RAOS April 2023 Minutes
DEEPING ST JAMES PARISH COUNCIL
The Institute, 38 Church Street, Deeping St James, PE6 8EP
E-mail: clerk@dsjpc.co.uk
Tel: 01778 343266
Webpage: //deeping-st-james.parish.lincolnshire.gov.uk Facebook: Deeping St James Parish Council
Parish Clerk: Julie Fortnum
Minutes of the recreation & opens spaces working party held at 8.30pm on Tuesday 11 April 2023 in the meeting room at the Institute 38 Church Street Deeping St James PE6 8HD
Present: Councillors Bowell, Hosking, Shinkins-Hoppe and Stevens
The minutes were taken by the Parish Clerk
Due to the committee meeting not being quorate a working party was held.
23.31 To receive apologies of absence.
Apologies were received and accepted from Councillor Halls.
22.32 To receive declarations of interest.
None received.
23.33 To agree the minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 14 February 2023.
Agreed and signed.
23.34 To receive the Clerk’s report.
No report provided.
23.35 To receive an update regarding the Annual Parish Meeting scheduled to take place on Tuesday 25 April 2023.
Councillor Shinkins-Hoppe confirmed that the conference centre at the Deepings School was booked, catering being provided by the school, a number of community groups would be providing table top displays and the Parish Councillors had been asked to vote for the nominations for the making a difference award.
The Clerk confirmed that after Market Deeping Town Council had decided to postpone their Town meeting (scheduled for 18 April to 11 May) due to it being within the pre-election period she had sought advice from both the Monitoring Officer at South Kesteven District Council and the Chief Executive of Lincolnshire Association of Local Councils. Neither could see any issue with the Deeping St James Parish meeting taking place on 25 April with LALC stating the following -
“After a full discussion of the non-political nature of the Making a Difference Awards and interesting presentations and how the meeting is arranged then I could find no reason to say that it would be in breach of the Code of Practice during the pre-election period. It is important that the Chair of the Meeting is aware of the restrictions and maintains good order to prevent a breach occurring during this highly sensitive electoral period but as discussed there appeared to be knowledge and awareness of the Code's rules and these would be applied and followed. On that basis LALC would not advise that the APM is cancelled and it can still go ahead.
Electors may wish to ask questions and make points that the meeting can note - however the APM should not get drawn into answering every question. If district and county councillors are present they may be asked to answer if the Chair thinks it is going to be done in a factual sort of manner and political hustings are not going to start, for example, The refuse collection service has changed my day of collection - why? or how long is it taking for planning applications to be decided?
More contentious matters may have to be limited to noting them and hearing what the community thinks about some issues and promise that the parish council and county and district councillors are listening and will not be asked to comment at this meeting, for example, Why is it that the district council have decided to close the sports centre facilities in this neighbourhood but is increasing it in X? or Why has the bus service been reduce from X to X and what are you going to do about it?, Are the number of dwellings to be built in this parish being forced on us by the Tories - the Labour Party would not do this?”
A discussion then took place about how the event would be managed and it was agreed that an item should be included on next week’s Parish Council agenda to ensure all Parish Councillors were aware of the Code of practice during the pre-election period and agree who would meet and greet and serve refreshments. Posters have been placed in noticeboards and on the Webpage and Facebook page
23.36 To receive an update regarding the Picnic in Jubilee Park event to mark the Coronation of King Charles III to be held on Sunday 7 May 2023.
The Clerk advised that this event had grown with support being offered from the Scouts and the Cubs who had offered to organise and run sports day activities and a tug of war and a craft tent. The musical entertainment on offer now includes a live band. Posters have been placed in noticeboards and on the Webpage and Facebook page
23.37 To consider and agree actions that need to be taken regarding the organisation of the Dog Show on Jubilee Park scheduled to be held on Sunday 4 June 2023.
Councillor Stevens agreed to speak to Councillor Rose to obtain an update.
23.38 To receive an update about the parish council funded activities being offered to primary school aged children during the school summer holidays in 2023.
The Clerk advised that alongside the Forest School sessions and art workshops that had been confirmed she had approached Deeping St James Primary School and Linchfield Primary School on 21 February 2023 to see if either of them were interested in running a summer playscheme. Follow this on 30 March 2023 Jimmy D’s out of school club had made contact as the information had been forwarded to them by Deeping St James Primary School so the Clerk had asked them for a proposal with costings for consideration.
23.39 To agree a date for the footpath walks 2023.
It was agreed that footpath walks should be offered at 7pm on Monday 17 July 2023 and 3pm on Sunday 10 September 2023. The routes would be agreed but one should incorporate the Linchfield footpaths and one the Frognall footpaths.
23.40 To note the following events that the Parish Council does not organise but usually attends
- Priory Church Rose and Sweetpea garden fete – Saturday 24 June 2023
- Deepings Carnival – Sunday 25 June 2023
- Deepings Raft Race – Sunday 6 August 2023
- Deepings Duck Derby – Sunday 3 September 2023
The committee agreed that Deeping St James Parish council should have a presence at all of the above events provided there are sufficient volunteers to staff the gazebo.
23.41 To note the date of the next meeting – TBA.