Minutes of the 2021 Hemswell Annual Parish Assembly

Held by Hemswell Parish Council on Monday 15th March at 7.00 pm

Present:

Cllr. B. Mander (BM)(Chair); Cllr. J. Roberts (JR) (Vice-Chair); Cllr. M. Foster (MF); Cllr. C. Black (CB); Cllr. P. Watkinson (PW).
District Cllr. P. Howitt-Cowan (PHC)

1.   Apologies:

None received

2.   Chair’s Welcome and Annual Report.

I’d like to welcome everyone to the 2021 Annual Parish Assembly.

Looking back over the last fiscal year, when we started the year in lockdown, I’m sure no one expected that we would be ending the year also in lockdown. The impact Coronavirus has had on the parish and the wider society, has been significant, providing both challenges and opportunities. In addition to the personal impacts, local events which bring the village together have been cancelled or have been modified in line with restrictions. I am however warmed when remembering the community spirit displayed with neighbours helping one another and the small acts of kindness that have occurred throughout this time.

As a council we have had to move online and adopt new technology, and I thank all of the councillors for embracing this and continuing to support the parish. This support is especially appreciated as we have had to also cope with being two councillors down on a full council and without the guidance of a Parish Clerk for most of the year. I hope the new fiscal year will see these roles being filled.

We have launched a new accessible website which brings with it the opportunity to bring together the various on-line activities in the parish, providing information on the council, village hall, parish, and church activities, with links to supporting organisations and the parish facebook group.

Planning matters have taken considerable council time. As Hemswell is a conservation area with a significant number of heritage assets, authorities have a duty (in line with national and county policies) to preserve and protect our heritage assets for future generations to enjoy. I am pleased to see that the preservation of our heritage is now at the forefront of WLDC’s planning committee decisions. This aligns with the parishes feedback to the Neighbourhood plan survey which placed the preservation of the character of Hemswell at the top of the list for consideration when producing our Neighbourhood Plan.

Speaking of the Neighbourhood plan, Coronavirus has impacted the adoption of this document as no public referendums are allowed until May 2021 at the earliest. The final submission document is available to view on the parish council website along with its supporting documents. The documents will be officially submitted to WLDC by end of April 2021 at the latest. WLDC will then organise scrutiny and arrange a parish referendum. Please support your Neighbourhood plan by voting to support the adoption of this plan.

Hemswell’s Parish council’s finances are in a healthy position. The establishment of maintenance funds for the maypole, bus shelter, cemetery, street furniture, Beck Lane and IT equipment will hopefully ensure we have no nasty surprises waiting and the purchase of our document fire safe will provide ‘safe’ local storage of our documents. We have also been able to significantly reduce the impact of legislation changes, regarding council officer employment, on the FY21/22 council precept to a single digit increase (6.25% from an estimated 36%), by releasing funds from our reserves.

I would like to acknowledge the support from our district councillor (Cllr Paul Howitt-Cowan) and County Councillor (Clio Perraton-Williams) and thank Mr Marfleet who continues to do a splendid job of maintaining the village greenery. In addition to its statutory duties, the council were pleased to be able to provide donations to the Parish Church, to cover the church yard grass cutting, and for the children’s Christmas presents, organised by Tina Ramsay, thereby supporting our children’s wellbeing through these unusual times.

3.   Approval of Minutes from 16th March 2020.

Proposed: JR     Seconded: MF   Carried unanimously

4.   Reports from:

4a. County Councillor Paul Howitt-Cowan.

This has been an unprecedented year and thankfully WLDC has not suffered the casualties or fatalities of other areas of the UK due to Covid -19.

Test and Trace Centres have been established at the former Lidl store in Gainsborough & on the Lincolnshire Show Ground which, with John Coupland, are administering vaccinations for covid-19

Covid wardens have been appointed for the District and remain place.

WLDC.

has continued without too much disruption as officers have worked from home in order to deliver its services.

The refuse collection has continued without interruption thanks to its stalwart workers.

WLDC has acted as the Government’s banker issuing grants to businesses, to village halls [ £15k?] and community resources at breakneck speed which has helped save some businesses almost on the brink of total collapse. And the Government has been generous in providing the wherewithal to ensure that WLDC is ‘not completely out of pocket’ in order to deliver these extra services.

