Minutes & Agendas

HELPRINGHAM PARISH COUNCIL

Approved Minutes of the Meeting held on Wednesday 11th August 2021

PRESENT

Councillors Geoff Hotchkin, Julie Frizzell, Malcolm Ternouth, and Robert Spencer.  Parish Clerk Julie Dixon and  District Councillor Stewart Ogden and County Councillor Andrew Key.

PUBLIC SPEAKING TIME

There were no members of the public present.

1.0  WELCOME REMARKS BY CHAIRMAN

The Chairman welcomed the Councillors, District councillor Ogden and County Councillor Andrew Key and thanked them for their attendance.

2.0         APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Apologies were received from Councillor George Frizzell, William Watts and District Councillor Sally Tarry.

3.0 SIGNING OF THE MINUTES

It was resolved to adopt the minutes of the meeting of 14 July 2021 as a true and correct record, apart from a small spelling mistake of Councillor Andrew Keys name.

4.0 MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

There were no matters arising from the minutes.

5.0 DECLARATIONS OF PECUNIARY INTEREST & DISPENSATIONS 

There were no declarations to record.

6.0 REPORT FROM DISTRICT COUNCILLORS

County Councillor Andrew Key had kindly prepared a report which is attached to these minutes.

Councillor Stewart Ogden had nothing to report but asked if the Parish Council had received the information on the roll out of purple bins.

Chairman Geoff Hotchkin expressed his concern to Councillor Ogden that as a Parish Council the information on the local plan consultation has only just been received and that there is a lot of information to digest in a short period of time before the consultation ends.

We would urge parishioners to have a look at the link below where they can make comment if they so wish.

https://www.n-kesteven.gov.uk/central-lincolnshire/local-plan-consultation-parish-information/

7.0         PLANNING APPLICATIONS 

There were no planning applications to discuss.

8.0         FINANCE

8.1 The financial report presented by the Vice Chairman Councillor Julie Frizzell was accepted, Councillor Frizzell also reported that she will be receiving designs for the new community bench in the next few days.

8.2 The bank reconciliation was accepted

8.3 It was discussed that Christopher Pell from CJP Garden Services is doing an outstanding job with the grass cutting and in keeping the village tidy, going above and beyond his contracted requirements. For this reason it was resolved to give a £200.00 bonus to show the gratitude of the village.

8.4 Chairman, Councillor Geoff Hotchkin declared an interest in this item and therefore did not participate in the discussion. It was discussed that a request has been received from Helpringham Primary School in response to last month’s minutes where the Parish Council asked for local groups to get in touch if we could help with funding. A response has been sent, requesting that the school are a little more specific in what they require funding for, rather than a lump sum. Once this has been received, it can be discussed at the next meeting.

8.5 The following payments were approved at the meeting.

9.0         CEMETERY MATTERS

9.1    Councillor Julie Frizzell, reported on behalf of Councillor George Frizzell that there has been 1 interment, the late Donald Stock Dean.

Invoices have been issued for the erection of memorials to the following:

The late Doreen & John Bowden

The late Alfred Roy Buckle

The late Alma & Jo Spencer

The late Terence Charles Martin

10.0       CHURCH CLOCK

The Church Clock appears to be running around ninety seconds fast at the moment, Councillor George Frizzell will correct in due course.The website is all up to date and running well.

11.0       HIGHWAYS.

11.1 Councillor Andrew Key reported that he will be seeing Rowan Smith next week and will press for the completion of the Station Road Footpath which is promised within this financial year.

11.2 It is good to see that pot holes are at last beginning to be repaired in the village and surrounding areas.

12.0       MATTERS AFFECTING THE VILLAGE / CORRESPONDENCE

12.1 Helpringham Feast weekend was a great success with activities on the village green and raffle raising £1098.31 for the Playing field and the Christmas tree fund, with a further £460.00 raised on the tombola for LIVES and the Air ambulance.

The Brass windmill did a fabulous job of keeping food and refreshments flowing, with entertainment in the evening to finish off a great day.

The Church looked  lovely with some wonderful flower arrangements and amazing craft stalls and not forgetting the hard work of the volunteers in the community café.

The Parish Council wishes to express its sincere thanks to all of the organisers who worked tirelessly to create a wonderful weekend within the village.

12.2 Councillor Stewart Ogden asked if we had received the information on the rollout of Purple bins and would be happy to receive any feedback. The bins will be rolled out between the 16th and 27th August.

