March 2023 Minutes
Waddingham Parish Council
Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on Wednesday 1st March at Jubilee Hall
Present: Cllrs L Williams (Chair), P Williams, B Tiley, G Thacker, J Thacker, A White and the Clerk
Cllr Bunney & Cllr Summers
2 members of the public
Public participation- A member of the public expressed concern regarding the state of the footpath adjacent to the B102. Matter discussed as part of the agenda.
21/23 Apologies for Absence- Apologies were accepted from S Kirman.
22/23 Declaration of Interest
a. To record declarations of interest by any member of the council in respect of the agenda items listed below. Members declaring interests should identify the agenda item and type of interest being declared. To note dispensations given to any member of the council in respect of the agenda items listed None requested.
23/23 Minutes of Previous meeting to be approved and signed.
The minutes of the Parish Council Meetings held 4th January 2023 were signed as a true and accurate record.
24/23 Matters Arising- nothing additional to agenda items listed
25/23 County Councillor/District Council report- County Councillor Bunney reported that the CC budget had been approved the previous week. The National funding formula had given a little more to Lincolnshire than expected, however a shortfall still remained. An additional £7m has been received for footpaths ad traffic restrictions. Additional funding for roads is needed. LCC are pushing for more funding. Additional police are needed. Due to the increase in the cost of electricity there is an issue with funding for the internal drainage board. The Council want additional funding from the national government as water is a national commodity. Cllr Bunney also reported that weed build up in the rivers Witham and Ancholme is causing a number of fish to perish. This appears to be due to higher temperatures and lower ground water.
Volunteers are needed for the ‘Ready for Anything’ scheme. Training and equipment are available.
The footpath running next to the flood relief channel has now slipped on both sides for the river. Steve Best at LCC is working on the issue.
The solar farm at Cottam has gone through the first stage.
District Councillor Jeff Summers apologised for not attending as many meetings as he would have liked to have done recently. This has been due to health issues. He reported that the Ancholme Drainage Board has put up the drainage charge in the precept from 12p to 14p. This is due to the increased electricity and fuel cost for the pumping stations. If energy charges fall the charge will decrease. WLDC are watching the Cottam Solar application as there is an application for a similar scheme in WL. This would be on prime agricultural land. WLDC has been successful in its bid for funding from the UK prosperity fund for investment. The fund will run until 2025. Further details can be found at UK Shared Prosperity Fund: prospectus - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Cllr Summers reported that the fund may be able to support parish council projects.
Finally, Cllr Summers reported that he will be retiring as a WL Councillor after 21 years in office. He thanked Waddingham Parish Council for always making his so welcome and is proud of what has been achieved whilst he has been a Councillor.
Waddingham Parish Council offered a vote of thanks for all Cllrs Summers’s support over the years.
26/23 Police report-Cllr White reported that there was 1 incident of anti-social behaviour reported in the area. No further details were available.
27/23 Clerk’s report- The Clerk reported that Cllr J Hill has retired from the parish council. Thanks were noted for her time on the council.
28/23 To resolve to bring the lease and deed document for the village hall up to date- Cllr L Williams reported that the lease and deed document for the village hall appears to be out of date. She is currently working on rectifying this with the support of Kirk Thompson, Community Development Officer and Village Hall advisor at YMCA Lincoln.
29/23 Finance
(a) Accounts for payment- resolved to pay
(i) Waddingham village hall hire- £60
(ii) C. Wright, salary and expenses- £570.40
(iii) LALC, annual subscriptions- £228.59
(b) Payments made between meetings:-
Groundwork UK- Neighbourhood Plan Grant underspend- £492.70
ACTION: Clerk
30/23 Correspondence for discussion-
(a) ASTCO fundraising opportunity- The parish council do not wish to have the ASTCO clothing bins. There are currently charity clothes bins in the village.
(b) Request for allotments- Following the request from a parishioner for an allotment it was agreed that there is no suitable parish council land available
(c) Letter regarding use of herbicides on village beck- The herbicide to be used has been li-censed by the Environment Agency. It does not pose a risk to the wildlife
(d) Merlin renewables- availability of grant funding-Resolved to apply for grant funding to clear the path next to the B1205
(e) Footpath next to B1205- Concern was raised regarding the safety of the path which is very narrow and slippery. Cllr P Williams has cleared the path previously but is unable to do so again. Cllr Bunney has raised the matter with LCC but will raise the issue again.
(f) Request for funding from Little Acorn Preschool- Parish council are unable to provide grant funding for the Little Acorn Preschool.
21/23 Flood relief scheme and beck cleaning matters -It was reported that the bank of flood relief channel has now slipped on both sides. Steve Best from LCC is aware. Cllr Bunney to report again. Clerk to contact AJ Williams regarding spraying the beck to prevent a build-up of weeds again. Clerk to also ask for a quote to remove the silt build up from the bottom of the beck.
22/23 Playpark update including action plan for applying for grant funding- Cllr L Williams reported that the application for match funding grant from WLDC is not open yet. It was resolved to use the £648.32 CIL money for the purchase of play equipment in the future. Cllr J Summers has also granted £450 to the playpark from his councillor initiative fund.
23/23 Constable Ings Trust- to resolve to add signatories to the account- Cllrs L & P Williams have been in to the bank to complete the necessary forms to change the mandate.
24/23 Highways Matters- Cllr Bunney reported that a number of potholes in the area have now been repaired. It is easy to report any further potholes on fixmystreet.lincolnshire.gov.uk
25/23 Planning Matters: PA145360- application to erect 7 houses at the Marquis of Granby- granted
26/23- May elections- Information regarding the elections has been posted on the noticeboard. Anyone wishing to be a councillor can request an application pack. Current Waddingham Councillors were provided with a pack of nomination papers.
27/23 Confirmation of date and time of next meeting- Due to elections the next meeting will be held on Tuesday 16th May, Jubilee Hall- 7pm for Annual Parish Meeting and 7.30 pm for the Annual Council meeting
28/23 Additional items for the next agenda- Emergency Plan update
Meeting closed at 8.42pm