October 2019 Minutes
Deeping St James Parish Council
The Institute, 38 Church Street, Deeping St James, Peterborough PE6 8HD
E-mail: clerk.dsjpc@btconnect.com
Tel: 01778 343266
//parishes.lincolnshire.gov.uk/deepingstjames
Parish Clerk: Julie Fortnum
The minutes of the meeting of Deeping St James Parish Council held Thursday 31 October 2019 at 7.30 pm at The Institute.
Present: Councillors Blessett, Boreham, Bowell, Gilbert, Green, Hall, Hardy, Hosking, Kornfeld, Shinkins-Hoppe, Stevens (District), Thomas (District), County Councillor Dobson and one member of the public.
The minutes were taken by the Parish Clerk
Open Forum
District Councillor Stevens had provided a report which had been circulated to all the Parish Councillors which explained how the District Council was now Council led rather than Officer led and performance was reviewed in a number of Overview and Scrutiny Committees. She informed everyone that a meeting would take place tomorrow with representatives from Lincolnshire County Council to consider the IT needs of the Deepings Library. County Councillor Dobson advised that following the refusal of planning permission for the BP service station he is meeting with the Managing Director of Lindum Developments to consider alternative designs and locations. Along with 30 other representatives from Lincolnshire businesses and the Greater Lincolnshire Enterprise Partnership he will be visiting China during November 2019 to sign a number of contracts. He also presented two letters signed by the County Council Chief Executive to Councillor Bowell supporting the Signal Box rebuild and a grant application for assistance towards helping with the re-build. Councillor Hardy asked if Councillor Dobson could help with the access issues on the temporary PROW3 from Sorrell Close whilst the work was being done on the Springfields development as the letter Councillor Hardy had received suggested that the development would be complete before the date any work could be done by the County Council. Unfortunately Councillor Dobson said these matters were driven by financial and manpower availability. Councillor Hosking asked if there was an alternative method to patching potholes to which Councillor Dobson said that it had been the intention to improve the way repairs were done but due to the cost and time implications the county had reverted back to the old method.
Councillor Stevens requested that the Parish Clerk contact Lincolnshire Police to obtain assurance that the neighbourhood policing team would continue to have two PCSO’s serving the Deepings in the future.
73.20 To receive apologies for absence.
Apologies were received and accepted from Councillors Dilks, Fox and Halls.
74.20 To receive notifications of interest and consider requests for dispensations, if any.
The following interests were declared:
Councillor Stevens – Agenda item 77.20.1 and 80.20.1
Councillor Hosking – Agenda item 77.20.1
Councillor Thomas – Agenda item 80.20.1
75.20 To approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on Thursday 26 September 2019.
The minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 26 September 2019 were agreed and signed as were those of the meeting held on Thursday 29 August 2019 the signing of which had been postponed from the September meeting.
76.20 Clerks Report
-Damage to two Springers at Jubilee Park was reported on 18 October 2019 by a parishioner visiting the park. After contacting SKDC it was established that one of the springers was their responsibility and the other ours although the broken section had been taken back to Grantham by one of their contractors. This along with a broken SKDC owned springer at Hereward Way means the play equipment available in the parish and the condition of it is diminishing. Meetings and telephone discussions with an Officer from SKDC suggest that they are very unlikely to be in in positon to make major improvements.
-Keys still need to be sourced and/or cut to be issued to Councillors who volunteered to keep the parish noticeboards up to date.
-A further meeting has taken place with the IT support provider but a further meeting is required to finalise what is needed.
-The recommencement of fortnightly visits from the Community payback Team has been delayed – they are now due return from Monday 4 November 2019.
-Damage due to a car accident to the bridge on PROW 12 off Stowgate has been reported to LCC along with a number of pot holes, a street light not working. The Clerk advised that a reply had been received from LCC advising that work would be carried out to repair this subject to finance an availability of workforce. The Clerk was asked to contact the Police to see if the car driver’s insurance would cover any costs.
