Minutes & Agendas

HELPRINGHAM PARISH COUNCIL

Approved Minutes of the Meeting held on Wednesday 12th April 2023

PRESENT

Councillors Geoff Hotchkin (Chairman), George Frizzell,  Julie Frizzell, Mark Robinson, William Watts and Parish Clerk Julie Dixon.

PUBLIC SPEAKING TIME

There were no members of the Public present.

1.0        WELCOME REMARKS BY CHAIRMAN

The Chairman welcomed the Councillors and thanked them for their attendance.

2.0        APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies were received from Cllr Malcolm Turnouth, District Councillor’s Stewart Ogden and Sally Tarry and County Councillor Andrew Key.

3.0        SIGNING OF THE MINUTES

It was resolved to adopt the minutes of the meeting of 8th February 2023 as a true and correct record.

4.0       MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

There was one matter arising from the minutes at 8.4 in that this should have read ‘It was resolved to accept this payment in principal and it will be approved in the new financial year’.

5.0       DECLARATIONS OF PECUNIARY INTEREST & DISPENSATIONS 

There were no declarations of pecuniary interest.

6.0        REPORT FROM DISTRICT COUNCILLORSThere were no reports from District Councillors as they are now in Purdah pending forthcoming local elections.

7.0        PLANNING APPLICATIONS

              7.1 There were no planning applications to discuss.

   8.0      FINANCE

              8.1 The financial report and bank reconciliation presented by the Clerk were accepted.

              8.2 The following payments were approved.

8.3 Finances were discussed and it was noted that the year end finances will be depleted to a figure of £2017.00 in the current account, this is due to the substantial amount of investment placed into the village over the last financial year. Therefore the Parish council will need to be prudent with spending over the coming financial year.

9.0         CEMETERY MATTERS AND CONSERVATION AREA

              Cllr George Frizzell gave the Cemetery and Conservation area report;

9.1 There have been no interments and just one ongoing memorial request. The conditions relating to the numbering of memorials and the removal of excess soil from the site have now been added to invoices.

9.2 The conservation area is looking lovely with the array of daffodils out in flower.

10.0       CHURCH CLOCK AND PARISH COUNCIL WEBSITE

              Report by Cllr George Frizzell

10.1 The Church clock is running on time.

10.2 The Parish Council website is up to date, including information on the forthcoming Parish Council elections.

11.0      HIGHWAYS.

11.1 Station Road footpath still remains a matter of grave concern due to traffic driving on the verge of the footpath and therefore depositing mud onto the footpath. It is believed that Highways have been out to have a look at this problem and that they will act in due course.

11.2 The road opposite Ambler House on Station Road is holding water when it rains and it was suggested that a Grip needs digging to allow excess water to drain away.

11.3 It has been noted and reported that the sign post at the Swaton Road junction (B1394) has been damaged and is hanging precariously which produces a hazard.

12.0       MATTERS AFFECTING THE VILLAGE / CORRESPONDENCE

12.1 Three speed reduction indicators have now been erected and are working. Many thanks to Chairman Geoff Hotchkin and to Graeme Butler from NKDC Rod Safety Partnership for erecting these.

A member of the Parish has kindly offered to download the data and supply this to the Parish Council prior to meetings.

The laptop owned by the Parish Council is being refurbished and will be used for the above purpose.

12.2 It was brought to our attention prior to the meeting that the post box in Helpringham had been taped up and no longer functional. The Clerk has made enquiries to the Central Post Office for information and awaits a reply. However, it was claimed at the meeting (12th April) that this is no longer the case.

12.3 There will NOT be a Parish Council Election in Helpringham on 4th May. There were just enough candidates to fill places available and the nominations can be seen on the noticeboard, website and Social Media, thanks to Cllr G Frizzell for uploading these.

The Parish Council would like to send sincere Thanks and appreciation to Malcolm Ternouth who will be standing down from being a Parish Councillor. We would like to extend our thanks for the tremendous work Malcolm did with Litter Picking and as Tree warden. We wish him well for the future.

12.4 At the previous meeting, it was proposed that due to some members of the Parish leaving dog fouling in precarious places that maybe even more bins should be considered; However, for the moment this has been placed on hold.

May I please remind everyone to take your dog poo bags home or place into one of the bins already provided.

13.0       The next meeting will take place on Wednesday 17th May 2023  in Helpringham Memorial Hall and will commence at 7:00pm with the Annual Parish Meeting. ALL MEMBERS OF THE PARISH ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND. This will be followed by the Annual Meeting of the Parish Council.

The meeting closed at 8:25pm.