March 2024 Minutes
MINUTES OF THE HOGSTHORPE PARISH COUNCIL MEETING
HELD ON THURSDAY 7th MARCH 2024
Present: Chris Rolph (Acting Chairman) Mary Banks, Ellen Smith, Stephen Day
Clerk: K Hayes
Also present: Dist Cllr Roger Dawson
PUBLIC FORUM
No members of the public present
1. APOLOGIES – Dist Cllr Stephen Evans
2. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST – None
3. APPROVAL OF NOTES OF MEETING
The Minutes of the meeting of the 1st February 2024 were unanimously approved and signed by the Acting Chairman. It was noted that in order to clarify the meaning of Item 12 Mill House, wording should be added of ‘not seasonally limited’.
With regard to the end of the meeting, the clerk confirmed that, having checked with LALC, the position was that a minimum of five seats were required for a Parish Council to be formed but as Hogsthorpe had eight seats, one quarter or three members were required for a quorum.
4. CLERK’S REPORT
The clerk read out her report. It was noted that there were four vacancies on the Parish Council and three residents had been sent application forms. One had withdrawn his application and the other two applications had not been sent in.
Further comments under this item would be reported under the appropriate agenda items.
5. REPORTS FROM OUTSIDE BODIES
i) Cllr Dawson reported that he had attended the planning meeting that morning regarding the Manor Farm revised planning application. He had written a comment for that meeting but this had not been read out. He is annoyed at the current planning process and the consultation process where objections are ignored. General discussion ensued on this subject. The current government thinking is that planning applications would be relaxed to allow extensions and additions to properties. However, there has been no thought given to the infrastructure of roads, local amenities, facilities and particularly drainage.
ii) Cllr Rolph reported that a meeting of the allotment committee had been held at which they were informed that the Distrfict Cllr grant had been received for the replacement fencing.
iii) Cllr Banks reported that the village hall meeting had to be cancelled due to illness but was re-arranged for the 14th March – Cllr Smith and clerk to attend.
iv) Cllr Banks reported that the quarterly meeting of the Hogsthorpe Charities had been held. There was a new local tenant in the property. They welcomed the trees which have been planted to the front of Charity Farm on the sold land as this allowed for a wind break. There has been no further comments from members of the public regarding the sale of land.
6. CORRESPONDENCE
* The clerk noted that a 5 page letter of objection from Lincolnshire County Council had been received with regard to the Pylon issue where National Grid were proposing putting up electricity cable pylons for an 87 mile stretch from Grimsby to Walpole in Norfolk running through the whole of Lincolnshire. It was agreed that the Parish Council will also put in their objections.
* A letter from the Flood Resilience Programme Co-ordinator stating that LCC are carrying out investigations into the recent flooding issues starting next week for several months. Consultations will be carried out on affected locations to engage with local residents who have reported internal flooding during the recent storms.
* An email has been received from a local resident. Item 1 regarding the responsibilities for the churchyard is an agenda item no 8; Item 2 regarding playing field benches is to be discussed in agenda item 9. Regarding Item 3 – Hogsthorpe History Day, the councillors discussed this at some length and agreed that the council would like to be involved with the church but would need to know what specifically was needed. It was suggested that this might be incorporated into the national 80th D-Day celebrations on the 6th June. The clerk will contact the email author and discuss with her.
* A flier was left by the Village Hall committee for the parish council attendees concerning a new Friendship group being run fortnightly by Lindsey Age UK. Posters at Village Hall and on Facebook.
* Email from the LCC Transport and Growth Department asked for help in identifying electric vehicle charging locations in the village. It was agreed that there were no suitable sites.
7. FINANCIAL MATTERS
i) Bank mandate changes had been finalised to delete Les Wildman and add Cllr Rolph and Cllr Smith as two further signatories. Although the clerk was a signatory, she would not sign cheques unless there is an emergency. Investigations were being made as to how future payments could be made by BACS with authorisation by a councillor.
ii) The clerk noted that a letter had been received to say that the Sid Dennis bills would be increased by 8% from the 1st April. Cllr Day suggested that an alternative quote be sought from EWS – clerk to look into this.
iii) The clerk confirmed that District Councillor grants had both been received for £650 each, one for replacement fencing at the allotments (ringfenced for the allotments) and one for the groundwork for placing of the benches. This work had not yet commenced – see item 10.
