Minutes & Agendas

HELPRINGHAM PARISH COUNCIL

Approved Minutes of the Meeting held by Zoom at 7.30pm on Wednesday 13 January 2021

PRESENT

Councillors Geoff Hotchkin, Julie Frizzell, Mark Robinson, George Frizzell, Malcolm Ternouth, Robert Spencer and William Watts.  Parish Clerk Julie Dixon and  District Councillors’ Sally Tarry. and Stewart Ogden.

PUBLIC SPEAKING TIME

There were no members of the public in attendance. 

1.0 WELCOME REMARKS BY CHAIRMAN

The Chairman welcomed everybody to the first meeting of 2021 and thanked them for their attendance.

2.0         APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

There were no apologies.

3.0 SIGNING OF THE MINUTES

It was resolved to adopt the minutes of the meeting of 09 December 2020 as a true and correct record.

4.0 MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES

There were no matters arising from the minutes that were not to be further discussed on the Agenda.

5.0 DECLARATIONS OF PECUNIARY INTEREST & DISPENSATIONS 

Councillor Mark Robinson declared an interest in Agenda Item 7.1.

6.0 REPORT FROM DISTRICT COUNCILLORS

Cllr Sally Tarry praised Helpringham Parish Council as being one of the Parish Councils who have submitted the Cycling infrastructure survey, and expressed her thanks to Councillor Robert Spencer for completing this.

Cllr Tarry also made comment on the Final Recommendations Report for the North Kesteven Electoral Review which was published by the Local Government Boundary Committee for England (LGBCE) on 11 January 2021. It is proposed that Helpringham will be paired with Osbournby and be known as the Helpringham and Osbournby ward which will be covered by one Councillor. However, this has still to go through Parliament.

7.0          PLANNING APPLICATIONS

7.1    Reference 20/1385/OUT, Revised plans for 16 Shepherds Lane Helpringham. (Not as per the Agenda 14 Shepherds Lane) The proposed development is for the demolition of an existing bungalow and erection of a replacement dwelling and up to 7 new dwellings (all matters reserved). After discussion it was resolved that support is given to the application.

7.2    It was reported that the response to support the application has been submitted.

8.0         FINANCE

8.1 The financial report presented by the Vice Chairman was accepted.

8.2 The bank reconciliation was accepted.

8.3 The year to date financial report was accepted.

8.4 The 2021 budget and precept were discussed in detail and it was resolved that the Precept for 2021 is to be set at £12,500.00; representing a 3.4% increase.

8.5 It was reported that the Parish Council is yet to be reimbursed the sum of £2130.90 from the CPS. This has been followed up and awaiting response. It is felt that Lloyds should be pursued from the aspect of poor service. The Chairman’s Letter has eventually been acknowledged but only to suggest taking the matter to the financial ombudsman. The fact that cheques had been allowed to be cashed with one or no signatures, still remains an error of due diligence which will be pursued.   The Vice Chairman will progress this on behalf of the Council.

8.6 It was resolved that the Parish Council is in need of a Grants Policy and specific form for application of Grants to keep in line with national guidance. Drafts of both were presented at the meeting and Cllr Julie Frizzell and the Clerk will work to perfect these before circulating and publishing on the Parish Council Website.

8.7 A discussion took place regarding the photocopier and it was resolved that this will be offered for sale at a price of £500.00 after having offered it to local groups free of charge; sadly no local group wanted the copier.

8.8 It was reported that the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) declaration has been returned.

8.9 Approval was sought and agreed for the following cheques:

9.0         CEMETERY MATTERS

9.1    It was reported by Cllr George Frizzell, the Cemetery Officer, that there have not been any internments or memorials erected this month.

10.0       HIGHWAYS

10.1 Cllr Julie Frizzell has once again chased up the Highways department, please see the latest response below:

I can confirm that my Highways Officer inspected Helpringham Road, Burton Pedwardine and the immediate area on 1st December and raised 18 defects jobs. In addition, we still have committed carriageway small patching jobs in the system for the road approaching Red Bridge adjacent to the dyke, patching on the road adjacent to the cemetery and centre line patching for the bends between Helpringham and Swaton. We have also raised a number of pothole orders for Helpringham Fen. Finally, we have also met with our Asset team colleague to brief him on the requirements for the reconstruction of the footway on Station Road.

We are also still committed to doing patching works from the A17, through Burton Pedwardine village to Station Road as well, as previously described, and I am presenting the bid for placing passing places between Burton Pedwardine and Station Road to the IPIP group on 26th Jan.

Cllr Julie Frizzell will be requesting an update prior to each Parish Council meeting.

11.0       MATTERS AFFECTING THE VILLAGE/CORRESPONDENCE.

11.1 Unfortunately Mr Parsons was unable to join us as planned, we will be in correspondence with him regarding the proposed Fibre to Premises Broadband and it is hoped that he will be able to join us at the next meeting.

11.2 The road closure at Blotoft Level Crossing on 31/01/2021 is posted on the Helpringham Parish Council website, along with a further proposed closure on 06/02/21.

11.3  It was reported that the Cycle Survey was returned and the Chairman expressed his thanks to Cllr Robert Spencer for taking the time to complete the survey on behalf of the Parish Council.

11.4  It was reported that the Grass Cutting contract for 2021 has been signed and a copy of the contract and relevant certificates are held by the Clerk.

11.5  Cllr George Frizzell reported that the Church Clock appears to be running two minutes slow and he will be in touch with the Church Warden to go in and rectify this.

12.0       MATTERS OF URGENCY

12.1 A letter has been received from a concerned resident highlighting a few items of concern around the village to the resident.  The letter was discussed and a response will be sent to the parishioner in due course. Any matters relating to the Parish Council will be added to the Agenda for the next meeting.

13.0       DATE OF THE NEXT MEETING

The next meeting will take place on Wednesday 10 February 2021 via Zoom.   It was noted that following Government guidance, it was likely that all meetings for the foreseeable future would be via Zoom.

Topic: Helpringham Parish Council Meeting - 1930 start

Time: February 10, 2021 19:15 London

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Meeting ID: 980 055 2536