2020 Parish Council Minutes of Meetings

Minutes of the Annual Meeting of Hemswell Parish Council

 held via virtual meeting on Monday 18th May 2020 at 7.30pm

Election of Chairman:   

Nominated: Cllr. B. Mander      proposed:  Cllr. P. Huntley         seconded:  Cllr. R. Hazell                    

Election of Vice-Chairman:        

Nominated: Cllr. J. Roberts       unanimous

Action: Clerk to obtain the signed declaration of acceptance of office forms.

Cllr. C. Black was thanked for all his hard work.

1.  Present

Cllr. B. Mander, Cllr. J. Roberts, Cllr. M. Foster, Cllr. R. Hazell, Cllr. C. Black,

Cllr. P. Watkinson and Cllr. P. Huntley

2.  Apologies  

Dist. Cllr. P Howitt-Cowan and PCSO Julie McFall

3.  Adjournment

• No reports provided. An incident was mentioned regarding a police high speed pursuit through the village.

Action: Clerk to request information from the PCSO.

• No parishioners in attendance - no queries submitted.

4.  Declaration of Interest  

None

5.  Minutes of March 16th meeting

Agreed as an accurate record.

          Proposed: Cllr. M. Foster        seconded: Cllr. J. Roberts

6.  Matters arising - Planning

i.   Application 140923 – To meet the submission deadline, it was unanimously agreed via email, prior to the meeting, that if the garage remained screened from the road, the council had no objections.

ii.   Application 140123 and 140636 – It was noted that application 140636 had been approved, although it did not appear to materially differ from the original application 140123 which was refused by WLDC. The conditions imposed on the new application did not appear to consider all the WLDC Conservation Officer’s comments from the original application i.e. ‘This is simply not a site for a large building of any kind and I am doubtful that a building for residential use can be accommodated without resulting in harm to the conservation area and the setting of the church’. WLDC planning application database did not show a conservation officer statement for the new application. The council agreed that WLDC should be contacted to clarify why the application was approved.

Action: Cllr. B. Mander to write to WLDC to request how this application was approved without apparently considering all the conservation officer’s original comments. Draft to be circulated to the council for agreement of wording prior to sending to WLDC Planning Committee.

7.  Matters to be discussed

7.1  Grit bin removal on Church Street 

The grit bin on Church street has still not been replaced and LCC highways have not responded to a request to provide information on when it will be replaced.

Action: Clerk to write to the LCC Highways department for an update and copy County Cllr. C. Perraton-Williams in the communication.

7.2  Dogs being exercised in the Cemetery

A permanent sign requesting visitors to respect the area, to be purchased to replace the temporary sign on the cemetery gates.

Action: Clerk to obtain quotes for a permanent sign.

7.3  Land on the A631 Hemswell Lane

Concerns had been raised with the parish council regarding the number of installed temporary buildings and vehicles parked on this agricultural land. The PCSO was requested to visit the land. They reported that the owners intended to develop an orchard, keep beehives, and carry out other horticultural activities on the land. Two council members had also been in contact with the owners and received the same information. The owners have been occasionally staying overnight on the land (allowed 28 days in the year) for bee keeping activities.

Action: The council to monitor the development of the land and the nights the land is occupied to ensure the land use conditions are not breached.

7.4  Hemswell’s Phone Sign (B1398)

The sign has not been replaced with a village name sign only. LCC Highways have not responded to a request for information on when the sign will be replaced.

Action: Clerk to write to the LCC Highways department for an update and copy County Cllr. C. Perraton-Williams in the communication.

7.5  Blocked drain on Brook Street

The council have not been provided with a response from Highways regarding the resolution of this issue. It was noted that the drain cover has been replaced.

Action: Clerk to write to the LCC Highways department for an update and copy County Cllr. C. Perraton-Williams in the communication.

7.6  Newsletter

The clerk advised that the printer is now able to print the newsletter and asked if the council wished to publish a newsletter this month. It was decided that a review of the newsletter and its content was needed so we will continue with the single page newsletter, until the review is carried out.

Action: Councillors to provide input to the Chairman who will forward content to the ‘temporary’ newsletter editor.

The need for a review of the parish council’s methods of communication (website, newsletter) and content was discussed with a view to ensuring the information remains relevant and easily accessible to all.

Action: Cllr. P. Watkinson to lead the council in a review of parish council communication methods. All Councillors to support Cllr. Watkinson, with input.

7.7  Community Defibrillator

The parish council continues to regularly maintain the defibrillator and has recently replaced the time expired pads and battery pack. The council reviewed the offer from WLDC to take over the maintenance of the unit for an annual charge of £100.00. The decision was taken not to accept the WLDC offer and that the parish council would continue to maintain the equipment. The council was reminded that an awareness course on CPR and AED usage could be organised through LIVES if needed once social distancing was relaxed.

Action: need for training course to be assessed during communication review.

7.8  COVID-19

The council was advised that requests for support through the Neighbourhood Watch scheme were minimal with only a few requests received for shopping and prescription collections. The council is pleased to see that the community has rallied together, and neighbours and friends are supporting each other.

Action: no additional action required other than maintaining communication via a newsletter or other mediums (subject to the review) of relevant information.

8.Reports

8.1 Hemswell And Harpswell Village Hall

The village hall committee has received a grant of £10,000 from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy: Grant Funding Scheme. It is envisioned that this will go towards repairs to the hall and playground and will make up for the lost revenue due to the coronavirus lockdown.

8.2  Hemswell & Harpswell Neighbourhood Plan

The regulations linked to the Coronavirus Act 2020 mean that the neighbourhood plan referendum will not take place until May 2021 at the earliest. However, the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government have amended their current planning guidance to set out that neighbourhood plans awaiting referendums can be given significant weight in decision making. It is anticipated that the Hemswell and Harpswell draft plan will be ready for submission with the accompanying documentation by the end of June 2020 and the independent examination should follow shortly thereafter.

9.Finance

9.1  Income and Expenditure

The clerk presented the Income and Expenditure statement as of 01/04/2020 which was accepted by the council. The council financial books are with the accountants for their annual auditing.

9.2  Precept

The precept of £6,400 has been received.

9.3  Payments

The following payments were authorised by the council

• LIVES Defibrillator consumables                                       £   53.00

• Clerk’s Salary                                                                        £ 255.00

• Grass cutting                                                                         £ 290.00     

10.  Meeting closed – 20:52

11.Date of next meeting – July 20th, 2020 at 7.30pm