iv) The clerk confirmed that a grant application had been put in for the groundworks of the picnic area.
v) Cheque payments were agreed for £2700 to Tyrrell & Noble (paid on the 28th February) £516.67 to K Hayes for salary, £129 to HMRC for PAYE, £94.67 to K Hayes mainly for Microsoft renewal of £59.99 plus homeworking allowance, postage and stationery, £106.68 to Sid Dennis, £15 for hire of Village Hall. A further two pre-dated cheques of £516.67 to K Hayes for salary and £129 to HMRC were signed so that these could be cleared before the year end. The clerk confirmed that these would not be cashed until after the 18th March.
vi) Cllr Banks, together with the clerk, volunteered to check the asset register against the actual equipment throughout the village.
8. CHURCHYARD/CEMETERY MAINTENANCE
i) After considerable consideration it was agreed that the Parish Council were responsible for the whole of the churchyard and cemetery to include the walls, the fencing, the grasscutting, tree maintenance, the war memorials and general maintenance to keep the cemetery tidy. The clerk to write to the church authorities confirming what these responsibilities are. It would be noted that the oak tree planted a couple of years ago near the front wall would need to be moved as, should any damage be caused by the roots or branches of this tree, the council could not be held responsible.
ii) Cllr Rolph also stated that the gravestones against the wall needed to be removed and laid flat so as to preserve the wall from collapse. This will need a church authority faculty as gravestones cannot be removed without the appropriate authorisation from the Diocese. This item will also be included in the letter to the church stating that we cannot be responsible for the wall unless the gravestones are removed.
iii) Cllr Day noted that an audit of the burial ground should be carried out regularly. The clerk explained that she is still working on the proper plan on the burial plots and has agreed with a member of the public that this would be checked with the actual gravestones as and when the weather improves.
iv) General discussion took place on how new councillor members would be informed of their Parish Council duties and it was agreed that a copy of this agenda item would be copied and pasted into the front of the Minute book.
v) The clerk noted that the Sid Dennis rubbish bin was still being used by a member of the public for dumping their household rubbish. This person has now been identified and the clerk will look into this and take appropriate action.
vi) The benches were still being renovated and would be re-installed.
9. PLAYPARK
i) An application for the inclusion of a monkey climbing wall in the playpark as been put in from the National Lottery Community Fund. This would be situated on a grassed area outside of the children’s playpark. Cllr Day questioned what the size would be and the placing which should not block the images from the CCTV cameras. Cllr Smith and Clerk to check this.
ii) With regard to the query from a member of the public under item 6, the benches were to be repaired if possible and the plaques put back. Cllr Day queried whether the plaques could be put on the new picnic benches or fastened to the outside of the changing rooms. It was agreed that the better place would be on the benches themselves if possible.
iii) Cllr Smith had obtained an alternative quote for the playpark grasscutting from a local farmer. The quote was £80 + VAT per cut and £100 plus VAT for rolling the field. The cost for the year was expected to be in the region of £1000. This must include removal of the grass cuttings. It was agreed that this would keep the field in a better condition. The clerk to contact the current contractor to omit the cutting of the playpark arrangements from his contract.
10. BENCH INSTALLATIONS AND MEMORIAL PLAQUES
The groundwork for installation of the village benches had not yet been started. It is understood that the contractor has had some transportation problems – the clerk to contact him with a view to getting a timescale for completion of this work.
11. PLANNING
Manor Farm – Noted under Item 5. The submitted revised plans had been approved by the Planning Department.
12. PLAN FOR ANNUAL PARISH COMMUNITY MEETING
The clerk explained that a village survey being carried out by YMCA was slow-going and it would be unlikely that there would be any meaningful results of the survey ready for a meeting in April. It was, therefore, agreed that the APCM would be put back to its original date but would be a week later as the village hall was booked for elections on the 2nd May. It was agreed to arrange the meeting for the 9th May to commence at 7.00 p.m. after the AGM at 6.00 p.m. It was agreed that the poster and the flier prepared by the Clerk would be printed and put into circulation nearer the time. It is hoped that the YMCA survey results can be announced at that meeting and that a police sergeant would be available to attend. Tea, coffee and cake will be provided.
13 DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The next meeting would be 4th April 2024 commencing at 6pm for Public Forum
14 ANY OTHER BUSINESS FOR NEXT AGENDA
None noted
There being no further business, the meeting closed at 8.00 pm
2024/03
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