12.3 The erection of the new dual purpose waste bins seems to be proving a difficult exercise! Councillor George Frizzell has today met with a contractor whom we are hoping will give us a quote to erect the three new bins and the new bench kindly donate by the family of the late Ken & Linda Bassett to replace the old one, outside of 15 High Street.

12.4 Correspondence has been received regarding an overhanging tree in the cemetery at number 1 Chapel Lane. A response has been sent to the parishioner advising that the tree does not belong to the Parish Council but to the Diocese, therefore advice will need to be sought from the church.

12.5 The resurrection of the village newsletter / community flier was discussed. Please could parishioners let us know their feelings on this with any suggestions. If anyone is interested in volunteering for this project, please get in touch by email at helpringhamparishcouncil@gmail.com

12.6 The possibility of ornamental entrance gates and flower pots at the three main entrances into the village was discussed and overall was thought to be a good idea. Councillor Andrew Key has kindly given guidance notes on this project and advised that several surrounding villages are looking into doing this. It was proposed to obtain potential costings for the next meeting where the project will be discussed further.

12.7 Councillor Malcolm Ternouth asked if it would be a good time to begin speed checks in the village after the cessation of the project due to Covid – 19. It was resolved that this was a good idea and to ask for volunteers. Anyone who would be able to help with the Speed Watch Group, please email the Clerk in the first instance.

12.8 Lincolnshire County Council has put in a bid for funding to plant trees around Lincolnshire and if successful  would like to offer the chance for parish and town councils to have some of the trees on their land. The Treescape fund is for planting trees in a non- woodland area – sites can include farmland, hedgerows, playing fields and public open spaces. The Parish Council will register their interest in this project.

12.9 Correspondence was received from the SLK owners club including some nice photographs taken at their recent meeting day on the green. Thanks were expressed for allowing the event and it has been provisionally booked again for 4th June 2022.

13.0       MATTERS OF URGENCY

There were no matters of urgency that had not already been discussed.

14.         DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING

The next meeting will take place on Wednesday 8th September 2021 in Helpringham Village Memorial Hall at 19:30 Hours.

Meeting Closed at 8:35 pm

Report to the Helpringham Parish Council for August 2021 from County Councillor, Andrew Key

Thank you for inviting me to your Parish Council meeting, as always I will endeavour to attend as often as I can.

I have attended several Scrutiny meetings in recent weeks at County Hall, including Chairing the Adults Scrutiny meeting.

I continue to answer residents’ and Parish Councils’ queries as and when they arise.

Remembrance and other Parades

You may be aware that Lincolnshire County Council Highways and Lincolnshire Police have delivered awareness training for organisers of Remembrance / Constitutional Parades (e.g. St Georges Day) for the past few years. These have been well attended and very well received.

At the training, advice is given regarding responsibilities as an event organiser, safety and legal advice, the required Traffic Order processes and signs and equipment are provided to allow organisers to deliver these important events in a legal and safe manner.

The training was unfortunately cancelled last year due to Covid-19, and it is therefore the intention to deliver training this Autumn – provisional date of 20th October 2021. This will cover refresher training for those who have attended in the past and also any new organisers who have not yet attended would be welcomed.

Further details and an invitation to book these courses will be sent out soon to organisers of such parades  (who we are aware of). The courses will be approximately 3 hours long.

Bus Service Improvement Plan Survey

An engagement survey has now gone live asking for the views of individuals and organisations on Lincolnshire's bus network. This link will take you to the survey https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/engagement

 Since the Government launched the National Bus Strategy in March 2021, to secure a share of the £3BN funding announced, local transport authorities are asked to enter into an Enhanced Partnership with local operators and to produce a Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) by the end of October 2021. This will be considered by the Department for Transport (DfT) to determine how much funding we will receive. As part of the evidence base, we are sending out this engagement survey to establish a baseline of views, what local people and organisations consider important and what may encourage them to use buses more.   Further consultation will be held in due course as potential schemes start to emerge for the BSIP.

 The survey is designed to be completed by individuals and representatives of organisations. The survey asks different questions depending on how you answer. We are encouraging as many people as possible to complete the survey on-line but if you have any constituents that cannot they can ring 0345 456 4474 Monday to Friday 10am to 4pm and we will arrange a postal copy of the survey to be sent to them. The survey closes on Monday 30 August.

Highways Matters

Please ensure that all Highways matters requiring attention are reported via Fix My Street. I am happy of course to chase up things that haven’t been attended to, but do ensure you report them on Fix My Street in the first instance so that they are ‘in the system’. Highways can only attend to faults they are aware of.

Andrew Key