May 2022 Minutes Annual Parish Meeting
WADDINGHAM PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of Waddingham Annual Parish Meeting on Wednesday 4th May
The Annual Parish Meeting was held at the Jubilee Hall under the Chairmanship of Councillor Lauretta Williams.
The Chairman gave her report for the year which included the following that had occurred in the Parish in the last year.
Chairman’s Report
Council Members
There were two vacancies at the beginning of the year. Two new councillors have been appointed, Beverley Tiley and Stuart Kirman So the Parish Council is currently at full complement. I would like to thank the Council and Clerk for all their efforts this year.
Meetings held
Six ordinary meetings were held during the year.
Finances
WLDC Precept 2021-2022 £8500
Of this we spent:
• £4491 on grass cutting, beck clearing, the arboreal survey and work on the trees as identified in the survey. There was a change of contractors for the green cutting from MKS Groundcare to AJ Williams.
• £3015.36 on staff costs for Clerk
• £977.49 on general admin including the audit, annual subscriptions, insurances and tech sup-port.
• £90 on village hall hire.
• £300 in donations to the Parochial Church Council to help with the maintenance of the church-yard.
• £250 to the Triangle to assist with ongoing costs.
The accounts have been audited externally.
Flood Defence
As of June 2021, the Parish council is no longer responsible for the maintenance of the Flood defence channel. We still hold £1359 of the grant allocated in 2011 and are awaiting instruction from the Lincolnshire Flood team as to what to do with it.
Constable Ings Environment fund
£6000 of this account have been withdrawn to cover the costs of the Speed awareness signs that the Council is in the process of buying and getting installed. This leaves a balance of £10636.24 in the bank book. This fund comes from some land owned by the Parish Council that is currently rented out to a local farmer. Funds in this account are to be used to improve the environment in the Parish and can be applied for by Parishioners and can be applied for by contacting the Clerk.
Playground Fund
It has come to light this year that the ‘Waddingham Adventure Playground Fund’ was never transferred to the Parish Council or signatories changed in 2009 as was thought. The council is working with Lloyds bank, where the fund is held, to allow the PC to access these funds. It is understood that the balance of this account is £3291.52.
Projects
Road safety
After several years of trying the council has now had permission to install some road safety signage in the village. There will be a permanent speed awareness sign on the entrance to Waddingham on Redbourne road. This will be solar powered. The council has also purchased a battery driven speed awareness sign and several posts and mountings. The position of this can be changed periodically to cover other points in and other entrances to the village. The funding for this has come from the Constable Ings Account.
The B1205 at Brandy Wharf has been classed as priority work and it is hoped that will commence in the next financial year. Some hopefully interim repairs have been made.
Maintenance of the Beck
There has been a lot of discussion with the Environment agency about who is responsible for the maintenance of different parts of the Beck. Although the Environment agency have claimed responsibility for the part of the Beck that goes through the village green, the Council and Parishioners were concerned at the amount of weeds and the potential for flooding, so the Council organised a contractor to remove the weeds from the whole of the Beck as it goes through Waddingham village. It is planned to use weedkiller on the Beck annually once permission has been granted by the Environment agency. An application for permission has been made to the Environment Agency and we are awaiting their response.
It has also been noted that properties whose land bounds onto the Beck have Riparian responsibility to maintain the part of the Beck that bounds their land.
There is still the issue of the collapsed Beck bank at the corner of Stainton Ave and Redbourne road that needs to be dealt with. The council continues to bring this to the notice of the relevant authorities.
War Memorial
This has been cleaned and renovated. The funding for this was provided by District Cllr J Summers’ Councillor Initiative Fund.
Phone box
This is still an ongoing project due to problems with contractors. The aim is to have an attractive, weatherproof amenity for the Parishioners to use. Suggestions for its use are a community library for books and jigsaws, storage for litter picking equipment and notice board. Funding has been given to complete the project by District Cllr J Summers’ Councillor Initiative Fund.
Play Park
This is still an ongoing project. The aim is to have a low-level playground somewhere on the village green, suitable for small children, with seating near it. Funding will come from the Waddingham Playground Fund, once it can be accessed, opportunities for matched funding have also been identified. Once the funding has been confirmed there will be opportunities for Parishioners to express their views and take part in the planning.
Platinum Jubilee Celebrations
The council applied to West Lindsey for and was granted £700 to go towards a celebration for the Jubilee. A picnic on the Green has been organised for Saturday 4th June 1-5pm.