-Fly-tipping including a 45 gallon drum and a gas cylinder on Back Lane was reported to SKDC
-Two skips have been provided for the use of the allotment holders and the provider of those skips has notified the parish council of the abuse of the rules of what can be disposed of in them and capacity of them.
77.20 To consider financial matters
1. To approve accounts for payment
It was proposed seconded and Resolved that payments valuing £16314.61 should be paid
2. To receive the minutes and consider recommendations from the finance and general purposes committee meeting held on Thursday 24 October 2019
Councillor Bowell introduced the minutes from this meeting referring to agenda item 33.20 recommending that the Parish Council’s two current risk assessment policies should be readopted and that Councillor Gilbert would work towards improving/amalgamating them by May 2020. Resolved
3. To agree the donation to be made to the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal 2019 – Two proposals (both with seconded) were received, £250 and £200. It was Resolved to make a donation of £200
78.20 To consider planning matters
1. To receive the minutes and consider recommendations from the planning committee meeting held on Thursday 19 September 2019
Councillor Blessett introduced the minutes of this meeting from which there were two recommendations. The committee recommended that a specific budget should be included in 2020/21 to cover the costs involved in carrying out any work on trees within the conservation area or covered by preservation orders. Resolved. The amount would be agreed at the finance and general purposes committee scheduled to take place at 7.45pm on Thursday 21 November 2019
The Committee also recommended that in recognition that this site was occupied for a number of years by the family business the name Prentice Place should be put to South Kesteven District Council’s Street Naming and Numbering Officer for consideration when naming the development on Church Street next to The Waterton Arms. Resolved
2. To consider the following planning applications
S19/1810
Mr Bamforth
Tollbar Farm, Spalding Road, DSJ
Conversion and restoration/repairs of existing barns to form dwelling house
Approved with no comments
79.20 To receive and agree the Council’s response to correspondence received since the last meeting.
Campaign for the protection of Rural England
Notification that Deeping St James is the 2019 winner of South Kesteven Best Kept Community Award (Large Village)
District Councillor Judy Stevens advised that the certificate would be presented at the next District council meeting and it was agreed that the Clerk would attend. The Deepings Inner Wheel Club
Enquiring about sites where trees can be planted in the name of the club. Councillor Thomas volunteered to liaise with the Club about this.
80.20 To receive and consider minutes and recommendations of committees, reports from advisory committees, members reports from external bodies, members reports of meetings, seminars, training and events attended on the Council’s behalf:
1. To receive the minutes and consider recommendations from the Allotments footpaths and open spaces committee held on Thursday 10 October 2019 – Councillor Hardy introduced the minutes of this meeting which recommended that the Parish Council should take ownership of 4 of the 6 plots of land being gifted by South Kesteven District Council. After further discussion the recommendation was amended and it was Resolved (with 2 abstentions) to take the next steps (which may include obtaining legal advice and quotes to cover maintenance costs) to becoming the owners of these pieces of land. The Clerk was asked to contact the appropriate District Council Officers to seek further clarification on any limitations of use associated with the land and any financial incentives that may be available to the Parish Council if the land became the Parish Council’s responsibility.
