May 2023 Minutes Annual Parish Council Meeting

Waddingham Parish Council

Minutes of the  Annual Parish Council Meeting held on Wednesday 24th May at Jubilee Hall

Present:  Cllrs L Williams (Chair), P Williams, B Tiley, G Thacker, J Thacker,  S Kirman, E Law and the Clerk

Cllr Bunney

18 members of the public

Public participation- members of the public, potentially seeking planning permission on a plot in the village, spoke to the Council to gauge opinions. Their agent initially spoke to outline the plans.  The plot is situated on the edge  of Common Road and Church Road.  Concerns were raised regarding the narrow access from Church Road, the risk of flooding and the proximity to listed buildings on Church Road.  The applicant confirmed the area for development is not on a flood zone. 

29/23 Election of Chair- Cllr G Thacker nominated Cllr L Williams.  Seconded Cllr S Kirman.  All in agreement.  Resolved Cllr L Williams to be Chair.

30/23 Election of Vice Chair- Cllr L Williams nominated Cllr A White.  Seconded Cllr G Thacker.  All in agreement.  Resolved Cllr A White to be Chair.

31/23 Apologies for Absence- Apologies were accepted from A White.

32/23 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- Cllrs E Law, L Williams, P Williams, S Kirman and B Tiley declared that they are all on the Village Hall Committee.

33/23 Minutes of Previous meeting to be approved and signed.   

The minutes of the Parish Council Meetings held Wednesday 1st March 2023 were signed as a true and accurate record.

34/23 Matters Arising- nothing additional to agenda items listed

35/23 County Councillor/District Council report- County Councillor Bunney reported that there are currently issues surrounding policing.  The police commissioner was expecting a £3million deficit.  The actual deficit is £10 million.  Lincolnshire police are petitioning for more money as the amount received per capita for policing in Lincolnshire is the lowest in the country.  As a consequence of the deficit the number of PCSOs has halved.  20 additional police constables have been allocated to the area.  Scampton is currently a big issue at the moment.  WLDC wanted to develop the as a quality estate, but this has had to change due the *Home Office requirements to house asylum seekers.  The County Council are concerned about the amount of pressure this will add to policing and the health service in the area.   

Cllr A Duguid not in attendance

35/23 Police report-none available. Cllr L Williams reported that there has been a number of crimes in the area.  Parishioners reminded to report all incidents to 101 or online.

36/23 Clerk’s report- The Clerk reported that following the May elections Waddingham Parish Council have a new Councillor, Cllr E Law, who was welcomed to the council.  There is 1 remaining vacancy which can now be filled by co-option. 

37/23 LALA Management Committee Nomination- no volunteers or nominations received.

38/23-Village Hall Lease Update- Cllr L Williams reported that the Village Hall Committee are working with ACRE to bring the outdated  Village Hall Trust and Deed Document up to date. 

39/23 Finance

(a) Accounts for payment- resolved to pay

(i)   C. Wright, salary and expenses- £586.50

(ii)   Cassells Accountants, internal audit- £96

(b)   Payments made between meetings:-

(i)   AJ Williams, Grass cutting- £384

(c)   Annual Audit and Account – to approve the Annual Governance Statement and the Accounting Statement – following scrutiny of the accounts and internal audit it was resolved to approve the Annual Governance Statement and the Accounting Statement

(d)   Parish Council Insurance- The clerk reported that the Council’s current insurer have emailed confirming that their scheme provider has pulled out of the Council Market and are unwilling to provide further cover after the renewal date, even if  a Long-Term Un-dertaking is in place.  Clerk has sought quotations from other providers.  CAS quoted £653.08, Zurich £264, Gallagher- did not provide quote as unable to match Zurich, Came and Company- did not provide quote as unable to match Zurich, BHIB- no quote re-turned.  Resolved to accept the Zurich quote.  

(e)   Constable Ings Bank Account- Cllr L Williams confirmed the signatories have now been changed on the account.  Clerk to investigate bank accounts which may be suitable to transfer the funds to which has easy access and a cheque book.  An account which with interest would be preferable.   The current account is a dated passbook account.

ACTION: Clerk

40/23 Correspondence for discussion- 

(a) Letter regarding siting of benches on Village Green- benches have now been repositioned.  

(b) Sighting of speed signs on Snitterby Road- the council clarified that the signs had been po-sitioned following the advice of the Road Safety Partnership

41/23 Flood relief scheme and beck cleaning matters – AJ Williams have provided a quote to spray and weed the beck- £1460+vat.  Resolve to accept the quote and ask for the work to be carried out as soon as possible.  Clerk to ask AJ Williams to also quote for the beck along Redbourne Road.  

Cllr L Williams has been invited to attend a meeting with Steve Best and the flood relief team to see the plans for repairs and improvements to the scheme.

42/23 Emergency Plan- Cllr Tiley  and Cllr Law to progress with the plan.  Item to remain on the agenda.

43/23 Playpark update including action plan for applying for grant funding- Cllr L Williams confirmed that she has completed the Community Grant Expression of Interest form and has also applied to Merlin for a grant.  Cllr Bunney advised that Business and Community grants for levelling up will be open to applications soon.

44/23 Constable Ings Trust- progress report on signatories- Signatories now changed to Cllr L Williams and Cllr P Williams.

45/23 Highways Matters- Work has been completed at Brandywharf.  Concerns were raised regarding the new Anglian Water pipeline due to go under the same section of road. 

46/23 Planning Matters: PA146446-Applicsation for reserved matters for 1 dwelling following outline planning permission for PA141105, Land west of Snitterby Road- no comment.

 47/23 Confirmation of date and time of next meeting Wednesday 5th July- Jubilee Hall- 7pm 

28/23 Additional items for the next agenda- nothing additional.

Meeting closed at 8.42pm