Working from home and harnessing digital technology to provide WLDC meetings and allow staff to function on a daily basis, has been largely welcomed. And once normal services are resumed, I am pretty confident that digital technology will be utilised behind the scenes by staff and Members that do not have to be public, such as Chair’s Briefing and Training. Indeed, parish Councils have not been slow to adopt digital technology for its public meetings thereby allowing local government to function unabated.

Adoption of digital technology has hidden advantages; economic savings, travelling time and parking fees,

‘Normality’ may resume in May of this year when the Government relaxes restrictions and encourage a return to physical meetings both at the Guildhall and in our village halls.

The matter of Gainsborough centric is often articulated in regard to the accusation that the rural district is ‘second best’. The population of Gainsborough is c 20,000 and growing discounting the satellite communities around the town however there is a concentration on the rural district hence the leisure centre at Market Rasen and the conservation of its built heritage. With all the investment in Gainsborough by the Conservatives, the town continues to return Liberal representation which remains their stronghold.

Commercial portfolio.

For the time being this has not been extended and there are no plans to do so for the time being.

Changes in Leadership.

Within this civic year, 2 Leaders appointed and three Deputy leaders appointed which makes it challenging to have stability and continuity. Indeed there has been a significant growth in Independent Members - 7 to date. The next district council election is scheduled for May 2023.

Currently the Conservatives are not in a majority [16] and are being propped up by 4 Independents however there are 12 Liberals and 3 other Independents.

Lea Fields Crematoria.

This is to be landscaped this year after a successful year and has attracted positive comments.

Corringham Junction Is now up and running.

Market Rasen Leisure Centre.

This £6.5 million complex is now built and hopefully will enable the community to keep physically fit and help their mental health. It has a population of c 4,000 in addition to the villages around the market town. We still hear demands for a swimming pool which in the current climate is out of the question; it would cost c £250,000 to run such an amenity.

Environment and Sustainability Working Group.

Is shortly to submit its findings and hopefully will promote a greater awareness of what can be done in the District to ensure an increased care for the environment and promoting renewable energy and conservation.

Neighbourhood Plans.

Several almost coming to completion subject to a Referendum Praise for the work of those engaged in these projects and particularly for Hemswell in its heritage statements.

Market Rasen Built Heritage Project.

This is a long-term project aimed at conserving its listed buildings and thereby extending their life and adaptability. It will demand much expenditure and will take several years to bring to fruition.

Queen’s Platinum Jubilee 1952 – 2022.

Plans are being prepared for this event and parishes encouraged to participate.

WL Churches Festival.

Cancelled in 2020 and 2021 however plans are afoot to resume festival and conference in 2022.

Gainsborough’s Southern Extension.

Keep moat is building initially 450 houses of 2, 000 planned, the infrastructure being addressed as I speak.

Scampton RAF.

There is a delay by the MOD in the decommissioning planned for 2022 WLDC are committed to supporting the aviation heritage museum.

Devolution – Local Government Re -organisation.

This is a political ‘hot potato’ local is best and the present structure established in 1974 does provide better representation at the grass roots, which will be threatened by larger mergers and what we call ‘democratic deficit’ may be sacrificed and a call for a referendum is not out of place.

WLDC is in a very good place in assets etc. whereas the other district councils are not.

There is still talk about creating 3 unitaries? across Lincolnshire which may align with the pre 1974 position; Lindsey, Kesteven and Holland

I remain opposed to any developments which dilutes representation at the grass roots.

Cardboard and Paper waste bin - to be rolled out c 2023 with a Purple bin, the experiment in separating food waste is challenging.

4b.    Village Hall Committee.

We have just completed our draft end of year accounts which show an end of year balance of £ 22,169.55 mainly as the result of grants totalling £ 19,526.48 paid by West Lindsey District Council. In the past year we have reduced our electricity costs by nearly £ 2,000.00 and increased our income by about £ 1,000.00 due to the West Lindsey Lottery. With the gradual opening of the Hall, we are now turning our attention to spending monies on projects such as resurfacing the playground. We will at all times ensure that a good contingency remains. 

4c.     Neighbourhood Plan Steering Group.

Please see comments in the Chair’s report (2) for details of the Neighbourhood Plan progress.

5.  Parishioners Statements and Questions.

No parishioners attended the meeting, and no questions were submitted.

6.   Meeting closure – 19:20.

Date of Next Meeting:Monday 21 March 2022

Signed: B C Mander   Date: 19th March 2021