2. The Deeping Raft Race presentation evening attended by Councillor Shinkins-Hoppe and held at the Goat in Deeping St James on Tuesday 15 October 2019 – Noted
3. The Lincolnshire Association of Local Councils conference and AGM attended by Councillors Bowell and Halls and held at The Bentley Hotel South Hykeham on Tuesday 15 October 2019 – Councillor Bowell encouraged other Councillors to attend in the future
4. To receive the minutes and consider recommendations from the Cemetery committee meeting held at 7pm on Thursday 17 October 2019 – Councillor Thomas introduced the minutes of this meeting from which there were no recommendations but there was some additional information - The Parish Council had sought advice from the Institute of Cemetery and Crematoria Management regarding the Parish Council’s responsibility in respect of a memorial (which was erected in 1921) located close to a tree in the old Cemetery. The ICCM had confirmed that the Parish Council are not responsible for the memorial or its repair - that is the responsibility of the grave owner, usually the Executor or Administrator of the deceased then the next of kin thereafter. The Parish Council do have a duty of care with regards to the safety of any trees in a Cemetery and provided that this was being met no further action needed to be taken. The Clerk was asked to respond to the next of kin accordingly. The job description and recruitment advert for the Cemetery Keeper would be considered further by the staffing sub-committee when they meet on Thursday 14 November 2019
5. To receive the minutes and recommendations from the Events committee meeting held at 7.45pm on Thursday 17 October 2019 – Councillor Stevens introduced the minutes of this meeting from which there was one recommendation. Following a circular from the Queens Pageantmaster which had invited communities to hold community events on Friday 8 May 2019 (a designated bank holiday in 2020) to join in the national VE Day 75 celebrations. Since the committee meeting Councillor Stevens had contacted the Friends of Jubilee Park who were eager to organise an event including musical entertainment the lighting of the beacon and the ringing of the Church bells. The Parish Council would be required to arrange permission to use the land, complete a risk assessment arrange insurance cover and the filling and lighting of the beacon and the supply and serving of refreshments from the parish council’s gazebo. A budget of £250 was agreed for this event. Resolved (with two abstentions Councillors Bowell and Green)
6. Resilient Communities meeting held in Lincoln on Monday 21 October 2019 attended by Councillors Bowell and Halls – Noted
7. Meeting at the school playing fields off Spalding Road attended by the Parish Clerk with representatives from the School, Rugby Club, Leisure Centre Contractors and SKDC to consider security of the site held on Thursday 24 October 2019 – Representatives from the School explained that the security of the fence was paramount to the School for safeguarding reasons and asked all the groups attending to ensure access was restricted to relevant individuals, that gates were locked after use and that the perimeter fencing was checked regularly for damage. Despite the Parish Council installing heightened fencing to decrease the likelihood of balls entering the playing field from the multi-use games area it was noted that the majority of illegal entry was from the Woody Heights recreation area and representatives from the School asked if any funding would be available from the Parish Council to cover the on-going repair bill. The Parish Council requested that the Clerk to reply advising that no funding would be made available as it had been the Schools choice to install the fencing however the Parish Council’s Maintenance Staff would continue regular checks of the fencing and complete any minor repairs they were able to do. It was hoped that as the Parish Council would soon be installing CCTV at Woody Heights and enhanced signing would be placed on all the perimeter fences when this had been installed this would reduce incidences of damage.
8. ICCM Cemetery and Compliance Management training attended by Councillor Halls, Councillor Shinkins-Hoppe and the Parish Clerk held on Friday 25 October 2019 – The course was attended by 12 delegates including 5 from outside of the County and the content was both thorough and beneficial.
9. Royal British Legion Commonwealth War Grave Remembrance visits on Sunday 27 October 2019 attended by Councillors Shinkins-Hoppe and Bowell – The Clerk was asked to note that both the Deeping St James Parish Councillors had not only attended the wreath laying ceremonies in the Deeping St James Cemetery but they had visited all the local Cemeteries.
81.20 Parish pump – items for information or inclusion on future agendas.
Councillor Hardy requested the at the Clerk contact representatives from the Deepings Raft Race to request they remove the car parking signage from lamp-posts. Councillor Thomas contacted someone immediately
Councillor Bowell requested that an item be added to the next agenda to consider whether to erect a flag pole in the parish
Councillor Stevens requested items for inclusion a newsletter to be printed on 15 November and delivered on 22 November
Councillor Shinkins-Hoppe advised that she had a meeting with the Clerk on Friday 1 November to progress the play equipment repairs/replacements
Councillor Hosking confirmed that the staffing sub-committee would meet at 7pm on Thursday 14 November 2019 and she would liaise with the Clerk to agree the agenda
Meeting closed at 9.20pm