Minutes & Agendas

HELPRINGHAM PARISH COUNCIL

Approved Minutes of the Meeting held on Wednesday 13th October 2021

PRESENT

Councillors Geoff Hotchkin, Robert Spencer, George Frizzell and Mark Robinson.  Parish Clerk Julie Dixon and  County Councillor Andrew Key.

PUBLIC SPEAKING TIME

Mr & Mrs Tillyer joined the meeting for the ten minute public forum, they wished to raise two points.

1.  The post office planning application, this was to be discussed at point 7.1 and Mr & Mrs Tillyer were invited to stay and listen to the discussion.
2. George Street, Mr & Mrs Tillyer have grave concerns regarding the speed at which traffic, particularly entering the village over the railway bridge on George Street from the direction of South Drove.  It is Mr Tillyer’s observation that during the day but particularly around 5:00pm, vehicles enter the village at a greater speed than the 30 mph speed limit. In response, it was advised that as a Parish Council, there are not enough qualified volunteers to take part in speed awareness operations, it was considered that maybe approaching the PCSOs may be a way of getting a uniformed person to carry out a check.

Remaining on the subject of George Street, Mr & Mrs Tillyer have complaints about the state of the road, particularly around the development of the proposed 7 houses, they are very concerned that the road is in a poor state of repair and should have been corrected as part of the development before this time. In response, it was advised that the roads around the area are an ongoing concern and to report on ‘fix my street’. The more things are reported, hopefully the quicker they will be looked at. The clerk has reported this.

1.0 Welcolme Remarks from the Chairman

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

2.0        APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies were received from Councillor’s Julie Frizzell, William Watts, Malcolm Ternouth and District Councillor Sally Tarry. It was resolved to accept the reasons for absence

3.0 SIGNING OF THE MINUTES

It was resolved to adopt the minutes of the meeting of 8th September 2021 as a true and correct record.

4.0 MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

There were no matters arising from the minutes..

5.0 DECLARATIONS OF PECUNIARY INTEREST & DISPENSATIONS 

Chairman Councillor Geoff Hotchkin expressed an interest in item 8.2.

6.0 REPORT FROM DISTRICT COUNCILLORS

There were no district councillors in attendance, however, Councillor Sally Tarry had asked for her thanks to be expressed to all residents in their contribution of the collection of 419 tonnes of quality card and paper in the first usage of the purple bins.

The chairman made a comment that the purple bins appear to have very light lids that blow open easily.

7.0         PLANNING APPLICATIONS 

7.1 Application reference: 21/1143/FUL, was discussed in detail for the change of use from post office to residential. While there were some strong objections to the plan due to the nature of the proposal and the fact that the post office has been in the village for many years, both sides were discussed. It was resolved that the Parish Council are reluctant to support the application due to the implications of parishioners losing a vital asset to the village.

The Parish Council would like to advise that anyone can have their say on planning applications by visiting https://www.n-kesteven.gov.uk/residents/planning-and-building/planning

7.2 Application reference: 21/0960/HOUS, the revised plans were discussed and no objections raised.

7.3 Application reference:  21/1560/TCA

Description of works: T1 / T2 Cherry – fell

Location: 1 The Brambles, Helpringham

This application arrived after the production of the agenda but was discussed at length, and there were no objections.

8.0         FINANCE

8.1 The financial report and bank reconciliation were unavailable due to the latest bank statement not being received.

8.2 It was resolved to make a donation of £200.00 to Helpringham Primary School to assist in the purchase of equipment for the newly furbished outside area.

8.3 Payments at the meeting were approved as follows: 

A further cheque of £200.00 was authorised for the donation to Helpringham Primary School.

9.0         CEMETERY MATTERS

9.1 Cemetery officer Cllr George Frizzell reported that there have not been any new interments and some memorials are ongoing. Compliments were given to CJP Garden Services once again for the attention paid to the upkeep of the cemetery.

10.0       CHURCH CLOCK AND PARISH COUNCIL WEBSITE

A long discussion took place regarding the proposed over haul of the bell hammer by Smith’s of Derby.  It was discussed that the church clock is the responsibility of the Parish Council, but not the bells. The hammer forms part of the bells and not the clock mechanism, therefore is not the responsibility of the Parish Council but the church itself.

The website is all up to date and running well.

11.0       HIGHWAYS.

11.1 It has been noted that the pot holes on Station Road have been marked.

11.2 County Councillor Key advised that the Station Road footpath is scheduled for February 2022, taking a total of 10 days to complete.

11.3 The state of the road from the bottom of Chapel Lane, left, to the bottom of Vicarage Lane was discussed once again. This has been reported on Fixmystreet.

12.0       MATTERS AFFECTING THE VILLAGE / CORRESPONDENCE

12.1 The positions of the new dual purpose bins have been authorised and are due to be erected in the next two weeks.

12.2. Concerns have been raised by Helpringham Primary School regarding the traffic and speeding around the area of the school. It was advised that the school governors have written to County Councillor Key to request an advisory speed reduction of 20 mph which has been submitted for consideration. Councillor Key will also request flashing lights before the school from each direction.

12.3 The planting of a tree on the village green in aid of the Queens jubilee was discussed and it was resolved that Councillor Malcolm Ternouth will source the tree and make all necessary arrangements.

12.4 The new police speed awareness campaign was discussed and is a relevant topic. ”Belt up, hang up, ease up” is the motto of the latest campaign. Far too many times the police see the effects of drivers not wearing seat belts, driving too fast or talking or texting on the phone while driving. To aid in the awareness of the campaign, free car air fresheners are available from the front desk of police stations around the county.

12.5 The clerk recently attended the Lincolnshire Association of Local Councils (LALC) conference and AGM. This was a full day participation event, with workshops by Wellbeing Lincs and Breakthrough Communications attended. An enjoyable and informative day followed by the AGM and a talk by County Councillor Colin Davie, Executive Councillor for economic development, environment and planning.

12.6 Since the production of the agenda Parish Council have been advised of a payment of £515.51 which will be paid into the bank account around 20th October. This is the contribution from the community infrastructure levy placed on newbuilds within the are for which the Parish Council receives 15%. The use of the funds will be discussed at the next meeting.

13.0       MATTERS OF URGENCY

It has been brought to the Parish Councils attention that a collision has occurred between a white or silver Corsa car and the church wall. The incident is believed to have happened on Monday 5th October around 7:00am. Enquiries have been made to try and locate the driver, however to no avail. The matter will now be dealt with internally pillar repaired in due course.

14.         DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING

The next meeting will take place on Wednesday 10th November 2021 in Helpringham Village Memorial Hall at 19:30 Hours.

Meeting Closed at 9:25pm.