline for receipt of future funding requests. 

j)   Website Training

The Clerk informed members that she is currently receiving further training, courtesy of the Lincolnshire Association of Local Councils, on website maintenance. 

7)   HIGHWAYS (23/053)

a)   Members of the public are asked to report any new or outstanding highways defects directly to either www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/faultreporting or cschighways@lincolnshire.gov.uk or contact customer services by telephone on 01522 782070.

b)   Rosemary Rise waiting restrictions consultation

Members noted that, further to the consultation, this proposal in relation to Rosemary Rise waiting restrictions, is no longer being pursued.  

c)   Village Walkabout

The village walkabout will take place on either Friday 22 September.  This item was discussed at length in the public forum. 
 
8)   PLANNING MATTERS (23/054)

a)   Members noted the new planning matters: 

i)   

b)   Decisions pending or received:

i)   

9)   FINANCE (23/055)   

a)   Members noted the current bank balances as of 15 September 2023.

b)   Members noted the income received between 11 July 2023 and 15 September 2023. 

c)   Members noted the expenditure to be paid in line with the approved list of Regular payments between 11 July 2023 and 15 September 2023, or for approval.  

a)   Record of reserves as of 15 September 2023.   

e)   Members resolved to approve the monthly income and expenditure accounts for mid-July to mid-September 2023. 

10)    CORRESPONDENCE (23/056)

Members noted the following correspondence:

a)   Email from Claire Moses, SKDC dated 13 September 2023, ‘Proposed Council Tax Support Scheme 2024/24’.

b)   Email from SKDC dated 13 September 2023, ‘Have your say on SKDC’s Community Strategy’. 

c)   Email from SKDC dated 9 August 2023, ‘Consultation – Public Spaces Protection Orders – South Kesteven’. 

d)   Email received from SKDC dated 13 August 2023, ‘Open Space, Sports and Recreation Study Consultation’. 

11)   DATE AND TIME OF NEXT MEETING (23/057)

Wednesday 22 November 2023 at 8pm in the  Village Hall, Main Street, Ingoldsby

12)   CLOSED SESSION (23/058)

Not required.  

The Chair closed the meeting at 21.10 p.m.